​​Perico Preserve Trail Head Enhancement​

This project is being undertaken by ORE in partnership with Manatee County Natural Resources Department to enhance the trailhead area at Perico Preserve by converting 8,200 square feet of mowed weedy mix to a pollinator-friendly coastal prairie habitat.  ORE was awarded a Bay Partners Grant from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program that will provide funding to make this transformation happen.  This is a multi-step project that involves three pre-planting management events, a great big volunteer planting day in August of 2023 (over 4,000 plants!), and four post-planting habitat establishment period adaptive management events.  The entire process will be documented and ORE will use this project as a model to develop a "how-to" guide & presentation that others can follow if they want to convert turf areas to pollinator friendly native habitats.