Environment

Many mothers would say their lives already revolve around wild animals — of the human species. Perhaps that’s why a trip to the Naples Zoo to visit wild animals of another type seemed so appropriate for so many mothers on Sunday. Moms were encouraged to come out and use free coupons for Mother’s Day only, available at the zoo’s Web site. Full story »

Janis Godlewski ran down the sidewalk to her friend’s Heritage Bay home late Tuesday night, but an encounter at the foot of the stairs proved to be anything but friendly. “Right as I’m coming up to the stairwell I stopped just in time to see the gator there,” Godlewski said. “I stopped just short of his tail. I was maybe two feet away.” Godlewski called her friend, Dustin Farlow, who had fallen asleep on his couch. After taking a detour around the angry 6-foot alligator, Godlewski got to Farlow’s unit and called for help. Full story »

Twigs, leaves and fruit arrive at the door like castaways. Most of the time they’re hand delivered. Sometimes, they come by mail. Technicians never know when to expect the samples, which have arrived steadily at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center off State Road 29 near Immokalee since its testing lab for the greening disease opened a few months ago. Full story »

Sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 through the end of October in Southwest Florida. Dozens of volunteers comb Lee County beaches during turtle nesting season. They look for turtle tracks, which look like a single tractor tire print, and signs of nesting. Full story »

George Wheaton says when he was first appointed to Lee County’s Conservation 2020 board a decade ago, he never imagined he’d be asked to buy land for $24 per square foot. Actually, Wheaton’s being asked to pay $25.25 per square foot. That’s what the owners want for a 2.5-acre parcel on the north side of Bonita Beach Road. That’s $2.6 million, or about $1.1 million per acre.
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Once cute and caged exotic pets, iguanas are increasingly becoming a concern for some Marco Island residents. Steven Roberts, who lives near an inland waterway in central Marco, reported seeing a four-foot-long green iguana on his dock. “I had never seen an iguana on Marco Island before, even though I had heard they were here. I was most concerned that it might attack our dogs which we occasionally let roam in our backyard, or that it might attack me or my wife,” Roberts said. Full story »

Wildlife officials say they tranquilized and relocated a black bear that was sighted near homes in south Fort Myers. Full story »

Mounting questions about the fate of Collier County’s rural land deserve a thorough review, a county advisory board said Thursday. The county’s 2002 rural growth plan is undergoing a five-year review after protecting tens of thousands of acres from development and laying the groundwork for Ave Maria University and the proposed new town of Big Cypress east of Golden Gate Estates. Full story »

As if on cue, one tiny Wilson’s plover materialized on the beach at the south end of Keewaydin Island, and a group of research botanists became palpably excited. The bird was the immediate object of affection, because it is one of three species the botanists hope to nurture this coming summer breeding season by closing off a small section of the island. Full story »

Clean water advocates plan to ask a judge to speed up a deadline for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt new standards to control pollution in Florida waters plagued by toxic algae such as red tide. Full story »

Part of the southern portion of Keewaydin Island will be closed from May 1 to mid-August to protect nesting least terns, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve announced Tuesday morning. More than three acres of shoreline within the boundaries of the reserve will be closed for the seventh consecutive year. The area will be marked with signs, and the reserve plans to create a new walk-over through the area for boaters to get to the Gulf-front beach from the east side of the island. Full story »

Lee County has a road contractor on a short leash, and one commissioner says that a single environmental violation like the ones Posen Construction had on the Three Oaks-Imperial Parkway job will spell the end. Full story »

Boaters who intentionally wander off the marked channel and chew up seagrass beds in Rookery Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands or other aquatic preserves could face a $50 ticket or worse under a measure awaiting final passage in the Florida Senate. Full story »

The Senate's proposal of $100 million for restoring the Everglades — half the funding it received last year — was ultimately rejected Sunday by Florida Legislature leaders. Lawmakers said the state will hopefully be able to find the money next year for Everglades restoration, conspicuous in its absence from the final budget. The final budget will come in around $66 billion, about $5 billion less than the budget passed last year. Full story »

You immediately sense that you’re in front of a new generation of world citizens when you find yourself amidst this multicultural, earth-friendly, hands-on crew working on an organic vegetable garden at East Naples Middle School. Full story »