Meetings and announcements
Oct. 19
10 a.m.
Oct. 20
10 a.m.
Oct. 24
10 a.m.
The St. Johns River Water Management District will hold Fall Open Houses (peer review meetings) in October. The goal of the forums is to expand the existing dialogue between the regulated community and the District’s regulatory management team, discuss upcoming rule changes, new business practices and performance metrics, as well as to provide an opportunity to exchange ideas on the District administrative and technical permitting processes.
The District will host three in-person and virtual meetings at the following locations:
- Jacksonville, Thursday, Oct. 19, beginning at 10 a.m. at the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Jacksonville Service Center – 7775 Baymeadows Way, Suite 102, Jacksonville, FL 32256. Register to participate virtually at Jacksonville Open House Teams link.
- Apopka, Friday, Oct. 20, beginning at 10 a.m. at the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Apopka Service Center – 2501 South Binion, Apopka, FL 32073. Register to participate virtually at Apopka Open House Teams link.
- Palm Bay, Tuesday, Oct. 24, beginning at 10 a.m. at the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Palm Bay Service Center – 525 Community College Parkway, Palm Bay, FL 32909. Register to participate virtually at Palm Bay Open House Teams link.
To register, please send an email to contact_us_for_regulatory_permitting@sjrwmd.com. In your response, indicate whether you will attend in person or by Teams meeting.
Important update on using the Lake Washington weir
We are asking for the boating public’s help in preventing damage to Lake Washington. For anyone operating an airboat in this area, it is imperative that you use the airboat crossing in order to prevent future damage to the embankment. Please see our flyer for additional information.
Recreation announcements
Following is a list of properties that are closed or have portions closed due to ongoing land management activities. We regret the temporary inconvenience, but the closures are necessary for public safety. If you have concerns or comments about any of these activities, please contact us at landmgmt@sjrwmd.com or 386-329-4404.
Posted 6-22-2023
Repairs to the inclement weather shelter at the conservation area are ongoing. The shelter will remain closed until further notice for the public’s safety. See map for shelter location.
Updated 2-7-2023
The area along the L-77 West Levee in the Blue Cypress Water Management Area, also known as Lake Garcia, has been designated an idle speed zone. Signs have been posted on property and are located at the motorboat and airboat ramps of the 512 recreation area. The idle speed zone extends 300 feet east of the L-77 West levee. To assist boaters navigate around the work area and in identifying the no wake zone, the District has installed orange buoys with strobing lights in Lake Garcia.
This idle speed zone has been temporarily established to alleviate erosion at the levee toe and will remain in place for approximately two years as the District works on planned reinforcements to the levee and littoral zone.
See recreational map for other areas to visit in the area.
Posted 2-6-2023
The District has closed the airboat cross-over on L-77 west for approximately two months while repair work is ongoing. This crossing is located west of the 512 recreation area. The closure is for the public’s safety. During the construction, truck will be hauling materials and crossing the airboat cross-over, making it necessary to place a load of fill on the cross-over to protect it from damage
Southside Timber Sale
Posted 11-16-2022
Areas within Clark Bay Conservation Area totaling 181 acres (see map) will undergo a first thinning timber sale. The objective of this sale is tree density reduction, freeing up growing space for the best quality trees, thus maintaining and improving forest health. The white hiking trail may be impacted by the thinning operation. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. Contracts allow the work to be conducted through August 1, 2023. This work could impact hunting within the Tiger Bay Wildlife Management Area.
Posted 6-22-2023
The footbridge on the red trail within the Fort Drum Marsh Conservation Area is closed until notice. The footbridge was damaged and needs repairs for the public’s safety. Please see map for location.
Posted 5-10-2023
Work on powerlines at Fort Drum begins May 15, 2023, and is anticipated to continue through November 2023. Contractors will be working Monday through Saturday. During this time, public access through the east gate will be restricted to Sundays due to heavy construction truck traffic along the levee.
Posted 9-6-2023
The District has an extended idle speed zone posted in the S-canal heading south from Headwaters Boat Ramp. Boaters are asked to maintain idle speed in the area highlighted on the map while workers are present installing rip-rap along the levee, which is focused on reducing erosion. This work is anticipated to be completed by Sept. 15 and the idle speed zone will return to normal.
Bullpen Timber Sale
Posted 11-16-2022
Areas within Heart Island Conservation Area totaling 288 acres (see map) will undergo a first thinning timber sale. The objective of this sale is tree density reduction, freeing up growing space for the best quality trees, thus maintaining and improving forest health. Various interior roads may be impacted by the thinning operation. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. Contracts allow the work to be conducted through June 3, 2023. This work could impact hunting within the Lake George Wildlife Management Area.
Still Road Timber Sale
Posted 3-21-2023
Areas within Heart Island Conservation Area totaling 235 acres (see map) will undergo a pine plantation second thinning timber sale. The objective of this sale is tree density reduction, freeing up growing space for the best quality trees, thus maintaining and improving forest health. Various interior roads may be impacted by the thinning operation. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. Contracts allow the work to be conducted through February 24, 2024. This work could impact hunting within the Lake George Wildlife Management Area.
Bayard Timber Sale
Posted 11-16-2022
Areas within J.P. Hall Bayard Point Conservation Area totaling 81 acres (see map) will undergo a pine and hardwood thinning to facilitate sandhill ecosystem restoration. The group camp entry road may be impacted by the thinning operation. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. Contracts allow the work to be conducted through August 1, 2023. This work could impact hunting within the Bayard Wildlife Management Area.
Updated on 5-11-2023
Multiple areas within Lake George Conservation Area totaling 150 acres will undergo a second thinning timber sale. The objective of this sale is tree density reduction, freeing up growing space for the best quality trees, thus maintaining and improving forest health. Various interior roads may be impacted by the thinning operation. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. This work could impact hunting within the Lake George Wildlife Management Area.
Timber Sale
Posted 3-21-2023
An area within Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area totaling 207 acres (see map) will undergo a second thinning timber sale. Some internal roads may be impacted. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. The contract allows the work to be conducted through December 5, 2023. This work could impact hunting within the Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area.
Posted 3-16-2022
Effective 3/16/2022, the District has closed a portion of the Levee Trail on Rice Creek Conservation Area due to repairs needed on a foot bridge crossing Rice Creek. The portion will be closed indefinitely but does not affect the entire Levee Trail or the Florida National Scenic Trail.
Posted 8-21-2023
Repairs to the airboat crossing north of Lake Washington begin Aug. 22 and are expected to be completed by Sept. 1. During this time, boaters in the area may need to wait to access the area while repair crews move equipment and supplies. The ramp is anticipated to be open each night. See map for work location.
Posted 7-7-2023
An area within Silver Springs Forest Conservation Area totaling 165 acres (see map) will undergo a fuelwood harvest timber sale. Some internal roads may be impacted. When work is underway, please be careful with the logging trucks entering and exiting the property. The contract allows the work to be conducted through May 18, 2024. This work could impact hunting within the Silver Springs Forest Wildlife Management Area.
Posted 7-17-2023
The airboat jump over the Three Forks West Levee, located southwest of Thomas O. Lawton Recreation Area, will be closed until Aug. 14 for repairs. Alternative airboat access into the C-40 canal and St. Johns River can be found by putting in at the Sweetwater Boat Ramp to the north or using the dirt airboat jump 1.3 miles west of the Willow Shelter.
Posted 2-20-2023
Stick Marsh/Farm 13 and the Three Forks Conservation Area are undergoing a drawdown as part of a collaborative habitat restoration project with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in the St. Johns Water Management Area. The drawdown will be conducted from February to August 2023.
The restoration work includes planting native aquatic plants, bulrush and spatterdock, during the drawdown in the southern portion of the reservoir. The St. Johns Water Management Area boat ramp at the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 and the Thomas O. Lawton Recreation Area boat ramp at Three Forks Conservation Area will remain accessible during this project. Please be aware that shallower water can create underwater hazards. Boaters should operate at slower speeds and proceed with caution.
Acree Road Timber Sale
Posted 3-21-2023
Areas within Thomas Creek Conservation Area totaling 167 acres (see map) will undergo a combination a timber sale. 63 acres of mature pine plantation will be clearcut and replanted. The objective of this clearcut is to reduce wildland fire fuel loading as well as to harvest trees that have stagnated in their growth. 104 acres of 17 year old pine plantation will undergo a first thinning. The objective of this thinning is tree density reduction, freeing up growing space for the best quality trees, thus maintaining and improving forest health.. Contracts allow the work to be conducted through February 24, 2024. This work could impact walk-in hunting within the Thomas Creek Wildlife Management Area – King’s Road Unit
Temporary website outages
We want your visit to www.sjrwmd.com to be a positive and productive experience. At times, we will need to perform routine hardware and software maintenance that may cause some areas of the site to be intermittently off-line. We do apologize for this temporary, but necessary, inconvenience. We are working diligently to quickly restore complete functionality to the site.
Next scheduled outage:
District servers will undergo maintenance between
6 p.m. until 9 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2023. During this time portions of the site may be unavailable. We apologize for this temporary inconvenience and ask that you visit again later.
Office closures
- Nov. 10
- Nov. 23-24
- Dec. 25
- Jan. 1, 2024