Environment

Gainesville is making an effort to be more environmentally friendly by purchasing solar-powered trash compactors and recycling units.

The Adena Springs Ranch in Marion County faced a deadline Monday in its efforts to obtain a consumptive use permit from the St. John's River Water Management District.

A plan to remove plagued citrus trees from the University of Florida is temporarily halted after a committee in charge bypassed university approval. Six to eight of the infected citrus trees have already been removed by UF's Physical Plant Division.

Citrus greening reached the University of Florida campus this week. Close to 150 citrus trees may be removed from campus in order to prevent further spreading of the highly contagious disease that stops nutrient flow in the trees.

The grant, financed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency along with the state’s division of emergency management, will try to generate a map defining areas across the state that are more vulnerable to potential sinkhole activity.

A non-profit organization works to plant free community gardens in Ocala, creating an edible landscape.

Florida's Department of Environmental Protection approved the District’s funding request on Wednesday for the improvement projects.

The announcement at Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka comes on the heels of a commitment of more than $130 million to restore estuaries in South Florida.

According to Dr. Dan Kline, a research entomologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Gainesville, people have different levels of attractiveness to mosquitoes that can vary from species to species, making it difficult to pin down what is truly going on.

Recent heavy rainfall has caused the Suwannee River to rise above the flood stage. O’Leno State Park Ranger David McCorquodale said the park does not want people drowning as a result of swift currents.