1 / 26

Wildlife Habitat Improvements from Improved Water Quality

Wildlife Habitat Improvements from Improved Water Quality. Paul W. Thomas, Fisheries Biologist Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “Managing fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people.”. VACATION PICTURES SUMMER 2011!!!. Insert

kesler
Download Presentation

Wildlife Habitat Improvements from Improved Water Quality

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Wildlife Habitat Improvements from Improved Water Quality Paul W. Thomas, Fisheries Biologist Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “Managing fish and wildlife resources for theirlong-term well-being and the benefit of people.”

  2. VACATION PICTURESSUMMER 2011!!! Insert Crowd Applause Here…

  3. New Title – “A Thirty-thousand Foot View of Watershed Development, Management, and Improved Water Quality’s Effects on Fish and Wildlife Habitat and What That Means to the Critters and People of the State of Florida” <Whew>…Right?

  4. What is Water Quality?

  5. For Fish and Wildlife… • Dissolved Oxygen • Temperature Range • pH • Salinity • Dissolved Solids • Quantity - mfls

  6. Within Watershed – Control Over… • Land Use • Water Use • Point Source Inflows • Runoff • Flows and Levels – Control Structures • Access

  7. Some Control…Invasives!

  8. What We Can’t Control… • Rainfall • Natural Disasters • Climate Change • Drought

  9. The Big Assumption…

  10. Fish, Wildlife, and Aquatic Natural Resources are Important…to Somebody!

  11. The Challenge… Getting the Public to See the Connectivity Between Water Quality, Fish and Wildlife Habitat, and the Watershed They Live In!

  12. Caring Through Economics • Bass Fishing – generates $1.25 Billion and 16 million days of fishing annually in Florida • 2.8 million licensed fresh water anglers

  13. Birding – 48 million participants, $3.0 Billion generated AND a new Steve Martin/Jack Black/Owen Wilson movie!

  14. Smart Development=Effective Watershed Management = Improved Water Quality=Healthy Fish and Wildlife Habitat =Sustainable Fish and Wildlife Populations=Economic Prosperity

  15. Kissimmee River Restoration

  16. So Umm…What’s Happened? • Dissolved oxygen levels doubled! • Wading bird numbers tripled! • Return of duck species including Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, and Ring-necks! • Sportfish percent composition increased from 38 to 63 percent!

  17. Something to Think About…

  18. Bass Regards and Tight Lines from FWC’s Fresh Fish Folk! Questions? Oh…Okay…Go Ahead!

More Related