Earth Day In Spring Focuses On Florida Issues
Tomorrow is Earth Day. I was thinking what this observance has become since its origins in 1970. At the time Earth Day was part campus teach-in, part demonstration, probably regarded by many people as...
View ArticleWinter Haven Enviro Camp Coming In June
Winter Haven’s Natural Resources Division is offering a science camp for students in 9th through 12th grades June 24-28. Participation is limited to 12 students. The camp will include kayaking, hiking,...
View ArticleSee Baby Wildlife? Leave It Alone
I and others sometimes get calls from well-intentioned people about their “rescue” of “abandoned” baby birds, deer and other wildlife. Leave them alone; your actions do more harm than good, the...
View ArticleRidge Preserves Management Shows Progress, Challenges
For the past 20 years, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been in charge of group of preserves that stretch from Winter Haven to Lake Placid that state officials purchased to...
View ArticleOne In Ten Of World’s Birds ‘Rare’; Some Are Near
When I looked at the title of a new book titled “The World’s Rarest Birds” (Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash and Robert Still, Princeton University Press, 360 pages $45) I thought everything in it would be...
View ArticleDon’t Miss Photo Ethics Workshop Saturday
If you like taking pictures of wildlife, there are some things you need to keep in mind to make sure your shots aren’t occurring at wildlife’s expense. Saturday veteran wildlife photographer Steven...
View ArticleMemorial Day Weekend Reminder: Boat Safely; Don’t Trample Beach Bird Nests
Memorial Day weekend is coming. The weather is predicted to be great for getting outdoors, but there are things you can do to make it a better weekend for everyone. The Florida Fish and Wildlife...
View ArticleBoaters Still Endanger Lake Somerset Bird Colonies
The efforts to protect the wading bird rookeries on Lake Somerset haven’t gone far enough. I received a video this week that showed a pair of men on personal watercraft disrupting the nesting...
View ArticleHow Long Will Floridians Accept Environmental Decline?
One of my favorite environmental cartoons was published more than 40 years ago. It depicts two men sitting on a junk car surrounded by flood waters and overrun with rats. One of the men appears to be...
View ArticleMore Florida Scrub-Jay Habitat Protected
The Nature Conservancy announced Friday that it had completed a deal to buy 100 acres of scrub habitat in northeastern Lake County that will connect with existing public lands in Seminole State...
View ArticleBug Zappers No Solution To Mosquito Problems.
If you live in some parts of Polk County you already know this. Mosquito season is under way with a vengeance. Polk County Mosquito Control officials are reporting above-average numbers for this time...
View ArticleLatest Fisheating Creek Battle Troubling
When I think of Fisheating Creek, I think of the words of the great American philosopher Yogi Berra. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” he advised us. Fisheating Creek meanders for 53 miles through some...
View ArticleSaddle Creek Commercial Fishing Talks Continue
The Focus Group for Saddle Creek Park Commercial Fishing will meet Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Saddle Creek Park Office, 3716 Morgan Combee Road, in Lakeland. This group includes commercial and...
View ArticleMoth Week Was Really Cool!
I’ve been participating in butterfly surveys and submitting data for years. Recently I turned my attention to moths. It was National Moth Week, a time to go out at night with a light or some bait or...
View ArticleFederal $ Boosts Polk Habitat Work
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded Polk County a $277,029 grant to advance its Habitat Conservation Plan intended to protect remaining scrub habitat and the endangered species that inhabit...
View ArticleSummer Hikes Can Be Solitary, Rewarding, Wet
If you want to see nature and avoid the crowds, go hiking in summer in Florida. My most recent adventure was in Polk County’s Gator Creek Preserve in the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern...
View ArticleTwo More South Florida Butterflies Proposed For Protection
Bartram’s Scrub Hairstreak and Florida Leafwing have joined Miami Blue and Schaus’ Swallowtail on the list of South Florida butterfly species that are in trouble and deserve protection under the...
View ArticleIf You’ve Really Seen A Panther, FWC Wants To Know
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continues to be interested in collecting definite evidence (photographs or tracks) of Florida panthers. Reports can be submitted to a web page the...
View ArticlePolk Officials Plan Comments On Conservation Land Sell-Off
Gaye Sharpe, Polk’s natural areas manager, said she and her staff are drafting comments to send to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection about the proposal to sell off large chunks of...
View ArticleGet Outdoors! It’s Florida Greenways and Trails Month
The temperatures are moderating, thundershowers are becoming more infrequent, wildflowers are blooming,songbirds are migrating and you don’t want to miss it. Gov. Rick Scott recently issued the his...
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