MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- A 10-year plan for the Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area will be presented Aug. 1, a Thursday, at a public hearing in Glades County.
(photo and video by Don Browne - Fisheating Creek)
Fisheating Creek WMA is a place full of history and wildlife, as well as outdoor recreation opportunities. Its Creek Indian name, Thlothlopopka-hatchee, means “the creek where fish are eaten.” The first known settlements occurred between 1,000 and 500 B.C., when early inhabitants known as the Belle Glade people built mounds and subsisted by netting fish and harvesting turtles, snakes and alligators.
Today, Fisheating Creek WMA stretches for 40 miles in Glades County along the course of the only free-flowing tributary to Lake Okeechobee. Framed by bald cypress swamps and hardwood hammocks, the tea-colored blackwater creek shows off wild Florida and is critical habitat for native species such as panther, black bear and swallowtail kite.
People come to Fisheating Creek WMA to paddle canoes or kayaks, watch wildlife, camp, hunt and fish. This is a place where hunters have a good chance of harvesting a prized Osceola turkey.
A 7 p.m. public hearing at the Glades County Commission Chambers, 500 Avenue J in Moore Haven will be August 1.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) staff will present the draft land management plan for FWC-managed portions of the Fisheating Creek WMA, and people are encouraged to comment and ask questions.
All lands purchased with public funds must have a management plan that ensures the property will be managed in a manner that is consistent with the intended purposes of the purchase.
Hunting and fishing regulations are not included in this plan or meeting; those are addressed through a separate public process.
To obtain a copy of the draft land management prospectus for Fisheating Creek WMA, call Diana Kilgore at 850-487-7063 or David Alden at 850-487-9588, or email Diana.Kilgore@myfwc.com.
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