Habitat Restoration & Land Management Services

HRWP offers a variety of land management services, including mowing (small acreage or large batwing mowing projects), light & heavy duty disking, light & heavy duty bushhogging, rollerchopping, mulching, chainsaw crew, low water crossing installation, minor road grading and installation, chain-link and pole fencing, silt fence and erosion control, pole barn installation, food plot preparation, native warm season grass plot installation, prescribed fire (broadcast and pile burning services) and forestry consulting.

Habitat Evaluation, Design and Restoration

Site evaluations for the purpose of preparing site specific mitigation options, habitat creation and/or restoration plans, listed species protection and habitat management plans, relocation proposals, chain saw, mechanical and herbicide treatments, and prescribed burn plan preparation and implementation.

Gopher Tortoise and Commensal Species Surveys & Relocation:

Ground surveying, burrow identification and GIS mapping of tortoise burrows. Presence/absence surveying for other listed species occupying tortoise burrows (Florida mouse, Gopher frog and Eastern indigo, sand skinks, etc.). Recipient site carrying capacity analysis, site preparation, enclosure construction and setup are also available. Florida Fish and Wildlife Authorized Gopher Tortoise Agents are available to assist with gopher tortoise relocation projects.

Non-Listed and Listed Species Site Assessments & Permitting Services:

Identification endangered and threatened species and/or mapping of occupied and unoccupied habitat for planning purposes by qualified, licensed, insured and experienced wildlife biologist and conservation consultants. Professional consulting for quail, wild turkey and whitetail deer population management are also available by QDMA Certified Managers.
Preparation of Local, State and Federal listed species permit applications for the purpose of protecting species through both on-site and/or off-site relocations.

Herbicide Applications (Terrestrial & Aquatic)

Cost effective nuisance/exotic vegetation control is available by trained State Certified Herbicide Applicators. Our staff is supervised by an expert botanist with an assortment of application and/or equipment types, such as ATV herbicide, tractors with spray booms. HRWP staffs a fully trained backpack herbicide crew knowledgeable in both native and exotic upland and wetland plant species. Rate/application quotes provided after site visits due to the complexity of various projects and persistence of certain vegetation species composition(s).

Gopher Tortoise Services

HRWP offers gopher tortoise relocation habitat surveys, permitting and relocation services by two FFWCC Approved Authorized Agents for the State threatened and/or federally listed gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) throughout its range. Whether you are a corporation planning a new housing development, a private landowner with tortoise relocation issues or a government entity building new infrastructure, HRWP can assess your need to relocate this protected species. HRWP can guide you through the permitting process and complete the application on your behalf. Our experienced, trained backhoe operators carefully excavate the animals from their burrows. All protected species (including commensal species) are treated with the utmost care and handled according to State regulatory laws. HRWP has extensive experience in measuring, weighing and conducting health assessments on gopher tortoises. Blood samples are taken (when applicable) and sent to the lab to test for certain diseases (including Upper Respiratory Tract Disease). HRWP has several clients with approved Gopher Tortoise Recipient Sites located throughout Florida and the southeast United States and can negotiate on your behalf to obtain suitable habitat and pricing for your relocation project.

Native Seed Collection and Habitat Restoration

Since 1995, personnel that currently work with Habitat Restoration & Wildlife Protection Services, LLC. (HRWP) have been experimenting with different seed collection and distribution techniques. Working with a number of professional botanists, restoration ecologists, planners, agency personnel, equipment manufacturers and earthmoving contractors, they have developed methods for restoring and/or reclaiming native groundcover of specific plant communities. These include scrub, sandhill, pine/palmetto flatwoods, seepage slope, and wet prairies. HRWP has been able to make it economically feasible to restore these type systems and have successfully completed several projects since 1995. HRWP offers these services to those private individuals, government agencies and/or non-governmental organizations interested in restoring degraded or highly impacted natural habitat or Bahia grass pastures. HRWP list of services includes: evaluation and prescription for ecological restoration of upland and wetland ecosystems, plant identification, rare and/or endangered plant and animal surveys, research and development, prescribed burning and detailed restoration monitoring and reporting.

Native Seed & Available Collection Sites

HRWP has several thousand acres of land under contract that are used for native seed collection. These areas include scrub, sandhill, pine/palmetto flatwoods, seepage slope, and wet prairie plant communities. Seed collection and mixes can be customized to meet specific plant frequency or occurrence criteria.

Habitat Restoration Services and Available Equipment

HRWP staff begins the restoration process by thoroughly preparing the seed bed. This is usually accomplished with one or two rounds of harrowing with a disc. In the case of disturbed sites and/or Bahia grass pasture areas, one or two herbicide applications may be required prior to disking to control invasive weeds. Seed is then harvested with differing types of equipment. A green silage cutter, flail-o-vac, pull-behind seed stripper, mechanical sweep collector or simple hand collection may be employed depending on the terrain and targeted seed. Hand collection offers the ability to collect unique seeds otherwise missed through mechanical collection. Seed is then carefully spread, dried, and sorted in preparation for seeding or transferred directly to the seed bed site for installation.

Professional Follow-up Monitoring, Management & Prescribed Burning Services

Successful restoration often times is determined by each community type’s ability to carry low intensity fires naturally. HRWP also offers consulting services that include follow-up maintenance, monitoring and prescribed burning.

Direct Seed Collection & Restoration Costs

HRWP will provide a detailed consulting analysis of each restoration project and provide a per acre price based on the plant community type. Mobilization costs will be negotiated on a case by case basis and/or included in the per acre price. Costs typically range from $880.00 to $1,950.00 per acre depending on the plant community, project location and site preparation needed to achieve the required restoration goals.

Prescribed Burning

Fire is an essential ecological process required by many fire dependant ecosystems. In Florida and the southeast U.S, fire exclusion has left many ecosystems with heavy fuels that are at risk of becoming intense wildfires that threaten homes and have the potential to cause severe damage to natural systems. These same overgrown conditions, also make it unsuitable for many native listed species (i.e. gopher tortoises and Florida scrub jays) to survive or at the very least drastically reduces their ability to have viable populations.

HRWP is trained to assess fire risks and habitat conditions for various type plants and/or wildlife species in order to develop fire management plans. HRWP employs a fully certified professional prescribed manager and utilizes well trained burn technicians, capable of burning in various types of situations from a typical rural pasture burn to complex urban interface burn within areas with smoke sensitive considerations. We are willing and able to evaluate client needs and discuss prescriptions needed for all situations.

Prescribed Burn Planning & Available Equipment

Each Burn team shall include at a minimum: (1) state-certified burn boss, (1) Type 6 Engine w/ experienced brush truck operator, (1) tractor w/ disk and operator and/or dozer w/fire plow, and (1) trained crew member. Additional fire equipment and additional crew members may be used depending on the location of the burn unit (near population centers, smoke sensitive areas, etc.). Contact HRWP Fire Team to request a free site visit and estimate for preparing prescribed burn plans, management plans and conducting certified broadcast and/or pile burns, and post-burn (wildfire) habitat rehabilitation. Equipment transport and travel costs are typically included in cost estimates per vehicle and will be minimized by using local crews, deployed from HRWP’s closest office location.

Avian Translocation and Radio-telemetry

HRWP offers translocation and radio-telemetry services for listed avian species such as the Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) and Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia). Whether you are a private corporation planning a development complex or an agency preparing public conservation plans, HRWP can assess your need to protect the habitat needed to maintain viable healthy populations of specific avian species. HRWP is fully qualified to prepare Habitat Restoration and/or Habitat Conservation Plans. Our experienced, trained wildlife biologists are capable of permitting, handling and tracking avian species, all of which are treated according to United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife protocols. Blood samples are typically sent to Cornell University for DNA analysis and/or sexing. HRWP is capable of locating appropriate translocation sites, manage existing habitats and/or negotiate to obtain suitable habitat and pricing for your translocation project.