Florida Native Plant Society Blog

A coalition of 70 conservation organizations, including both the Florida Native Plant Society and the Ixia Chapter of FNPS submitted this letter to the lead sponsors of Senate Bill 80 and House Bill 209. Known as the State Parks Preservation Act, the legislation is intended to prevent future attacks on our State Parks – attacks like the one last fall that sparked so much public outrage across Florida. We all appreciate Senator Harrell filing SB08 and Senator Bradley’s co-sponsorship, and Representative Snyder’s sponsorship of the companion bill in the House. The coalition has shared recommended language with the legislation’s sponsors that would more explicitly prohibit such uses as golf courses and hotels, and provide additional guidance to prevent other incompatible uses or developments that would commercialize or materially disturb the resources protected within our Parks. “We just don’t want to be back here again next year, the year after, fighting the same battle, we just suggest...

By Laurie Sheldon Aerial view of Fort Clinch Fort Clinch State Park is a great field trip for those with an appreciation of both nature and history. The Civil War-era fort is flanked by beautiful beaches and hiking trails through diverse natural communities: beach dune, coastal strand, maritime hammock, coastal grasslands, depression marsh, and estuarine tidal marsh. All together, the park extends over 1,427 acres of Amelia Island, Florida’s northernmost barrier island. Named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a prominent figure of the Second Seminole War, construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847. The fort was strategically located at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River to protect the natural deep-water port of Fernandina - the eastern link of Florida’s only cross-state railroad. Fort Clinch served as a military post during the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War II - despite the fact that it was never fully completed. Fort Clinch became one of the state’s first pa...

Little Talbot Island by Shirley Denton Florida has so many wonderful parks and wild places to visit. Show your support by visiting a bunch of them this year. The parks are working on slimmer budgets these days so your visits not only help them balance the budgets, but greater use also helps them justify their existence to the budget deciders in the state government. You can also support your state parks by volunteering on a regular basis and also by letting your state representatives know how you feel about our wonderful state parks. Recently on Facebook, John M. sent us a message: "Next week two of us from Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be traveling from Birmingham to Lee, FL, then to Florida Caverns State Park, and finally to the Pensacola area to participate in a sarracenia rescue. We are interested in visiting some botanically interesting areas along the way. Might you have any suggestions? Kind thanks, John Instead of trying to answer the question myself, ...

  Family and friends at the "jumping" tree at Fisheating Creek in Glades County. Photo by Helen Woodmansee, ca 1975. A letter from Steve Woodmansee, FNPS president FNPS members recently received my letter describing childhood adventures in South Florida's outdoors – memorable experiences made possible thanks to preserved lands and my parents' initiative. I dug up some photos of these family trips to share with you. The quality of these photos is not the greatest - they were scanned from prints - but many readers probably have photos like these (maybe even older!) and can relate to a time without cell phones, the Internet or cable television. At this time of year, we are grateful for our families, and also organizations like FNPS, which works every day, through grassroots volunteer members, to preserve, conserve and restore the native plants and native plant communities of Florida. As I said in my letter, my childhood experiences led me to being part of FNPS,...

Honeymoon Island State Park Passions are quickly rising to high levels over this issue. The public will have a chance to hear the facts as related by the DEP, and to give voice to their own opinions at meetings next week. FNPS member Jan Allyn has this to say:  "Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin is on FDEP's list of parks that may get campgrounds. The goal, of course, is to generate revenue. Campgrounds require infrastructure--roads, parking, restrooms, trash disposal, etc. Those things will be installed at the expense of the natural environment, inevitably, and will fundamentally change visitors' experience of the park. Is the addition of a campground at Honeymoon inevitable? Possibly. But even if it cannot be prevented, the public's input is invaluable in determining what type of camping will be allowed, and the size of the footprint that results. It could make the difference between what the state allows: low-impact tent camping or 30-foot-long RVs with noi...