Coastal Plains Institute

23/09/2026

CPI just acquired a new ecological preserve and it’s gorgeous!!!

Jack Saltiel, an imminent professor of biochemistry at Florida State University, donated 100 incredible wild acres of the north Florida Coastal Plain to CPI.

Jack, and his late wife Terri Saltiel, have owned the property for 55 years. Terri had been a tireless and well known conservationist in the Tallahassee community for decades. It was Terri’s wish that their land be preserved in its natural state in perpetuity past her life.

CPI will make that happen. Preserving biodiversity happens to be our mission.

The land harbors two deep gully eroded ravines sliced by crystal clear streams teeming with salamanders. One of the common salamanders here is the Apalachicola dusky salamander (Desmognathus apalachicolae), a species that was discovered and named by our founder, Bruce Means. How fitting 😊.

The precipitous ravine slopes harbor an ecosystem type that we call ‘slope forest’ in north Florida. This is a lovely mixed deciduous hardwood tree and shrub assemblage that resembles the forest that exists all over the southern Appalachian Mountains. Huge loblolly and spruce pines also are present on site, and are natural components of slope forest.

Our other preserve, Apalachicola Lowlands Preserve, contains and protects the fire-dependent longleaf pine ecosystem. The newly donated Saltiel property now allows CPI to own and protect some lovely mature non fire-dependent slope forest habitat. Add another Coastal Plain habitat type to our growing list of habitats directly preserved by CPI!

It is our greatest pleasure and responsibility to manage and protect the Saltiel Property. We will honor our donors and name it the “Terri and Jack Saltiel Preserve.” The “Saltiel Slope Forest Preserve” for short.

Huge thank you to Ryan’s bro Harley Means, colleague and bestie Pierson Hill, and bestie Winston Wright for joining Ryan on the first foot expedition to experience the Saltiel Preserve !

Moving forward, we will create opportunities for members and anyone desiring to visit and experience this magical place.

11/09/2026

Our recent release of rehabilitated bald eagles, gray foxes, and opossums went incredibly well. CPI is so proud to be direct impact conservation partners with St. Francis Wildlife Assoc..

St. Francis personnel skillfully take on the laborious and fulfilling work of caring for and healing injured wildlife, while CPI volunteers its ecological preserve to exist as a sanctuary into which rehabilitated animals can be released back into the wild.

Many more such releases will occur in the future. If you are interested in attending a release and getting up close and personal with iconic wildlife, just reach out to Ryan!

03/09/2026

A dear friend, conservationist extraordinaire, and honorary CPI board of trustees member, George Lewis Weymouth, has passed away at the amazing age of 92….

We at CPI are mourning his loss, but celebrating his immense contribution to protecting Mother Nature.

George was a lifelong naturalist, conservationist, and biologist. On the side, he was an incredible artist and craftsman. The office walls of CPI are adorned with some of his fine artworks.

In George’s later years, he served CPI and its tireless conservation mission in more ways that can be counted.

George made our preserve signs. He shuttled our van and paddlecraft trailer during all of our CPI river tours. He donated his time, his knowledge, his indescribably wonderful advice and guidance, and his funding assistance. He had a wonderful, infectious smile and a contagious enthusiasm for life, the outdoors, and CPI.

May you rest in eternal peace, George. Thank you so very much for the legacy you left behind. You, your amazing conservation contributions, and that smile will live on in all the hearts you touched. We love you 🥰🤠❤️

26/08/2026

What could be more patriotic than providing our nation’s icon with a fantastic new home?

This coming Saturday, CPI teams up with our conservation partners, St. Francis Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, to release two rehabilitated juvenile bald eagles back into the wild.

Sometimes, formerly injured and subsequently rehabilitated native wildlife need a suitably wild and natural home in which to be released after sufficient recovery.

CPI is stepping up to allow the release of rehabbed wildlife onto our very own Apalachicola Lowlands Preserve. There truly could not be a better place. Our preserve harbors some of the highest quality longleaf pine ecosystems in the world. Even better, we are surrounded on all sides by a million additional acres of public conservation lands.

The Apalachicola River is only a few miles west of us. This is excellent for our new releases, as Bald Eagles are typically fish eaters, but can scavenge and consume carrion as well. We expect that these two will take flight and easily find their new homes.

We would like to invite anyone to come out, lay eyes on our living national icon, and observe as wildlife experts from St. Francis conduct a release. Afterward, Ryan will take anyone interested on a walking tour of our preserve (in the photos). Bald eagle photo is courtesy of St. Francis Wildlife.

We must limit the number of participants to 20 people. Text Ryan (850-544-5661), tell him you wish to come, and your name, and we will put you down for the event and coordinate all logistics. Meeting time is 11 a.m. near the small town of Sumatra, Florida.

08/07/2026

Look who’s popping at the preserve…

White-birds-in-a-nest (Macbridea alba). Look at those birdies and those eggs in that nest!

This is one of Floridas rarest of plants. It is endemic to four counties of the central Panhandle. It is federally listed as threatened.

Ryan and former CPI intern, Adam, who now interns for Conservation Pathways (and a big shout out to them 😍), recently completed CPI’s annual M. alba plant survey at the preserve. With funding assistance from FDACS, USFWS, and the Florida Plant Conservation Program (FPCP), CPI has been monitoring the status and distribution of this rare showy beauty on the preserve for 4 consecutive years.

Results from the past 4 years show an exciting and significant expansion of the number of blooms and individuals as well as number of sites where they can be found. This, year 4, was the best yet. During peak bloom for the species, we counted totals of 195 blooms and 257 stems at a total of 25 different locations on the preserve.

We hypothesize that this species is thriving and expanding in the presence of our ‘ecological’ prescribed fire regime. CPI burns the preserve only in a way that closely mimics the natural historical wildfire regime of the longleaf pine ecosystem. Burning ecologically in perpetuity is the BEST way to manage and restore biodiversity in the LLP ecosystem. Our Apalachicola Lowlands Preserve is a showcase for it ! For those who may wish to see our preserve sometime, reach out to Ryan

14/06/2026

Striped newt repatriation project update!!!

We have some incredible news from the striped newt project 😍. Even in the midst of a historically severe drought, we discovered that a persistent and reproductive population of striped newts is present at one of our repatriation ponds. Ryan easily scooped up 3 large gilled paedomorphs (although gills had shrunk under pond drying stress), and two gorgeous young larvae in the 13 -15 mm SVL range.

Not only those, but several gopher frog tadpoles…When was the last time anyone observed striped newts AND gopher frog larvae present in a single pond in the western portion of the striped newt’s range? Second photo is of gopher frog and striped newt in hand at one of our recipient ponds.
Striped newts and gopher frogs used to occur in ponds frequently decades ago, but not since the sharp decline of the striped newt.
But thanks to CPI’s now 16-year, ongoing effort to re-establish populations of striped newts in their former range within the Apalachicola NF, we now have several ponds with striped newts present and breeding.

This year is a very tough one for breeding because of drought. However, in this study, we pioneered a method to boost pond hydroperiods. Recall we installed rubber liners underneath 4 recipient ponds to mitigate the effects of drought. Rubber liners act as a catchment for rain water when there is no natural impermeable soil layer beneath the ponds. We believe frequent drought to be one of the main drivers of newt decline.
Even during the worst 8 month drought in our local history, our largest liner pond is holding 1.5 feet deep of water, fostering a small reproductive population of striped newts. This liner pond is literally the only suitable striped newt breeding pond currently holding water in the region. This is a testament to the efficacy of our liner to offset drought and provide a refuge for a breeding newt population.

Unfortunately, every other of our potential newt recipient ponds is bone dry, so we are in a holding pattern. We cannot schedule any striped newt releases until substantial water returns to our dried ponds.

27/02/2026

NEW SPRING TOURS! Ryan has got some great tours scheduled this spring including river tours on both the Wacissa/Slave Canal and Wakulla, and several different hiking tours out at the CPI Apalachicola Lowlands Preserve. Adventure and learning are guaranteed on all our trips! 😊 Check them all out:

Calendar of Events Secrets of the Wacissa Paddle the legendarily wild Slave Canal. Lower Wacissa River. World class experience. Guided by CPI president Ryan Means. Ryan will share with you his extensive natural history knowledge of this pristine first magnitude spring paradise. All inclusive adventu...