|
 |
| Search |
|
|
Observer Classifieds
Place a Classified Ad
Send a Letter to
the Editor
Send a Press Release
Staff Directory
Archives / Search 2003
Community Links
|
|
Top Stories
By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net
RUSKIN -- Two local leaders are taking their campaign for a Ucita Park on the road, beginning this week.
On Thursday morning (June 11), Gus Muench and Fred Jacobsen will be making the case for protecting a large chunk of threatened Tampa Bay shoreline south of Ruskin before the Agency on Bay Management (ABM), an arm of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
Muench, a Hillsborough County native and lifelong fisherman, along with Jacobsen, current president of the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, will be looking for support of their plan to make the existing Cockroach Bay Preserve plus area around it a large county park honoring the region’s first known natives, the Ucitas.
After the ABM session, their next stops will be at the offices of county commissioners the following week.
In all instances, the two strong Ruskin promoters will be laying out the case for establishing protections of the environmentally sensitive section under a single management – before the opportunity to do so is lost beyond recovery, they said this week.
In order to create a Ucita Park as part of the Hillsborough County park system, the number of agencies which control or hold portions of the property must come together on the project, Muench said. Various parcels in the potential park acreage, stretching from the river southward to the county line, are held by assorted agencies including the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the Tampa Bay Port Authority, and Hillsborough’s environmental lands acquisition program, he said.
For years, Muench, who lives on the south shore of the Little Manatee River, has called attention to the loss of sea grass habitat essential to survival of small marine life. Jacobsen, a dedicated student of local history dating from the pre-Columbian era, speaks routinely of the area’s significance in charting South Hillsborough’s evolution from a hunting and gathering culture to agriculture to contemporary development.
Together, with their first hand knowledge and with the help of a power point presentation, they’re calling for the county park as the optimum remaining means of conserving a South County environmental jewel on the brink, Muench said.
Both wetland and upland habitat, the Cockroach Bay area is the second largest shore bird rookery on Tampa Bay, is the site of the 1539 landing of the Hernando Desoto expedition and was the historic home of the Ucitas. In addition, it is the last mostly untouched section of Tampa Bay shoreline, Muench pointed out.
The existing Cockroach Bay Preserve along with the uplands and wetlands surrounding it represent a short-term opportunity to save something valuable as an eco-tourism destination, valuable as the site of historic activities, valuable as wildlife sanctuary, valuable as a natural environment for humans to recharge, Jacobsen asserted.
But time is limited, Muench added. A proposed shipping container project and looming dredging of Tampa Bay at the Port of Manatee jeopardizes the potential park from the south. And, development is encroaching from the north, he said.
On the other hand, the Florida Department of Transportation and the state’s parks division recognize the historical significance, Jacobsen pointed out. One of the first historical marker kiosks at the southern end of the DeSoto Trail will be established in the existing preserve before the end of the year, he said, and a full-time ranger is to remain on the site.
A good model for the Ucita park might be the Weedon Island Preserve on the western shore of Tampa Bay in Pinellas County, Muench said, where both archeological and environmental resources have been saved for the enjoyment of future generations. ©2009 Melody Jameson
What follows is a public comments section. This is not from the Observer News staff - it comes from other people and contains their opinions and theirs alone. The Observer News does not control the material that follows. We do, however, reserve the right to remove objectionable material at our discretion. By that we mean that we will edit or delete any content that we deem is inappropriate. By posting your comments, you are stating that you agree to these terms.
Click here to report a comment.
Comments
Gus Muench
13 Jun 2009, 15:24
http://crabbyadventures.com/uzita_reserve_1
Anyone interested in being members of a new group called "Friends of Uzita Heritage Park", contact Gus Muench 645-6063, or e-mail baychopgus@tampabay.rr.com, or check web site> http://crabbyadventures.com/uzita_reserve_1. Support is needed to persuade County Officials to adopt this new park. Cockroach Bay is perhaps one of HC best environmental jewels being destroyed by human contact. What is needed is a low-impact park to protect flora and fauna of this region.
© Copyright 2008 by The
Observer
News Publications and M&M Printing Company, Inc.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Top Stories
Latest Headlines
|
|
