FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  December 26, 2003
CONTACT: Kathalyn Gaither, (850) 245-2112

State Expands Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie

--226 acres added to the 7,661-acre Florida Forever project--

PENSACOLA - Perdido Bay and the rare white-top pitcher plant received further protection with the addition of 226 acres to the Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie. Acquired as a conservation easement, the Florida Forever purchase offers added protection to the bay while safeguarding Naval Air Station Pensacola from the threat of encroachment.

“This purchase further merges our mission of environmental protection with that of national defense,” said Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary David B. Struhs. “Conserving these lands preserves the environmental integrity of Perdido Bay while increasing the land buffer that protects this important military installation from encroachment.”

In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, DEP has acquired more than half of the 7,661-acre conservation project adjacent to NAS Pensacola. Placing the lands into conservation protects two and a half miles of Perdido Bay from development and maintains the viability of naval aviation training essential to NAS Pensacola.

Located west of Pensacola, Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie supports one of the largest strands of white-top pitcher plants in Florida. The rare and carnivorous white-top pitcher plant is unique to the Gulf Coast and found only between the Apalachicola and Mississippi Rivers. Almost 100 other rare plants and animals depend on the unusual wet prairie habitat, including the alligator snapping turtle, sweet pitcher plant and Chapman’s butterwort.

The acquisition, valued at $406,800, brings state ownership of the prairie to 4,070 acres. DEP’s Division of Recreation and Parks will manage the property as part of the Tarklin Bayou Preserve State Park.