Towering over the boardwalk WWFF-10

Observation towers raise the viewer up for a better vantage point. A watch tower is a strong point on a fortification wall. A look-out tower is used by the forest services to spot forest fires.

Weeedon Island Preserve 4 story tower with lightning rods and an up-sloping walkway

John Chestnut Park 3 story wood on wood tower in Lake Tarpon.

Walkway approach to the John Chestnut Observation Tower.

More like a two story gazebo, the Sawgrass Lake Park has a copper roof.

Emerson Point Preserve has a rickety tower, but it has the best view...

Wall Springs has the most substantial, solid Observation tower.

Most of the top deck is covered, adding to the strength and weather resistant design.

Lettuce Lake Park Tower uses galvanized steel and heavy cables for it's 2 1/2 story tower.

Showing the wear of many thaw-freeze cycles, the Clingmans Dome tower is concrete, and all ramp- no steps up 4 stories.

The concrete Shark Valley Everglades tower is similar to Clingmans Dome, but no mountain and shorter trees. 

Observation Tower at Boca Ciega Millennium Park. Salt tides take their toll on the posts and pilings.

Seven stories up, the Tower in Myakka River State Park has an appendage out the south side that goes to a three story tower...

So you go up a three story tower, across this tree top level boardwalk, to a seven story tower that goes above the tallest tree. Talk about towering over the boardwalk...

Then, there is this High-Tech Tower at Payne's Prairie (Florida) State Park, not in what it is built with but....

If you call the number on this plaque from your cell phone, and enter 3# for the location code, you get a recorded message with background music and sound effects. The 2nd story recording, like the view, is different from the 4th story message and view.

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For the complete photo digest of these visits, visit....
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Scenes/420724504625089

CLICK THE LIKE BUTTON WHILE YOU'RE THERE FOR UPDATES.

Sub-Tropical Tree Canopy walkway open to the public... WWFF-09

 Walking the Tree Tops

A boardwalk in the trees is not my fancy, too high...but I did it as part of my Photo Essay on boardwalks. for the full visit to the park see  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Scenes/420724504625089 

The Myakka Canopy Walkway provides easy access to observe life in the treetops of an oak/palm hammock. As an outdoor laboratory for research and education, it is a place for discovery and opportunity for visitors to Myakka to see its canopy inhabitants up close. Completed in 2000, the structure was the first public treetop trail in North America.

The walkway is suspended 25 feet above the ground and extends 100 feet through the hammock canopy. A tower soars 74 feet in the air to present a spectacular view of treetops, wetlands and the prairie/hammock interface. You can look down on eagles, hawks, vultures and the tops of live oaks and palm trees.

 The Myakka Canopy Walkway was the inspiration of canopy scientist Dr. Margaret Lowman. After spending a couple of decades devising methods to study treetops in the forests of other continents, Dr. Lowman settled in as the director of Sarasota's Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Though her experience was with tropical ecosystems, she realized that Florida's forests were as imperiled as many of the legendary rain forests. Why not use the same methods employed to study and conserve canopies of far-away endangered forests to save our own threatened ecosystems?  Little research exists on the canopies of subtropical forests. Dr. Lowman's position provided an opportunity to augment current knowledge.

So this walkway is in Myakka River State Park ($4 entry fee, but the walk is free) and is open to the public. Quiet an extreme boardwalk....http://www.myakkariver.org/index.php/activities-a-attractions/canopy-walkway?showall=&limitstart=


 

Click a link  below, or copy and paste to your browser,  to go there!

A little bit of prose, some poetry, and a song- all about the environment.

http://billyholcoutdoors.blogspot.com/2012/05/whose-garden-was-this.html

A frank discussion about wilderness and nature.

http://wmgcenter.blogspot.com/2012/05/can-you-find-wilderness.html

Facebook pages about the outdoors.

http://www.facebook.com/WmGCenter

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Backwoods-Institute-for-Wilderness-Safety/152396741437530

Outdoor Photography

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Scenes/420724504625089

Hiking Trails, Boardwalks, and outdoor recreation construction topics

http://willwalkforfun.blogspot.com/

Good for one... WWFF-08

Good for one can be good for all.

I went to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary because "Ellas Trails" website said they had a unique boardwalk.  I'm a tree-hugger, but I started a photo essay on boardwalks so I drove three hours to see it.  I was not Disappointed.  You can see a full foto-tour of this boardwalk on  Green Scenes at  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Scenes/420724504625089

The wood is NOT pressure treated. They did not want the pressure treating chemicals leaching out into the swamp or water. So...the got a tropical hardwood, sustainably grown, and built the boardwalk- almost 3 miles worth, out of that.

The birds were saved by Audubon, but they saved the trees, the bears, the panthers and the other swamp animails almost by accident.....and built a great boardwalk and education center. Thanks Ella's Trails! http://www.ellastrails.com/categories/47,43/search_type/and/order/default/   They have a search by state and trail surface (among others). I put on boardwalk and Florida and found the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. 

From Audubon Florida about the Sanctuary-


"Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary occupies approximately 13,000 acres in the heart of the Corkscrew Watershed in Southwest Florida, part of the Western Everglades. It is primarily composed of wetlands. These include the largest remaining virgin bald cypress forest in the world (approximately 700 acres), which is the site of the largest nesting colony of Federally Endangered Wood Storks in the nation. In addition to the wood stork, Corkscrew provides important habitat for numerous other Federal and State listed species, including the Florida Panther, American Alligator, Gopher Tortoise, Florida Sandhill Crane, Limpkin, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Big Cypress Fox Squirrel and the Florida Black Bear. Several rare plants are also found here, most notably the Ghost Orchid.

                                                                     Sandhill Cranes


Corkscrew is in a strategically important location, and the quality of the natural resources here provides excellent habitat for wildlife. Our wetlands recharge the local aquifers, rivers and estuaries, providing the right conditions for fishing and coastal recreation as well as clean drinking water and water for agricultural productivity.

A variety of battles over birds, lumber, water and land spanning more than a century has transformed Southwest Florida. Much of the area bears little resemblance to its native roots, yet Corkscrew remains a vibrant wet wilderness. We are inextricably connected to our past and to our neighbors. The demand for resources and space presses on and in. Our ability to sustain some of our larger more charismatic creatures like the wood stork and panther is sure to be tested. We are a sanctuary for wild Florida, a living natural history repository open 365 days per year. We are committed to protecting and preserving this patch of ground for the benefit of the wild things that depend on Corkscrew.

                  Recycling nutrients from a 600 year old Cypress tree is turned into fern...


It was around 1900, when egret and heron plumes were in high demand for use in the fashion industry. By 1913, a deputized Warden of the Audubon Society named Rhett Green had begun serving as a guide for people like Thomas Gilbert Pearson, F.M. Phelps, Oscar E. Baynard and W. F. Blackman who were documenting the bird life found at Corkscrew. The combination of rookery protection and a campaign to stop the demand for the plumes was successful. The plume hunters went away, and so did the Audubon’s  wardens.

Systematic logging of South Florida cypress forests started in 1944 south of Corkscrew. Much of the lumber went to assist in the rebuilding of Europe after WWII. By the early 50's networks of logging roads were constructed and massive 500 year old trees were being pulled out. Locals were alarmed at the prospect of losing all the great cypress forests to logging and began a campaign to save the swamp. The National Audubon Society and a long list of organizations and individuals worked together to raise the support necessary to purchase the last expanse of virgin bald cypress left in the world, which also housed the largest and most important wood stork rookery in the United States. By 1954, 5,680 acres were secured (640 acres were a gift from Lee-Tidewater Cypress Company) and the Corkscrew rookery became Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

In 1955, in the absence of any state interest in managing the swamp, Audubon took ownership of this great Corkscrew rookery. The initial Sanctuary was 5,680 acres. We eventually grew, adding an additional 5,320 acres, the latest acquisition was the Panther Island Mitigation Bank. Our fledgling sanctuary was accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles along a remote dirt road.

More than ever, we are dependent on support and partnerships with private citizens, neighbors, elected officials and folks making land use decisions. We place a premium on educating all who will listen on the value of Corkscrew and natural areas.