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remain and therefor' erefor the water table would remain lowered in the area . Citrus groves 15 that have been cleared would continue to experience a slow natural succession . ' Sparsely dispersed cabbage palms have been growing on the already cleared Surman tract. However, exotic plants such as Brazilian pepper and Australian pine have proven to be very invasive . If no action is taken , the plant communities would most likely ' contain large numbers of these exotic plants unless aggressive control was continued such as spraying and clearing . Citrus groves are of limited value to most wildlife , however, ground doves , marsh rabbits , cotton rats , rat snakes and hawks do utilize them . The benefits to wildlife and the ecosystem from restoring and enhancing natural communities , tidal wetlands and freshwater wetlands would not be realized . A potential economic gain to the community could be lost if no restoration occurred and public- use ' facilities were installed without habitat to support wildlife that could be viewed by visitors , and therefore no net gain to local tourism occurred based on Refuge visitation . 4 . 2 Alternative 2 : The Proposed Action . ' Restore native habitats by removing exotic plants , including citrus groves , and converting to maritime hammocks , palm hammocks , freshwater wetlands , and tidal wetlands . Under this alternative , citrus trees and exotic vegetation would be removed from the proposed 158-acre site located predominantly between Jungle Trail and the impoundments ( Figure 3 ) . Ditches would be reconfigured into freshwater lakes and freshwater ephemeral ponds by excavation . Some citrus grove ditches would be Tilled . The water table should be raised to a more historic , natural level with the aid of the level ' controls on the lakes and the filling of the ditches . The tidal marsh area would be restored by excavation . Native vegetation would be planted in each of the restored habitats : maritime hammock , palm hammock , freshwater wetlands , and tidal wetlands . The old field habitat would be selectively cleared as needed to keep it open and free of exotic plants ( Figure 6 ) . It would be impracticable to plant all vegetative species that ultimately occur in a natural plant community . However, by planting a variety of primary and secondary species , colonization by other plant members is facilitated by various means . One of these is by ' animals which inadvertently transport seed from other locations . These animals might not frequent a citrus grove , but would appear in a tract that had the cover of a maritime hammock community . Shade-tolerant species whose seed might be dispersed into a sunny citrus grove may not be able to grow, but in the shade of oak and palm overstory may be able to take root . Hence , restoration plantings would not only accelerate natural succession , but self-colonization of desirable plants would be facilitated as well . ' In stark contrast to citrus groves , natural habitats support a huge array of plant and animal species . Maritime hammocks are dominated by live oaks and cabbage palms , and include an understory with a diverse assemblage of tropical and temperate plants . Key wildlife species are Neotropical migratory birds , woodrats , eastern indigo snakes ,