Lee County Parks & Recreation staff will provide recreational and educational programs and experiences for Lee County residents and visitors which heighten understandings and awareness of the unique and fragile ecosystems in Southwest Florida, in turn developing a caring relationship with the natural environment and fostering active participation in stewardship of these natural areas.

Goal 1 - Programs will be integrated, complementary, and use a focused, sequential, cumulative approach with specific learning outcomes in mind.

Goal 2 - Programs will allow participants to understand how the ecological systems of the earth function, how we are personally tied to those systems in our lives, and how we can make individual and collective changes in order to lessen our impact upon those systems.

Goal 3 - Programs will focus on ecological processes, and emphasize major ecological concepts, not individual pieces of the environment.

Goal 4 - Programs will foster positive feelings for the natural world by providing participants with a sense of wonder, and rich first hand contacts, to instill a deep and abiding emotional attachment to the earth and its life.
            
Goal 5 - Programs will help incorporate "ecological feelings" in the daily routines of living and learning and help participants craft more ecological harmonious lifestyles.

Goal 6 - Programs will appeal to people of a variety of ages and races, and from different demographic areas.

For Lee County Parks & Recreation:
Promotes Lee County parks and preserves as ecotourism travel destinations for the express purpose of providing "knowledge and understanding of Lee County's unique environmental and cultural heritage" under Goal 61 of the "Lee Plan."
 
For visitors & tourists:
Provides avenues to learn about and experience first hand, the rich eco-heritage that makes "the Lee Island Coast unlike any other Florida destination."

For residents:
Preserves the natural resource base within Lee County in order to maintain a high quality of life. Provides meaningful programs and experiences to help residents make environmentally responsible decisions in their daily lives.

For the local economy:
Positions Lee County as a leader in the tourism industry, by providing a healthy, friendly, and hospitable visitor destination to ensure the continuation and expansion of the area's domestic and international development program.
 
For the environment:
Protects, maintains and enhances "native habitats, floral and faunal species diversity, water quality, and natural surface water characteristics" under Goal 77 of the "Lee Plan", by managing visitors in the county's wetland and upland ecosystems and by informing and educating the public of environmental concerns and stewardship practices.

#1  Reusing, Reducing, Recycling:

As of June 2003, 53% more garbage has been generated within Lee County in the previous three years. Pursuant to The Lee Plan, Goal 42, Policy 42.1, Lee County Parks & Recreation recognizes that it takes everyone’s help, every day, and in every way to reduce the growing amount of trash in this County. All Parks & Recreation employees are asked to do their part at home and in the work place:

1. Sharing items of common use and reusing items generally discarded, are first steps in helping to minimize waste.
2. When purchasing items, select products that aren’t over packaged. While reducing the amount of waste to begin with, such products may actually be lower in cost.
3. Recycling is the right thing to do for the environment and as a responsible role to demonstrate to our children and park patrons. All magazines, slick paper, office paper, newsprint, cardboard, beverage and food containers (#1-7), aluminum cans, scrap metal, and aluminum signs will be recycled at all Parks & recreation facilities.

#2  Florida Friendly Landscaping:

Florida’s rapid population growth brings demanding challenges. Some of the natural environment that attracted us in the first place is damaged and dwindling at an unprecedented rate. We can take important steps to prevent further destruction of Florida’s natural resources and to rebuild the state’s valuable ecosystems through the first line of defense … our yards and community landscapes.
In pursuant to The Lee Plan, Goals 77, 78, 83, 84, 85, 87, 91, 92 and 98, Lee County Parks & Recreation embraces the University of Florida’s public education and outreach program “Florida Yards & Neighborhoods” as standard policy and procedure for maintenance of all facilities. To learn more about creating and maintaining attractive, healthy landscapes that protect Florida’s natural resources, visit the statewide website at: http://hort.ufl.edu/fyn. Florida friendly landscaping emphasizes nine major principles that play an important role in minimizing the potentially harmful effects of urbanization on our natural resources:

1. Right Plant, Right Place – plants selected for your site will require minimal amounts of water, fertilizer and pesticides.
2. Water Efficiently – irrigate only when your lawn and landscape need water. Efficient watering is the key to a healthy Florida Yard and reducing runoff.
3. Fertilize Appropriately – less is often best. Over-utilization of fertilizers can be hazardous to your site and the environment.
4. Mulch – maintaining a 2-3” layer of mulch (non cypress mulch) will help retain soil moisture, prevent erosion, and suppress weeds.
5. Attract Wildlife – native Florida plants in your site that provide food, water and shelter can conserve Florida’s diverse wildlife.
6. Control Yard Pests Responsibly – unwise use of pesticides can harm people, pets, beneficial organisms and the environment.
7. Recycle – in a Florida Yard grass clippings, leaves, and trimmings are recycled on site to provide added nutrients to the soil and to reduce waste disposal.
8. Reduce Stormwater Runoff – water running off from you site can carry soil, debris, fertilizer and pesticides that can harm water quality. Reduction of this runoff will help prevent nonpoint source pollution.
9. Protect the Waterfront – waterfront property, whether on a bay, river, stream, pond or beach, is very fragile and should be protected as a natural treasure.

     
#3  Use of Native and Non-Native Plants:

Florida’s natural environment consists of diverse ecosystems that provide us with clean air, drinking water, stable soils, flood protection, recreation, and natural beauty. Each ecosystem is sustained by a unique collection of Florida native plants that are critical sources of food, shelter, and nesting area for wildlife. Florida has more threatened and endangered native plant species than any state other than California and Hawaii. To preserve our way of life, and Florida’s wildlife, we must protect and enhance Florida’s native plants at our sites and facilities.

Pursuant to The Lee Plan, Goal 77, Policy 77.2.9:

• All new, replaced or enhanced plantings at our sites and facilities shall include the exclusive use of Florida native plants appropriate to the site’s soil type, amount of rainfall or watering, space for growth, and climatic conditions included in the “Plant Hardiness Zones for Florida” referenced in the “Waterwise: South Florida Landscapes” produced by the South Florida Water Management District.
• Need to know what’s native or not? Consult the comprehensive references developed by experts at the University of Florida’s Institute for Systematic Botany: “Atlas of Florida’s Vascular Plants” on the web at: www.plantatlas.usf.edu or the companion reference in print: “Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida” by Richard P. Wunderlin.
• When landscaping, do not use plants that have the potential to be invasive in natural areas near your site or facility. These category I and II invasive exotic plants can be referenced at the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council website at: www.fleppc.org. Removing non-native invasive plants from our sites can also eliminate this major source of invasion. While removal of these invasive plants may seem to be a sacrifice, this loss can be a short-term problem, but will have a long-term, far reaching benefit to Florida’s natural areas. Careful disposal of trimmed or removed invasive plant material must be considered.