Remember these reference books? And antiques

[JVCalhoun]

We need to keep Mr. Calhoun alive forever

Ha! Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass. I don't think I'd want to see all the remaining natural areas be developed. I've seen enough of it that already, and more is disappearing every day.

[Chuck]

I don't think I'd want to see all the remaining natural areas be developed. I've seen enough of it that already, and more is disappearing every day.

Don't give up hope so fast.

In our area, there are several organizations- Finger Lakes Land Trust is the largest- that have proven highly successful to preserving land. And not just some rubbish old former bean field; they've done very well getting thousands of acres of prime (home & cottage) lands on lakeshores- MILES of lakeshore- DONATED by the wealthy ecology-minded. I can't impress enough that dozens of wealthy families, and also the power company, have DONATED commercially desirable land that developers would love to get their hands on to build "cottages" (that's $2M "cottages").

There is a bit of a down side, their model after obtaining the land is to turn it over to NYS for public use; of course, this being the corrupt cesspool of NY, they have all sorts of bureaucracy to jump through in order to get FREE PRIME LAND. But that's New York, and a different story. Fact is, thousands upon thousands of acres of land have, at least for our lifetime, been preserved.

Remember, circa 1905 the entirety of Upstate New York had been clear cut. I have plenty of period photos- whole swaths of land, bare. Then it was used for agriculture. But by the time I was born the agriculture was moving elsewhere, and the forests returned, to the point that now one would hardly think that it had, at one time, been totally bare. The post-industrial age actually saved (or, reverted) millions of acres throughout the US NE.

And in SW FL, remember that those thousands of acres of famed 1970s planned communities on swamp land have turned into state lands. Plus, it's only a few more hurricanes until waterfront is either uninsurable or un-restorable. Look at Estero Island- after the last two hurricanes one can see that the forest of mangrove survived, while the other forest trees are dead; everyone now knows mangrove is critical. And as homes become uninsurable, they will be reverted (with state and federal "help") to mangrove.

Stick around, John, and keep those books handy.

[JVCalhoun]

I admire your optimism, but I tend to be more cynical. Granted, there is a fair amount of land being preserved in Florida, but I remember what the state looked like 45 years ago, and it was much different than it is today. What you see as an abundance of habitat, I see as only a fraction of what once was. There used to be a fire tower not far from where I live. It was built when this area was still sandhills and pine flatwoods. The tower was still standing when houses took over the surrounding land, and a mall was built just down the road. The tower was finally taken down about 20 years ago, when people asked why a fire tower was standing in a housing community.

How long will those lands be preserved, and do they include the best habitats to support the most species? It also takes constant maintenance of those lands to control invasive species of plants and animals, which is a growing problem here. This requires a lot of money, yet budgets and staff are being cut at an alarming rate. They are being forced to do more with less every year. Who knows how long that can be sustained. Remember that invasive iguanas are responsible for wiping out one of the last populations the Miami Blue in the Florida Keys, which was located within a state park.

The Citrus Wildlife Management Area, within the Withlacoochee State Forest, is 50,000 acres of sand pine scrub and sandhills. I've been conducting a state-sanctioned butterfly survey there for the past five years (now up to 82 species; not bad for central Florida). Upland sand pine scrub and sandhill habitats are prime development lands here in Florida. In fact, my own neighborhood is located on old sandhills, which were developed for citrus groves before homes were built. There's not much sand pine scrub left in Florida, and more is being lost every year. When the sea rises, or hurricanes make coastal development uninsurable, the human population will have to shift inland. How long will it take a state administration to decide to settle all those people in places like the Withlacoochee State Forest? And how much tax money would be generated by hundreds of homes in that forest alone? It's worth billions of dollars in revenue. It's only a matter of time. Unlike the restoration of clearcut and agricultural land, urban development will not return to native habitat. When its gone, its gone.

Anyway, let's hope we can preserve what we can, whether it's land or books. It can be gone in a flash.

[Chuck]

the human population will have to shift inland.

Funny you mention that, we bought just west of 41. The town is fully built (albeit nicely) and there's not much space west of 75. Our realtor had suggested we look at a new development. We drove out there- 20 minutes east of 75, in the middle of nowhere, and there's this massive development of probably 4000 cookie cutter homes on barren lawns that used to be sand pine scrub.

Here in NY, the suburbs are pushing ever outward. My Fritillary field has been a Kmart (now, an empty Kmart) for 20 years. The fields where we chased butterflies after school have been a housing track for 30 years. To the residents, it's their nice neighborhood, to me it's a shadow of memories amongst boring suburban houses.

When we're gone (the race, not you and me) it will mostly come back. Jungle, in particular, comes back very fast. I like reading about all the archeological finds in mesoAmerica, how now they know about numerous human sites. I was watching a show about clear cutting Brazil for cattle, when they found some stone foundations; the archies came out and put LIDAR up and found out the whole area- for dozens of miles- had once been a massive civilized area, and completely nude. It all came back within 500 years. Throughout the Pacific islands there are numerous archeological sites, though most you'd never see...they've been overgrown by jungle.