Saving wildlife under 1-10

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition is crossing through the Panhandle after hiking and biking from Central Florid – and kayaking - across and under some of the largest barriers to its goal of establishing a continuous wildlife corridor. FWCE generally goes through un-touched segments of the nation's third-largest state. But the trail also goes through places like the heavily-traveled I-4 superhighway northeast of Lakeland. Places like bear, cattle and reptile crossings under I-4 are among the reasons why the wildlife corridor expedition started. Part of their mission is to bring attention to having safe crossings over dangerous places for wildlife. I-10 is presenting a double barrier to their mission because there aren’t any wildlife crossings. Before I-10 was built, “thousands of turtles, alligators, snakes, a lot of reptiles and amphibians were killed," says Matt Aresco, director of the Nokuse Plantation in Freeport - a 53,000-acre conservation project. I-10 is considered a vital link between large conservation lands to the west, including Eglin Air Force Base Reserve and Blackwater River State Forest, and the Conecuh National Forest in Alabama. It is also part of the planned Northwest Florida Greenway that would link state, federal, and private conservation lands across southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. One key was getting the first I-10 corridor wildlife underpass built under U.S. 27 near Tallahassee. It took the state a decade to approve it. (Source: WUSF 03/011/15)