I lived on the east coast of Florida (Boca Raton) for 10 years and for
much of that time worked for the US Fish & Wildlife Service as a
volunteer at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
<http://www.fws.gov/loxahatchee/> Loxahatchee is what's known as the
"Northern Everglades"... different from Everglades National Park to the
south <http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm> primarily due to deeper
water... less sawgrass (although there's lots of it) and more channels
and tree islands. Cypress trees grow throughout the Everglades system
but, in the north, they tend to hug the perimeter of islands or along
the shore line. They like to have their feet wet but not too deep.
There are fewer trees and much more sawgrass as you go south and the
water gets truly shallow. In the winter (dry season) it may be dry or
only a few inches deep. But further to the west is Big Cypress Swamp.
The growing conditions for cypress are much improved and they abound.
There are, however, areas where all you find are "pond cypress".
They're only 10-15 feet tall due to very low soil fertility.
Anyhow, I had never really paid much attention to Big Cypress until this
past winter. I'd driven through it many times on the Tamiami Trail
crossing from east to west and back again. But it wasn't until this
past February that I went to visit Clyde's gallery and took a walk in
the swamp out behind the gallery that I realized what a special place is
Big Cypress Preserve. When I worked at Loxahatchee my favorite place
was the boardwalk through the cypress swamp. When I finally got into
Big Cypress and started walking around I knew I was in my element. It's
gorgeous. Clyde has more walks scheduled for Labor Day weekend. See
"muck abouts" in the center of this page: <http://clydebutcher.com/>
Chuck Norcutt
Russ Butler wrote:
> Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>> <http://www.bigcypressswamp.org/trailers.html>
>>
>> Chuck Norcutt
>
> I've been all over N. America and thought I'd seen it all and can't
> believe that I've never been there.
>
> Man, you just complicated my life in a great way.
> Thanks.
>
>
--
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