Final Impressions

My final impression of the course:

This class was an enjoyable experice because my relationship with nature and the environment has been lacking as of late. I learned alot about sustainability and how important it really is. All of the field trips were fun and educative and forced me to get off my butt and connect with the outdoors a little more than normal.

Changes to the course:

The only thing I felt wasnt needed in the course was having to reply so many times to other students posts on the discussion boards. Maybe one reply at most but 4 or 5 felt time consuming and useless.

Readings:

I really enjoyed reading A Land Remembered because it was a great story about a family growing up in a place I am very familar with and all the trials tribulations they went through to survive. Also it was interesting to learn about the MacIvey's family connection with nature and all the good things they did to help sustain their environment.

Suggestions:

I felt all the field trips I went on were great for this class. Each one helped me understand what I was learning in the class better since I was able to go outdoors and see everything first hand which was very educational.

Sense of Place Interview

I interviewed my step families Grandfather on this topic. He said, "that sustainability is very important this day in age since all you young kids watch TV all the time and play on the computer all day." I definetly agree with him after taking this class and learning all about sustainability and how my generation doesnt know anything about nature and the environment because of all the technological advances.



In regards to his upbringing differing from mine he said, "When I was growing up we didnt have the technolgy you have today and that we had to get off our butts and do everything ourselves. We were much more involved with the outdoors because thats all we had. Your generation doesnt appreciate what the world has to offer and should."



When I told him of this class I was taking at FGCU he responded,"That seems like a interesting class and you should take full advantage of what it has to offer because understanding the environment is a great tool to have."

Field Trip # 5: Downtown Fort Myers and Historical Museum

Historic Landmarks in Fort Myers:

• Centenial Park
  
  
  

• City of Palms Park
  

The old county court house

• The Veranda

Changing Role of Downt town: The olf downtown of Fort Myers used to be a place where families could go shopping and find social activities to explore. Today, dowtown has changed greatly overtime. With so many shopping malls around now, downtown businesses have fled and their really isn't much of anything to do dowtown other than eat and drink. They have started rebuilding the downtown area to look a lot better and hopefully attract more people.

Sustainability in an urban environment: In Fort Myers, the downtown area are trying new things to become more sustainable. It involves building our human needs while planning sustainably. Downtown wants to embrace the community and become a place where everyone can be regardless of race or income. This will involve the making of affordable housing, walkable retail districts, and state of the art cultural facilities such as art centers and museums.

It was nice to go downtown and look at all the historic buidings Fort Myers has to offer that I havent seen for a while, it was refreshing and fun. The museum was okay, they had some neat displays of Downtown Fort Myers that I hadn't seen and gave me a little history lesson on my Home town. Downtown needs to offer better and more affordable restaurants, upscale night life, and more social type events to bring the community together more. I feel with some improvements that are being made now downtown Fort Myers could be a very nice tourist attraction one day that everyone living here can be proud of.

Field Trip #4: Agricultural Area - ECHO

Sustainable Agricultural Approaches: ECHO provides a couple different workshops that lean toward sustaining agriculture. One is the Health, Agricuture, Culture, and Community workshop. This workshop is one that will help people improve their own health, agriculture, and nutrition, through understanding and applying scientific, biblical and culturally appropriate principles and also making behavioral changes necessary for transformational development.

The other is Tropical Agricuture. ECHO has so many collection of useul plants for small farm tropical agriculture its amazing. This program will teach students about tropical plants and agricutural techniques used in developing the world. Whats great about this program is that you get to use a real farm as your classroom and get to work hands on and really learn a lot about sustaining agriculture.

Rural Farmers: Rural farmers produce the bulk of the food the world eats. One of the challenges they are haveing is the high prices of fertiliser, pesticides, herbicides and other inputs which impact the yield and production of farmers. Another problem is local farmers have poor feeder roads and inadequate road network between rural areas where agricultural production mainly takes place and the urban areas. Also, lack of good on farm and off farm storage facilities.

Appropriate technologies and techniques:

Technologies

• Biofuel



• Compost



• Sustainable Agriculture



• Hunger solutions



• Water safety and Water quality



• Irragation Techniques

Techniques

• Neem



• Chaya



• Moringa



• Live fencing



• Benefits of small animals



• Urban gardening techniques



• Deforstation

This was a fun experience. I was able to learn alot about plants and farming and what it takes sustain your garden. My experience growing plants is very limited, I have planted plants that are already been grown but in recent memory havent actually grown my own plants. If I needed to grow my own food im sure I could manage to do it but it wouldnt be easy thats for sure. Farmers have a very tough job growing all these plants and taking care of them.

Field Trip #3: Estero Island Historic Cottage and Matanzas Pass Preserve

Estuary and Barrier Island Enviroment: An estuary is an area where the salt water of the seas and the fresh water of the rivers and streams meet and mix. Barrier Islands are narrow strips of sand that parrallel the mainland coast. Estuaries are very important to the economy because they serve as nursuries for fish and shellfifh and as rookeries for wading birds. Some of the main species you will find in an estuary are worms, oyster, mussels, barnicles, shrimp, mullet, and blue crabs.

Characteristics of and Estuary

• A partially enclosed shallow bay area




• Freshwater




• Barrier Islands




• Mangroves

Mangroves: There are three different types of mangroves in Florida- Red, White, and Black mangroves. They are collectively bunched together because of their ability to thrive in saltwater but can also grow in freshwater. The mangroves at the preserver were all bunched up together and over hung some of the boardwalk which was pretty cool to see and experience.

Mangroves role in the Ecososystem

• Providing a nursurey ground for fish and shell fish



• Stabalizing shorelines



• Protecting inland ares for storm surges



• have a high rate of carbon sequestration
  

Main Species at Matanzas Pass: The main species that you will see at the pass are native and exotic species. The native species are plant and animals that are from a particular area as exotix species are plant and animals that are new to the area or have arrived by accident.

Conservation 20/20: This is the Lee County land aquisistion program started by a group of concerned citizens who lobbied the county commissioners to set aside funds to purchase land for conservation. Each property owner in Lee County pays a small amound of money out of there property taxes which goes to the Conservation 20/20 program. Some of what you see at Matanzas pass was purchased through this program. I personally have never heard of this program before now and think it is a great idea because you are taking out such a small portion of your money and are making a big impact on land preservation.

This field trip was okay. Basically all there was were a bunch of mangroves and a boardwalk. The mangroves hovering over the boardwalk was pretty cool but other than that this was nothing new to me since I am from here.

Field Trip #2: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Historical Trends: In the early 1900's Plume Hunting was taking place in South Florida which was the result of poachers killing innocent wading birds as they nested. Old growth bald cypress trees which are pictured at the right were once at the mercy of harvesting timber companies and now 700 acres of old- growth bald cypress forests are being protected by the Corkscrew Swamp Santuary. Today, pollution, habitat fragmentation, and extensive drainage are some of the other obstacles nature is fighting and Governments are stepping in to help sustain the environment.

The value of wetlands: Acre for acre, wetlands support more diversity and abundance of living things than other ecosystems. They reduce flood damage by storing water during heavy rains. Acting as filters for pollutants, they keep lakes and rivers pure. Many plants and animals depend on wetlands for food and shelter.

Value of fire, water, and elevation: During the wet season water levels rise, streams and ponds overflow, and wet prairies fill. Fire in the corkscrew swamp can be of great use to some. Pine flatwoods flood South Florida during the dry season and need fire to stay healthy. Without fire, other plants would crowd in and the pine flatwoods landscape would disappear. The ash from fires also fertilize plants and increase fruit and seed production of many new plants.

Main Habitats: The Wet Prairie are the least flooded of the marsh system and are surrounded by sand cord grass, sedges and rushes.

The lettuce lakes were very cool to look at I thought and are found in the deeper lake regions of the swamp.

The Bald Cypress is everywhere at the Corkscrew Santuary. These trees are very tall and were amazing to look up at. There are around 700 acres of these trees and can grow up to 130ft. The bald cypress are able to provide homes for some animals such as owels and snakes and aid in stability, oxygen exchange, and food storage.

Sustainability: The board walk at the Sactuary is very long and weaves in and out of the swamp. It is a great example of using sustainable resources as it is made of recycled materials called Ipe. When visitation is at a high the boardwalk is there to protect all the natural resources Corkscrew Sanctuary has to offer.

Overall my field trip experience at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was fun and educational. I was able to see some sides of nature that I havent seen such as the lettuce lakes and being right next to a huge Bald Cypress tree which was pretty neat. I was able to see many different colored dragon flies and listen to the sounds of all differnt kinds of birds. I enjoyed my visit here and would go back again.

Importance of Watersheds and Wetlands

-The watersheds ( ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, canals) all need to be protected so the water supply is protected and healthy.

-Wetlands are important because they keep nature alive. Plants, trees, and soil need wetlands to survive and flourish in nature.