Gulf Power Company has a long history of working to provide reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible electricity to our customers. Through our dedication to the communities we serve and our commitment to the environment, Gulf Power has invested in what matters to the future of Northwest Florida. • Protecting and restoring forests across Northwest Florida • Giving back to our communities • Preserving natural beauty • Restoring critical habitats http://www.gulfpower.com/community/stewardship/home.cshtml
7,550 sq mi 3 territory 8 generating counties facilities 100 71 substations towns 1,600 mi > 1,400 transmission employees lines > 3,900 19,000 acres acres > 10,000 recreation ROWs acres leases forest
Apalachicola Perdido River Longleaf Customers & Bluffs Preserve Restoration Community • Provided $385,000 to accelerate reforestation and help restore groundcover on the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve • Employee volunteers have planted longleaf seedlings and wiregrass, and carved firebreaks and a hiking trail at Perdido River Preserve • Restoring over 600 acres of longleaf habitat on Company property • Gulf Power Transformers , a 501(c)3, donates money and volunteer hours to aid many charitable and community projects throughout Northwest Florida
GCPEP Overview Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP) • Voluntary partnership formed in 1996 due to dramatic decline in longleaf pine habitat • Partnership now consists of 12 public and private landowners, spanning connected landscape of 1.05 million acres Partners include: Dept. of Defense National Park Service US Forest Service FL Dept. of Env. Protection FL Forest Service NW FL Water Mgmt. Dist. FL FWCC The Nature Conservancy Longleaf Alliance Nokuse Plantation Gulf Power Westervelt Ecological Svcs.
Accomplishments • Acreage enrolled in partnership increased from 840,000 to 1.05 M acres − Included protection of key wildlife corridors, buffers and inholdings • Actions increased critical to landscape-level conservation and at-risk-species recovery − Prescribed burning, invasive species control and longleaf pine restoration • Acres burned rose from 70,000 to >185,000 acres/year − Due to limited resources, partners created Vernon Compton Ecosystem Support Team that works across landscape
EST Fire History 643 Total Burns on 409,172 Acres
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) Success • 1996 : GCPEP partners established RCW recovery as a priority • 1998 : 312 active clusters − Eglin ( 280 ), Blackwater ( 18 ), Conecuh ( 14 ) • 2015 (Today): 570 potential breeding Eric Blackmore USFS groups - RCW population has increased on each of the partners’ lands − Eglin ( 432 ), Blackwater ( 98 ), Conecuh ( 40 ) Recovery focus includes habitat improvement through prescribed fire, Kathy Blackmore USFS cavity inserts/management, population Eric Blackmore augmentation with translocations
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