Picayune Strand State Forest

A panther walks within the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, which is 41 square miles of unfenced land meant to give the far-ranging animal some room to hunt and breed amid South Florida's growing population, although one of three villages within the Town of Big Cypress — and the new roads and additional vehicle traffic that comes with with it, is within a mile or so of the refuge, angering environmentalists.

The Picayune Strand Restoration Project repaired 85-square-miles of distorted and drained wetlands in western Collier County as 260 miles of crumbling roads were removed and 48 miles of canals were filled

When picturing Florida, many minds are drawn to sunny skies and sandy beaches. But it's the swamp and scrublands in the state's interior that environmental advocates are looking to call attention to.

FGCU Professor in the Department of Ecology & Envirornmental Studies Win Everham is set to give a lecture, Aug. 28, through the FGCU Scholar Series about his ongoing monitoring of the progress of the Picayune Strand Restoration Project.

Picayune Strand in Collier County was once slated to become the largest subdivision in the world. In the 1970s, momentum grew to restore the area’s natural hydrologic flow and environmental integrity. Now the ambitious Picayune Strand Restoration project is nearly complete. FGCU Professor in the Department of Ecology & Environmental Studies Win Everham, Ph.D. has been monitoring the site’s restoration progress by studying the status of several indicator species. He joins us to talk about the project ahead of his lecture later this month titled “Picayune Strand Restoration Project: It could have been Cape Coral South.”

The largest Burmese python ever discovered in Florida was captured from the Everglades and brought to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for research. The female python, weighing in at 215 pounds and 18 feet long, had 122 eggs inside of her, which is the largest egg count ever recorded for a python.