Life Explorers Series: Keeping Momentum for The Florida Wildlife Corridor

Florida is home to one of the most ambitious conservation visions in the country: the Florida Wildlife Corridor, an 18-million-acre network of connected public and private lands stretching from the Everglades to the borders of Georgia and Alabama. This living network links ranches, forests, springs, wetlands, and working lands that sustain wildlife, protect water resources, and preserve Florida’s natural heritage.

For those who care about plants and cultivated landscapes, connectivity is not abstract but essential. Just as native flowers create pollinator pathways through gardens and neighborhoods, the Florida Wildlife Corridor links forests, wetlands, ranches, and public lands into a living network that allows species like the Florida panther and Florida black bear to move safely across the state. This connected system protects wildlife, safeguards drinking water, supports working lands, and sustains the natural heritage that defines Florida.

How does the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, whose mission is to champion a collaborative campaign to permanently protect, connect, and restore the Florida Wildlife Corridor, continue to keep the energy high and the focus on the prize amid a plethora of challenges and how can you be involved?

Mason Gravley grew up right in the middle of the swamps, orange groves, and cattle ranches of Frostproof, Florida. His love of the outdoors budded through early hunting and fishing trips and has evolved into a love of paddling and exploring the most hidden waterways and camping spots of Florida’s backcountry. After discovering a phenomenon called “elevation” through extensive backpacking and bikepacking adventures in college and beyond, he settled down in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains for nearly a decade before starting a family and returning back to Florida with a new perspective on landscape-scale conservation. Mason has a degree in general biology from Southeastern University in Florida and an MS in Marketing from Regis University in Denver and comes to the foundation from the startup world. He hosts the Florida Uncut podcast in his limited free time, and lives in the beautiful and quaint Florida coastal town of Palmetto with his high-school sweetheart and their three sons.

Topic: Keeping Momentum for The Florida Wildlife Corridor

Speaker: Mason Gravley, Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation

Date: Thursday May 21, 2026

Doors open: 9:30 A.M.

Program Time: 10:00 - 11:30 A.M.

Location: Azaela Lodge, Mead Botanical Garden, 1300 S. Denning Drive Winter Park, FL

Cost: Free - Join us for refreshments and conversation

The Life Explorers Speakers Series is held in the Azalea Lodge of Mead Botanical Garden from 10-11:30 a.m. The program is free of charge with light refreshments and coffee served.

For additional information on Mead Botanical Garden and the Life Explorer’s Series, please visit meadgarden.org

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