CONTACT: Bob Taylor
c/o Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition
863-439-2251; RTa33851@aol.com

CONTACT: Brian Ososky
Director of Marketing & Public Relations
863-734-1210; bososky@boktower.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2013

Bok Tower Gardens to host
Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition Presentation Feb. 15

1,000 Miles in 100 Days through Florida’s
Wilderness and Ranch Lands

LAKE WALES, Fla. — Guests fortunate to have made early reservations will experience the natural and wild side of Florida in the comfort of the Bok Tower Gardens Visitor Center on Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m.  Florida environmental heroes, Elam Stoltzfus and Carlton Ward Jr., will describe the great adventure of traveling 1,000 miles in 100 days from the Everglades to Okefenokee using narrative, slides and film clips.

The program begins at 6 p.m. with light refreshments and a silent auction, and the presentation begins at 7 p.m.  The event has been sold out for weeks in anticipation of learning more about both this amazing journey and The Florida Water and Land Legacy Initiative put in place to save wild Florida for future generations. The evening celebrates a collaborative vision to connect remaining natural lands, waters, working farms, forests, and ranches to protect a functional ecological corridor for the health of people, wildlife and watersheds.

Nationally recognized filmmaker, Elam Stoltzfus, documents Florida the way it used to be—untamed, flourishing and undeveloped. He uses his films to encourage Floridians to preserve what wild places are left of our natural heritage. For this project, Stoltzfus traveled up Florida from the Everglades to the Okefenokee with Conservation Photographer Carlton Ward Jr., Bear Biologist Joe Guthrie, and Conservationist Mallory Dimmit. His documentary brings to light a “wildlife corridor” connecting Florida’s flora and fauna to the rest of the country.

Beginning January 17, 2012, the group traversed the Everglades ecosystem into Big Cypress, over to the Everglades Agricultural Area, back to the Okaloacoochee Slough, across the Caloosahatchee, over to Babcock Ranch, back along Fisheating Creek toward Lake Okeechobee, up the Kissimmee River with excursions toward the Lake Wales Ridge, up the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, east around Orlando into Ocala National Forest, and north along the O2O corridor (Ocala to Osceola) to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The trek covered more than 1,000 miles in 100 days.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Goals are to:

• Protect and restore connected landscapes throughout the Florida Peninsula to create a viable corridor from the Everglades to Georgia
• Protect and restore habitat and migration corridors essential for the survival of Florida’s diverse wildlife, including wide-ranging panthers, black bears, and other native species
• Restore water flow to the Everglades and sustain water supply to southern Florida
• Continue to safeguard the St. John’s River and water supply for central and north Florida
• Sustain the food production, economies, and cultural legacies of working ranches and farms within the corridor
• Bolster local economies through increased opportunities such as hunting, fishing, birdwatching, and other forms of eco-tourism
• Give wildlife and plants room to adapt to a changing climate and sea level rise

This event is sponsored in part by Bok Tower Gardens, Florida Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, Imperial Polk County Cattlemen’s Association, and the Lake Region Audubon Society. Proceeds benefit the Florida Water and Land Legacy Initiative.

For more information, visit www.floridawildlifecorridor.org.

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Download printable PDF - Download Presentation Flyer

About Bok Tower Gardens:
Voted Florida’s best garden, Bok Tower Gardens is a National Historic Landmark located 10 miles from LEGOLAND Florida, 55 miles southwest of Orlando and 60 miles east of Tampa near Lake Wales in Central Florida’s rolling hills of citrus. Open every day of the year from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Visitor Center, Café and Gift Shop are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults and $3 for ages 5-12. Members and children under 5 are admitted free. LEGOLAND ticket holders will receive free admission for children under 12. For more information, contact Bok Tower Gardens, 1151 Tower Boulevard, Lake Wales FL 33853; 863-676-1408 or visit www.BokTowerGardens.org.