Content deleted Content added
Line 11:
| map_width = 240
| map_caption =
| location = [[Volusia County, Florida|Volusia County]], [[Florida]],
| nearest_city = [[DeLand, Florida|DeLand]] or [[Pierson, Florida|Pierson]] <small>(town)</small>
| lat_d = 29.15546
Line 33:
Prior to European settlement, the area had for thousands of years been the home to native American tribes like the extinct [[Timucua]]. They left behind a rich archaeological history in the form of large [[midden]]s of freshwater shellfish, which they deposited along the banks of the St. Johns River and Lake George. The Bluffton Mound and [[Midden]] at the Bluffton Recreation Area in Lake George State Forest is one such example.<ref name=DOF/>
Lake George State Forest is formed from lands previously resourced for timber, production of naval stores, cattle grazing, and hunting. [[Taxodium distichum|Cypress]] logging, by way of canals dug into the swampland, occurred up until 1910. The 1930s saw much of the land forested with [[longleaf pine|longleaf]] and [[slash pine]], or left in service of the [[Florida
Dry conditions brought on by severe drought led to massive wildfires in 1998, which left close to half of the forest charred and damaged. After efforts to salvage the area's timber, restoration again involved planting of pine seedlings.<ref name=DOF/>
Line 43:
The arboreal composition of the Lake George State Forest is primarily longleaf and slash pines, with bald cypress and other bottomland hardwood hammocks found in lowland deposits and along the floodplain.<ref name=DOF/>
Lake George State Forest is part of two [[Wildlife Management Area]]s (''WMA'') managed through the [[Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission]]. The forest's two southern tracts form the Dexter/Mary Farms Unit WMA,<ref name=WMA>[http://myfwc.com/Recreation/WMASites_LakeGeorgeDexterMaryFarmsUnit_index.htm "Lake George Dexter/Mary Farms Unit".] ''[[Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission]]''. Retrieved March 27, 2010.</ref> while the Astor Tract is grouped with adjacent land (like SJRWMD's and Volusia County's Lake George Forest and Conservation Area) to form the Lake George WMA.<ref>[http://myfwc.com/Recreation/WMASites_LakeGeorge_index.htm "Lake George WMA".] ''[[Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission]]''. Retrieved March 27, 2010.</ref> The WMAs of Lake George State Forest are part of a network of protected lands forming a [[wildlife corridor]] and roaming habitat which is critical to the survival of the [[
== Recreation ==
| |||