Heartland Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area on the Land Conservation Assistance Network

Heartland Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area
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last updated: October 2022

The Heartland CISMA consists of five counties in west-central Florida including Polk, Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties. Our landscape contains a variety of ecosystems such as hardwood forested uplands, high pine and scrub, pine flatwoods and dry prairies, freshwater forested and non-forested wetlands, marshes, hardwoods, ponds and lakes, and rivers and streams. Protecting this landscape from invasive species requires a coordinated and dedicated effort to preserve the natural resources of these counties. The Heartland CISMA is one of sixteen statewide regional partnerships to prevent and control invasive species in Florida and works closely with neighboring Central Florida, and Osceola CISMAs.<br/>

The first formal organized meeting was held in 2009, building on the success of the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem Working Group’s Invasive Species Committee. Our goal, then, was to facilitate a network for land managers to address the growing threat of invasive non-native species in west-central portion of Florida. We have since grown to include five counties, establish over twenty partnerships with federal, state, and local government agencies, private landowners, individuals, and various interested groups, and host many educational workshops and workdays. The Heartland CISMA’s mission is to provide the collective outreach, support, and strategic infrastructure to effectively manage invasive species across boundaries in DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Okeechobee, and Polk Counties.

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Heartland Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area is not employed by or affiliated with the Land Conservation Assistance Network, and the Network does not certify or guarantee their services. The reader must perform their own due diligence and use their own judgment in the selection of any professional.