Gasland

Erin Brockovich was a hero to many people in the town of Hinkley, CA where she played an instrumental role in helping a lawyer win a lawsuit for the residents. The residents of Hinkley had suffered numerous medical ailments, some resulting in death, due to the negligent practices of Pacific Gas & Electric (P G & E), which they purposely covered up.

If people protested too much, P G & E would simply offer to buy the family’s house at fair market value. Fortunately, it was during one of these home sales transactions that Erin Brockovich became suspicious, since the residents’ medical records happened to be mixed in with the house documents.

The residents of Hinkley, CA were very fortunate Erin Brockovich worked on that file and started digging very deeply into their lives. It by no means gave them their health back, which has no price tag. But at least the financial settlement they received from P G & E will help them with their medical expenses and the care of their children upon their possible premature deaths due to the consequences of the ill effects of the water contamination at Hinkley.

Unfortunately, Hinkley, CA has what I would call a fairy tale ending compared to what is happening right now in communities across the United States. This next issue about gas drilling dwarfs PG & E’s impact on ground water contamination. We keep hearing on television about the wonders of natural gas and how we have vast quantities right here in the United States that can be used at a much lower price than foreign fuel sources. The majority of U.S. citizens think it is a wonderful clean burning transition fuel and the way of the future. Well, this fuel source is causing havoc that makes what happened at Hinkley look like child’s play.

In the United States there are numerous deep shale gas basins of natural gas, which contain trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. In order to tap into these pockets of natural gas, oil and gas companies use a procedure called hydraulic fracturing. This procedure is very damaging to the environment. Due to the practice of hydraulic fracturing, six states have documented over 1,000 incidents of ground water contamination.

In the past, our government has established laws to protect our environment. In 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency was formed to control air pollution and the Clean Air Act that was enacted in 1963 was significantly amended for them to enforce. In 1972 Richard Nixon signed the Clean Water Act into law and in 1974 the Safe Drinking Water Act was enacted by Congress. It is very disconcerting that these environmental regulations are not applicable to natural gas drilling. You might ask, “Why is hydraulic fracturing virtually unregulated”? It starts with our prior vice-president, Dick Cheney. Before Mr. Cheney became vice-president of the United States, he was CEO of Haliburton, a major provider of products and services to the oil and gas industry. One of the first things Mr. Cheney did as vice-president of the United States was to form the “Energy Task Force.” This group met numerous times with oil and gas industry leaders such as, the regional president of British Petroleum (BP), the president of American Petroleum Institute (API), the head of ENRON (Kenneth Lay) and many others. But they only met once with members of environmental groups.

In 2004 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was investigating water contamination incidents due to hydraulic fracturing across the country. But a peer review panel rejected the inquiry stating that even though hazardous materials were being injected underground, it was not necessary for the EPA to investigate the matter. A 20 year veteran of the EPA, Weston Wilson, wrote a letter to Congress objecting to this decision. He also pointed out to them that five out of seven members on the peer review panel appeared to have conflicts of interest and would benefit as a result of the EPA’s decision to not conduct the investigation. Congress did nothing and the EPA stopped investigating. Weston Wilson and other officials at EPA were appalled to be told by Washington to not investigate and to facilitate oil and gas industry plans. He said, so far their orders remain the same for EPA under the present administration.

The Energy Task Force and a $100,000,000 effort on behalf of the oil and gas industry were instrumental in the passage of the Halliburton Loophole to the Safe Drinking Water Act. This authorizes oil and gas drilling companies, such as Halliburton, to inject known hazardous materials unchecked directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies. The Halliburton Loophole passed as a part of the Bush Administration’s Energy Policy Act of 2005. In fact, the 2005 energy bill that vice-president Cheney pushed through Congress exempts the oil and gas companies from the: Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Cercla/Superfund (Comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act), and a dozen other environmental regulations. Once the oil and gas companies had all restrictions lifted with the passage of the 2005 energy bill, companies such as Encana, Williams, Cabot Oil & Gas and Chesapeake all started using Halliburton technology commencing the most widespread drilling campaign in history encompassing 34 states.

As I mentioned earlier, the method of drilling for natural gas is called “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking.” This method entails blasting a mixture of water and fracking fluid thousands of feet into the ground, in order to break apart the rock with the extreme pressure to free up the gas. Fracking fluid is a mix of over 596 chemicals, one of which is a well know carcinogen, Ethylbenzene.

Another problem with fracking is the unbelievable quantities of water needed. Each time they drill into a well, between one and seven million gallons of water is needed to mix with the fracking fluid. One well could possibly be fracked up to 18 times in its life.

So you are probably wondering how much water is being used for fracking? Well, they started fracking in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama. The total number of wells they have drilled is approximately 450,000, times 18 drills per well, times one to seven million gallons of water totals about forty trillion gallons of water, all of which has been infused with the 596 chemicals in the fracking fluid.

Natural gas drilling is headed east. Plans are in the works for drilling 50,000 gas wells along a 75 mile stretch of the Delaware River to be followed by hundreds of thousands of wells covering the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

Cabot Oil & Gas has been drilling natural gas wells in a very small town in Pennsylvania called Dimock. Residents in Dimock have been complaining that the water in their wells bubbles and fizzes when it comes out. They have also been getting sick. When personnel from Cabot came to their homes in response to the resident’s complaints regarding their drinking water, they said there was nothing wrong with the water. Yet, they refused to drink the water when they were offered a drink. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also said that everything was just fine with their water.

Finally one resident’s well exploded. Another resident had livestock that were losing weight and hair, and the pet cat was not only losing its hair but suffering from projectile vomiting. Cabot Oil & Gas sent out someone to test the water and told this resident not to use the water for any purpose whatsoever, not even to do laundry.

When a natural gas well is blasted with water and fracking fluid, the water that is sent down eventually comes back up. This waste water that comes back out of the ground contaminated by fracking fluid is called produced water. This goes into a flowback pit until it is picked up by a tanker truck for disposal, normally into the Gulf of Mexico from Henry Hub in Louisiana. Some of the produced water seeps back into the ground. They also use evaporation sprayers in the pits where they spray the water into the air in sunlight so that it will evaporate faster and this way there will be less produced water to have to haul away. The problem with this is the fluid evaporating is that it contains fracking chemicals, which are toxic and create ozone and hazardous air pollutants that fall down in the form of acid rain. Ozone is good for the upper atmosphere and keeps the UV radiation of the sun down, but on the ground ozone can burn holes in your lungs. There are also many incidents of illegal dumping of produced water onto fields and streams.

One such incident took place in Meshoppen Creek in Dimock, PA. Among the many chemicals found in the creek was Methylene Blue Active Substances. This contains synthetic or organic surface-active agents called surfactants. A surfactant will allow oil or other substances to pass through a surface by dissolving it. When a surfactant gets into a lake or a stream it will have several negative impacts: it may form a thin surface film that will reduce the oxygen levels in the water, it will start to dissolve the fish’s gills and eventually kill the fish, and it has carcinogenic by-products. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was informed but they did not fine anyone because they said there was no proof as to who had dumped the produced water.

The Jonah Gas Fields are some of the largest and most productive gas fields in the United States. They are located in Sublette County, Wyoming at the foothills of the Grand Tetons just south of Yellowstone. Sublette County is only about 4,900 square miles in size and has a population of about 6,000 people. This means there is roughly about one person per square mile. Eighty percent of the land is Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. This means it is public land and anyone can camp on it wherever they like. In fact the BLM’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public land for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Well, do not plan a camping trip to the BLM lands in Sublette County, WY, because the BLM has not been doing a very good job for the public; Dick Cheney got to them too.

In 2001 the Energy Task Force, headed by Vice-president Dick Cheney asked the BLM to find ways to open up new federal lands to become available for leasing to the oil and gas companies. Incredibly in what is now called the biggest transfer of public lands into private hands in history, Dick Cheney persuaded the BLM to lease millions of acres in the United States to gas companies for exploration and drilling. In Sublette County, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality posted numerous air pollution advisories. They said that ozone in the air had reached unsafe levels.

The University of Colorado sent seven medical researchers to Garfield City, CO to conduct the first preliminary study on the health effects from natural gas development in the area. They found that many people had benzene in their bloodstream. Benzene is known to cause leukemia. Many of the people in Garfield City have received settlements from the oil and gas companies due to this study, but money cannot buy your health back and leukemia can be fatal.

Thanks to Dr. Theo Colburn, a former EPA advisor, there is knowledge of some of the chemicals in the fracking fluid. Due to the exemptions received in the 2005 energy bill, fracking chemicals are considered proprietary. This means the formula is owned by the company and they are not required to divulge any specifications regarding the ingredients going into the fracking fluid. By chasing trucks loaded with fracking fluid, searching through safety data sheets, and collecting samples, Dr. Colburn has identified 596 different chemicals in the fracking fluid. She also investigated the effects of people affected by the contamination of natural gas well drilling. Dr. Colburn described that the neurological effects are very insidious. It starts of with headaches, ringing in the ears, disorientation, dizziness and may eventually lead to peripheral neuropathy. At this point they have irreversible brain damage and they will suffer sever pain in their extremities and swelling. All the people affected by gas drilling had also lost their sense of taste and smell.

Some of the known effects of these chemicals on humans are: testicular toxicity, malformation of embryo, bone marrow depression, and hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells).

It is important to note that the workers who work at these wells are also being exposed to these toxic conditions and are inhaling vapors the entire time they are present at work. They too suffer from these ailments. They are not given any information on what they are handling, and many do not realize they are jeopardizing their health.



As I mentioned earlier, natural gas drilling is heading east. They have leased hundreds of thousands of acres within the largest unfiltered water supply in the world, the New York City Watershed and the Delaware River Water Basin. This combined watershed provides water for 15.6 million people in four states. This could mean as many as 50,000 gas wells in the combined watershed area. As of spring 2010 there has been no drilling in the combined watershed area. There are people in New York expressing the dangers of natural gas drilling, such as James Gennaro a member of New York’s City Council and the Environmental Board Chair. He has been instrumental in slowing the process, but more people need to realize the dangers this presents and get laws to change before this crucial watershed area is damaged and vast numbers of people’s health are put at risk.

In June 2009 Representative Diana DeGette from Colorado and Congressman Maurice Hinchey from New York introduced a bill in both the House and the Senate called the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act – dubbed the Frac Act. It was a piece of legislation one paragraph long taking out the exemption for hydraulic fracturing to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Unbelievably it did not pass. I imagine the House and the Senate is purchasing bottled water from a part of the United States far from any natural gas drilling.

We pay tax dollars to support agencies, such as the EPA and BLM who are suppose to be working for the citizens of the United States and looking out for our welfare and our rights. Instead all I see is that these agencies are working as independent contractors for special interest groups that are willingly endangering people’s lives with the chemicals they are using by contaminating the drinking water in the surrounding areas. They do not bother to warn the residents nor do they take responsibility when it is brought to their attention. When the agencies that should be policing these entities are serving them rather than policing them, there is a complete break down in the system of justice.

Most of these natural gas wells are being drilled in remote locations where large numbers of people are not being affected. Once drilling starts in the New York City Watershed and the Delaware River Water Basin this may no longer be the case. These water contamination problems may not be happening here in Florida, where I live, but I feel that as citizens of the United States, a tax payer, and most importantly a human being with a conscious, it is our obligation to correct this injustice. I became aware of this problem by watching a documentary by Josh Fox on HBO called “Gasland.” We must all try and do what we can to influence our elected representatives to change this loophole in the law. I urge everyone to publicize this problem, and for more information on who to contact go to www.gaslandthemovie.com. Perhaps if these drilling companies had to pay the full share of the costs of their business (environmental externalities), they would not drill anymore, because this harmful activity would be cost-prohibitive.

The Global Farm

Goat enclosure.

Rooftop garden utilizing soda cans wrapped in socks.

Drip irrigation system.

I had the pleasure of visiting ECHO’s Global Village this week in North Fort Myers, FL. ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization and they are dedicated to fighting world hunger. They do this by conducting research on innovative farming techniques for various climate zones, providing non-evasive seeds that can greatly aid farmers in a particular climate zone, and by providing agricultural training to college graduates (who train with them for a period of one year as interns) and missionaries.

One of the primary ways that ECHO achieves its research is through the “Global Village” farm they have created. This is an area comprised of six climate systems where their interns get hands-on experience learning about sustainable agriculture and receive training they will later take to the field.

The six climate systems in the Global Village are composed of: Semi-Arid Tropics, Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Highlands, Tropical Monsoon, Hot Humid Lowlands and Urban Gardening. The Global Village includes techniques on farming, irrigation and animal husbandry that can greatly improve the productivity of peasant farmers around the world.

ECHO’s Global Village uses “organic agriculture,” which means they only use manure, compost, organically approved pesticides, and crop rotation. At the Global Farm they produce their own manure for fertilizers from animals they have on-site. From the Vetiver Grass, they produce their own mulch and this plant also serves as a wind break and serves as a fence to block the garden from the sight of animals. Certain insects, such as ladybugs, can also be utilized to keep evasive insects away from the crops.

My tour of the Global Village was given by intern, Laura Catherine Conville from Alabama. She is specializing in the Tropical Monsoon climate. She has already helped various farmers in many South and Central American countries, such as Bolivia and Columbia and is at ECHO for further training.

We started our tour learning about how tilapia and ducks have a wonderful mutualistic relationship. This can be a wonderful source of protein for peasant farmers in warm tropical climates. Tilapias thrive in warm tropical ponds and can survive in water with low oxygen levels. They feed on algae that grow on the surface of the water which thrives on account of duck droppings. The ducks love having the pond and are better suited for life in the tropics. They have fewer diseases than chickens and their eggs taste similar to chicken eggs. This is a wonderful sustainable source of protein.

In the “Hot Humid Lowlands” climate zone I heard about a very interesting discovery they had made on increasing the yield of rice production called System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Rather than planting the rice close together, they were planting it further apart and intercropping it with another plant. Intercropping had two benefits: it prevented having to weed the field and by planting a crop, such as a legume, and you also provide the soil with much needed nitrogen. In this case they had planted rice bean, increased the production of rice by 10%, obtained an additional crop, and gave nutrients back to the soil.

The “Tropical Highlands” climate zone can be some of the leading areas of malnutrition due to the high levels of soil erosion. All the nutrient-rich soil washes down to the bottom of the valley every time it rains and growing crops becomes very difficult. The answer to preserving the soil is terracing which is extremely labor intensive. ECHO has come up with a technique called Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT). The idea here is to plant perennial trees with deep root systems, in rows every 5 to 15 meters, depending on the slope. Then you weave in between them twigs and bark and this will catch the soil and prevent soil erosion. The only problem with this method is it is not immediate and it takes time for perennial trees to grow and establish this barrier.

I was very impressed with the research on animal husbandry. Animals can be a sustainable and valuable resource for a peasant farmer. Rabbits are unique in that their manure can be applied directly to plants. Additionally, they consume many greens which humans do not eat so they are not in competition for food with the humans. They do not take up much space and if they are too plentiful they can provide the family with a protein-rich meal.

At ECHO they also had a special breed to chicken called turkens. Turkens have 60% fewer feathers on their bodies and are better suited for warm weather. Their bodies are tropically inclined and they require less protein. In the Tropical Monsoon climate area, the turkens are very helpful. After the crop is harvested, the turkens eat the insects, weed seeds and seedlings. They also aid in incorporating air into the soil by tilling the soil with their feet and they add fertilizer to the soil with their droppings.

Another animal that can be helpful for a peasant farmer is a goat, as long as it is contained. ECHO has devised containment ideas for goats where the goat can be fed with greens that humans do not consume but that the goat will eat, and where they can collect the goats manure for use as fertilizer. Goats are well suited for semi-arid tropics and can do well in very warm climates. The goat can also provide milk for the family.

The irrigation techniques at the Global Village were all very impressive. I saw examples of a dug well and two methods of retrieving the water. I also saw the Chapin bucket drip system, which is good for the Semi-Arid Tropics climate zone. Rather than hauling bucket after bucket of water from a well, you only have to fill a bucket twice a day. This bucket has small hoses at the bottom that can irrigate 100 feet of bedding with minimal evaporation.

Research into seed technology at ECHO has produced plants with a longer growing season. This can provide a farmer income for a longer period of time and more food to feed their family as well.

One of the most impressive plants I learned about is the Moringa. I am amazed more people do not know about this amazing tree. It would not surprise me if it turns out to be the cure for cancer. If you dry the leaves in the shade (drying in the sun results in a 40% loss of nutrients) you can ground it into a powder that if fed to a malnourished child will bring him/her back to stable health. It will also help malnourished women who are having problems lactating produce milk. Moringa leaves contain seven times the vitamin C in oranges, four times the amount of calcium in milk, four times the vitamin A in carrots, three times the potassium in bananas, three times the iron on spinach and two times the protein of milk. In addition, if you take one ground seed and put it into a liter of contaminated water and let it sit four to twelve hours, it will pull all the solids to the bottom and kill 90% to 99% of the bacteria in the water. The funny thing is the Moringa only grows in poor soil and with little water. It is truly a miracle tree.

The Urban Gardening section had an impressive area showing a rooftop garden. It had examples of things one could find and recycle to use as containers in a rooftop garden, such as wading pools, old tires and shallow basins. Rather than hauling heavy bags of soil to a rooftop you can use soda cans wrapped in old socks, pine cones or old newspapers. One planting bed consisted of carpeting with pinecones on top. You can make compost with your kitchen scraps as long as you leave the meat and dairy out and then just throw some mulch on top. These are all lightweight items that are good for rooftop gardening.

The rooftop garden gave me an idea on how I could grow some of my own vegetables and spices. I live in an apartment but I have a very large terrace that gets the morning sun. The planting techniques I saw could be easily duplicated on my terrace. I also like the concept of using the soda cans and old socks. I save old socks as rags and now they will have a new purpose. I have not made compose since I lived in Seattle, WA and had an actual garden but I might have a reason to do so again and thereby reduce the amount of garbage I dispose of. This would be a sustainable activity by supplying my family with food, reducing our garbage output and recycling soda cans, socks and newspapers to create a planting bed, not to mention make use of the piece of carpet rolled up in the storage room that will be the base of the garden plot.

Babcock Ranch Field Trip

If Edward Vose Babcock didn’t enjoy fishing and hunting, Babcock Ranch might not exist today. Thankfully, Edward, who had a logging business in Ashtola, PA, came to southwest Florida to hunt and fish in 1912. He liked the area so much, in 1914 he purchased 166,000 acres, which included cypress trees and the longest continuous tract of long leaf pine trees left in the whole country. The long leaf pine was cut into rough blocking timbers and transported to Tampa to be loaded onto schooners for transport to South Africa. The logs were needed in South Africa due to their resistance to termites, which caused a lot of damage in the gold and diamond mines. The logs would be used to shore up the mine tunnels.

In the 1930s, when the timber had been logged out, Edward’s son Fred, started running cattle on the property and created the Crescent B. Ranch, which is today one of the largest ranches in the state of Florida. There is anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 head of Cracker Cattle on the ranch throughout the year. Cracker Cattle originated in Florida when Ponce de Leon first brought cattle to Florida from Spain. There are six full-time cowboys working on the ranch. The cowboys use America Quarter horses, which have what is called “cow sense.” They can run ¼ of a mile and stop on a dime and they can anticipate the movement the cattle will make. They are perfect for herding cattle and are very docile in nature. Today the cowboys do not carry a Colt or a Winchester; instead they all carry a cell phones.

The ranch also grows sod, such as Floratam, for sale to home developers and Bermuda grass for golf courses. This is the only part of the ranch that requires water management. Sod cultivation requires 200,000 acres of irrigation on a daily basis.

The Babcock Ranch also specializes in conducting Swamp Buggy Eco-Tours of their ranch where you go through four diverse ecosystems: piney flatlands, oak hammocks, fresh water marsh, and a cypress swamp. The first ecosystem you go through is the piney flatlands. There are over 900 plants and trees in this area alone but the most dominant plant is the Saw Palmetto. In fact, it is called the “Rambo of plants.” The ranch also makes “Saw Palmetto Honey” and sells it in the gift shop. The Saw Palmetto has a flower that the bees collect nectar from and these bees produce a distinctive honey. The Saw Palmetto also has medicinal purposes and is used in a pharmaceutical drug that helps with prostate cancer. The Saw Palmetto is virtually indestructible. It is resistant to fire and will grow right back after a fire. The only way to get rid of it is to dig it out of the ground.

One of the prevalent tress in this area is the Slash Pine. It is very resistant to fire as well. On Babcock Ranch they did selective cutting and harvested Slash Pine in order to get resin to make turpentine. Cabbage Palms are also very prevalent and you can make “swamp cabbage” from this tree. It was a very popular meal for the early settlers in the winter when food was scarce. Florida is the only state that can eat its state tree, the Cabbage Palm.

Controlled burns are regularly done at Babcock Ranch for various reasons. First of all, pine cones will not germinate unless controlled burns are done right before the pine cones fall to the ground. It is important to maintain a low understory to expose the mineral soil to the new seeds. Another reason controlled burns are important is that Florida is one of the lightning capitals of the United States. If lightning should strike, if you conduct controlled burns, it is less likely the strike will produce a fire that rages out of control. There are fresh water ponds in various areas that are used to help put the fires out if they get out of control.

Another interesting ecosystem on the Eco-tour is Telegraph Cypress Swamp, which is located on the eastern half of the property and includes about 100,000 acres of swamp. It is 5 to 8 degrees cooler in the swamp area due to the bald cypress trees. The swamp is called Telegraph Cypress Swamp because it had a telegraph line, which is still visible today, that ran from Washington, D.C., through this swamp and eventually went under the ocean to Cuba. It was how the United States found out about the sinking of the American battleship Main and what started the Spanish-American War in 1898. In the swamp there were various types of air plants, among them the bromeliad. There was also lichen growing on the trees, which I learned is composed of algae and fungus. The algae collects food and the fungus collects water. Another interesting thing is that lichen will not grow in polluted areas. From the amount of lichen in the swamp, it is definitely un-polluted area.

Besides the trees and plants I have already mentioned, I also saw:
• Spanish moss, which is an air plant that early settlers used to stuff their mattresses. The problem is that Spanish moss contains chiggers.
• Myrtle bushes which were a great asset to early settles. The myrtle berries have a bluish waxy coating. They would boil the berries and the wax would boil to the top of the water. This wax was collected and used to make bayberry candles. The myrtle berries and leaves were also used to make an insect repellent by rubbing on the skin.
• Water hyacinth, a free floating perennial aquatic plant, was in abundant quantities. It is an evasive plant that clogs canals and will take over a swamp.
• Red maple trees
• Oak trees
• Resurrection fern
• Bahia hay to feed the cattle

Some of the other animals I saw on the tour include:
• The White Tailed Deer, which I happened to find out, is smaller in Florida than in the northern states because they do not have need to carry extra body fat since food is available year round in Florida. I saw about six deer along the way.
• The American Alligator was not in short supply. I spotted many in various sizes. Another interesting fact I learned was that alligators lay 35 to 45 eggs and it takes about 65 days for the eggs to hatch. The babies are 5 to 7 inches long and are victims to many predators, such as hawks. Amazingly, approximately only ten survive to adulthood.
• I saw many white ibis’. This bird was almost wiped out by the early Florida settlers who would eat them like we eat chickens.
• I saw a Fox Squirrel for the first time in my life. It is the color of a fox and has a large tail like a fox. It is an endangered animal and this is the reason they are quite rare.
• The Cattle Egret is a species of heron that forms a special relationship with a grazing animal and defends the area around that animal against other egrets. They will try to stay with the same cow for life.
• Wild pigs were running around in great numbers and in various sizes, from five inches long to five feet long. They can root up a whole pasture and the ranch does not want too many in one spot. They have to control their location to prevent destruction of pasture land.
• There are two southern cougars on the property. Southern cougars only meow and purr and have a life span of 12 years. The two at Babcock are 16 years old and were rescued. They were previously owned by private owners that had them declawed and therefore they cannot survive in the wild. Their long life span is quite a testimony to the excellent care they are receiving at Babcock. Southern cougars were introduced into Florida in the 1980s because the Florida panthers were going extinct. There were only about 110 left and they need about a 200 mile radius for breeding and hunting. With the continuing urban growth their numbers are continuing to decrease.
• Wild turkeys
• Whistling ducks
• Wood stork
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Today Babcock Ranch is part of the Babcock Ranch Preserve, which is comprised of 73,239 acres purchased by the State of Florida in 2006. It represents one of the largest acquisitions of conservation land in the history of the state of Florida. The Preserve is being managed by a public-private partnership comprised of Babcock Ranch, Inc. (not for profit corporation), Babcock Ranch Management, LLC (private corporation), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Division of Forestry and Lee County. The Preserve is responsible for protecting these important natural habitats, including the piney flatlands, the dry prairie ecosystem, the cypress swamp and other important water resources on the property. The wetlands are an important factor in re-supplying the aquifer for southwest Florida and contribute towards conservation and the health of the western Everglades ecosystem.

Going on the Eco-tour at Babcock Ranch has been the most interesting Florida nature site I have ever visited. I was extremely impressed with the quantity of wildlife I saw in such a short span of time compared to other sites I have visited in Florida. I think it signifies the vital importance of this tract of land for many animal species and their survival. Even though I drove a short distance from home, I felt like I was transported to another world. I truly consider it the number one tourist destination in southwest Florida and a vital tract of land we must continue to protect.

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

All the otters were hiding in Otters Pond and there were no alligators in site among the cypress. The only creature in site was the destructive wild pig and it would not even look up at me so I could get a good picture.

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It is funny how the sites closest to our home are the ones we ignore the most. Just a few miles from where I live, is a place I have driven by a hundred times. I had always been curious about it, but I guess since it was so close, I always put off visiting this site.

The place is the “Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve” in Fort Myers. I finally made the turn on the road and paid this site a visit. It is unusual to have this big expanse of undeveloped land so close to the city and yet surrounded by so much development. I found out that it exists thanks to a high school teacher named Bill Hammon, who got his students interested in ecology back in the 1970s. They wanted to save the slough and went to other high schools in an effort to stop the logging of the area where the slough is located today. They formed an environmental education group called the “Monday Group.” It is thanks to the efforts of the Monday Group, that the city put together a referendum and the city fathers bought the land on which the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is located.

The Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is approximately 9 miles long and 1/3 mile wide. The reason it has the word “six mile” in the title, is an interesting one. Back in the days of cattle drives across Florida, cowboys knew they had 6 miles to go before they reached the dock at the Caloosahatchee River when they reached the slough.

The slough gets an average annual rainfall of about 80 inches, in addition to storm water runoff from 33 square miles of watersheds. This runoff gradually releases its sediments into the slough, which absorbs the pesticides and fertilizers that might exist in the runoff. Slough water seeps into the ground replenishing our water aquifer. If we did not have the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve our water aquifer would be greatly affected.

The varied weather in Fort Myers, as far as wind, rain and dry conditions go, can help the slough in different ways. Hurricane winds blow down dead trees, which eventually rot. This provides nutrients for the soil and enables plants to grow. Fallen trees offer shelter for wildlife.

Drought can be beneficial to cypress tree seedlings. Single new cypress tree seeds need to sprout in the ground to become established. Drought allows them several years to grow tall enough to get their heads above the flood waters.

Lightning often starts fires, but cypress swamps are generally fire tolerant during the wet season. However, during the dry season they are susceptible. Fire does help to clear out underbrush, and most fires burn out when the fuel is eliminated. Healthy trees are often left unharmed. As new seeds are dropped, they will have more room to grow.

The slough is home to many species of animals, such as the American alligator, Barred owl, Bobcat (Lynx rufus), Cottonmouth frog, Eastern mud snake, Raccoons, Softshell turtle, otters, squirrels, and various types of birds, just to name a few. The slough is especially important for migratory birds. It is a resting place for birds flying south in the winter, and some birds actually stay there all winter long. Some of the plants species are cabbage palms, cattails, duckweed, red maple, and lots of cypress. Unfortunately, when I visited, the only animals I saw were a squirrel and the one animal they consider a destructive pest, the wild feral pig.

It is a wonderful thing for Fort Myers that a high school teacher got a group of high school students interested in the environment and saving a very special piece of land back in the 1970s. If they had not organized themselves into the “Monday Group” and decided to make a difference in the world, the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve would most likely be covered with housing developments today, our water aquifer would not be as well replenished, and many animals would not have found a safe refuge.

What is a Water Footprint?

I was glancing at articles in Discover Magazine and saw one titled “How Big Is Your Water Footprint?” This caught my eye because I have heard of the term “carbon footprint” but never “water footprint.”

It is something I had not given too much thought to, but holds much merit. We only think about the water we consume around the house and do our best by installing water efficient faucets and shower-heads. What this article addresses is that the products we consume have a water footprint consumers should know about.

One example is the typical 12 ounce cup of coffee. One would think it only takes 12 ounces of water to make that cup of coffee but in reality it takes close to 40 gallons, which go into watering the coffee plants and cooling the roasters during the processing of the beans.

Conservation scientists believe it is time people start being informed of a product’s water footprint, which is basically the total amount of water that goes into the manufacture of a product. This can help consumers understand just how much water is required to make a product.

According to Brad Ridoff, a water conservation specialist from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, consumers also need to know where the water is coming from because some geographical areas have more abundance of fresh water than others. He also mentions that food and energy production account for nearly 90% of the world’s fresh water consumption, which is an incredibly high percentage.

The productions of different food products take a different toll on fresh water supplies. Two examples are an 18-ounce jar of pasta sauce and a small bag of Peanut M&M’s. The pasta sauce requires about 52 gallons of water to grow the tomatoes, sugar, garlic and onions. The M & M’s require 300 gallons of water to produce. Now you would think the M&M’s take a far greater toll on our fresh water resources, but the fact is that the pasta sauce is the one taking the greater toll.

Since tomato plants are typically grown in hot, dry climates, they are watered using irrigation systems that typically draw water from the same locations as human drinking water. Whereas, the peanuts and cocoa in the M&M’s are gown in temperate areas that do not need irrigation and they pull the water directly from the ground. Therefore, the pasta sauce is about ten times more likely to contribute to water scarcity than the M&M’s. This is why Brad Ridoff believes location is such an important component in computing the water footprint of a product.

Not all conservationists believe including location is important in calculating the water footprint of a product. Conservationists are still trying to figure out how to best include all the environmental impacts so they can incorporate this into a food label. Some believe it is best to just simply report the total volume of water used.

I think Brad Ridoff has a good point and they need to somehow incorporate the source of the water used as well. A product grown in Arizona, like cotton, is more likely to be depleting fresh water that is very scarce for that area, as opposed to growing blackberries in Seattle, WA where fresh water is plentiful.

Experiences with the Outdoors

The first photo is of my son in the Big Cypress during our swamp walk last September. The next few pictues are taken at Mount St. Helens. One picture is taken from the north side from the Windy Ridge visitor center and shows the side of the mountain and top that blasted away during the eruption. The other picture shows the devastation caused in the old growth forest surrounding the mountain due to the pyroclastic blasts. Lastly, there is a picture taken of the south side of Mt. St. Helens where you can see that there is still forest. This is not the case in the other sides.

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I do not have too many experiences with the outdoors in Florida mostly due to the heat and mosquitoes. But nevertheless I have had a few interesting experiences.

The most recent involved a swamp walk through the Big Cypress Swamp. I was extremely apprehensive about doing this and mainly booked the adventure because I knew my husband would love it. I also brought my two kids along who were not too thrilled about the idea. It ended up being a fantastic experience and all my fears were completely unfounded.

Now I would walk through a swamp at the drop of a hat. The water was quite clear and I learned about many interesting plants, such as the Bladderwort, which eats mosquito larva and helps to control the mosquito population in the swamp. My son became one with the swamp and waded through most of the hour long walk. We only saw a scorpion, a big cricket, and some apple snails. All the alligators went as far away from us as they could the minute our group entered the swamp.

In Florida I have also really enjoyed visiting Silver Springs in the Ocala area. Nothing quite prepares you for seeing a river of crystal clear water in such a great quantity. It is actually clearer than the water in a swimming pool. This is truly a spectacular site that cannot be captured in pictures.

I have also experienced all the beaches in Florida, starting with the Florida panhandle and all around the state up to Jacksonville. The sand changes in various parts as does the color and clarity of the water.

My last Florida outdoor experience worth mentioning was a trip to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. We got there by seaplane in order to have sufficient time to explore the fort and do some snorkeling. This was quite an adventure. The fort is mostly a shell of its former self but the park rangers will give you a very informative tour of the site. You can walk around the entire fort and snorkeling is a must. The water around the fort is extremely clear and full of tropical fish. The seaplane ride itself was also quite an adventure.

I lived out west for ten years and this is where I felt closest to the natural world. There are so many natural wonders out west that you could go somewhere different every weekend within 4 or 5 hours of your house and it would probably take you 15 years to see everything. We visited a multitude of places but I will limit my descriptions here to two places concerning one topic, volcanoes. I have a fascination with volcanoes, especially Mt. St. Helens.

I visited Mt. St. Helens four times and approached it from the three possible sides that you can reach by automobile. You cannot visit all the sides in one day because the road going to each site is not connected in a way that makes this feasible in a timely manner.

Most people only go to the Johnson Ridge Observatory on the north side of the volcano. This is where you can see the incredible devastation left by the explosion and pyroclastic blast of May 18th, 1980. I have also visited Windy Ridge which puts you even a little bit closer to the newly forming lava dome. Lastly, I approached Mt. St. Helens from the south at a location called Climber’s Bivouac. From the south it is amazing to see how many trees were left unaffected by the eruption. This area was largely unaffected and is night and day compared to some of the other areas which look like an atomic bomb went off. Mount St. Helen’s is a place one never gets tired of visiting and every time you go back it has changed because life is coming back to the areas that were blasted away. I have not been there in several years and look forward to seeing the changes.

Mt. Mazama is the other volcano I will mention. This one is dormant. It collapsed following an eruption about 7,700 years ago and Crater Lake formed in its caldera. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States with a depth of almost 2,000 feet at its deepest point. This lake filled up almost entirely with snowfall and is one of the clearest lakes in the world. Due to its depth it only reflects back the color blue and it has the most unbelievable blue color I have ever seen. There are numerous hiking trails one can go. After going to Crater Lake three times, I have done every hiking trail except the ones recommended only for very experienced hikers. The elevation is 7,173 feet above sea level so I figure I better not go on the hikes labeled “Strenuous with a 1,500 foot elevation gain.” I will never get tired of visiting Crater Lake and I consider it one of the wonders of the world.