Members of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition are on a week-long mission along the I-4 Corridor. They embarked on a pair of (one) thousand-mile treks across the state back in 2012 and 2015.
They wanted to highlight the need to protect corridors between preserved areas so wildlife can migrate through Florida.
This week they’re paddling and hiking on a narrow thread of green that survives between the burgeoning areas of Orlando and Tampa.
Expedition member Mallory Lykes Dimmitt of Tampa says they'll focus on how to help preserve smaller, regional connections.
“That's what's led us to the wildly different approach for a short, one-week trek," said Lykes Dimmitt. "Really trying to highlight this idea of the corridor at a crossroads, in the middle of the state and where the highest development and growth is happening. And yet there are these places that remain that are thin threads of wildlife habitat.”
Expedition members are trying to persuade state lawmakers to set aside money to preserve these lands before they're lost forever to development.
