Environment

Lee County residents now own more than 40 acres of undeveloped land along Moody Road on the northern shore of the Caloosahatchee River in North Fort Myers under the Conservation 20/20 program.

The new LOSOM touts improvements in water quality, protection of ecosystems in the Everglades, and better management of water resources.to prevent harmful algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee River. Is all that possible at the same time?

Killdeer are common plovers seen in open areas of neighborhoods, parks, beaches, and sometimes on gravel rooftops. They feed on insects, worms, and other small creatures and are with us year round. Nests are usually on the ground and are a scrape that they fill with light colored rocks and debris picked up and merely tossed over their shoulder each time they leave the nest. Their name comes from their loud, familiar call “Killdee! Killdee!”

Collecting, cleaning, and recycling clam and oyster shells to restore and create new reefs is a growing volunteer movement in Florida to enhance and protect coastal ecosystems, improve water quality, and protect shorelines from erosion

The Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual — LOSOM , a set of guidelines on how, when, and where water will be released from Lake Okeechobee — was made official this week

A lot surrounding Hurricane Debby's arrival brings back memories of Hurricanes Ian and Idalia and the water quality problems they caused. Will it happen again?

Last year, sea turtle nests were lost when Hurricane Idalia whipped up Florida's Gest Coast before making landfall in the Big Bend during the last week of August as a Category 4 storm. This year, Hurricane Debby disturbed sea turtle nests again along that coast before making landfall in the Big Bend during the first week of August as a Category 1.

Two encore Water Quality Report columns by Tom Bayles can help put global warming into perspective and some hints from the NYT can provide pointers on slowing climate change

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are the most commonly seen woodpeckers in Florida in part because they are generalists that forage for insects, spiders, small lizards, and fruit in trees and on the ground in our yards and parks. Unfortunately, they are about the size of European Starlings and Starlings often usurp their cavities.

Blue-green algae's cyanobacteria and red tide Karenia brevis possess types of little healthy things that when properly synthesized by licensed medical researchers can fight a host of diseases