KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – North Florida Land Trust still needs volunteers to join them for a property tour and cleanup at Little Rain Lake. The nonprofit land conservation organization is hosting the event on Saturday, Nov. 5, starting at 9:30 a.m. to remove the trash on the 578 acres that NFLT protected and is currently restoring.

Volunteers will participate in a hayride which will take them to the area where the cleanup will occur. Along the way, NFLT staff and guides will stop to explain the landscape and the restoration efforts that are underway to bring back some disappearing habitats that are essential for many plant and animal species.

Participants can register for the event at www.nflt.org/2022/09/30/little-rain-lake-volunteer-day/. Volunteers must be able to work in the sun and lift 15 pounds. Helpers should wear closed-toe shoes and clothes they don’t mind getting dirty. Please bring work gloves, a bucket and pickers if you have them, plus water in a reusable water bottle. Volunteers may also want to bring sunscreen, insect repellent, a hat, and sunglasses. NFLT will have additional gloves, trash bags and supplies.

Volunteers will meet at the Little Rain Lake ballfield at 6725 Little Rain Lake Road at 9:30 a.m. where they will be briefed on the workday and what to expect. NFLT will then transport everyone to the cleanup site via the hayride. The event is expected to last until noon.

NFLT acquired 415 acres of land in Clay County in 2017, which is home to an endangered sandhill forest with a longleaf pine ecosystem. Little Rain Lake Preserve is near Little Rain Lake Park and close to Camp Blanding. The land was acquired through funding from with the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program. The REPI program identified the land as a prime candidate for conservation and important for the protection of military lands from the threat of encroaching development.

“Preserving this land is important not only to act as a buffer for Camp Blanding but also to restore and preserve one of Florida’s most endangered ecosystems,” said Jim McCarthy, president of NFLT. “Longleaf pine forests were once a widespread ecosystem throughout the state but has experienced a 98% decline. We plan to restore the property by reintroducing prescribed burns to promote the growth of the longleaf pines, which protect the habitats of many threatened and endangered species.”

Little Rain Lake Preserve is a sandhill community, which is a longleaf pine ecosystem characterized by gently rolling terrain that provides important habitat for many Florida species including the gopher tortoise, indigo snake, Sherman’s fox squirrel and the Florida Black Bear. It is within the “O2O” corridor, which is a nationally critical wildlife corridor that stretches from the Ocala National Forest to the Osceola National Forest and eventually to the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. NFLT has organized a new partnership to combine the efforts of state and federal agencies with nonprofits’ efforts to preserve and restore this important wildlife corridor.

The REPI program is designed to secure buffers around military installation to protect the military mission. Preserving the land around Camp Blanding will allow Florida National Guard soldiers to train to the fence line without fear of affecting the quality of life for neighbors.