Conservation

Registration is open for the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, a 10-day competition that offers participants a shot at $25,000 in prizes for removing invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades. The event runs from July 10 through July 19.

The move comes after a video of a fishing boat off the Panhandle hauling aboard an exhausted manta ray went viral.

Destin officials and residents attended Tuesday’s Okaloosa County Commissioner meeting, urging the board to accept an interlocal agreement between the city and county regarding the proposed park at Holiday Isle.

Santa Rosa County Commissioners have approved the sales contract to secure and protect 27.57 acres of environmentally sensitive Soundside property in Gulf Breeze.

Jan. 17 screening supports local waterways and nonprofit groups

The Trump administration wants to roll back protections for endangered and threatened species viewed as detrimental to economic growth. One critic says the proposals would have "destructive effects."

Santa Rosa commissioners are looking at options for establishing a dedicated funding source for land conservation in the county.

Pointing to its constitutional power to manage wildlife, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is urging a judge to toss out a lawsuit that seeks to prevent a bear hunt in December.

With little discussion, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Cabinet members Tuesday approved spending $83.3 million for four acres of land that will be overseen as a public park by Okaloosa County.

A conservation group has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from holding the state’s first bear hunt in a decade