Public Access to Florida’s Lake Jackson via Road 16 Restored
Road 16 in the Prairie Lakes Unit of Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area (WMA) will reopen Sept. 1. A half-mile section of the road has been closed since late November 2011 for construction and improvements to water-control structure G113 at Parker Slough in Three Lakes WMA.
“The new water-control structure will allow managers to better mimic natural lake fluctuations by adjusting water levels in lakes Marian and Jackson,” said Steve Glass, FWC district wildlife biologist in Osceola County. “This will benefit both fish and wildlife and provide recreational opportunities for anglers.”
The partial road closure required that anyone who wanted to access the Prairie Lakes Unit south of the G113 water-control structure, including Lake Jackson, had to enter from the south end of the WMA on State Road 60 west of Yeehaw Junction, instead of just going through the WMA.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came into existence on July 1, 1999 - the result of a constitutional amendment approved in the 1998 General Election as part of the package proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission.
In the implementation of the Constitutional Amendment, the Florida Legislature combined all of the staff and Commissioners of the former Marine Fisheries Commission, elements of the Divisions of Marine Resources and Law Enforcement of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and all of the employees and Commissioners of the former Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
Five years later, after consulting stakeholders, employees and other interested parties, the FWC adopted a new internal structure to address complex conservation issues of the new century. The new structure focuses on programs, such as habitat management, that affect numerous species. It will focus on moving the decision-making process closer to the public and did not require any additional funding or additional positions.
