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Natural Areas Training Academy

photo of outdoor class

The Nature Conservancy’s Bryan Kreiter demonstrates restoration
equipment used at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve during
“Restoration Planning and Techniques for Forested Lands” course

Florida's Natural Areas Training Academy is a partnership of The Nature Conservancy and The University of Florida IFAS Extension. Academy training is managed by University of Florida's Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in partnership with The Nature Conservancy.

NATA instructors are managers with many years of experience with The Nature Conservancy, the University of Florida and other universities, and many public and private land management agencies.

2010-2011 Course Schedule

*These workshops are part of the Certificate in Natural Areas Management series

Basic Wildland Firefighter Training August 9-13, 2010
Conservation Site Assessment and Planning* September 14-16, 2010
Managing Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas* October 19-21, 2010
Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes* November 16-18, 2010
Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context
Spring, 2011
Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems* Spring, 2011
Interagency Prescribed Fire Training* Various

Participants can register for a single workshop or take the series of courses that lead to the Certificate in Natural Areas Management (CNAM), the academy’s core program. The CNAM is a series of five workshops that provide the basic skills necessary to become an effective natural lands manager in Florida. The Academy’s program has been endorsed by the Natural Areas Association as an outstanding training program. Since June, 2000 the Natural Areas Training Academy has awarded more than 115 Certificates in Natural Areas Management. Participants may take these workshops in any order, in a single academic season, or over a number of seasons.

Special interest workshops allow in depth exploration of specific topics relevant to land management.

Managing Visitors and Volunteers in Natural Areas
This workshop provides comprehensive guidance for managers on the issues associated with successfully integrating visitors and volunteers into the work of natural areas management. This workshop is relevant for natural areas managers who work in remote wilderness preserves as well as for those managers who work in parks and preserves with more intense visitor use. Included is a case study field trip examining resource-based recreation.

Participants will learn:

How managers have successfully dealt with visitor use issues.
How to successfully implement passive-use recreation.
How to implement ADA guidelines.
How good communication with visitors and the public can help accomplish resource
management goals.
How interpretive materials can be used to teach visitors.
How different models of volunteer programs are used and implemented.

Managing for Diversity Across Florida’s Unique Landscapes
This workshop focuses on management and restoration approaches for conserving Florida's biodiversity and utilizes restoration of biodiversity at The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve as a case study example.
Participants will learn to:

Identify factors that cause and support Florida's high biodiversity.
Use management practices to restore ecological processes and natural communities.
Identify and control invasive, nonnative species that threaten biodiversity.

Vegetation Monitoring in a Management Context
This workshop is a practical step-by-step guide to establish and manage monitoring protocols for plant community work. Both in depth field techniques and statistical analysis tools are covered.

Participants will learn to:

Develop sampling designs for well-defined objectives.
Determine monitoring priorities in an adaptive management context.
Implement techniques in the field.
Interpret and manipulate data for presentation.

Working Across Boundaries to Protect Ecosystems
The goals of this workshop are to demonstrate how political, social and ecological forces can affect natural areas and how some managers are working to address these issues through innovative strategies. In order to accomplish these goals, this workshop includes the following elements:

A field tour of the Wekiva River basin, selected conservation areas including Wekiva and Rock Springs, to thoroughly examine the issues and proposed solutions (includes canoe trip, weather permitting!)
Study of the theory and practice of ecosystem management
An opportunity for participants to evaluate other ecosystems within the context of the case studies presented
Tools for identifying threats that originate outside the boundaries of protected areas, determining which could be mitigated, and developing threat abatement strategies that operate at the appropriate scale
Examples of partnerships and people who are working effectively to address ecosystem-scale threats
Tools for creating partnerships and working with surrounding communities: communication, facilitation and collaborative process techniques for helping people work together

Partner Involvement

The University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation assumed the primary leadership role for the Natural Areas Training Academy beginning in October, 2008. The Nature Conservancy continues to be an active partner providing the Academy with funding, training venues, and the majority of instructors for Academy courses this year. Courses continue to be held at Nature Conservancy Preserves such as the Disney Wilderness Preserve in Kissimmee and the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in Bristol, Florida.

The Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation provides NATA with office space, administrative support, IT support, and a Faculty Program Leader, Dr. Holly K. Ober, who provides guidance and oversight to the Academy. Dr. Ober’s guidance and leadership enabled the Academy to transition seamlessly to its new home and contributed greatly to the success of the Academy this season. Her influence is a welcome addition to the Academy.

The Academy’s new home under the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation will also enable the Natural Areas Training Academy to develop wildlife related courses pertinent for conservation land managers in Florida such as training for authorized gopher tortoise agents in Florida, as well as others. Additionally the Academy will be able to hold courses at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station located in Melrose, Florida, just outside of Gainesville.

The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station is a year-round biological field station established for the long-term study and conservation of unique ecosystems through management, research, and education. The entire station is approximately 9,100 acres. The property is a mosaic of wetlands and uplands that include sandhills, xeric hammock, upland mixed forest, swamps, marshes, clastic upland lakes, sandhill upland lakes, and marsh lakes. There is a variety of fauna which inhabit the Station including a number of state and federally listed species. Managers at the preserve maintain the habitat in excellent condition by prescribed burning. The North Florida Fire Strike Team, recently formed through a joint effort between the UF Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and The Nature Conservancy, is based out of the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station. Through this partnership the Academy is offering basic wildland fire training in August, 2009 and plans to continue to offer this training on a regular basis.

Financial support was obtained from all five water management districts who (combined) provided $31,250 in the second year of a five year contract. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission provided $25,000 in the third year of a three year contract. A private donor, Sally Venerable, generously provided the Academy with $20,000 in additional funding to develop and implement training for authorized gopher tortoise agents in Florida. The Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation provided $10,000 in funding for the development and implementation of basic wildland firefighter training to be held at the University of Florida and the Ordway Swisher Biological Station. The Nature Conservancy provided $5,000 in funding, training venues, and the majority of instructors for Academy courses this year.

For more information:

Linda Demetropoulos, Program Manager; Demetrop@ufl.edu
Call (352) 392-3210
Website and current training schedule: http://nata.snre.ufl.edu/

The National Trails Training Partnership

American Trails, P.O. Box 491797, Redding, CA 96049-1797 • (530) 547-2060 • Fax: (530) 547-2035 • nttp@americantrails.org • www.AmericanTrails.org

The National Trails Training Partnership is an alliance of Federal agencies, training providers, nationwide supporters, and providers of products and services. Visit the online calendar of training opportunities, access hundreds of trail-related resources, read the news, learn how you can help, and see training resources in your state.

This material is based upon work supported by the Federal Highway Administration under Cooperative Agreement DTFH61-06-H-00023. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the Author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Federal Highway Administration.

Related Pages:

Training & Education

Natural Areas Training Academy

The National Trails Training Partnership