MAKE YARD A FOUR-LETTER WORD

Residential Yards Can Hurt or Help the Environment Fragile describes Florida’s environment and habitat. It would be that way even without the influx of twenty million plus people inhabiting it year-round then add in the tourists who flock here each year for days, weeks, or even months at a time. And of those millions of

MY KAYAKING ROOTS

Photos and essay by P.C. Zick (@PCZick) I began my water journeys in a canoe, but I never felt at home, either as the navigator in the back or the first mate in the front. However, I knew nothing else and loved the quiet and peace of the rivers of north Florida, mostly the Santa

#BringItHome and Elect Andrew Gillum

In usual circumstances, I wouldn’t endorse a candidate via my blog. However, we are not in usual circumstances these days, and are in need of fresh voices speaking for the best in all of us. Besides, in this case, I have a personal connection to Florida’s Democratic candidate for governor. And I believe the state

Florida’s vanishing springs | Tampa Bay Times

North of Gainesville, a church camp once attracted thousands of visitors because it was built around the gushing waters of Hornsby Springs. Then the spring stopped flowing and the camp had to spend m Source: Florida’s vanishing springs | Tampa Bay Times

Florida’s ailing springs subject of clash over how much water to divert for development | Tampa Bay Times

From respected environmental reporter Craig Pittman comes this article. When will we learn? If we don’t protect our water, we won’t be able to survive. BROOKSVILLE — All over Florida, clashes are erupting over how much water can be diverted from the state’s springs to keep development going. The latest battleground was Tuesday’s meeting of

#Climate Change – Not Allowed in Florida

During my tenure as a writer/editor/public relations director at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the agency took very seriously the threat of climate change to a state surrounded on three sides by water and subject to violent storm surges, eroding beaches, and disappearing habitat. The endangerment of 575 species of wildlife and 700

#Florida Fiction – Celebrate #Earth Day 2014

Florida–surrounded on both sides by water–is vulnerable to the changes inherent in the world today. Sea level rises, beach erosion, and increased intensity of hurricanes leave the state open to natural disasters. Add to that the unmitigated sprawl of developers to the Sunshine State for its landscape and warm weather, and all the elements for

The “Human Heirs” of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

[This essay received the First Place Award in the 2001 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Essay Contest. This award came one month after I left teaching to pursue writing full time. I saw it as a sign that I had made the right decision.] By P.C. Zick – @PCZick My new world frightened me. I didn’t see