Entry 6

I enjoyed the first part of this trip with having the speaker tell us her personal experiences in Fort Myers Beach during her childhood and hearing much of the history of the area from her point of view and not a historian’s. Much of the guided tour through the boardwalk I did not enjoy however. The reason I did not enjoy it is because a lot of the information that was given was much of the same information that was learned throughout the Corkscrew Swamp tour. Also, I felt like much of what was said mainly had to do with how the issue of the mosquitoes was being dealt with back in the day and the different types of mangroves. Nevertheless, during the boardwalk tour I enjoyed the beautiful scenery in which we were able to see a good view of the ocean. The conservation 2020 program is mainly focused on obtaining property that considered essential to the environment, restoring and maintaining them. The program consists of a portion of our tax dollars being used in order to keep the program going. This was the first time I had heard of this program, I was unaware that our tax dollars were used for land preservation or that the government would have even considered implementing and supporting this kind of program. I have never been to any of the preserves acquired by this program other than the Matanzas Pass Preserve. I think I might visit one of this preserves in particular, which is the Gator Hole Preserve because I am interested in the fact that gopher tortoises live there and since they are native to Florida I think it is an essential area. I do not know of any other programs existing elsewhere. Information regarding programs like these is not readily available or automatically provided by our professor’s for instance which is where as a student I get most of my information from. I think it is a good thing that our tax dollars are being used for land preservation. I feel that our tax dollars are sometimes being used for things that in my opinion are not that important so it is relieving to know that a portion, however small it may be, is being used for something as essential as land preservation.

Photo taken by me

google images/matanzas pass preserve. ft myers fl