In The Know
EVERGLADES GETS BACK TO NATURE
$11 BILLION RESTORATION - 30 YEAR PROJECT
The scars of development are healing in the Everglades south of Alligator Alley, where thousands of motorists pass the unseen effort in the vast wetlands that stretch to the Gulf of Mexico.
Backhoes churn amid flocks of birds while miles of blacktop and canals slowly disappear.
The land is returning to its roots, salvaged from damage caused by developers of what in the 60’s was to become South Golden Gate Estates.
State officials met at Picayune Strand State Forest on Wednesday to mark the second anniversary of the first Acceler8 project, a 30 year, $11 billion effort to restore the Everglades.
“It’s already bringing back the sheetflow and bringing back the plants,” said Davis Anderson of Audubon of Florida. “It’s not only works, bit it’s working faster that the people involved could have hoped.”
Several hundred people are working to remove 290 miles of roads, plug 48 miles of canals, burn invasive vegetation, clear trailers, junk cars, and makeshift structures and remove other evidence of what once was 19,000 building lots.
Some of the men sleep in campers and work yards from ponds created by plugged canals, where alligators make their homes and the endangered wood stork flies.
“Most of the land to the south (of I-75) was uninhabitable,” said Chip Ditel, Acceler8 program manager.
“This was the ditch-and-drain philosophy that built Southwest Florida,” Ditel said. “Even if nothing else is done, this is a really good thing for restoration.”
So the men continue work on more tan 55,000 acres that stretch to the Marco Island skyline on the horizon and the Gulf of Mexico a dozen miles away.
Land acquisition took 20 years, cost an estimate $125 million and involved 20,000 landowners, said Alice Carlson, of the water district.
Jesse Hardy was probably the best known landowner. The disabled former Navy Seal finally lost is battle in January to stay on his land and surrendered is ramshackle homestead and 160 acres to the state for $4.95 million.
He bought the land in the 1970’s for $60,000 and lived in a clapboard home without electricity about 40 miles east of Naples.
Only an earth plot remains, his homestead just a patch of scraped earth in the wilderness.
“We will all reap the benefits of this project for generations to come,” Carlson said.
And so motorist on Alligator Alley continue to speed by.
But here the land is being returned to the Florida panthers, the alligators and the birds. Here there will be no development. “These species and this habitat needs it-it needs it fast,” Anderson said. “We’re going to get back one day to a colony of a million birds.
By Joel Moroney
jmoroney@news-press.com
IF YOU WANT TO GROW THINGS HERE,
BREAK OLD HABITS
For transplanted gardeners- especially those from “up north” – Southwest Florida’s climate and conditions can be a lesson in humility.
With high heat and abundant humidity, growing things here requires a unique set of skills.
Gardening differences go beyond the heat and rain. Not only are the growing seasons out of phase- we generally plant in the fall instead of harvest- the soil and its resident creatures are vastly unlike Northern earthworm-rich loom.
Still, a Florida gardener can indeed harvest produce and flowers all year with the mastery of a few bottom line-basics.
Let’s take it from the bottom – down in the dirt.
- The soil around here is sandy and full of nasty critters called nematodes. The good news is that it’s great drainage and is a lot easier to dig trough that rocky or clay –clotted Northern soil. That goes for the plants too, which don’t have to fight to send roots through it and can develop deep root systems. But it’s still sand, which means it contains little nutritious organic matter.
- What most successful long-term gardeners do is add organic matter compost, manure, leaves, grass clipping.
- Organic matter improves the texture of the soil and helps it old a more constant amount of moisture. It adds and helps retain nutrients. And it feeds and nurtures other living things that help the garden, such as earthworms, beneficial insects, fungus and bacteria. Some gardeners fumigate their soil every year with commercial chemical mixtures.
Amy Bennett Williams
awilliams@news-press.com
BOAT RENTAL INFORMATION
You don’t have to buy a boat to enjoy skimming over Gulf waters, back bays and rivers.
In Lee County alone, dozens of marinas rent a wide range of watercraft.
Here’s a sample:
Bay Water Boat Rentals: Blue Ocean Adventures:
powerboats 18 to 26 feet, from kayaks from $39/two hours, powerboats 17
$155/half day, including fuel to 21 feet from $175/hald day plus fuel
5124 Bonita Beach Rd., Bonita Springs, 703 Fisherman’s Wharf, Fort Myers Beach
239-495-0455 239-765-0444
Boat Bait & Tackle: Bonita Boat Rentals:
Powerboats & pontoons, 16-18 feet 22- foot pontoons from $65/two hours
From $95/half day plus fuel plus fuel
4530 Pine Island Rd., Matlacha 26395 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs
239-283-9115 239-992-2137
Cape Coral Boat Rentals.com Fishtale Marina:
Powerboats 17 to 24 feet from powerboats 16 to 24 feet from
$250/day-call for multi-day delivery $95/day plus fuel
239-478-11 239-463-3600
Four Winds Marina Holiday Cruise Houseboat
powerboats 20 to 22 feet houseboats 41 to 44 feet from $1600/4 days-
from $135/half day plus fuel 3 nights, plus fuel
16501 Stringfellow Rd., Bokeelia 2044 W. First St., Fort Myers
239-283-250 239-945-5459
Jensen’s Resort & Marina Sandpiper Yacht Club
18 ft. powerboats, 24 ft pontoons 20 ft deckboats from $ 150/half day
From $165/half day plus fuel plus fuel
15107 Captiva Dr., Captiva 1503 SE 46th Ln., Cape Coral
239-472-5800 239-541-2988
Salty Sam’s Marina Sanibel Marina
21 ft powerboats, 20-24 Ft 20 ft deckboats/21 ft center console
Pontoons from $129/half day from $125/half day plus fuel
2500 Main St., Fort Myers 634 N Yachtsman Dr., Sanibel
239-763-7333 x 7 239-472-2531
Snook Bight Marina Sweetwater Boat Rentals
Powerboats 19 to 22 ft, pontoons 19 ft center consoles from
19 to 25 ft from $99/half day $160/half day plus fuel
4765 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers 15951 Captiva Dr., Captiva
239-765-4371 239-472-6336
Tarpon Point Boat Rentals Viking Marina
23 ft powerboats from 12 to 18 foot powerboats
$175/half day plus fuel from $99/day plus fuel
6095 Silver King Blvd., Cape Coral 3950 Pine Island Rd., Matlacha
239-542-6222 239-283-8585
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