Exploring Wild Central Florida

Offers a guide to the wildlife and natural areas of the Everglades, the Florida Keys, and other South Florida natural environments.

Pineapple Press is proud to present four comprehensive guidebooks to the wildlife refuges, state and national parks and forests, city and county parks, and preserves that abound across Florida. For vacationers, naturalists, hikers, campers, canoeists, bicyclists, or anyone interested in Florida's wild places, these books are indispensable as field guides and trip planners.Each provides information on location, habitats, and wildlife, as well as recreational and nature study opportunities. Checklists of the common and scientific names for flora and fauna are included as well.From New Smyrna and Crystal River in the north to Hobe Sound and Punta Gorda in the south including Lake Okeechobee.

If you love watching Florida birds and other wildlife, searching for nests, and identifying trees and plants, here is a new way to enjoy it all—by learning to draw what you see. Whether you are embellishing field notes or just enjoying a new skill, you will appreciate the easy directions in this guide to drawing Florida's diverse wildlife and plants. This step-by-step manual begins with a complete guide to the simple tools and materials you'll need. The author then shows you how to begin your drawing by learning to see the basic shapes and proportions of wildlife. From preliminary outline to finished drawing, you will find clear direction throughout, including tips on how to draw complex features such as feathers and nests. Each section includes a partially finished drawing for you to complete right in the book, if you wish. A great gift for budding artists or naturalists, adults and children alike.

The most comprehensive guide available to Alabama's publicly accessible natural destinations

In this book, naturalist Joanna Burger takes us on a series of delightful trips through the Pine Barrens. From the Albany Pine Bush, the Long Island Barrens, and the New Jersey Pine Barrens in the Northeast, to the pinelands of South Carolina and Florida, Burger describes in lively detail how these habitats have come to harbor such a unique assemblage of species. She introduces us to amphibians and reptiles, neotropical migrants and other birds, and a range of common and unusual mammals. Burger also traces the regions' historic and geologic backgrounds, and the impact of human occupation from the time of the paleo-Indians to the present. She revisits the tension between development and preservation, reminding us that a healthy pine barren region requires uninterrupted land and rejuvenating fires, both of which are increasingly jeopardized. Whispers in the Pines is essential reading for everyone concerned with the history and preservation of these unique landscapes and their wildlife.

Pineapple Press is proud to present four comprehensive guidebooks to the wildlife refuges, state and national parks and forests, city and county parks, and preserves that abound across Florida. For vacationers, naturalists, hikers, campers, canoeists, bicyclists, or anyone interested in Florida's wild places, these books are indispensable as field guides and trip planners. Each provides information on location, habitats, and wildlife, as well as recreational and nature study opportunities. Checklists of the common and scientific names for flora and fauna are included as well. The new second edition includes over 40 new natural areas and covers Broward, Hendry, Lee, and Palm Beach Counties as well as Dade, Collier, and Monroe. With this edition, the entire state of Florida is covered in the four-volume set.

First explored by naturalist William Bartram in the 1760s, the St. Johns River stretches 310 miles along Florida's east coast, making it the longest river in the state. The first "highway" through the once wild interior of Florida, the St. Johns may appear ordinary, but within its banks are some of the most fascinating natural phenomena and historic mysteries in the state. The river, no longer the commercial resource it once was, is now largely ignored by Florida's residents and visitors alike. In the first contemporary book about this American Heritage River, Bill Belleville describes his journey down the length of the St. Johns, kayaking, boating, hiking its riverbanks, diving its springs, and exploring its underwater caves. He rediscovers the natural Florida and establishes his connection with a place once loved for its untamed beauty. Belleville involves scientists, environmentalists, fishermen, cave divers, and folk historians in his journey, soliciting their companionship and their expertise. River of Lakes weaves together the biological, cultural, anthropological, archaeological, and ecological aspects of the St. Johns, capturing the essence of its remarkable history and intrinsic value as a natural wonder.

Many may not realize that the Everglades National Park is cut off from the water that gives it life. Its ecosystem begins well above the park's boundary, extending more than three hundred miles from the Kissimmee River (near Tampa and Orlando) southward through Florida Bay. It is the most endangered ecosystem in North America. The Book of the Everglades is a story of how much was changed when the vast river of grass was drained and converted to agriculture, its natural plumbing channeled so that nearby towns and farms would be protected from flood and saved in drought. It's a story of how one of North America's largest freshwater lakes ended up with a moat around it. A story of the sugar barons who were kicked out of Cuba and settled in what is now known as the Everglades Agricultural Area. A story of the largest subdivision in the world, platted on drained wetlands. A story of the soil that is no longer replenished and gives way at the rate of one foot every ten years. It is a story told by writers who know how to tell a story, and who convey the workings of the entire Everglades ecosystem and the impact of its inhabitants. ... Publisher description.