History and Nature What Could be Better???

I very much enjoyed this field trip because it involved both nature and history. Learning about the history of Fort Myers Beach was very very interesting for me. Originally from Connecticut I  am used to everything little thing being historical, when I moved down here to SWFL everything seemed so new. Land was being cleared and buildings were going up, it was hard for me to see anything historical or of importance anywhere. To be honest I never really thought to myself "Hey I wonder what this place looked like 25,50, or even 100 years ago." To be able to listen to first hand encounters from someone who has lived here since before the population skyrocketed and there was more concrete than land was pretty significant for me. I have taken a lot of environmental classes and have heard a lot of the same things over and over again about the ecosystems, about the watershed, about natives vs invasive, but what I think I am going to take away most from this class will be the history of Florida. And I wouldn't even say that I actually learned an incredible amount about the history of Florida, I did learn some, but I more learned that Florida does have a history and strangely enough I never really thought about it.



From the field trip at the cottage I would have to say the best thing I took from it was a different
 mind set towards Florida, I don't see it as this giant blob concrete constructed solely for tourists anymore. I can see that it does have history, it does have a story. The woman that greeted us at the cottage was extremely nice, entertaining and knowledgeable. I would go back definitely, I would bring my family, maybe they too would enjoy a little history lesson on Florida.

The boardwalk we took at the cottage on Fort Myers Beach was also my favorite walk we took all class. Not only was the weather absolutely perfect but there wasn't a lot of talking. We walked, we looked and we listened. Our Professor stopped a few times for some quick explanations, I believe this was the field trip where we learn the infamous song "Red red pointy head, black black lick the back, white white bolts on tight.", but most of  the walk you were able to just enjoy the weather and nature. The boardwalk ended  over looking the water, it was so beautiful and peaceful.

 


 
Conservation 20/20

Administered by Division of County Land and LCPR Conservation 20/20 aims to help conserve natural land in hopes to protect the environment. This is done by purchasing of undeveloped land that is then set aside as a preserve, land that can not be disturbed in any way. The money that is used to purchase the land comes from the tax payers, I agree with this method because it is not solely the government that lives and uses the land but rather everyone, so there for it should not solely be the governments responsibility to protect the environment it should be everyone's. The Division of County Land is responsible for acquiring the land and LCPR is responsible for management and day-to-day running.
This is not the first time  I have heard about this program but it is the first time I have heard what this program does. I have heard it many times in passing but was never really explained what it was. It turns out in fact that I have actually been to two of the local preserves unknowingly, CREW and Matanza Pass. I would definitely go back to these and allows if the opportunity presented itself go to the other preserves we have locally.



Pictures Cited:
-http://www.world-guides.com/images/fort_myers/fort_myers_matanzas.jpg
-http://www.pbase.com/jkrnm5/image/107554036