Is There Anything Left to Protect?
April 29, 2025 I By Katie Cox, Executive Director
Dear Friends,
This morning I landed in Sarasota, Florida. As I flew down the Florida coastline, I marveled at our two landscapes and how vastly different they are from the air. So many little landforms, outlets and inlets have been manipulated over time to supply a landing spot for a home, a road or a golf course it seemed. The landscape has been bent and shaped, in many cases, to accommodate humans. If you haven’t flown over Florida, you can take a look for yourself here.
This piqued my curiosity. Afterall, I am here for a leadership meeting for the Land Trust Alliance. We are being hosted by Big Waters Land Trust. I must admit that, flying in, I wondered what was left to conserve and what strategies have been successful given that the force of development is seemingly everywhere.
After meeting the land trust’s enthusiastic leader, Christine, I am anxious to tour their landscape and learn more about their projects.
In our short conversation, I found that we actually have a lot in common. Big Waters works hard in partnership and has some pretty cool projects in collaboration with the City of Sarasota. They get kids outside in nature in meaningful ways. They protect land in order to protect water and they think about migration corridors to allow animals safe passage on land and in the air.
Over their organization's lifetime (since 2003) they have conserved 20,000 acres of land, completing 62 projects. Given what I saw this morning, that makes me very happy. A lot of people call this place home and I am so glad to know they have protected open space to support the land and the people who love it here.
Tomorrow, we will see some of Big Waters’ protection projects by kayak (I know – tough duty). I already know it will be a day of gratitude recognizing those that came before us with the insight, fortitude and vision to make sure important lands are protected in perpetuity.
It is good to venture outside of your own landscape, especially to one that is so drastically different. We are very fortunate to live in a world that is so rich in biodiversity, and I feel lucky to work alongside teams like Big Waters Land Trust who do the hard work in protecting these special places.
From Florida,
Katie
P.S. Due to publishing Dry as Dirt a day later, I was able to share some pictures of my kayak adventures. I’m a fan of Florida!
