Koreshan State Park

For our last field trip of the semester we went to the Koreshan State Park which is located here in Estero. I really had no clue who or what the Koreshans were until we came to the park. Cyrus Reed Teed was the founder of the Koreshans, He brought followers to Estero in 1894 to build the "New Jerusalem" for his new faith, Koreshanity. The colony, known as the Koreshan Unity, believed that the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. The colony began fading after Teed´s death in 1908, and in 1961 the last four members deeded the land to the state

                                                              Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

Koreshanity the beliefs that Cyrus and his followers consisted of a belief that the Earth and the universe are contained in a concave sphere. They said that the sun was in the center and it was an electrical light whose electricity is generated by the outer shell and the sun was  like a flood lamp. The moon was said to a reflection of the sun hitting the other side of the Earth. This new doctrine wasn't universally acceptable even though they had answer for everything. They even conducted an experiment on a beach in Naples to prove their concave theory.  

The community itself was very successful. They not only relied on one another for different trades but they also had a lot of outside help from successful people. Another quality that led to their success was the gender equality displayed throughout the community. Women were help with much regard and were even given positions of power in the community.

                                                                              Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

Plan B, mobilziaing to save civilization...

All of the environmental issues that were presented in Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to a safe environment, were and are very important. I don’t believe that one is much more important than the other. I will say however that the issue that stood out to me more was the Shrinking Harvests and Melting Glaciers. This issue stood out to me more because I wasn’t aware of just how big of an impact the melting of glaciers would cause on our world harvests. I didn’t even realize they had an impact at all. 

This issues ties into sustainability because it is only a matter of when the glaciers will melt, when that time comes will we have found a substitute for our harvests? Or will the world fall into utter and complete chaos? If we as a global society don’t act now then that is the direction that the world is heading for. There are places around the world that have already begun to restrict certain crops from leaving their country to limit the inflation of prices on certain goods. 

What people don’t seem to understand is that everything is connected. If you act now and reduce our pollution output that in turn helps slow down the melting of the glaciers which then allows our rivers to keep irrigating crops during the dry season. Plan B was created so that awareness could be brought to be people and they could see just how severe the consequences of our actions could be.

Downtown Fort Myers, Urban Environments

When you think of historical cities, you usually tend to think of cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, at least I do for that matter. I would never think that historical and Fort Myers would go together. However it turns out that Fort Myers has it's own place to play in history. Fort Myers was home to the Calusa Indians and the Seminole Indians before they were driven out or killed off by European disease. Afterwards, Fort Myers was established as a fort during the Seminole wars called Fort Harvie. It was then abandoned and later reestablished as a fort once more buy this time it was named Fort Myers. During the Civil War it was occupied by Black Federal Troops. Fort Myers was the only city/fort in the south that fought on the union side. Years later Ford, Edison, and Firestone changed Fort Myers once more. Edison was down here looking for way to produce rubber for Firestone's tires that way Ford would be able to use them for the manufacturing of his cars. 

2. How has the city government addressed environmental issues?

Florida was built on top of swampland and Fort Myers is no exception. Fort Myers was built on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River. Of course this raises some environmental issues. The city of Fort Myers addressed some of these by building a filtration system tank. There are two tanks, one is where rainwater is collected and the second tank is where the water is then filtered and pumped into the Caloosahatchee. You would never be able to tell what these tanks were because they are disguised as aesthetically pleasing water fountains.

Although the city is taking measures to be environmentally friendly and conserve the environment in the city, it can prove difficult. Fort Myers also depends on tourism for most of it's economy. There are many developers that want to come in and tear down historical areas to build new properties. This puts the city in quite the predicament because it has to choose between economic prosperity and the conservation of the environment and historical aspects.

Although Forty Myers is a big city, there are aspects of biophilia present throughout it. Centennial Park is a great example. Centennial Park is a combination of environment meets big city. Citizens have a chance to enjoy the outdoors by walking the park and being exposed to green space. There is also The Palm Park that is further down from Centennial. This park contains palm trees from all over the world.

ECHO Farm and the Food Footprint...

Our trip to ECHO farm was a great experience. I have never heard of ECHO Farm before so this was interesting. ECHO operates Regional Impact Centers, strategically located around the world to bring much-needed agricultural resources within reach of the small-scale farmers that need them. Regional Impact Centers are located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Arusha, Tanzania, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, with a long-term research project in soil science based near Modimolle, South Africa. 

                                                      Entrance to ECHO Farm, Fort Myers, FL

                                                                 Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

During our trip I learned that there are many different ways to be sustainable.For example, ECHO Farm does a great job of reusing whatever materials or waste they produce. They have a worm bed that helps create compost, that is in turn used to spread on the different plants on the farm and this helps them grow. The worms are places in an enclosed enclosure and given scraps of paper, scraps of vegetables, grass cuttings, and manure. The manure comes from the pigs that are raised on ECHO. This is another way how ECHO maintains it's sustainability.

Inside the worm compost bed.
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

The Worm Compost Bed
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

 During our trip we encountered many plants that I have never seen before or even heard of. Two of the plants/tree that really stuck out to me were the Cranberry Hibiscus, which is a plant that is red in color and its leaves are edible, and as you can tell by its name they taste like cranberries. I also thought the Moringa tree was quite fascinating because its leaves can be used to purify water and on top of that fresh Moringa leaves have many beneficial properties even more so than vitamins.

Moringa Properties
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

Cranberry Hibiscus
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

This trip has made me see that my foot footprint is quite heavy. As I take a step back and self reflect, I see that the majority of my food is imported. Purchasing locally grown food not only lessens your impact on the environment but it also contributes to your local community and the local farmers. During our Terry Tempest Dialogue we created " I will" statements. I wanted to end my journal with this I Will statement....I will promise myself to make more of an effort to purchase locally grown foods, such as vegetables and fruit.

                                 

Politics and a Land Remembered.

1. Think about how much Florida has changed over the years. Include the reading by Grunwald and Douglas. You also need to incorporate the first ten chapters of A Land remembered by Patrick Smith.

Florida  has changed in many ways over the course of the years. Whether it is from its name, Pahayokee to what it is now commonly known as The Everglades. Not only has it grown in age but it has also grown in importance. Over the years more and more people and politicians have realized just how important The Everglades are to Florida's ecosystem and not just the ecosystem but to the inhabitants of south Florida. All throughout the 20th century momentum had been building and many people were working towards salvaging what remain of The Everglades. Even though many environmentalists and Florida conversationalists worked hard to help stop plume hunts, preserve millions of acres at wetlands, mandate minimum flows to The Everglades National Park, and secure the largest nutrient cleanup in history it still wasn't enough. The ecosystem  was drastically changing, you couldn't preserve one species without harming another. As described in A Land Remembered, the influx of people to south Florida didn't help at all.

2. What do you make of the politics surrounding the Everglades? How much does it affect you? 

I honestly thought the politics surround the issue of The Everglades back in the 2000's was a bit ridiculous that it took over a year to finally have people realize that our ecosystem was more important than money. It wasn't just our ecosystems future that was at stake but also the livelihood of south Florida. It would've affected me because had the airport been built all the waste and runoff from it would've most likely been dumped in The Everglades polluting our drinking water. 

For our last field trip we went to the beautiful Six Mile Cypress Slough in Fort Myers. During our time there I learned that the preserve was started by a group of students that were studying ecology known as the Monday Group. Their goal was to be able to preserve 20% of all Lee county for conservation. Today that goal has been reached. I also learned that that a slough, which is a shallow,slow movement of water in one direction;which is what Six Mile Cypress is. I also learned that our bedrock here in Florida is made out of limestone. Limestone is make out of the carcass of really old shellfish. CaCO3 is it's chemical composition.

                                                              Photo Credit: Danielle Saenz

Throughout our walk through Six Mile Cypress, I was able to see that the water levels in the preserve vary and fluctuate, especially in the Hardwood Transition Community. Many of the native plants located in this area have adapted to this way of life, this is why they flourish in this transitional area because they get both wet and dry periods. Like the trees below:

                                                            Photo Credit: Danielle Saenz

During our trip we were also able to see more Cypress tress and their Cypress knees, just like on campus. Pond Cypress is among the oldest living organisms in the slough. Our trip throughout Six Miles Cypress I learned just how important it is to preserve our environment even if it is just pieces of it. Six Mile Cypress is like a transitional highway for animals. It allows them to cross from Fort Myers down to Estero.
                                                 

Campus walk 

                                                                Our naturist explaining the different aspects of our campus

The campus walk... very interesting to say the least. You know you walk past things everyday and don't even think twice. I think one of the most interesting things that I learned was that the roofs are shaped at an angle because that way they disperse water more evenly on the ground. I actually thought that was quite ingenious because a lot of buildings that you see have water dripping down in one single spot causing it to sort of carve out a hole. I also thought it was really interesting that because FGCU bought land from Miromar, they had to pretty much follow what they id in terms of building regulations. I also thought it was pretty ironic how college is supposed teach us to be model citizens yet FGCU didn't listen to Miromar and had to pay a fine for not following regulations.

 In all honesty I didn't really know much about our campus until the campus walk. I was actually very happy to finally find our why the library is always so cold. The walk really didn't help me develop my sense of place because my sense of place is at the Naples pier. I do however have a favorite place on campus, which is the FGCU lawn. I especially like to sit out there when our days finally start to cool down and there's a nice breeze. It s a nice place to sit and forget the craziness of school. Sort of like my place at the beach, where I can just sit there and forget about the worries of the world.

                                                                       FGCU Lawn