The past few days on the trail have felt completely different than our previous wildland experience. After spending days hiking through what felt like impenetrable swamp that could never be conquered by farmers, developers and human beings in general, we walked for miles and miles on roads and then levees that ran through a flat, cleared agricultural landscape. We passed huge tracts of ranchland, sugar cane fields, orange groves and vegetable farms. Looking across the agricultural expanse, we saw both beauty and loss. Cattle grazed grassy fields and marshes, while rows of orange trees and vegetables ran to the horizon with an occasional remnant cypress dome reminding us of what the land once was. On the road leading to the levees, we came to a very large farm. We saw an increasing number of trucks carrying agricultural products. Heaping truckloads of green beans and oranges passed us about every ten to twenty minutes. Green beans flew off the tops of the heaps and were scattered along the roadside. There was also an occasional pepper or head of cabbage that had escaped its ride. Every so often an old school bus painted white passed by carrying tired farm workers. There was a strange feeling as we came to the entrance of the large farm. We set up camp on a levee just past the entrance and we watched a constant stream of trucks and white buses leaving the farm. Our camp spot was soft and comfortable, and we got into our tents right as the sun set and a swarm of mosquitos rose out of the neighboring canal. We fell asleep listening to the hooting of owls, the buzz of mosquitos and the clambering of agricultural machinery all of which lasted late into the night. The next day, we walked all levees and essentially walked a straight line the entire day which neither of us had done before. We saw birds and butterflies, and even an otter along the levees. For much of the way, the levees held water on a marshy side from entering farms on a dry side. In several sections we saw marshes completely covered by cattails. It was pretty to look at but this is an indication of pollution from farm runoff. The levees we walked are part of the legacy of water control in the Everglades Agricultural Areas, which essentially use levees and other water control structures for farm irrigation and flood control. The EEA structures have altered the natural flow of water (and ecology) from Okeechobee through the Everglades to the Gulf. Unfortunately, the restoration of the Everglades has been a complex, convoluted ride of highs and lows, with piecemeal progress, as environmental advocates, politicians, political agencies, farmers, developers, and locals citizens all have their own dreams of what the Everglades should be. (aerial photographs show pre and post Everglades as determined by SFWMD study, Landscape and Hydrology of the Predrainage Everglades, 2009)
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:47:54 +0000
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