Florida State Parks Foundation, FPL Provide 4 Storm Strike Team Trailers to Support Recovery Operations in State Parks

TALLAHASSEE, FL, UNITED STATES, November 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Florida’s award-winning state parks are set to receive four new strike team trailers to support hurricane and natural disaster recovery through a partnership between the Florida State Parks Foundation and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL).

These trailers allow Florida State Parks’ skilled and dedicated strike and recovery teams to quickly mobilize and respond to severe weather events in state parks.

Two grants totaling $215,000 — $140,000 from the NextEra Energy Foundation, a corporate foundation of NextEra Energy, Inc. and FPL, and $75,000 from the Florida State Parks Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund, purchased the new trailers.

This partnership was first announced in November 2024, following an historic hurricane season in Florida.

Trailers were distributed to Florida State Parks administrative districts in southeast and southwest Florida, as well as the Florida Panhandle. All trailers are in place and ready for recovery operations.

“Time and again, our Florida State Parks strike teams make us proud with their bravery, their resilience and their commitment to caring for their parks in the wake of a major storm,” said Julia Gill Woodward, CEO of the Florida State Parks Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to provide these inspiring men and women with all the resources they need, and we are grateful to have FPL’s NextEra Energy Foundation alongside us in this effort.”

Combined with a similar trailer purchased through a previous partnership in 2023, Florida State Parks’ fleet of strike team trailers is now up to five. Each trailer may respond to a storm in its local region or travel to assist with recovery efforts in another part of the state.

“The Florida State Parks strike teams play an important role in protecting our natural resources, especially in the aftermath of severe weather,” said Mike Sole, vice president of environmental services for NextEra Energy. “To support these response efforts, we’re providing new trailers to help strike teams mobilize in the field. FPL is proud to contribute to this important cause and help ensure our parks and communities are prepared when the next storm arrives.”

Strike team trailers serve as a mobile headquarters for recovery operations and have storage for utility vehicles, heavy equipment and machinery and portable power generators.

Florida State Parks strike teams are composed of park managers, rangers, specialists and volunteers who travel from their home parks — often for days or weeks at a time — to support parks in need following a storm or natural disaster. Strike teams may remove downed trees and heavy debris, clear roads and offer support for park staff. They also often assist partner agencies in recovery efforts.

“These trailers make a huge difference for our strike teams, and we are so glad to have them,” Florida State Parks Director Chuck Hatcher said. “Every second counts when we are responding to a storm, and having a good, mobile base of operations ensures that our strike teams can do their jobs as safely, quickly and efficiently as possible, and ultimately reopen affected parks for visitors.”

The Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund is dedicated to storm and natural disaster relief. Anyone who wishes to support these efforts may contribute online.

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The Florida State Parks Foundation, founded in 1993 as Friends of Florida State Parks and renamed in 2018, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation whose mission is to support and help sustain the Florida Park Service, its 175 award-winning parks and trails, local Friends groups and more than 20,000 park volunteers.

It does this through programs that preserve and protect state parks, educate visitors about the value of state parks, encourage community engagement and active use of state parks, and advocacy. All projects are completed by the Florida State Parks Foundation Services LLC, which is a limited liability company affiliate of the Foundation. The volunteer Board of Directors represents private and public sectors as well as local and statewide interests.

Tim Linafelt
Florida State Parks Foundation
+1 850-559-8914
email us here

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