Description
Earth Resources was responsible for delineating the wetland boundaries on the Big Cypress and Brighton Reservations in Hendry, Broward and Glades Counties.The state and federal jurisdictional wetland boundaries within the limits of the Big Cypress Reservation FDA South Community (totaling 617 acres) and the Brighton Reservation Zone 1 (totaling 1881 acres)were delineated and surveyed in accordance with the State of Florida Wetland Delineation Methodology and the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interim Regional Supplement to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual.
A sub-meter Trimble Yuma Geo-Collector GPS unit loaded with ArcPad mobile GIS software was used to collect latitude and longitude coordinates along the jurisdictional wetland boundaries. ArcPad software has “moving map” capability that enabled the aerial imagery to be loaded and viewed in the field. Biologists analyzed soils, hydrologic indicators and plant communities to determine the wetland boundaries. A general wetland determination field form, provided by the Seminole Tribe, was completed for each wetland delineated. A functional assessment was completed for each wetland using the Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP) method. Additional data collected during the wetland surveys included site conditions, wetland health and presence of nuisance and exotic vegetation. High resolution panoramic photographs were taken of each wetland system.