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Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 12 - 16, 2003 in Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
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Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 12 - 16, 2003 in Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
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With all the intellectual stimulation I get every day working on environmental issues, the emotional impacts of natural systems seem to be what keep me coming back. Having filed environmental lawsuits for 33 years and lobbied the Florida Legislature for 28 of those, you can imagine how discouraged one can get talking day after day to people who have other, more important, interests to satisfy. I grew up in a citrus family (urban folk who hired people to do the real work) and came to truly appreciate nature at about the same time I started trying to save a little of it for my kids and, hopefully, grandkids. Every case I litigated brought me closer to the parts of Florida I was trying to save and I made certain that a condition of my employment was a "site visit," usually on foot or in a person powered craft.
In 1985 I discovered and fell in love with kayaks after finishing a particularly painful backpacking trip in the mountains of the Northwest. From the first time I saw one I knew that a kayak would be the prefect boat to explore and enjoy Florida's shallow coastal areas. In order to prove my point, that winter I organized the first Big Bend Sea Grasses Kayaking Expedition along the Gulf coast south of Tallahassee. Ten of us, including a reporter from the local newspaper, paddled and camped out for five nights on sandy beaches along the Gulf coast from the Aucilla River south of Tallahassee to Steinhatchee.
It was a great way to see parts of Florida that were inaccessible to most visitors as well as natives. The birding was great! Seeing a "reef" that turned into a thousand redhead ducks all leaving at once was one of those emotional experiences that become the highlight of any trip. Add to that paddling with wild porpoises and watching a mother try to teach her youngster how to fish was another.
One of the tangible results of that trip was the establishment of the first legislatively designated saltwater paddling trail in the country. It was part of a circumnavigation paddling system to be established segment by segment in the future. Another result was the book on sea kayaking I wrote for Pineapple Press ten years later.
While most of my extended paddling experiences in Florida have been on the Gulf coast and Everglades National Park, shorter trips to the Space Coast in Brevard County have impressed me with many of the same attributes. To sit quietly in a boat, gently bobbing on the waves, watching a few birds, catching a few fish and just soaking up reflected rays are why I'm still in the business of trying to save a few of the remaining wild places. Take a little time off and join me.
Going with the Florida Flow by Herb Hiller
2003 Keynote Speakers
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