During my visit to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary I observed a dramatic change seldom seen anywhere else in nature. Walking down the boardwalk from the visitor center I traveled through three different types of environments within one hundred feet of each other: pine flat-woods, wet prairie, and the swamp. Pine flat- woods were created by changing sea levels during glacial times and are now a very important ecosystem in Florida. Pine flat-woods help to make many different products such as: various resins, perfume, soap, gum, and paint thinner. Pine flat-woods are a unique ecosystem because in order to prevent the ecosystem from being overgrown and allow new plants to grow the ecosystem needs to be burned. Fires are also important because they help break down the plants so that they can release their nutrients into the environment. I learned a lot about conservation on the field trip and how every person needs to try to live as sustainable as possible and try to preserve the environment. Florida is growing at a rapid pace and if we keep living the way that we are, our precious state will not be able to support us for much longer. Stewardship is the duty of each person to try to conserve and protect the environment. The Corkscrew Swamp supports this philosophy and tries to instill it upon its many visitors. The role of private non-profit organizations is extremely important because they educate the public on many environmental issues that they might not be aware of. Corkscrew Swamp charges a small fee for visitors to enter the park. These fees go towards many areas such as: maintaining the park, employees, and educational programs. Like-minded people can change the world by informing others about the issues at hand and by doing their best to live a sustainable lifestyle.
The motivation to protect the Cypress Swamp is because it is one of the largest remaining forests of Bald Cypress in the world. The government should fight to protect this forest and in the past there have been soldiers that have protected this land from being destroyed. A soldier was even killed while on duty protecting the forest. Destroying this forest and building condos would be a tragedy and would be terrible for Southwest Florida's ecosystems. There would be hundreds of species of animals and plants that would be killed and never seen again and building on this land would also be a major disruption to the sheet flow of the state.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is also home to an endangered species known as the wood stork. The wood stork went on the endangered species list in 1984 due to habitat destruction and over hunting. Fortunately, the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is home to the largest population of nesting wood storks and makes a very conscious effort to protect and preserve their environment. One of the ways they do this is through a system called the Living Machine. This “machine” is actually a combination of small plants, animals, and bacteria that feed on biproducts of human waste. As the waste travels from one area of the machine to the other, each specifically chosen organism removes some form of harmful substances. By the end of the machine, 90% of the water is reused to operate the bathrooms. A separate tank is used for the drinking water thankfully!
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