Ocala National Forest
Fern Hammock Springs Ocala National Forest (Photo by Diana Rose)
The Ocala National Forest is the central feature of the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway. The forest is composed of approximately 389,000 acres, and fronts about 169 miles of the Byway. This represents more than half of the Byway’s 289 miles of total road frontage. The Forest was established in 1908, making it the oldest National Forest east of the Mississippi River. It is also the southernmost National forest in the continental U.S. The forest is bounded on the north and west by the Ocklawaha River and the Cross Florida Greenway, and on the north and east by the St. Johns River and the 46,000 acre Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida. The St. Johns River is designated an American Heritage River. The Ocklawaha is designated an Outstanding Florida Water.
The Ocala National Forest contains the world’s largest sand pine scrub, an increasingly rare natural community that is home to plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. These plants and animals have adapted to the near desert like conditions found in the scrub, conditions brought about by the coarse, nutrient poor soils that allow rainwater to rapidly percolate out of reach of plant roots. The scrub depends upon fires occurring at 20 to 80 year intervals to maintain its ecology.
A GIS analysis of the Florida Vegetation and Land Cover data set produced by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2003 produces some startling facts concerning the importance of the Ocala National Forest. Two of the most endangered natural communities in the United States are Sand Pine Scrub and Xeric oak Scrub. According to the FFWCC data set, the Ocala National Forest contains 72% of the state’s Sand Pine Scrub, and 43% of the state’s Xeric Oak Scrub. The Sand Pine Scrub is fire dependent; the forest requires periodic burning for the continuation of the natural community.
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