Will Environmental Lands Cut Draw Backlash?
I know there’s some unhappiness in the environmental community about the County Commission’s decision today to use the Polk County Environmental Lands program funding to balance deficits in parks and...
View ArticleSurvey Documents Circle B’s Popularity
If you’ve seen people at the entrance of Circle B Bar Reserve come rain or shine, they were participating in the first-ever visitor count at Circle B Bar Reserve. The total, which surprised the staff,...
View ArticleExplore Polk Environmental Lands With Camera & Win Recognition
The Polk County Environmental Lands Program has launched a photo contest to capture the diversity of the natural beauty of Polk’s network of environmental preserves. The deadline is 4 p.m. March 15....
View ArticleStill Time To Enter Environmental Photo Contest
If you haven’t submitted your favorite wildlife photos from one of the Polk Environmental Lands Photo Contest, the deadline is this weekend. The contest, whose only prizes will be the pleasure of...
View ArticlePolk Conservationists To Press Commissioners To Restore Lands Funding
Local conservationists say they’re going to try to make one last effort to persuade the Polk County Commission to reconsider their decision at the February retreat to zero out the environmental lands...
View ArticleEarth Day Is About Education, Not Marketing
As Earth Day approached this year, I received the expected string of commercial promotions about new products or something for which sponsors thought Earth Day might be a good marketing hook. Sometimes...
View ArticlePolk Environmental Lands Program Names Photo Winners
If you want to see some outstanding photos of the flora and fauna found in the network of Polk Environmental Land Program sites, check out this link. After a slow start, the contest attracted more than...
View ArticleNative Plant Sale Saturday At Circle B
The Heartland Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will offer native plants for sale and host some gardening workshops from 9 a.m. to noon at Circle B Bar Reserve. The plant sales will be cash...
View ArticleMountain Wildlife Reminds Me Of Florida
As I was driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, a flash of orange caught my eye. Flame azaleas were growing along the mountainside. They were growing next to a patch of mountain...
View ArticleWildlife Federation’s Bob Taylor RIP
I just received the news that Bob Taylor, a longtime member of the board of the Florida Wildlife Federation from Polk County, has died. Bob had been active, despite health problems, in working on a...
View ArticleDockery Amendment 1 Analysis Makes Points; Let Me Add Mine
Columnist Paula Dockery did a good job in her piece over the weekend exposing the weaknesses in Sen. Alan Hays’ recent op-ed pieces defending the Florida Legislature’s record on implementing the...
View ArticleCircle B Center To Close Temporarily
Polk’s Nature Discovery Center at Circle B Bar Reserve is scheduled to close Monday for routine maintenance. The center is scheduled to reopen by Aug. 12. In other Circle B news, the weather has...
View ArticleHunting In State Parks Not A New Idea; What You Can Do
The idea of turning state parks into wildlife management areas appears to be off the table for now. That was the message that came out of last week’s Florida Cabinet meeting when Florida Department of...
View ArticleCircle B Observation Deck Opening Soon
The observation deck on Marsh Rabbit Run will be open soon, according to county environmental staffers. It is visible from from the south end of Wading Bird Way. As I’ve written before, the...
View ArticleButterflies, Native Plants On Sierra Thursday Agenda
Polk butterfly enthusiasts Buck and Linda Cooper will discuss the link between pollinators and native plants at the Ancient Islands Sierra Club meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. at Circle B Bar Reserve. The...
View ArticleCircle B In Running For More Recognition
Circle B Bar Reserve, which is already nationally and internationally famous, may wrack up another statewide award. It’s in the running for the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association’s...
View ArticleAbout Those Cranes Across Lake Hancock From Circle B
If you’ve been hiking Alligator Alley at Circle B Bar Reserve lately, you have looked across Lake Hancock to see some large cranes towering above the tree canopy and wondered what was going on.. The...
View ArticlePick a New Year’s Day hike near you
There are some choices this year if you’d like to start 2016 off with a hike in nature in and around Polk County. Here’s the list. Circle B Bar Reserve, 4399 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland, beginning at 9...
View ArticleHancock Lake Level Affects Circle B Trail
The new adopted lake level for Lake Hancock is affecting areas surrounding the lake, including parts of Circle B Bar Reserve. During a New Year’s Day visit, I started onto the Lost Bridge Trail from...
View ArticleSign Up For Arbor Day Planting At Circle B
Grab a shovel. It’s almost time for Florida Arbor Day. Locally, Circle B Bar Reserve is hosting a family-oriented workday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Jan. 23. The community event will involve planting 1,000...
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