Florida Fishing Licenses

I just looked to see if I would need a fishing license to go fishing from a bridge or land mass? It turns out I don't, for now.

As of right now, there is no need for a license, saltwater or freshwater, if one is fishing from a permanent bridge or mass of land. Unfortunately, on August 1st the standards are changing where each person wanting to fish, whether it is on land or in a vessel, will be required to carry a fishing license.

Licenses are relatively inexpensive and prices are $17.00 for an annual saltwater license and $32.50 for an annual freshwater/saltwater combination. The website all of the recreational and commercial sporting license requirements for the State of Florida are posted at:

http://myfwc.com/license/LicPermit_RecreationalHF.htm#SWF

Don't Litter!

Upon entry into this Colloquium class, I knew not to throw things out the window but I never understood the full extent of the problems it could create.

I have always been told not to throw things out because of the harm they would cause to wild life such as fish and turtles getting caught in six pack can holders and birds getting caught up in fishing line. But I had never really thought about what happens to the trash that just sits on the side of the road untouched by any wildlife.

In this class, I have come to realize that these articles of waste that one might throw out the window eventually will ferment into the soil and spread toxins that can prevent the growth of healthy plant life and an unhealthy environment for wildlife.

So next time you are riding down the road with an empty coke can, put it in the cup holder until you get home. It will not hurt to dispose of it properly but it will do a great deal of damage to the environment and it's inhabitants including us.

Visiting Downtown Fort Myers

Our trip as a class to downtown Fort Myers was very eye opening to me as a newer resident to Lee County. I have not had a chance to make it downtown, and from what I had heard from other students, it was extremely boring with nothing to do. I found this information to be completely wrong.

We arrived at Centennial Park on the morning of Thursday July 9th. I was taken away by the view of the Caloosahatchee River and the farmers market that was set up under the U.S 41 bridge. I have driven over this bridge many times but I never knew anything significant was under it.

As we walked through Centennial Park, we were introduced to the statue of three gentleman sitting around what would be a campfire. The three people are icons to Fort Myers and the world. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone. This sculpture is iconic to the area because of the presence these three men created in their time in Fort Myers and globally.

The class was then told about the battles during the Civil War that took place and prior to my previous ideas, Fort Myers was part of the Union, therefore acting as a safe haven for slaves and Native Americans.

The shops and the atmosphere were amazing. Downtown Fort Myers has so many little cafes and art exhibits it is a hotbed of culture for the area. There are theatres such as the Edison Theatre and shops that offer housing arrangements and art work.

After this field trip, I find myself wanting to go back and find out more of what there is to do in downtown without the time constraints of a class.

"Stormy Weather" by Carl Hiaasen

"Stormy Weather" is by far one of the best works of fiction I have read in a while. Carl Hiaasen does a wonderful job painting a picture of what happened after Hurricane Andrew. Many people were affected and not only the people who made their lives in South Florida. In this book, a couple from New York is on their honeymoon but one thing lies in the way: Hurricane Andrew. The obstacles they face and the people they meet are key to the satirical methods used in this book.

I would recommend this book to anybody wanting to laugh at spontaneous meetings between characters and their difficulties coping with the storm. "Stormy Weather" has opened my eyes to what could have really happened in the aftermath of the storm being that I was to young to truly understand the problems caused by the hurricane.

Kayaking on the Estero River

Earlier this summer, I went kayaking on the Estero River with my girlfriend. We got a two person boat because we both knew I was going to do most of the rowing. As we got everthing together, I realized just how black the water in the river was. I found myself wondering, "What is causing this"? Is the black water attributed to bottom which might be composed of a dark soil or pollution?
As we paddled our way down the river, we went under the U.S 41 overpass, and it was gross to see all of the trash that had been thrown in the crevasses of the bridge. Soda cans, cigarette butts, and glass bottles, among other things.
The Estero River is a waterway that flows into the Gulf. All of this trash that I saw, and the trash that I didn't see such as chemicals from the industries in the area. All of this will eventually flow into the Gulf and ruin marinelife and our lives full of recreation in the ocean. Fish will die at a quick rate and eventually become scarce. Some examples are game fish such as snook and snapper that live in the mangrove and foster their young there.
I enjoyed this trip so much but it scares me to imagine a picture of none of these waterways being functional in anyway other than a method of disposal for waste.

Efforts of Golf Courses to Protect the Environment

Nowadays, many golf courses are putting their foot forward and attempting to lighten the damage they are doing to the environment. By using reclaimed water to irragate the lush greens and fairways that, especially in South-West Florida, make the area such an attraction for tourists and locals alike.

Many golf courses are now starting to only fertalize once a week to delay the process of the fertilizer contaminating the soil and other resources such as natural lakes, streams, and most importantly, the aquifer. They are also instututing more strict rules on the chemicals that can be used in the fertilizing process such as chemicals that contain phosphorous and nitrogen.

As an implement to using less chemicals and water, Mediterra Golf Course is using empire zoysia discovered in Brazil to fight the effects of drought and dry weather.

With efforts such as these coming from the golf community who thrive on beautiful landscapes and green, lively grass, we can all afford to do something to reduce our contaminants into the soil, thus protecting so much more than meets the eye.

My trip to Alabama

This fourth of July I went to Alabama to visit my grandparents and cousins. We had an amazing time on the Coosa River on the boats and shooting off fireworks. But what did we do with all of the waste that we created from the festivities?

During the barbeque we used a lot of plastic containers and they do not have an established recycling program where we were, so we gathered up a few trash bags and brought all of the recycling back to Fort Myers to make sure our landfills did not suffer from our plastic and metal wastes.

All of the fireworks that we shot off during the occasions we made sure did not make there way into the river. The Coosa River is not the most pure river in the world, and we made sure to pick up all of the paper wrappers and dispose of them properly.

The Coosa River and Alabama are so pretty to me and I would hate to see them go to waste. The scenery is pristine and natural. So I feel we helped with a little fraction of the conservation of the environment and I hope others did too on the Fourth of July.

What is your impact?

I just took the quiz at http://www.myfootprint.org/ to find out my ecological footprint, or environmental impact, on the earth and its resources. This is a quiz that asks questions from where do you shop to how many people live in your house to make this determination. On my own quiz, I scored a 236.42, which translates into the need for me to use 6, yes 6, earths. The scale rates your need by evaluating your carbon footprint, food footprint, housing footprint, and goods and services footprint. Take this test when you are just sitting around when there is nothing on TV. It's painless. This helped me to understand that we can live the ways we do because there are people in the world that can't even imagine the luxuries we have in the United States. I, for one, am not saying to become a tree hugging hippie and live in a tent. But we can all turn off a light switch when we leave a room. Every little thing helps whether we realize it or not.

Service Learning: Week #2

I really enjoyed this second trip out to the girl scout camp. I was informed that we were going to be able to help start and maintain a controlled burn. For the first step of the process, I had to make sure the fire barrier was clearly cultivated into the dirt, with little to no dead plant remnants to spread the fire to the unprescribed area. After doing this, me, being a huge pyromaniac, along with three other volunteers got to help set the fire line with the fire can, which is a canteen filled with flammable liquid to literally pour the fire. We had the greatest time seeing this fire catch all of the palmettos, which grow back easily due to their root base being buried deep in the dirt. Seeing the remaining invasive plant stumps become reduced to embers was such a neat feeling.

Service Learning: Week #1

This first class learning experience was so much fun and I learned a lot about the invasive plants that are eating up the natural environment. When we headed into the woods, we were introduced to the idea of seasonal waterways. These are periodic flows of water that go through the camp wher we were to help drain the Caloosahatchee River and reduce the flooding experienced by the surrounding areas. The forest ranger informed us about the maleluca trees and their initial purpose when brought to Florida. They were planted to dry up wetlands, such as the Everglades, to allow commercial growth and community development. Unfortunately, what has happened is these non-native trees have spread uncontrollably. With the spreading of maleluca, the natural composition of the soil is compromised and with the deterioration of the naturally occurring wetlands and the trees out of control spread. Malelucas are ruining the environment necessary for other plants to grow. Bugs were then imported that were spread to control the infestation of malelucas but they are now being found to cause harm to the environments where these trees are located.

ECHO

ECHO, also known as Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, is a not for profit organization who do their work through inter-denominational Christian ideologies. They fight hunger through innovative options, farming training, and networking with the communities around them. In 180 countries, ECHO has established to provide custom growing of plants according to the varying climates. Every year, eight graduate students in environmental studies are sent overseas for 12 months. These are paid internships as missionaries to inform of new methods of growth and elaborate on progress of old methods. When one visits ECHO ,as I did, you will learn about the different climates in these 180 countries. For example, in the urban setting of Morocco, it is possible to grow plants inside of tires, use carpet cuttings for soil, and also use aluminum drink cans to act as a fertile location for plants to grow on.

The Koreshan Unity Settlement

First formed in Chicago in 1869, Dr. Cyrus Teed created the Koreshan Unity after an "illumination" he claimed to have. In 1894, Teed and his followers came to Estero, Florida to create a settlement know as "New Jerusalem". Here he intended to create a utopia where, based on a communistic goal, "everyone worked for the good of all". In the Unity, there were two kinds of members. Those of the Cooperative Order who bought shares in or worked in the Koreshan Industries. These members could live outside of the "Utopian" settlement and still remain loyal to their family unit. The members who joined under the Religious Order who remained celibate were required to live on the settlement and work for the goal of creating the New Jerusalem. Residents of the settlement had financial security, equality between men and women, and the availability of cultural activities and entertainment.
This was not my first visit to the Koreshan State Park but the experience was entirely different. On my first visit, I camped out and did not really care about the history of the land I was surrounded by and who had settled there previously. On this trip, I was more focused on the history and the culture of the Koreshan Unity and what they believed. They were an extremely devout culture with no deviation from what they believed to be true. I would definitely recommend everyone who gets the chance to visit this local settlement that shaped the Estero culture for the years it existed and the history it created for the area.

Edge of the Earth Video

During this video, I learned about a few of the factors in the mid-west that are contributing to the deterioration of the world's health. One of the most significant environmental tragedies was the dust bowl in the great plains during the 1930's. The devastation was so enormous a well know book, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck told of the drama caused by this storm of dust. When the dust bowl occurred, it picked up all of the topsoil in the Great Plains and cleared the soil of its vital nutrients, which blew half way across the Atlantic. Farmers in the Great Plains are still suffering from the effects.
Today in Kansas, however, there is a farmer who is strongly urging farmers to create a more environmentally friendly style of farming. He persists that digging deep does not always create a higher yielding crop. In an attempt to rejuvenate the natural health of the soil he has created a grass barricade between his farming property and the river beside his land. This waterway flows into the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico, he hopes to stop as much chemical runoff as possible. The sad part is, toxins have already made it into the Gulf where the Mississippi flows and has created an area known as "The Dead Zone". Here, no fish can live and the water quality is extremely poor for any kind of marine life. With a lot of encouragement and willingness, Farmers can enhance what is left of their soil and valuable resources to create a healthier environment on land and in the world's oceans.

Caloosahatchee Regional Park-Offroad Trails

I often ride the trails of the Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva, Florida. The conditions are typically extremely dry, but so much fun. The trail ride through prairie land has many palmettos, palms, and pines that line the clearing. The thrill of riding through the shade of the foliage and being out among the wildlife is exhilarating and eerie at the same time. I have made the trip several times by myself, and have seen eagles, hawks, and raccoons. But every once in a while I get that helpless, being followed feeling that every sound I hear is some kind of animal, though its often the prairie grass and surrounding trees blowing. Caloosahatchee Regional Park is a desolate and peaceful place that is filled with good times, adventure, and self discovery. I can have the worst day, and though it is about a thirty minute drive, exit 139 on I-75, when I arrive everything becomes so small when faced with the vastness of nature and the lessons it can teach through adventure. Unfortunately, Fort Myers and Alva are entering the rainy season and the trails are becoming flooded and unridable. If you get the chance, it is a must to ride at this collection of trails and feel the true adventure and beauty of nature.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary- The Living Machine

Yesterday we went to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. I have not visited this location before but it was extremely interesting to me. When I first arrived, I noticed the sign by the restrooms which stated the facilities used recycled water and that was a rather strange concept to me. Dr. Morris, explained the construction and the purpose of something called the "Living Machine". The simplicity of anaerobic and aerobic bacteria and how they were the natural cleansing block of the machine was fascinating. After the water was in the system, it was filtered through the plants that were placed on the slope then flowed through the soil onto a plastic material that does not allow the water to seap into the aquifer. When the water flowed downward to the end of the slope, it was collected in a tank where, by county regulation, chlorine must be added to insure cleanliness. The water is then filtered to remove the chlorine and it reciprocated through the system used by us. This process takes a total of 7 days. Also, something I did not think about was when the tourists are not as active at the sanctuary, the system has trouble working properly and more attention must be payed to it's functioning.