About Us!

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.

Chair:

Mary Apessos

Biologist

Polk County Parks and Natural Resources

Vice-Chair:

Olivia Wetsch

Plant Conservation Biologist

Forestry

Secretary:

Andrew Black

FWC

Contact Us:

heartland@floridainvasives.org

A map of Florida with the Heartland Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area highlighted in lavendar, and the text saying, "Polk, Hardee, Desoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee Counties"

Get Involved!

See our latest announcements and news, here on our blog.

Stay up to date on our upcoming events, here on our events page.

See partner job announcements, here on our job board.

  • A man in a blue shirt teaches a group of people about plant identification while in an outdoor classroom.
  • A group of people listen to a women describe the invasive properties of a new invasive herbaceous plant found in the area.
  • A group of people watch a presentation by a woman while sitting in an outdoor amphitheater.
  • A group of people learn about downy rose-myrtle while standing in a longleaf pine savannah
  • A woman in a hairnet and labcoat shows the camera a petri dish with insect larva in them which are being proposed as a biological control agent for a local invasive species.
  • A group of people, some in state agency uniforms, watch a woman present about aquatic plants while standing in a pond.
  • A classroom of people sit and watch a presentation
  • A diverse group of people in a grassland with pine overstory listen to a presenter discuss the local ecosystem

Join Us: Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is a group of passionate resource managers and subject matter experts, who work together as the organizing body of the Heartland CISMA.

Generally speaking, the steering committee meets for two hours every other month. Additional meetings for the event planning are possible, but everything is voluntary. We believe this is an organization in which you will get from it what you put in, or more.

If you’re interested in helping drive the conversation around invasive species management in Polk, Hard, DeSoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties, please join us! Email us at heartland@floridainvasives.org

We are especially interested in recruiting new participation from Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee Counties!