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“To conserve and protect.”
The Natural Resources Department has been established to conserve and protect the natural resources of Manatee County. The Department manages and maintains over 29,000 acres contained in 12 public preserves in the County.
Natural Resources' priority is the conservation of the natural and cultural resources, while maintaining and restoring the ecological integrity of the historic native ecosystems. Water resource protection through ecosystem management is one of the basis for making land management and land use decisions. The staff of Natural Resources is continually working to restore, as much as possible, disturbed and degraded areas of our county-owned lands to their native condition using natural processes of prescribed fire in combination with mechanical cutting and clearing, and select application of herbicide to suppress exotic plant species.
The most important management tool Natural Resources uses to restore and maintain the natural communities of its preserves is prescribed burning. This is the least expensive and most natural tool available for the purpose of land maintenance and restoration. Other activities used to protect the natural communities include the eradication or control of exotic nuisance species, using natural regeneration and supplemental hand planting of native trees, filling in ditches to restore the hydrosystem, minimizing the development of additional trails, and giving special emphasis to the protection of plant and animal species which have been listed by State and Federal agencies requiring special protection for their continual survival.
Management goals of the NR Department are to:
- Manage and protect the natural resources of Manatee County
- Protect cultural resources
- Restore, enhance, and maintain our historic natural ecosystems
- Develop and manage recreational opportunities for citizens and visitors of Manatee County
- Utilize the preserves to promote environmental and ecological awareness
- Maintain, improve, and monitor the integrity of the lands and adjacent areas
Your Preserves: Something To Be Proud Of!
The preserves of Manatee County offer a wonderful variety of animals, including the burrowing owl, snowy egret, white ibis, gopher tortoise, and the endangered/threatened Florida scrub jay and eastern indigo snake. The plant communities include pine flatwoods, hardwood swamps, xeric oak scrub, sand pine scrub, depression marsh, dry prairie, and a cypress dome. Numerous streams and creeks, wet weather ponds and sloughs, and the Manatee, Little Manatee, and Braden rivers add to the unique and magnificent land that is Manatee County.
Emerson Point, Rye Preserve, and Duette Preserve have an historic tie to the Manatee River as the north and east forks of the River wind their way through the County.
Manatee County’s west boundary lies on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, giving Robinson Preserve, Emerson Point Preserve, Riverview Pointe, and Leffis Key special significance with their mangrove-covered shores, various species of waterbirds and wildlife unique to the Gulf waters.
Low impact recreational opportunities in our preserves are encouraged but evaluated within the constraints of resource protection. Improved and unimproved trails and boardwalks are maintained for activities such as bird watching, hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Emerson Point Preserve provides a launch site for canoeing and kayaking. Rye Preserve and Duette Preserve offer overnight camping on weekends.
Please be patient as we develop our new web pages. Each preserve will have its own page and links. For further information, call the number listed below.
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Contact Us
Natural Resources Department
415 10th Street West,
Bradenton, Florida 34205
Phone: (941) 748-4501 x4602
Fax: (941) 741-3227
charlie.hunsicker@mymanatee.org
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