A State Park and a Privite Preserve WWFF-16

The genesis of the Archbold Biological Station, and its longstanding  success in ecological research and education, is based on a remarkable confluence of philanthropy by two of America’s major business families; the Roebling and the Archbold.

The Catwalk Boardwalk inside Highland Hammock State Park (Florida)

The Roebling family excelled in construction and manufacturing engineering; building enduring suspension bridges, manufacturing plants, and even estates. The Archbold family had a strong tendency for the support of science. Both families donated land for parks, conservation, and science.

These family traditions influenced science several times, as in the founding of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography  and the Archbold Tropical Research Center, and enhanced parks and conservation, as in the creation of the Glover-Archbold Park, Washington, DC, Highlands Hammock State Park, Highlands County, Florida, and the Middleham Estate addition to the Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica, West Indies.

At the Archbold Biological Station, just east of Sebring and Highlands Hammock, all three family traditions; construction of enduring buildings, creation of parks and preserves, and generous support of science, came together in continuing perfection.

When the state park system was created in 1935 Highlands Hammock, located a few miles west of Sebring in south central Florida (Highlands County), was already a park, due in large part to the largesse of Mrs. Margaret Roebling. 

Mrs. Roebling's husband, John A. Roebling II, was the son of Washington Augustus Roebling, who built the Brooklyn Bridge after the design of his father, John Augustus Roebling. The bridge was completed in 1883.

 She is memorialized by a modest plaque that was placed deep within the park when it was first opened to the public in 1931.

Mrs. Roebling was flying into Red Hill, the estate that would become the Archbold Biological Research Station, when she looked down into a pristine green wilderness. She fell in love with that swamp and hammock, and thought it should become a National Park. The funding for such a park was not available at that time. But she had means, and others had already started a project to make it a park....of some sort.

The land where the park stands today was purchased by the Roeblings, then donated to the Florida Park Service, and it became Florida's first state park. 

Owing to the financial stress that existed,  it was soon obvious that the Trustees of the Tropical Florida Parks Association cold not raise sufficient funds to carry out the necessary work in opening up the Hammock, nor to maintain it.

 At this point Mr. and Mrs. John A Roebling volunteered their assistance. They made funds available as required for opening up and making accessible the important points of interest in the Hammock proper, by the construction of roads and trails. 


 "En las sombras de verdes Esmeraldas "      

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

Hiking Trails, Boardwalks, and outdoor recreation construction topics

http://willwalkforfun.blogspot.com/

Promoting a park to attract commerce. WWFF-15

I live in a progressive city in a major metropolitan area in Florida. Sometimes I forget how advanced the City of Largo has become.  Largo Florida has a Parks and Recreation Department. Some towns and counties do not have a Parks Department.  The City of Largo has several types of parks including preserves and nature centers. Some towns and counties do not have any parks.

 The City of Largo has its own website, while some towns and counties do not.  The official City website links to the Parks Department website. Some towns and counties have a Parks Department, but the Parks Department  does not have a website.  The Largo City Parks Department website has a list of all the City Parks, while some towns and counties do not list their parks on their websites.  The City Parks Department website has links to each park which has its own webpage. Some towns and counties list their parks on their website or in a PDF document, but they do not have webpages for each park. 

The individual park webpage in Largo has at least one photograph of the park, a list of amenities of that park, and a link to Google Maps. Each park page also has a complete street address with zip code, which helps in programing my GPS to find it. Every link on every page of the City and the Parks Department works. Pinellas County also has numerous parks, each with their own website, and they have complete information like the City of Largo Parks websites.

 If a town or county is small, the new residents could just drive around looking for local parks, or ask their neighbors. They might not expect a park in their town. But that leaves out the Eco-tourist or green traveler that is looking for a natural spot to relax. Looking for the brown recreation signs along the highways might work for the new locals, but the limited information on them might not influence a tourist to visit the park and spend his money in the local economy.

Case Study- Small town nature preserve “Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve”

The small coastal town of Yankeetown Florida is located north of Crystal River, and northwest of Dunnellon Florida. Both have a strong draw of eco-tourists, and the area is called Florida’s “Nature Coast”. A US Highway passes just east of the town’s border, and is filled each weekend with kayakers, cave divers, inner-tubers, campers, boaters, and fishermen headed toward Crystal River, Dunnellon, Four State Parks, and two State Forests.

Yankeetown does not let those people drive by and forget them. First they found funding to build a unique nature preserve, nature center, boardwalk, and observation tower. That is their “draw”. They have a large 6 X 10 foot blue sign announcing the Preserve on the highway. It is not your standard brown and white pair of binoculars or a Great Florida Birding Trail sign. Outside the preserve is a colorful relief sign. Inside the preserve there are signs noting their funding sources. 

 Their webpage announces “YANKEETOWN PRESENTS A 413 ACRE ESTUARINE WILD LANDS WITH LAKES, STREAMS, WET LANDS, SALT MARSHES AND 4500 SQUARE FOOT MUSEUM AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER LOCATED AT 1001 OLD ROCK ROAD YANKEETOWN, FL 34498” The town has a webpage that links to the webpage of the preserve. They have good return on their search results- type in “Withlacoochee Gulf”, and there they are. Their web presence is accessible from around the world.

This town of 502 people built this preserve and promoted it. It illustrates what can be done with motivation, hard work, and a little marketing. The town uses volunteers to maintain and expand the preserve.  One of the local residents said it this way: “Size doesn’t matter, heart does”.  Any small town or county that want to look at cheap ways to promote their parks and preserves can look at “Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits” by Jay Conrad Levinson.  The next time you find a park that you like, ask yourself how you found it. Then consider how many parks just like it are out there waiting for you to find them in some other way.

Two Great Swamps, PART TWO WWFF-14

The smaller, but still important brother of the Everglades is the Central Florida- Green Swamp Hydrologic  System. It is, in effect, the reverse of the ‘glades.  The Everglades water starts in rivers, and ends up in a swamp. The Green Swamp water falls in a swamp and flows into rivers.

 Under Polk, Lake, Sumter, Hernando and Pasco Counties is a unique raised plateau of limestone that shallowly underlies the surface. The groundwater system called the Floridian Aquifer follows the contour of this limestone. The proximity of the aquifer to the surface allows it to recharge easily from rainfall.

Rainfall during the summer in Florida falls from storms formed on sea-breeze fronts. Those fronts form near the coasts and move inland. Here, in the center of Florida either the East Coast Sea-breeze rain front, or the West Coast Sea-breeze rain front drop rain daily. If there is no prevailing wind, both rain fronts might make it over this area. There are also tropical flooding events from tropical storms and Hurricanes that sporadically dump rain in the recharge area.  

 The Green Swamp wetland system covers about 900 square miles and includes the headwaters of the Hillsborough, Withlacoochee, Little Withlacoochee, Ocklawaha and Peace Rivers.  The Green Swamp is second only to the Florida Everglades in terms of hydrologic and environmental significance to the state.

This area is the highest elevation of Floridian Aquifer limestone in peninsula Florida, and like a water tower, it sits high above the rest of the aquifer.   Gravity causes pressurization of the waters trapped in the limestone, causing freshwater springs to flow up to the surface hundreds of miles away from the swamp. This large volume of porous limestone easily allows water to flow into, and within, the rock like a pipe.

That makes it like a big pipe connected to a big tank; and during the rainy season it is always being topped off by rain. With their soft sand and peat built up from centuries of plant detritus, the floodplain forests and swamps promote natural retention of flood waters. The slow moving water at the same time provides habitat for many plant and wildlife species. The surface waters move through lazy, winding riparian forest lined rivers that are only completely full during tropical flooding events. 

Both of these great swamps are as similar as they are different. There are huge, but the Green Swamp is but one tenth the area of the Everglades. They gather rain and ever so slowly transport it under, around, and between the wild benefactors of the system. The Green Swamp turns into four rivers and thousands of springs. The Everglades begins in springs and rivers and becomes a swamp.  Both recharge and get recharged by an aquifer. The rivers of the Green Swamp run north, west, east, and south. The Everglades runs southwest from the great lake until it loses its identity in the Gulf of Mexico. The Green Swamp’s rivers drain into both the Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean. They are a great study in comparison and contrast hidden into Florida’s two great swamps.

Florida’s two great swamps...Part 1 WWFF-13

Water and the opposite flow systems of Florida’s two great swamps

Water and life are inextricably linked. Too much and things die, too little and things die.  Like the heat range needed to thrive, both flora and fauna have the need for a range of moisture availability. Water and temperature both come in cycles. Some cycles are regular and predictable, others are short and sporadic. Seasons define the normal ranges for temperature and water in Florida.  The water season is typically the most important, but most wildlife here would not survive with water in its solid state. Wet season defines the efficiency of Florida’s two great hydrologic systems, and by extension both the plants and animals that live there.

 The greatest of these is the Southern Florida -Everglades Hydrologic  System. Historically, the two main ecosystems formed in the Everglades system were the saw-grass plains in the north and the ridge and slough (pronounced slew) landscape in the south. Communities of freshwater wetland vegetation including tree islands made the ridge and slough landscape resemble peat lands. These vast wetlands are home to wildlife and vegetation unique to the subtropics, as well as great seasonal migrations of birds. First, the Greater Everglades Ecosystem is vast; it is more than half the distance from Florida’s northern border to its outlets in Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It stretches from near Orlando in the North to Biscayne and Florida Bays and the Gulf of Mexico in the South, to Indian River Lagoon on the east coast and San Carlos Bay on the west. Historically, the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades Watershed covered about 9,000 square miles in a single hydrologic unit. 

 The slight change in elevation from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay made a 30 mile-wide sheet of water flowing over and through the peat. Ridges were alternately spaced and a historic lack of drainage channels or stream beds implies that water spread out uniformly over the entire width. The water was rarely stagnant traveling about 100 feet a day. The water is described as flowing silently and slowly as one great mass.  Although reliable historical documentation of the ridge and slough landscape is not available, there is a strong similarity between the original direction of flow, the alignment of the ridge and sloughs, and the tree-islands tear drop shape orientation. 

Plant detritus and peat accumulation depths between the ridges and thesloughs differed by about 1 and 3 feet, resulting in a perpetually wet ecosystem, with areas flooded or dry depending mostly on the season.  Biologist at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary think during the pre-canal days, that the sloughs were covered by water approximately nine months of the year, and the tree islands were flooded for perhaps three months each year.

Rainfall during the summer in Florida falls from storms formed on sea-breeze fronts. Those fronts form near the coasts and move inland.  That rain water falls and collects in springs and lakes that start to flow into the Kissimmee River. The Kissimmee River flows south into Lake Okeechobee and joins the water already stored there. Lake Okeechobee is shaped like a very large shallow bowl. In the past, when it collected too much water it overflowed its southern edge and water flowed out across the sawgrass plains and the sloughs creating the Everglades. With canals,ditching and mounding for roads, flood control dikes, and great areas put under intensive agriculture, that was not the case anymore. That is slowly being reversed.

As the water flows through the Everglades, its sheet flow eventually drains into Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. As the water flows through the Everglades to the bay, some of it starts to slowly soak into the limestone rock underground. Once it soaks into the limestone, it gets stored in porous underground limestonerock called aquifers. In the Everglades it is the Biscayne Aquifer, and it is the principal source of drinking water for southeastern Florida. There are several similar, but much smaller sloughs that form over southwest Florida and run west and southwest in a similar fashion.

Levels of Comfort and Safety WWFF-12

Levels of Comfort and Safety

There is a continuum of comfort and safety that you need to consider as you travel through Florida. Comfort encompasses things like air conditioning, clean food service, clean rest rooms, potable water, and places to sit in the shade. Safety is being free of the fear of crime and bodily harm.

Top Tier Amusement Parks like Disney, SeaWorld, and Bush Gardens are spotlessly clean. There are some scary rides, but you end up with all your fingers and toes. You expect a near perfect day, and you usually get it. These parks have the budget to keep things fixed and clean. The Big Parks are crowded, but there are quiet places hidden within them. These parks typically have ample closed circuit television surveillance and professional paid uniformed security staff. They also train every employee to interact with guests long before a situation develops.  Wild Kingdom, Sea World, and Busch Gardens cater to nature lovers. In EPCOT, the Living Seas and The Land Pavilions teach nature ethics with the help of animated characters. The Disney Wilderness Lodge is a grander version of the Great National Park Lodges- Disney style. Disney also has a mega-campground near the Magic Kingdom where you could spend a week without hitting the parks. The lake between the Lodge and the campground has water sports and a nature reserve island.

Attractions like Dinosaur World and Lion County Safari are not mega parks, but they are mostly clean and safe. There are some attractions that try to look like the big parks, but don’t have the money or fan base to keep them  up. These attractions are between the big boys and the smelly roadside zoo where the monkey smokes cigarettes and throws poo. Small roadside attractions can be rewarding, but if it looks like a sideshow, maybe you should move on to the big top.

Large Zoos and Aquariums have professional reputations to uphold. Many are a cross between a museum and a top tier park. The newer the facility, generally the better the experience. They have transitioned from barred cages to open moated living environments. Busch Gardens is a top tier amusement park with a top level Zoo inside. Sea World is a top tier amusement park with an aquarium and a small zoo inside. They are not “Natural”, but are as close as some people want to come to the real outback. Many of these have rescue and treatment facilities for wild animals. Some of the parks maintain injured animals that cannot be released back into the wild. These typically have ample closed circuit television surveillance and professional paid uniformed security staff.

Nature Centers and nationally ranked private preserves are typically a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to inspire people to care for the environment by providing experiences that lead them to understand their connection to the natural world. Some are based on conserving and preserving areas of land, and some are based on a specific plant or animal. Generally they offer hands-on and “dirty boot” experiences that involve and envelope the participant. Typically the fees they charge for admission are only a small part of their fundraising needs, and they solicit donations from the public to remain in operation. The volunteers act as rangers keeping the center clean and protecting both the wildlife and the visitors. Crime is usually low because the volunteers are very helpful and are often leading guided walks.  These may or may not have park like areas with trails and observation towers. Some of these Nature Centers are part of a larger zoo, museum, arboretum, or botanical garden.

Arboretum or Botanical Garden may be part of a city park, state park, museum, or be sponsored by a private corporation. They usually have formal gardens that display featured plant types. Ethyl M Candies in Las Vegas has a Cactus Garden sponsored by the company. The BOK Tower Gardens in Florida features a bell tower and large formal gardens built by a former magazine editor and given to the American People.  These are usually tended by low key volunteer docents, and the setting is similar to a museum.

Animal Rescue Centers are similar to zoos, but are closer in operation to a nature center.They are typically a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to inspire people to care for the type of animal they provide care for. Most have one class of animals like elephants or horses, or “Big Cats”, some of them target “Retired and Rescued Circus Animals”. The Audubon society has several “Raptor” Centers where large predatory birds are rehabilitated or retired. These rescue center may have large cages or moated display areas where the animals can be viewed, and often have visitor centers that have films and displays on the conditions of the captive animals before their rescue. Like the Nature Centers, these are typically non-profit and staffed by volunteers. They have limited amenities, but typically have rest rooms and a gift shop. Most are well patrolled by trained volunteers to protect both the animals and visitors.

State Parks are the best maintained and most maintained self-service wilderness. There are many more facilities in most State Parks than in a typical State Forest. Many have vendors, hotels, formal campgrounds and playgrounds. They are wild, but during the day the main areas resemble a city park. Poisonous snakes or large predators are more frequent than in a city park, and both the flora and terrain can cause injuries to the unaware or unprepared. In Florida, some museums and historical sites are State Parks. The State Park system in Florida has rangers, DEP Police, and local Sheriff Departments patrolling them. Technology is creeping into some parks. In addition to interpretive signage, a placard gives a phone number to call from your cellular telephone, and a site code to key in. Then a narrative with background music and sound effects tells you about the site. 

National Parks have front areas near the welcome centers and interpretive areas that have good lighting, beautiful facilities, and ranger presence. The back country areas are the proverbial “waste howling wilderness”. Most Park Rangers have Law Enforcement training and arrest powers and patrol the front areas frequently. Many National Parks have vendors, hotels, formal campgrounds and playgrounds in developed areas and just outside the main gates. Venomous snakes, alligators, or large predators are common, and both the flora and terrain can cause injuries to the unaware or unprepared. Some Parks have re-introduced top level predators like wolf and mountain lion. Others have herds of elk, wild horses, caribou, and bison. Some Parks are swamps, while others have mountains with sheer cliffs. The key to safety and comfort is knowing the Park, knowing your abilities, and knowing where you are within the Park.

City Parks can range from baseball diamonds, dog parks, and boat ramps, to wilderness preserves. Most of them are small and surrounded by dense urban development. The rest rooms may only be open during daylight hours. There are larger facilities that combine public open space ringed by other recreational  facilities like libraries, cultural theatres, and mega-playgrounds with lighting and mood music. The larger cities may have rangers and landscapers in the parks 18 hours a day. Smaller towns may have local police drive through during the day and lock up the gates at dusk. They normal only have an occasional nuisance animal complaint, and poisonous snakes or large predators are rare. 

County Parks can also range from baseball diamonds to wilderness preserves. The larger or more urban counties may have rangers and landscapers in the parks 16 hours a day. Some counties have portable housing where off duty Sheriff’s Deputies live. Smaller counties may not have county parks. Many smaller county parks have an occasional Deputy or ranger drive through during the day and lock up the gates at dusk. They normally have more nuisance and vandalism complaints, and venomous snakes, feral dogs and coyote encounters are possible even within city limits.  

National Forests are managed for long tern sustainability of wood, water, grazing, wildlife, and recreation.  Wildlife is not only possible, but encounters are frequent, and both the flora and terrain can cause injuries to the unaware or unprepared. Most National Forestshave active forestry harvesting and grazing of livestock. Recreation within the Forests is usually clustered near specific features, and may not be allowed in all areas due to on-going operations. 

State Forests are managed for wood, water, and wildlife. Recreation is allowed, but it is not necessarily the primary target function of the design.  Poisonous snakes or large predators are not only possible, but encounters are frequent. Both the flora and terrain can cause injuries to the unaware or unprepared. Many State Forests  have active forestry harvesting. They are often adjacent to, or contain a Wildlife Management Area.

Wildlife Management Areas and Wildlife Environmental Areas are large areas where the primary “crop” is wildlife. They have few trails, fewer facilities, and many are closed to the recreational public during hunting season. Hunters vie for permits to thin the herds and harvest the non-endangered wildlife during the appropriate season. The rest of the time, the public is free to roam most of the WMA’s to hike, bike, or horseback the true wilderness.These areas might be patrolled by contract with the local Sheriff’s Department. State Law Enforcement Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may also check these areas for fishing, hunting and other issue compliance. Some WMA’s are closed to the general public and the land may be privately owned.

National Wildlife Refuge’s are managed as a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitat. The Refuge System maintains the biological integrity, diversity and environmental health of these natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.  Federal Fish and Game Officers patrol these vast expanses of wilderness.In addition to its task of conserving wildlife, the Refuge System also manages six wildlife-dependent recreational uses specifically: Hunting, Fishing, Wildlife Observation, Photography, Environmental Education, and Interpretation. More than 170 refuges in the System have special management areas of one type or another – Cultural Resource or Historic Sites, Research Natural Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, or National Natural Landmarks. These designations are made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  “Wilderness Areas”, however, must be designated by Congress.

 

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/

New Parks before the Paint Dries WWFF-11

New Parks can be a challenge. Parking may be unimproved, restrooms may be "composting", and finding them in the first place can be a challenge. There were hardly a soul in either park. Salt Springs was fee-free, Colt Creek was $4 and an hour drive from Tampa.

Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park  (Florida) is a new park that has a temporary entrance that is two miles from the named feature-salt springs. The real entrance will be located much closer to the springs when they build it. For now, there is a gravel lot, an outhouse, and a mile loop trail through the woods. The temporary entrance is off of Cinema Drive in new Port Richey. 

The trail was wet, but it was Tropical Storm Debby.

This park protects four miles of pristine coastline along the Gulf of Mexico in western Pasco County. The salt spring looks small, but it is an amazing 320 feet deep. Gray fox, gopher tortoises, alligators, and West Indian manatees call this park and its waters home. Birdwatchers can enjoy sighting raptors, wading birds, shore birds, and migratory songbirds. A recent addition to the state park system, Werner-Boyce now has a picnic pavilion, tables, informational kiosk, and a short hiking trail. Plans for the future include providing more access and recreational opportunities for visitors. Park entrance is located at the end of Cinema Drive along Scenic Drive. Turn west off US 19 onto Cinema Drive, park entrance is approx 2/10ths of a mile.

 Screened pavilion at Colt Creek also has flush toilets and a paved parking lot and entry drive. 

Colt Creek State Park in Polk County is also new, but is better developed. It has new paved roads, a youth camp, a spiffy enclosed pavilion, a lake with canoe vendor, and a hammock trail.  There are hundreds and hundreds of newly planted trees in some of the old pasture.  This 5,067 acre park nestled within the Green Swamp Wilderness Area and named after one of the tributaries that flows through the property was opened to the public on January 20, 2007. 

 Newly planted trees (100's) for the future- pasture into forest!

For over 60 years this property was managed as a cattle ranch by the Overstreets. Past activities on the land included beef cattle production, lime rock mining, timber harvesting and turpentining. Comprised mainly of pine flatwoods, cypress domes and open pasture land, this piece of natural Florida wilderness is home to many animal species including the American bald eagle, sherman's fox squirrel, gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer, wild turkey and bobcat. 

The park offers numerous recreational opportunities including hiking, horseback riding (with your own horse), biking, picnicking and nature study. Two picnic areas with a total of four pavilions, two restrooms and a fishing/observation dock are available. 

It will be interesting to watch these parks grow.