The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, a non-profit organization focused on creating wildlife corridors to keep Florida wild, will launch January 10, 2015.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition team will hike, bike and paddle their way more than 900 miles across the heart of Florida on a 70-day long journey. The Florida Wildlife Corridor is devoted to advancing a statewide network of wildlife corridors in order to ensure the long-term survival of wildlife, the health of life-sustaining freshwater flows and the continued vibrancy of Florida’s rural way of life. Conservationist Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, Biologist Joe Guthrie and Photographer and National Geographic Explorer, Carlton Ward Jr. will make the journey from the Everglades Headwaters in Central Florida, across the Panhandle to the Alabama border.

The trek will show a side of Florida that not many people, including Floridians, get the chance to see. With eleven thousand miles of rivers, 27 springs, and nearly eight thousand lakes larger than 10 acres the Expedition team is taking the road less traveled by traversing the state as native Florida species do.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor encompasses a 15.8 million acre opportunity area of minimally developed land. The Corridor team and partners advocate for the protection of the “missing links” of the Corridor, estimated at roughly two million acres of highest priority lands still in need of protection to ensure the long-term viability of the Corridor. The Corridor provides habitat for 42 federally listed endangered species and 176 state listed endangered species. Some endangered species include the Whooping Crane, Florida Panther, West Indian Manatee, Green Turtle, Leatherback Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle, Gulf Sturgeon and many more.

From the team:

Why We Walk:

1. To connect, protect and restore corridors of conserved lands and waters essential for the survival of Florida’s diverse wildlife
2. To restore and protect our life-giving springs and rivers
3. To sustain food production, economies, and culture surrounding Gulf seafood harvests
4. To restore longleaf pine forests while conserving farms, working lands, and the communities they support

» Next page: Meet the Expedition Team

Meet the Expedition Team:

Mallory Lykes Dimmitt | Conservationist

Mallory Lykes Dimmitt is a seventh generation Floridian whose childhood was partly spent exploring the lands and waters of Central Florida. She pursued her passion for the outdoors into a career, receiving her B.S. in Natural Resources from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She was also awarded a Doris Duke Conservation Fellowship at Duke University’s Nicholas School of Environment where she earned a Master’s of Environmental Management.

Some of Mallory’s projects include protecting river corridors and large landscapes in Southwest Colorado and across the Colorado Plateau with The Nature Conservancy, research abroad for the International Water Management Institute and strategic planning and organizational development for the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Instagram @mdimmitt   |   Twitter @mdimmitt

Joe Guthrie | Wildlife Biologist

Joe Guthrie is a wildlife biologist based in St. Petersburg. He works as a consultant for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Joe is a graduate of Centre College with a bachelor’s degree in English, as well as a Master’s of Science in Forestry from the University of Kentucky.

Joe’s graduate school research on Florida black bears in South Central Florida provided the inspiration for the 2012 Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, and was a key factor in the establishment of Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge. His work with NWRA focuses on expanding the National Wildlife Refuge System throughout the Gulf Region, including the Florida Everglades. 

Instagram @joeguthrie8   |   Twitter @JoeGuthrie8

Carlton Ward Jr | Conservation Photographer

Carlton Ward Jr is a conservation photographer and eighth generation Floridian focused on Florida's living heritage. His work has been published in Audubon, Smithsonian, Geo, Nature Conservancy and National Geographic Magazines and regularly in the Tampa Bay Times, where he was a photo intern in 2001. His books include The Edge of Africa (2003), Florida Cowboys (2009) and Florida Wildlife Corridor: Everglades to Okefenokee (2013).

Carlton has a Master’s in Ecology from the University of Florida and wrote the first thesis on the field of Conservation Photography. He is a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), National Geographic Explorer and Fellow of the Explorers Club. He founded the Florida Wildlife Corridor campaign in 2010.

Instagram @CarltonWard

Links:

FloridaWildlifeCorridor.org   |   Facebook @FloridaWildlifeCorridor
Instagram @FL_WildCorridor   |   Twitter @FL_WildCorridor