FNCC WILDLIFE TOUR AMAZES
May 31, 2020
On Saturday, January 18, 2020, speaking to a sixty-member audience at the Cedar Key Library Lecture Series, Dr. Samantha Gibbs introduced Florida’s Nature Coast Conservancy, Cedar Key’s very own, twenty-seven-year-old, conservancy.
Then Gibbs delivered a comprehensive, impressive tour of the Florida’s Nature Coast Conservancy’s properties…. via oystercatcher, that unmistakable shorebird seen on our islands and beaches...and the FNCC logo.
Before the hour had passed, Gibbs impressed upon the audience how meaningful FNCC is to the very foundation and conservation of Cedar Key.
Gibbs’ ever-so-engaging presentation was followed by an equally ever-so-engaging offer of a boat ride to view some of the FNCC properties.
A lucky few won the drawing for seats on the FNCC Wildlife Cruise guided by our local Wildlife Guide Doug Maple. On the cool, nearly cloudless day of March 9th, the enthusiastic group boarded the Tidewater Tour boat owned by Tom and Michelle Pearson.
From the water, the group was able to see many of the FNCC Preserved Properties. Among them were: Atsena Otie Key, Cemetery Point Park, the Jack Jones Estate, the Robert Cull Nature Preserve, the Doris Hellerman Living Shoreline, the Railroad Trestle Trail, and the Earl Starnes Conservation Area. Shallow water access limited access to other properties.
Designer, planner, engineer, coordinator, and hostess of the Wildlife Tour and FCC Board Member Katherine Dunlop was aboard the tour and remarked, “I know I left the tour impressed by what a small group of dedicated individuals can do to preserve our fragile environment.”
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