Enrollment opens for ranchers to join Florida Panther Ecosystem pilot program

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is launching the Florida Panther Payment for Ecosystem Services pilot program for ranchers.

The program will provide per-acre payments for habitat conditions supporting panther conservation and landscape connectivity.

• RELATED: FWC enlists landowner’s assistance in endangered panther conservation

Jim Strickland said he just had a feeling that panthers were in the area.

“We knew there were panthers here,” said Strickland. “We’d seen panther tracks.”

Strickland, owner of Blackbeard’s Ranch, hadn’t seen a panther his whole life until nine months ago.

“It ran directly in front of me, directly in front of me, probably 50 yards,” said Strickland. “I had another young man that was with me, and both of us just stopped, and he was going, ‘That’s a– that’s a– that’s a–‘ I said, ‘That was a panther.'”

Strickland has been a cowboy all his life and wanted to continue being part of the conservation of wildlife in Florida.

“It was one of, I think, one of the most momentous times in Florida, truly is. This is a public-private partnership to pay ranchers that provide habitat for endangered species, money we’re feeding those panthers. We needed to get paid.”

Depending on your proximity to the panther habitat, ranchers can get paid up to $17 an acre.

WINK News reporter Zoe Warner spoke with Luis Gonzales, a spokesperson for the FWC, who said this is pivotal for the state of Florida.

He said that private land ownership and public land ownership are both important to conservation.

“Private lands are over 50% of the composition within the state of Florida,” said Gonzales. “So without them, we could not provide landscape level conservation throughout the entire state, there are critical linkages between existing, publicly owned conservation lands, and they are a key to provide those linkages for wide-ranging species such as the Florida panther.”

The question I had was: Why do we need more space when there is already a panther habitat?

Strickland said Floridians need more space even though there is already a panther habitat.

“Because 27,000 acres may take care of four or five panthers,” said Strickland. “That’s it, and those panthers are going to travel, so if we can build on those hubs like our parks, whether it’s state or federal parks, and then actually go pay the people that feed the panthers.”

And Strickland can speak for his rancher friends; this is bigger than just a habitat.

“We all have passion for animals,” Strickland said. “Ranchers really have a passion for conservation and the species that are on their ranches. We also have to be environmentally conscious, financially conscious that there’s times that we don’t make a lot of money, and if we lose four or five calves, or if we lose 15 calves, depending on the operation, that could really hurt us financially.”