Planning

Comprehensive Conservation Plan

Refuge conservation plans are called “comprehensive conservation plans” (CCPs). The purpose of a CCP is to specify a management direction for the Refuge for the next 15 years. The goals, objectives, and strategies for improving Refuge conditions—including the types of habitat we will provide, partnership opportunities, and management actions needed to achieve desired conditions – are described in the CCP. The Service’s preferred alternative for managing the Refuge and its effects on the human environment, are described in the CCP as well.

About the Complex

Southwest Florida Gulf Coast Refuge Complex

Collier County, Florida is home to two National Wildlife Refuges: Florida Panther NWR and Ten Thousand Islands NWR.

Florida Panther is managed as part of the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast Refuge Complex.

About the NWRS

National Wildlife Refuge System

The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife, and plants.

Happenings on the Refuge

• Hunting at Ten Thousand Islands NWR

  

  This 2016-2017 season, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge continues to provide the Hunting Regulations and Permit online. Click the link below to go straight to the permit and print one out for yourself!

  Hunting Regulations and Permit

• Orchid Conservation and Research

  

  Throughout the month of July, Dr. Ernesto Mujica from Cuba's Ministry of Science ECOVIDA Research Center and researchers from Illinois College have worked together to inventory, monitor, and ultimately begin a new chapter of critical conservation work for the revered ghost orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii at Florida Panther National Wildlife Refge

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• South Florida Deer Research Project

  

  Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge is proud to serve as a research site for one of the largest Florida white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus seminolus) studies ever conducted in the state! The South Florida Deer Research Project is made possible through partnership between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the University of Georgia. In addition to the Project's leading partners, researchers and managers from multiple organizations are involved along with Big Cypress National Preserve also hosting as a research site. This long term and large scale study aims to gain a better understanding of our deer ecology, including how habitat, hydrology, predation, and hunting impact deer population dynamics.

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• Let's Go Outside

  

  Nature turns frowns upside down. Studies indicate that children who play and explore outdoors are less stressed and may further benefit by learning confidence and social skills. In nature, kids and families get a chance to move at life’s natural pace, where time disappears, no one is bored, and exploration turns into fun adventure.

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