Estero Bay Historic Cottage and Matanzas Pass Preserve - A Little Ironic

In many ways, the idea of a Matanzas Pass Preserve is a little ironic, as I came to learn from a brief history lesson that I received while at the natural habitat. Recently I was officially registered with FGCU as a Spanish minor. I have quite an affinity for the language and Latin culture. Thus it interested me much to learn that "matanzas" is Spanish for "massacre," which I was actually unaware of before the field trip. I would like to comment on the irony inherent in the fact that an area of land named after the massacre of Native Americans - and hence the non-preservation of livings organisms - is now being used to preserve life. It's definitely a good thing, but something to think about.

Anyway, the trip began with the aforementioned history debriefing at the Estero Bay Historic Cottage, which is a structure remaining from the inhabitants of Ft. Myers Beach that lived during the early 20th century. For some reason it was surprising to me to learn that there were non-natives living on the island of Ft. Myers Beach at that time, but it makes sense. According to the woman in charge of the cottage, things were very simple back then. Most of the people living on the island fished and the environment was thriving. The woman in charge of the cottage also described an arch that formed the entryway from Ft. Myers to Ft. Myers Beach, when the bridge connecting them was first built. This edifice no longer stands, but it sounded as though it was a tourist attraction. Things have changed regarding the ecosystem as well, as chemicals being leeched into the waters have changed the water composition and killed a large portion of the sea life. The information that the woman at the Estero Bay Historic Cottage gave was relatively interesting and I would not have learned them otherwise, I'm sure, but I think that most of my classmates would agree with me that it was not the best part of the trip.

After sitting around in the small cottage it was time to head into the Matanzas Pass Preserve, where no doubt, Spanish soldiers were waiting to do battle. If only that were the case, but I digress. Indeed it would prove to be just about as interesting, as the Matanzas Pass Preserve is a unique mangrove forest ecosystem.



The above photo showcases the unusual tangle of roots that are peculiar to the red mangrove, which is the most common mangrove. There are three types of mangroves, the red, black, and white, however they are not related plant species. In the following photograph, there is a comparison of the black (left) and red (right) mangroves.

Whereas the red mangrove leaves are shiny and vibrant green, the black mangrove leaves have almost a powdery appearance. Further investigation at the "Black Mangrove" entry on Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_mangrove) will tell you that the whiteness of the leaves is a result of salt that is secreted at night.

Other trees that are in high concentrations in Matanzas include this saw palmetto, which I am told has edible leaves.

...As well as this example of a redemption fern, which actually grows on the limbs of other trees. I have been aware for quite some time that ferns are very ancient forms of plant life with simple photosynthetic systems.

About mid-way through the preserve, the class stopped to take in the beauty of Estero Bay, which, at least in the area of the preserve, is a little safer from environmental massacring.

Of course, these photographs do not reveal everything present in the mangrove swamp of Matanzas Pass. There were many small crabs crawling along the trees, but they were very fast and tended to sit right on the side of the tree where it was hardest to take a picture of them! And of course there was the snake at the beginning of this post that a classmate and I encountered. It seemed frozen in place. I would imagine that in general it is difficult to get that close to a snake in the wild, and at least in my opinion, they are worth saving. There were also cypress trees and some scattered palms.

The field trip proved to be very relaxing and surprising. From ironic Spanish expressions to bizarre wildlife, the Matanzas Pass Preserve is my kind of natural habitat.

Conservation 20/20 - The People Responsible for Preserving Lee County

Conservation 20/20 is a county ordained organization that seeks to acquire lands for preservation. Their website is here - http://www.conservation2020.org/index.cfm.

In sum of the information provided on the website, the organization began with a group of Lee County citizens who recognized in 1995 that there was land in this area that needed to be preserved before the whole place was developed and it was too late. They called themselves Conservation 20/20 at this time and eventually through their lobbying, voters enacted a law to raise taxes, the money from which would go towards protecting natural habitats. Officially the group is now called the Conservation Lands Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee (or CLASAC), but they are still more widely known as Conservation 20/20. The function of this committee is to take offers and screen possible lands to be protected, which are then deemed preserves by the county.

Also according to the website, the group has these four primary objectives:
1. Protect and preserve natural wildlife habitat.
2. Protect and preserve water quality and supply.
3. Protect developed lands from flooding.
4. Provide resource-based recreation.

I was not aware until now of this branch of Lee County Parks and Recreations, and it appears that they are the responsible party for many of the preserves in Lee County that I have ever visited or heard about.

The preserved natural habitats that I have visited that were set up by Conservation 20/20 are - Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Matanzas Pass Preserve (thanks to the University Colloquium course), Boomer Preserve - Koreshan State Historic Site, and I may have been to the San Carlos Bay - Bunche Beach Preserve, but my memory does not serve me so well on that.
There's always a possibility that I will go to one of the other preserves listed on the site. I seem to always end up at the Koreshan State Historic Site for one reason or another. I'd like to learn more about the individual preserves and see what interests me.

I see no fault whatsoever in Conservation 20/20's mission and I believe that tax money is efficiently being allocated through their program. It is a small price to pay for the ability to live in the future, quite literally!

Water Rights Reflection - T. Boone Pickens Ain't Who I'm Pickin'

In the fight for the tapping of the Ogallala aquifer in Texas discussed in the article "There Will Be Water" from Business Week, I can't entirely side with Mr. Boone Pickens. I ain't pickin' him for my water needs! Then again, I don't live in Texas and don't know the full extent of the water shortages they're having there.

Regardless, it seems that using up anywhere close to half of the water in an aquifer would have dramatic effects on wildlife and plants that are growing above it. I'm glad to have been able to read this article, because before having done so, I thought that T. Boone Pickens was some sort of alternative energy visionary and an environmental guru. Of course, I should have known better when I've only seen his commercials on CNBC! In the "There Will Be Water" article he is painted as an old kook who's trying to make a quick buck off of other people's ignorance. I do agree with his wind power ideas, but he might be going too far with his water plan.

A quick check here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer - which is the Wikipedia article on aquifers, enlightened me to the fact that aquifers are used all of the time for the same general purpose that Pickens is suggesting. They are used for well water and sustain people all of over in this way. But should a person or corporation be tapping all of this water and transporting it for a high price tag? There are other ways, though they will probably necessitate the same pipeline system that Pickens has in mind. For instance, a large desalination facility could pipe the water up to Dallas and other cities from the Gulf of Mexico. I also saw a type of water treatment facility on the show "Monsters Inside Me" that was located somewhere in the Midwest. The facility processed and recycled the water from the sewage system.

I also just watched an episode of the show "Modern Marvels" that was, in fact, entitled "Water," and in this documentary the Ogallala aquifer is actually discussed! The show talks about how many quadrillions of gallons of water were held within the aquifer and that trillions of gallons were being used each day as things stand now. This vast amount of water is mostly being used in order to water crops in Texas and up through the Midwest. Would a plan like Pickens' even affect things? In the show they also demonstrate how crops can be irrigated with pumped river water. Perhaps in addition to desalination and/or a water sewage treatment plant, river water could be utilized and treated as well. Perhaps Pickens' plan could be used to a small extent, but the aquifer must be preserved as much as possible.

I believe that cities that are experiencing water supply issues should explore their options and possibly use a combination of a few of these options. In this way moderation will be exercised and no one water source will be seriously threatened or depleted.

Pictured here is a desalination plant in Australia taken from http://www04.abb.com/global/seitp/seitp202.nsf/0/6fe27e59554a8c7bc12572260036c5dd/$file/Perth+desal+plant+image.jpg.

Behold Wild Man Jesse's Wild Diet

The following list of foods and caloric content for today October, 5, is pretty close to my usual diet. But before I go into the list, I should mention that about four to five days of the week I am at school or work for part of the day and while there I usually consume trail mix, protein bars, bottled water, and the occasional diet coke. However, when I am home, as was the case today, I will eat various things until I am full.

This morning I woke up and ate a more than moderate-sized bowl of a generic, "pre-made" Captain Crunch cereal with skim milk and water as a drink. Cereal ~ 160 Cal; milk ~ 60 Cal; water ~ 0 Cal; Total ~ 220 Calories.

I took an hour nap because the person I was tutoring in accounting cancelled, and when I woke up I had a peanut butter and waffle sandwich, with maple syrup on top, and water to drink. The peanut butter is actually "home-made" by the local Publix, and therefore has basic ingredients. The waffles were Ego, and made partially from whole grains. The maple syrup is pure maple syrup, not the imitation. Peanut butter ~ 150 Cal (http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/peanut_butter.html); waffles ~ 190 Cal; maple syrup ~ 110 Cal; water ~ 0 Cal; Total ~ 450 Cal.

When I returned from another tutoring session, I made myself some form of culinary dish with groceries I had just purchased, and drank a cup of green tea. Medium shrimp ~ 100 Cal; canned yuca ~ 550 Cal; asparagus ~ 25 Cal (http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-asparagus-i11011); eighth stick of butter ~ 50 Cal; Serrano chilies ~ 10 Cal (http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/3632006.html); lemon juice ~ 0 Cal; half cup of water ~ 0 Cal; cup of green tea ~ 0 Cal; Total ~ 735 Cal.

*Note: I usually eat similar food to this, except that I'll eat a large bowl of rice in place of the yuca, and I would estimate that similar calories would be consumed.

After that meal, I kept handy a glass of water, that originally had about 16 oz. and also a cup of black tea. Each contain negligible calories.

I ate a quarter of a package of pumpkin seeds purchased from Walgreen's ~ 160 Cal.

Shortly after, I ate an average sized banana ~ 110 Cal (http://www.weightlossforall.com/calories-banana.htm).

For dinner my mother prepared a tuna wrap, and I still drank water. The tuna was canned, the tortilla came packaged, as did the cream cheese. The mayonnaise was from a jar. Tuna ~ 140 Cal; tortilla - 210 Cal; cream cheese ~ 140 Cal; mayonnaise ~ 40 Cal; carrot, celery, onion ~ 20 Cal (http://caloriecount.about.com); water ~ 0 Cal; Total ~ 550 Cal.

For dessert I prepared a sundae. I used two different cookies from Pepperidge Farms, Brier's all natural vanilla ice cream, and the dreadfully "in-organic" Hershey's syrup. Two cookies ~ 210 Cal; ice cream ~ 130 Cal; chocolate syrup ~ 50 Cal; Total ~ 390 Cal

The rest of the night I only took in water ~ 0 Cal.

AND THE DAY'S TOTAL IS...

2615!

Not too bad, considering that the nutritional facts on the back of almost every food says that one should consume up to about 2500 calories per day. And this was actually a pretty good day, in an alimentary way, at least. I think I eat quite a bit less on work days and days when I spend a lot of time at school.

I try to eat a variety of things, and usually consume whole grains when possible. I also enjoy different vegetables and have been on a hot pepper kick in recent times. I believe that my whole grain and vegetable choices are sustainable, and I generally go for inexpensive seafood, which is moderately sustainable, though I'm aware that there are problems there as well. Basically I steer away from red meat and pork. I like beef, but it's not necessary all of the time. I'm to understand that beef utilizes a lot of resources, so I feel that I am not taking advantage of that. I'm sure there is much water and other chemicals being used to grow some of the more generic grains and vegetables I consume, such as high fructose corn syrup, carrots, onions, peanuts, unbleached wheat flour, etc. I do my best to eat healthfully and conscientiously while keeping within my budget.

Until I become a big time accountant, this is probably how I will continue to eat. I think that once I have the means, I will endeavor to eat a larger majority of certified organic foods.

An Andean farm, picture taken from - http://www.mongabay.com/images/peru/cuzco/Urubamba_1020_1283.JPG

Calculating My Ecological Footprint - Consumer Consequences

By playing the game at this website: http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/, I was able to see how many earth's it would take to sustain my lifestyle.

My score - 3.2 (give or take)

According to this small test, it would take at least 3.2 earth's to accommodate my habits. Sufficed to say I was pretty surprised.

I do notice that I use an unnecessary amount of electricity. However, at home and even at work, I turn my lights, computers, fans, and televisions off whenever possible. However, when I'm at home, I like to have the TV and fan on when I'm doing things, and I use my laptop often. The rest of my family in the house are a little worse about turning off electronics.

I don't foresee myself buying a new car soon, but when I do, I think I would like a more eco-friendly car. I drive a Hyundai Sonata now, I wasn't entirely sure what the miles per gallon were, but I thought it was a relatively fuel-efficient car. The 21.4 average they had as default in the Consumer Consequences game seemed to be what I thought my mpg's were, so I was a little confused there. I do know that I have to drive at least 10-15 miles each way to my job and work which are in approximately the same place, and I rarely drive on the interstate. I do try to take care of multiple tasks while I'm out though, if for no other reason than to save myself gas and money.

I compared myself to other players of the Consumer Consequences game and found that I was below just about everybody, which was reassuring for myself, but speaks of the poor habits of my fellow human beings in industrialized nations! I think my score reflects the fact that I do not shop very often, and I don't eat much meat or dairy. I'm out at school or work a lot, so I usually end up eating snacks like trail mix or protein bars over fast foods or similar eats. I also do not drink alcohol.

I think that the game was a great way to bring poor ecological habits to one's attention. I will do what I can to improve my score, so to speak, and take better care of Earth!

Image taken from - http://www.classicalarchives.com/prs/astro/Arizona/01-Biosphere_2.jpg

Future of Food - Hershey's Chocolate Bar

Future of Food - The Hershey's Chocolate Bar

One of my favorite snacks is the Hershey's milk chocolate bar. I have always wondered just how environmentally safe it was, being aware of course of how unhealthy they are as a food item. I recall seeing on the back of a Mar's M&M's wrapper one time that they had a seal that guaranteed that the chocolate was produced with sustainability in mind, but in recent times I have not seen this seal. But as far as chocolate goes, Hershey is usually my choice.

I visited a page on the Hershey website - www.hersheys.com/discover/chocolate.asp# - and found some basic information. On this page, the company discusses how the chocolate is processed from the cacao beans found in places such as Brazil, Indonesia, The Ivory Coast, and Ghana, although when I called Hershey, Venezuela, The Dominican Republic, and Ecuador were also part of that list (as well as other places). The seeds are taken from pods that grow on the cacao tree, then the beans are transported by boat and then by railroad to the factories. The Hershey's representative that I spoke with on the phone told me that 90% of the factories were in either the United States or Canada, and some were located in Mexico.

The Hershey website goes on to explain that once the seeds are brought to the factories, they are cleaned and stored. Beans from different countries have different flavors and are kept separate. From what I gathered from the information on the page, the beans are added probably on the basis of some sort of ratio for each country, and this is what gives "that special Hershey taste." The web page continues by saying that the beans are roasted and the inner part or "nib" is what is actually used in the production of chocolate.

The cacao beans are where Hershey gets two of the main ingredients for its milk chocolate bars - the cocoa butter and chocolate liquor. The representative I spoke with enlightened me a little further as to where the sugar is acquired. She told me that any beat sugar that is used is from North Dakota, and the sugar from sugar cane is taken from Florida, Hawaii, and South America. The website mentions that the milk component is fresh whole milk that has been tested and pasteurized at the factory.

On the topic of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), the Hershey representative gave me a whole speech that seemed to be a disclaimer. However, some of the key things that she stated were that any GMO's in the chocolate were safe to consume and that there may only be GMO's in the soy, and canola components. Sugar, she said, may be genetically modified in the future. Her explanation for why the soy and canola may have GMO's is that it is difficult to separate out GMO's from commodities such as those.

I have seen organic chocolate many times before, so Hershey's excuses may not be good, but I can somewhat understand how it would be more expensive for the company and consumers if Hershey only used non-GMO soy and canola. Also, as was the topic of the case with Monsanto in "Future of Food", it may be incredibly difficult to find non-GMO varieties of these commodities if the altered seeds are being dispersed all over the place. Hershey could do it, I think, as they are a huge company, but there are definitely pros and cons that must be weighed. GMO's themselves aren't necessarily bad, I am to understand, the problem is when companies like Monsanto try to monopolize the patented seeds.

Through further research, notably at this website -http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7474278.stm - I learned that Mars was working to decode the genetics of the cacao plant in order to use genetic engineering to make the plant resistant to disease, pests, and water shortages. According to this article, which was published by the BBC in June of 2008, it would take five years to crack the code, therefore it should still be under way. This information indirectly shows that cacao trees have not been modified up until this point, which is nice to know.

The film "Future of Food" was informative, though a little creepy. I definitely think that the laws need to be changed concerning the patenting of seeds. Perhaps the law should read "any living organism or any stage of an organism's life cycle cannot be patented." The fact that seeds that are capable of being carried by the wind or that could fall out of trucks could be sued for was scary to me, and I think scaring people was the film's intention. Some of the techniques used to genetically modify the seeds were suspect as well, for instance, when the film showed viruses being used to break down cell walls.

In addition, I definitely believe that people should have access to a food's list of ingredients and nutritional information. Just as with cigarettes, there should be warnings, which for food would include information about any GMO ingredients in the food.

Your Neighbordhood - Suburbs or Tropical Forest?!

Suburbs or Tropical Forest?!

I ask this question, because as I toured the areas around my neighborhood, it became apparent that there was no shortage of tropical vegetation. In fact, 90% of the houses I saw had some type of large horticultural display, and 100% of the houses I saw had at least something more than a lawn full of grass.

I had never before noticed just how thoroughly vegetated the area was. It's a quiet suburb in the oldest part of Cape Coral (which actually is only about fifty years old), but compared to some parts of Cape Coral and other suburban areas I have visited, this is DEFINITELY an environmentally conscious neighborhood!

Here is a photo of part of the front portion of my house. There are palms and other trees planted around the house. My parents have done their part to beautify our property.



Taking a stroll down the street behind my house, I came across the facade of one of the houses behind me, which as you can see, has a very Southwestern motif, with various cacti in the center and around the house. I am very fascinated by bizarre plants like cacti and their functions in the environment.



From the street behind my house there's a winding road that branches off into a small maze-like cul-de-sac. Here is a highly foliaged street in that area. You can see just how diversely the peoples' tastes in plant-life are in this suburb. Pine trees, different types of palms and bushes, possible oak trees, it has it all.




Coming back around to the other side of my street, I came upon this tree in one of my neighbor's yard. At first I thought it was a Betel palm which I had learned about before. But upon further investigation at Wikipedia.org and this site I found in a google search - http://www.florida-palm-trees.com/2009/06/queen-palm-tree.html - I came to the conclusion that it is a Queen palm, because Queen's are native to Florida, whereas Betel palms are more likely to be found in Southeast Asia. However, they both have similar looking, orange fruit.




I was disappointed that I did not find more wildlife. Most of the birds were nothing special, usually small grey birds, with white striped wings. I hoped to see egrets or blue jays, which I have seen before, but I am to understand that birds such as those only come down here during certain seasons, most likely in the winter.

However, I was fortunate to find some squirrels having a good time running back and forth on a power line that ran between some trees. Squirrels may not be very out of the ordinary, but some of the squirrels down here certainly have strange behaviors!



In the same spot as the squirrels were a couple of very fecund coconut palms. I could not find any type of gardening setup for sustainability, but decided that the occasional coconut palms in my neighborhood were about as close as it got.



I ended my trek a small ways down the road at the entrance to an out of business golf course. You can see the small pond that still remains. Surprisingly there was no wildlife that I happened to notice here, but the scene sort of reminds me of something one might see in a South American or Vietnamese jungle (less the power lines and light post)!




Clearly, there is no worry of complete ecological meltdown in my neighborhood. There's at least as much volume of plant life as there is of homes! Even so, I am surprised that less people are involved in cultivating plants for food, it all seems to be for horticultural purposes. Maybe some believe that there is just not enough space on their property or don't think that they have the time. I may have to change that! I feel that I am very fortunate to live in an area like this, and think that I may have to take more walks around my neighborhood.