20/20 Conservation

Before this class I had actually never heard of Conservation 20/20. Looking upon the website, I'm in fact a little embarrassed that I haven't because this website provides so much information and I fight it incredibly insightful. Conservation 20/20, essentially is a Program overseen by Lee County and its goals are to gain land, protect it the right way without harming that environment,restore the land to what it once was, and to allow us as people to visit and even have recreations in the proper way, while exploring all that the nature has to offer. One thing I liked about the website is that it provides a list of all of the Preserves that have been acquired by this mission, the dates that the lands were acquired, and also a list of recreational activities that would be appropriate, yet still fun to do should you ever decide to visit one of the preserves. Sadly, I have not been to any of these preserves. However, this weekend I am going up to Koreshan State Park to do the Nature Walk that they offer, along with some kayaking. I feel that I should take the time out of my life to go visit some of the other preserves because I think that it would be a great growing experience, and to see all of the lands that have been restored to their original beauty and to learn more about what I can do to care for the environment around me. I actually do not know of any other programs that do such amazing work as Conservation 20/20, being from Orlando there really isn't much to be preserved there, considering everything has practically been industrialized it seems like, which is really disappointing to me considering that Orlando actually has some nice areas that could have made nice Preserve areas; before they were made into shopping malls. When I think of what my tax dollars are going to, I want it to be for a good cause. I don't want my money paying for people on Unemployment who are too lazy to look for jobs, or to prisoners who have it easy by just doing labor doing the day and that's it. I would like to see my tax money go towards preserving the land because if we don't start becoming more aware of how valuable our land is, then I think we will be in serious trouble. The trees provide us with oxygen, and all the vast acres of preserves offer beauty, activities, and can help people relax and get away. If we also don't start becoming more serious about preserving our land, then the animals that provide Florida with such a rich diversity will die, and then eventually we will too when we have run out of all of our resources.