Dr. Paul Gray manages the National Audubon Society Ordway-Whittell Kissimmee Prairie Sanctuary located in the north central Okeechobee County. Present management leaves the Sanctuary as a wilderness area and there are no facilities at the site..
The pictures below were taken by Dr. Gray, and show why it is important to preserve this land for future generations:
This Sanctuary has 7,315 acres of Florida's "dry prairie" ecosystem. Florida once had 3,000,000 acres of dry prairies, but close to 90% of those have been converted into other land uses.
Dry prairies occupy very flat, poorly drained areas and are dominated by saw palmettos and grasses, especially wire grass.
Dry prairies often have between 100-200 plant species per acre, making them one of the most diverse plant communities in North America.
About one third of the Sanctuary is composed of wetlands. Tree hammocks occur in fire shadows near wetlands, with cabbage palms, live oaks, and southern slash pine dominant.
Links to other sites on the Web
Lake Okeechobee
Riverwoods Field Laboratory
Center for Conservation
Swampland Bird Tours
Birds of the Kissimmee Valley
Florida Audubon
For more information about this wilderness land and the Kissimmee River prairie:
Lake Okeechobee Sanctuaries
100 Riverwoods Circle
Lorida, Fl. 33857
941-467-8497
or email
pgray@audubon.org
© 1997
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