The Florida Wildlife Commission reports that a third panther has been found dead since the beginning of December.The most recent big cat death is a 9-month-old, male Florida panther. Remains of the juvenile animal were collected on Monday in Hendry County and the suspected cause of death is vehicle collision.

A land acquisition approved by the state Wednesday includes 10,996 acres within the Caloosahatchee Big Cypress Corridor in Collier and Hendry counties. Also approved for purchased was a 1,059-acre rural lands protection easement within the Siboney Ranch Project in Okeechobee County.

An encore presentation of Gulf Coast Life featuring Ed Carlson, the long-time warden of Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (he retired in 2012). Carlson died on Dec. 9.

The seventeenth Florida panther death was reported Friday by the Florida Wildlife Commission. It was the sixteenth big cat death by vehicle impact in 2025.

Landscape and architecture experts from the University of Florida will be on Sanibel Island next month to discuss how to lessen tropical storm damage on barrier islands by using what nature offers and climate change, stronger storms, and the loss of mangroves and sand dunes can make flooding worse — and how residents can turn things around to lessen the impacts.

Florida Gulf Coast University students and staff worked alongside Island Coast High School students to plant a new mangrove forest on Bowditch Point Tuesday. The nearly 300 propagules, detached parts of mangroves that are used as seeds, will be used as a barrier for storm surge, habitat for native species, and more.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation will present noted ocean explorer, educator, and filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau as speaker for the 8th annual Paul McCarthy Memorial Lecture on Feb. 6 at the Sanibel Community House. Cousteau's lecture will be a multimedia presentation drawing from more than 70 years of exploration.

Cameratta Companies held the official ceremony on Thursday for Kingston, which years from now will have roughly 10,000 residences and 700,0000 square feet of commercial space. Kingston is currently facing legal challenge

Sarasota County declared a burn ban for unincorporated parts of the county and the City of Sarasota more than a month ago. Manatee County and North Port activated burn bans last week. Southwest Florida’s drought has returned

The University of Florida’s Plant Diagnostic Center recently received significant acknowledgement as the first university-based lab in the nation to earn accreditation from the National Plant Diagnostic Network.