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Santa Rosa County and NAS Whiting Field honored for Wolf Creek Forest conservation partnership
Summary
Santa Rosa County and Naval Air Station Whiting Field received the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation’s Sable Award for an 14,000+-acre partnership that conserved longleaf pine habitat and connected parcels in the Florida Wildlife Corridor; partners credited years of collaboration and noted ecological and economic benefits.
Santa Rosa County and Naval Air Station Whiting Field were recognized Monday with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation’s Sable Award for innovative partnerships, a county presentation said.
Vernon Compton, director of the Gulf Coast to Plain Ecosystem Partnership for the Longleaf Alliance, said the Wolf Creek Forest Project conserved more than 14,000 acres across a subdivided landscape through two decades of partnership. Compton said the award highlighted collaboration among state and federal agencies, conservation organizations and local government to maintain habitat connectivity for longleaf pine ecosystems.
Compton read the award announcement noting the partnership included the Longleaf Alliance, Trust for Public Land, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Forever, NAS Whiting Field and Santa Rosa County. The announcement said longleaf pine forest represents one of Earth’s most ecologically diverse ecosystems and that the Wolf Creek Project protects seepage and stream systems that support aquatic species including the endangered Gulf sturgeon.
Randy Roy of Naval Air Station Whiting Field described the partnership’s history and financial scale. “Today is over 20,000 acres and $60,000,000 that has been put in to save $1,600,000,000 economic impact to this local community,” Roy said, and he credited decades of coordination to protect the Navy’s mission buffers while conserving habitat.
Speakers noted the award was presented at the Corridor Connect event in June, which organizers said drew more than 700 participants representing roughly 300 organizations. Commissioners and base leaders said the recognition underscores long-term local and regional benefits from coordinated conservation and land-use planning.
