1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
North Miami, Florida
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North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about 10 miles north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, originally the town of Arch Creek, the area was incorporated as the Town of Miami Shores, which was renamed the Town of North Miami in 1931. It was reincorporated as a city in 1953, the city is also home to the Oleta River State Park, which is the states largest urban park. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U. S. Census Bureau is 58,786, with almost 60,000 residents, North Miami is the sixth largest city in Miami-Dade County. Even before 1890 a handful of adventuresome pioneers spent brief periods around the Arch Creek Natural Bridge, in 1891, Mr. Ilhe was the first to put down roots in the Arch Creek vicinity. He purchased 80 acres from the State of Florida at one dollar an acre in the area of today’s N. E. 116th Street, the place was so remote that his nearest northern neighbor was thought to live in Ft. Lauderdale. Mr. Ihle built a temporary palmetto frond shelter, during the next 27 years he grew shallots, coontie, squashes, bananas, sugar cane, Puerto Rican pineapples, lemons, guavas, limes, rose apples, Jamaican apples, and tomatoes. By 1905 the area surrounding the nine-year-old Arch Creek Railroad Depot had become the community’s hub and it was located at 125th Street and the F. E. C. That year a post office and a school were opened nearby, by 1912, eighteen homes, a church, a general store, a blacksmith shop, and two tomato packing houses were located around the railroad. The population was estimated at less than one hundred, farming was still the principal occupation. The Florida land boom that was underway in the 1920s spread to Arch Creek farming community, the Biscayne Canal was dug in 1924 to remove farmland from flooded conditions. But as a consequence, the soil began to lose its moisture, however, in step with the times, this drained land became available for partitioning, lot sales, and development. North Miami, between 1926 and 1931, was named Town of Miami Shores, partially because its eastern boundary was the Atlantic Ocean. Incorporation moved costs from developers to residents and lot purchasers, late in 1926 a bond issue of $287,000 was passed to build streets, sidewalks, a town hall, a water system, and fire protection. The devastating September 1926 hurricane burst the real estate land speculation, the local community recovered from the damage, but lot sales came to a stop, and the northern tourists names showed up in great numbers on the delinquent tax list. Some money from the issue was used to build a Spanish-Mediterranean style city hall building at N. E. 8th Avenue. The City Hall also housed the police and fire departments, in the 1930s a new water plant and gravity tank was installed behind City Hall. The first newspaper, The Miami Shores Bulletin, was published in 1927-28, the historic William Jennings Bryan school was constructed in 1928 on the same spot where the Arch Creek Elementary School had burned down the year before
3.
Miami-Dade County, Florida
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Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U. S. state of Florida. It is the southeasternmost county on the U. S. mainland, according to a 2015 census report, the county had a population of 2,693,117, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States. It is also Floridas third-largest county in terms of land area, Miami-Dade County is included in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is home to 34 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas, southern Miami-Dade County includes the Redland and Homestead areas, which make up the agricultural economy of Miami. Agricultural Redland makes up one third of Miami-Dade Countys inhabited land area, and is sparsely populated. The western portion of the county extends into the Everglades National Park and is populated only by a Miccosukee tribal village, East of the mainland in Biscayne Bay is also Biscayne National Park and the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves. The earliest evidence of Native American settlement in the Miami region came from about 12,000 years ago, the first inhabitants settled on the banks of the Miami River, with the main villages on the northern banks. The Tequesta Indians fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of plants for food and they buried the small bones of the deceased with the rest of the body, and put the larger bones in a box for the village people to see. The Tequesta are credited with making the Miami Circle, Juan Ponce de León was the first European to visit the area in 1513 by sailing into Biscayne Bay. His journal records that he reached Chequescha, a varianth of Tequesta and it is unknown whether he came ashore or made contact with the natives. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and his men made the first recorded landing when they visited the Tequesta settlement in 1566 while looking for Avilés missing son, shipwrecked a year earlier. Spanish soldiers led by Father Francisco Villarreal built a Jesuit mission at the mouth of the Miami River a year later, after the Spaniards left, the Tequesta Indians were left to fend themselves from European-introduced diseases like smallpox. By 1711, the Tequesta sent a couple of local chiefs to Havana, Cuba, the Cubans sent two ships to help them, but Spanish illnesses struck and most of the Indians died. The first permanent European settlers arrived in the early 19th century, people came from the Bahamas to South Florida and the Keys to hunt for treasure from the ships that ran aground on the treacherous Great Florida Reef. Some accepted Spanish land offers along the Miami River, at about the same time, the Seminole Indians arrived, along with a group of runaway slaves. The area was affected by the Second Seminole War, during which Major William S. Harney led several raids against the Indians, most non-Indian residents were soldiers stationed at Fort Dallas. It was the most devastating Indian war in American history, causing almost a total loss of population in Miami, after the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, William English, re-established a plantation started by his uncle on the Miami River. He charted the “Village of Miami” on the bank of the Miami River
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Biscayne Bay
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Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts, North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay and its area is 428 square miles. The drainage basin covers 938 square miles, discovered by Ponce de Leon, he landed there and was originally named Santa Marta. The North Bay of the Biscayne Bay lies between Miami Beach barrier island and Miami on the mainland, however, water quality has steadily improved since regular monitoring began in 1979. North Bay accounts for only 10% of the area of the bay. Central Bay is the largest part of the bay and it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Safety Valve. It has been adversely affected primarily by bulkheading, urban runoff discharged by canals, South Bay is nearly as large as Central Bay, and is the least affected by human activities, although it also suffers from the loss of natural fresh water flow. South Bay is separated from the Straits of Florida by the northernmost of the Florida Keys and it is connected to Florida Bay through a few small channels. Construction began on July 22,1912, although the cost of the project was initially $75,000, the construction project faced delays and cost overruns. The budge was partially completed in 1913, the bridge was hailed as the longest wooden vehicle bridge in the world, and opened up the area as a luxury winter resort and playground. The bridge terminated at the Dixie Highway, built by Carl G. Fisher, the bridge was a toll bridge, in 1920, the toll was reduced from 20 cents each way to 15 cents one way. The bridge was torn down in 1925 and replaced with the more substantial Venetian Causeway the next year, in 1925, Biscayne Point was created in Miami Beachs north end. In 1929, a third causeway crossed Biscayne Bay at Normandy Isle, the Julia Tuttle Causeway was built in 1959. Other causeways are the John F. Kennedy and Broad causeways, the Card Sound Bridge connects the mainland in the Homestead, Florida area to the northern part of Key Largo. In 1975, the bay was designated as an aquatic preserve. The aquatic preserve spans the entirety of Biscayne Bay from Oleta River in the north to Card Sound in the south, with the exception of the part of the bay. A second preserve was added off of Cape Florida on Key Biscayne. These two preserves are now managed by the state of Florida under the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves, seven remaining houses of Biscayne Bays Stiltsville settlement are now within the boundaries of this National Park which was established in 1980
6.
Miami
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Miami is a seaport city at the southeastern corner of the U. S. state of Florida and its Atlantic coast. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Miamis metro area is the eighth-most populous, Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2012, Miami was classified as an Alpha−World City in the World Cities Study Groups inventory, in 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked 33rd among global cities, in 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami Americas Cleanest City, for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and citywide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, Miami is nicknamed the Capital of Latin America and is the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality. Miami has the third tallest skyline in the U. S. with over 300 high-rises, Downtown Miami is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and many large national and international companies. The Civic Center is a center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers. For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the Cruise Capital of the World, has been the number one cruise port in the world. It accommodates some of the worlds largest cruise ships and operations, Metropolitan Miami is the major tourism hub in the American South, number two in the U. S. after New York City and number 13 in the world, including the popular destination of Miami Beach. The Miami area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Native American tribes, the Tequestas occupied the area for a thousand years before encountering Europeans. An Indian village of hundreds of people dating to 500–600 B. C. was located at the mouth of the Miami River, in 1566 the explorer, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, claimed it for Spain. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later in 1567, Spain and Great Britain successively controlled Florida, and Spain ceded it to the United States in 1821. In 1836, the US built Fort Dallas as part of its development of the Florida Territory and attempt to suppress, the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. Miami is noted as the major city in the United States conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower. The Miami area was known as Biscayne Bay Country in the early years of its growth. In the late 19th century, reports described the area as a promising wilderness, the area was also characterized as one of the finest building sites in Florida. The Great Freeze of 1894–95 hastened Miamis growth, as the crops of the Miami area were the ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced Henry Flagler, a tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railway to the region
7.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
8.
Biscayne Bay Campus
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The Biscayne Bay Campus, located in North Miami, Florida, is a branch campus of Florida International University. With a student body of more than 7,000, it is the largest branch campus in Florida’s State University System, offering numerous undergraduate majors and selected graduate degrees located about an hour from FIU main campus. It offers direct access to Biscayne Bay, recreational activities, a library, a center, a conference center, a food court. FIUs Biscayne Bay Campus completed renovations in the Fall of 2014, sOBEWFF® is a national, four-day destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities. To date, the Festival has raised more than $24 million for the School, in 2006, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival celebrated its fifth anniversary and became one of the largest and most well-known festivals of its kind in the country. During the planning of the 2007 Festival, Food Network entered into a partnership to become its title sponsor, for the Festivals 15th anniversary in February 2016, the event introduced its inaugural Taste Fort Lauderdale Series, marking a major physical expansion of the Festivals footprint. Next years Festival will take place February 22–26, 2017The Festival now attracts more than 65,000 guests annually to its 85+ events throughout the weekend, on December 19,2013, FIUs president Mark B. Rosenberg announced a new partnership between FIU and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The Royal@FIU World Stage Collaborative will create new opportunities for students in FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the College of Architecture and these include paid internships, custom curricula and behind-the-scenes access to Royal Caribbean’s experts and facilities. Students will also gain experience in cruise line operations, stage management, lighting, stage design, audio engineering. In addition, FIU faculty and staff will have access to RCL marketing and sales data from its six cruise brands to original research. The Wolfe University Center serves as the community center for Biscayne Bay Campus. The facility received a $2 million renovation completed in the Fall of 2014, the Wolfe University Center is a multipurpose building consisting of a theater, three meeting rooms, an executive conference room, and four ballrooms. The Wolfe University Center can accommodate up to 500 guests, home to cultural, educational, and recreational programs, it offers involvement opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors. Student Government Association The Student Government Association represents the student body and their sole purpose is to ensure that student voices are heard and expressed to the administrators. SGC-BBC represents the student bodys needs on the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, students Organization Council SOC oversees all the clubs at Florida International Universitys Biscayne Bay Campus. Student Programming Council The Student Programming Council is an organization that programs events for the FIU students and its community, events range from comedy shows to movies, concerts, pool parties, special events and lectures. Members of SPC have the opportunity to gain experience, network. In addition, the works with other organizations on campus to provide more diverse programming to students
9.
Florida International University
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Florida International University is an American metropolitan public research university in Greater Miami, Florida, United States. FIU has two campuses in Miami-Dade County, with its main campus in University Park. Florida International University is classified as a university with highest research activity by the Carnegie Foundation. Founded in 1965, FIU is the youngest university to be awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter by the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the countrys oldest academic honor society. FIU belongs to the 12-campus State University System of Florida and is one of Floridas primary graduate research universities, awarding over 3,400 graduate, the university offers 191 programs of study with more than 280 majors in 23 colleges and schools. FIU offers many programs, including architecture, business administration, engineering, law, and medicine, offering 81 masters degrees,34 doctoral degrees. FIU is the largest university in South Florida, the 2nd-largest in Florida, total enrollment in 2014-2015 was 54,099 students, including 7,814 graduate students. According to U. S. News college rankings and reviews, since 2007, more valedictorians from South Florida choose to attend FIU than any other university in the country. As Miamis public research university, competition to enroll at FIU has heightened as more students each year. While his bill did not pass, Graham persisted in presenting his proposal to colleagues and he felt the establishment of a public university was necessary to serve the citys growing population. In 1964, Senate Bill 711 was introduced by Florida Senator Robert M. Haverfield and it instructed the state Board of Education and the Board of Regents, to begin planning for the development of a state university in Miami. The bill was signed into law by then-governor W. Haydon Burns in June 1965, FIUs founding president Charles Chuck Perry was appointed by the Board of Regents in July 1969 after a nationwide search. At 32 years old, the new president was the youngest in the history of the State University System and, at the time, Perry recruited three co-founders, Butler Waugh, Donald McDowell and Nick Sileo. Alvah Chapman, Jr. former Miami Herald publisher and Knight Ridder chairman, used his civic standing, in the 1980s, Chapman became chair of the FIU Foundation Board of Trustees. The abandoned airports air traffic control tower became FIUs first building and it originally had no telephones, no drinking water, and no furniture. In September 1972,5,667 students entered the new state university, previously, Miami had been the largest city in the country lacking a public baccalaureate-granting institution. Eighty percent of the student body had just graduated from Dade County Junior College, a typical student entering FIU was 25 years old and attending school full-time while holding down a full-time job. Negotiations with the University of Miami and Dade County Junior College led FIU to open as an upper-division only school and it would be 9 years before lower-division classes were added
10.
Casuarina
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Casuarina is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian Subcontinent, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was once treated as the genus in the family. They are evergreen shrubs and trees growing to 35 m tall, the foliage consists of slender, much-branched green to grey-green twigs bearing minute scale-leaves in whorls of 5–20. The apetalous flowers are produced in small catkin-like inflorescences, most species are dioecious, but a few are monoecious. The fruit is a woody, oval structure superficially resembling a conifer cone, made up of numerous carpels, each containing a single seed with a small wing. Casuarina species are a source of the larvae of hepialid moths, members of the genus Aenetus, including A. lewinii and A. splendens. Endoclita malabaricus also feeds on Casuarina, the noctuid turnip moth is also recorded feeding on Casuarina. Pedunculagin, casuarictin, strictinin, casuarinin and casuariin are ellagitannins found in the species within the genus, – River Sheoak Casuarina equisetifolia L. – Australian Pine, Beach Sheoak, Common Ironwood, ঝাউ in বাংলা, ಗಾಳಿ ಮರ in Kannada. Gray Sheoak, Longleaf Ironwood, Saltmarsh Ironwood, Swamp Oak Casuarina grandis L. A. S. Johnson Casuarina junghuhniana Miq, Casuarina oligodon L. A. S. Johnson Casuarina pauper F. Muell. Ex L. A. S. Johnson Sources, Commonly known as the she-oak, sheoak, ironwood, or beefwood, the tree has delicate, slender terminal branches, and leaves that are no more than scales, making the tree look more like a wispy conifer. The plants are tolerant of windswept locations, and are widely planted as windbreaks. C. equisetifolia is a common tropical seashore tree known as Common Ironwood, Beefwood, Bull-oak, or Whistling-pine, the wood of this tree is used commercially for shingles or fencing, and is said to make excellent, hot burning firewood. C. oligodon has been planted in New Guinea in an ancient silviculture by highland gardeners practicing an intensive traditional permaculture, the wood of this tree is used for building-timber, furniture and tools, and makes excellent firewood. The trees root nodules are known to fix nitrogen, and it is prized for its ability to increase the soils fertility. Its abundant leaf-fall is high in nitrogen and traditionally prized for mulch, the resin exuded from some casuarinas is edible and was a food source for Aboriginal people. C. cunninghamiana, C. glauca and C, the species has nearly quadrupled in southern Florida between 1993 and 2005, where it is known as Australian pine. C. equisetifolia is widespread in the Hawaiian Islands where it both on the seashore in dry, salty, calcareous soils and up in the mountains in high rainfall areas on volcanic soils. It is also an introduced, invasive plant in Bermuda, where it was introduced to replace the Juniperus bermudiana windbreaks killed by juniper blight in the 1940s
11.
Invasive species
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One study pointed out widely divergent perceptions of the criteria for invasive species among researchers and concerns with the subjectivity of the term invasive. Such invasive species may be either plants or animals and may disrupt by dominating a region, wilderness areas, particular habitats and this includes non-native invasive plant species labeled as exotic pest plants and invasive exotics growing in native plant communities. It has been used in this sense by government organizations as well as groups such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The European Union defines Invasive Alien Species as those that are, firstly, outside their natural distribution area and it is also used by land managers, botanists, researchers, horticulturalists, conservationists, and the public for noxious weeds. The kudzu vine, Andean Pampas grass, and yellow starthistle are examples, an alternate usage broadens the term to include indigenous or native species along with non-native species, that have colonized natural areas. Deer are an example, considered to be overpopulating their native zones and adjacent suburban gardens, by some in the Northeastern, sometimes the term is used to describe a non-native or introduced species that has become widespread. However, not every introduced species has adverse effects on the environment, a nonadverse example is the common goldfish, which is found throughout the United States, but rarely achieves high densities. Scientists include species and ecosystem factors among the mechanisms that when combined, while all species compete to survive, invasive species appear to have specific traits or specific combinations of traits that allow them to outcompete native species. In some cases, the competition is about rates of growth, in other cases, species interact with each other more directly. Researchers disagree about the usefulness of traits as invasiveness markers, one study found that of a list of invasive and noninvasive species, 86% of the invasive species could be identified from the traits alone. Another study found invasive species tended to have only a subset of the presumed traits. Repeated patterns of movement, such as ships sailing to and from ports or cars driving up. An introduced species might become if it can outcompete native species for resources such as nutrients, light, physical space, water. If these species evolved under great competition or predation, then the new environment may host fewer able competitors, allowing the invader to proliferate quickly. Ecosystems in which are being used to their fullest capacity by native species can be modeled as zero-sum systems in which any gain for the invader is a loss for the native, however, such unilateral competitive superiority is not the rule. For example, barbed goatgrass was introduced to California on serpentine soils, which have low water-retention, low nutrient levels, a high magnesium/calcium ratio, and possible heavy metal toxicity. Plant populations on these soils tend to low density, but goatgrass can form dense stands on these soils. Some species, like Kalanchoe daigremontana, produce allelopathic compounds, that might have an effect on competing species
12.
Oleta River
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The Oleta River, situated north of Miami, drains the northern Everglades into Biscayne Bay, allowing freshwater to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Today, it is the natural river in Miami-Dade County that has not been dredged and channelized. Its seven miles of shoreline are largely undeveloped, making the Oleta River Corridor a vestige of wilderness in a matrix of urbanization and they all connect in what is essentially an out-and-back, but various loops of different lengths and difficulties can be ridden off the main out-and-back. The extinct Tequesta Indians canoed the waters of the Oleta River over 400 years ago and today and this area now represents one of the last wilderness areas available to wildlife in northern Miami-Dade County. Oleta River State Park Trails. com AcademicDB
13.
Tequesta
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The Tequesta Native American tribe, at the time of first European contact, occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had migrated by the middle of the 18th century. The Tequesta lived in the parts of present-day Florida. The Tequesta tribe lived on Biscayne Bay in what is now Miami-Dade County and their territory may have also included the northern half of Broward County and southern and central Palm Beach County. They also occupied the Florida Keys at times, and may have had a village on Cape Sable, at the end of the Florida peninsula. The central town was probably at the mouth of the Miami River, a village had been at that site at least since 1200. The tribal chief was also called Tequesta, the Tequesta arrived in the Biscayne Bay area before the beginning of the Christian Era. The Tequesta situated their towns and camps at the mouths of rivers and streams, on inlets from the Atlantic Ocean to inland waters, the Tequesta were more or less dominated by the more numerous Calusa of the southwest coast of Florida. The Tequesta were closely allied to their neighbors to the north. Occupation of the Florida Keys may have swung back and forth between the two tribes, although Spanish records note a Tequesta village on Cape Sable, Calusa artifacts outnumber Tequesta artifacts by four to one at its archaeological sites. On a map the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz published in 1630 in Joannes de Laets History of the New World, a map from the 18th century labeled the area around Biscayne Bay Tekesta. A1794 map by cartographer Bernard Romans labeled this area Tegesta, there are only ten words from the languages of those tribes for which meanings were recorded. The Tequestas did not practice any form of agriculture and they fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of local plants. Most of their food came from the sea, according to Fontaneda, a lesser part of the diet consisted of trunkfish and lobster. The fish caught included manatees, sharks, sailfish, porpoises, stingrays, despite their local abundance, clams, oysters and conches were only a minor part of the Tequesta diet. Venison was also popular, deer bones are found in archeological sites, as are terrapin shells. Sea turtles and their eggs were consumed during the nesting season. The roots of plants, such as Smilax spp. and coontie, were edible when ground into flour, processed to remove toxins
14.
Second Seminole War
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The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, is regarded as the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States. Bands from various tribes in the southeastern United States had moved into the lands in Florida in the 18th century. These included Alabamas, Choctaws, Yamasees, Yuchis and Creek people, the Creeks were the largest group, and included Lower Creeks and Upper Creeks, and both Hitchiti and Muscogee speakers. One group of Hitchiti speakers, the Mikasuki, settled around what is now Lake Miccosukee near Tallahassee, another group of Hitchiti speakers settled around the Alachua Prairie in what is now Alachua County. The Spanish in St. Augustine began calling the Alachua Creeks Cimarrones, which roughly meant wild ones or runaways, and this name was eventually also applied to the other groups in Florida, although the Native Americans still regarded themselves as members of different tribes. The United States and Spain were at odds over Florida after the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, the United States disputed the boundaries of West Florida. They accused the Spanish authorities of harboring fugitive slaves and of failing to restrain the Native Americans living in Florida from raiding into the United States, starting in 1810, the United States occupied and annexed parts of West Florida. In 1818 Andrew Jackson led an invasion of the Floridas, leading to the First Seminole War, the United States acquired Florida from Spain through the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819 and took possession of the territory in 1821. Now that Florida belonged to the United States, the government was pressured by settlers to remove the Seminoles, in 1823 the government negotiated the Treaty of Moultrie Creek with the Seminoles, establishing a reservation for them in the middle of the territory. Six chiefs, however, were allowed to keep their villages along the Apalachicola River, the Seminoles gave up their lands in the panhandle and slowly settled into the reservation, although they had isolated clashes with whites. Colonel Duncan Lamont Clinch was placed in charge of the Army units in Florida, Fort King was built near the reservation agency, at the site of present-day Ocala, Florida. By early 1827 the Army reported that the Seminoles were on the reservation and this peace lasted for five years, during which time there were repeated calls for the Seminoles to be sent west of the Mississippi. The Seminoles were opposed to the move, and especially to the suggestion that they should be placed on the Creek reservation. Most whites regarded the Seminoles as simply Creeks who had moved to Florida, while the Seminoles claimed Florida as their home. The status of slaves was a continuing irritation between Seminoles and whites. Spain had given freedom to slaves who escaped to Florida under their rule, over the years, those who became known as Black Seminoles established communities near Seminole villages, and the two peoples had close alliances although they maintained separate cultures. Slave catchers argued over the ownership of slaves, New plantations in Florida increased the pool of slaves who could escape to the Seminoles. Worried about the possibility of an Indian uprising and/or an armed slave rebellion, instead, Fort King was closed in 1828
15.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
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Captain (naval)
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Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the rank of colonel. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ship-of-the-line captain, captain of sea and war, captain at sea, the NATO rank code is OF-5, although the United States of America uses the code O-6 for the equivalent rank. O. The naval rank should not be confused with the army, air force, or marine ranks of captain, on large US ships, the executive officer may be a captain in rank, in which case it would be proper to address him by rank. Often the XO prefers to be called XO to avoid confusion with the CO, who is also a captain in rank and the captain of the ship. Captains with sea commands generally command ships of size or larger, the more senior the officer, the larger the ship. Even when an officer who is in the ships captains chain of command is present. The following articles deal with the rank of captain as it is used in various navies, Captain Captain Captain Capitaine de vaisseau Kapitän zur See Komandor Kapitan of the 1st rank Sea captain Post captain
17.
North Miami Beach, Florida
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For the neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, see North Beach. For the separate city, see North Miami, North Miami Beach is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Originally named Fulford in 1926 after Captain William H. Fulford of the United States Coast Guard, the population was 41,523 at the 2010 census. That is why in 1927, the city was incorporated as the City of Fulford, North Miami Beach is located at 25°55′49″N 80°10′1″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 5.3 square miles. 5.0 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of it is water. 1% were vacant, as of 2000,37. 6% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 44. 3% were married couples living together,19. 5% had a householder with no husband present. 23. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.44. In 2000, the city population was out with 27. 3% under the age of 18,9. 4% from 18 to 24,30. 9% from 25 to 44,21. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males, in 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $31,377, and the median income for a family was $35,047. Males had an income of $26,278 versus $22,110 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,699, about 18. 4% of families and 20. 5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25. 1% of those under age 18 and 18. 2% of those age 65 or over. As of 2000, English was the first language for 38. 50% of all residents, as of 2000, North Miami Beach had the fifth highest percentage of Haitian residents in the U. S. with 19. 90% of the U. S. populace. It had the 48th highest percentage of Colombian residents in the U. S. at 2. 83% of the population. It also had the 62nd highest percentage of Dominicans in the U. S. at 2. 39%, North Miami Beachs Jamaican community had the 28th highest percentage of residents, which was at 5. 50% of all residents. According to Miami. com, many ethnic Asian varieties of food can be found along this route, the Biscayne Times references this area as Chinatown. Attractions in the vicinity of North Miami Beach include a line of popular ocean beaches, Haulover Park and Haulover Beach, operated by Dade County Parks and Recreation, has a well-known clothing optional beach
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Everglades
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The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U. S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin and part of the neotropic ecozone. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles wide, the Everglades experience a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. Human habitation in the portion of the Florida peninsula dates to 15,000 years ago. Before European colonization, the region was dominated by the native Calusa, with Spanish colonization, both tribes declined gradually during the following two centuries. The Seminole formed from mostly Creek people who had been warring to the North, they assimilated other peoples and created a new culture. After being forced from northern Florida into the Everglades during the Seminole Wars of the early 19th century, migrants to the region who wanted to develop plantations first proposed draining the Everglades in 1848, but no work of this type was attempted until 1882. Canals were constructed throughout the first half of the 20th century, in 1947, Congress formed the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project, which built 1,400 miles of canals, levees, and water control devices. The Miami metropolitan area grew substantially at this time and Everglades water was diverted to cities, portions of the Everglades were transformed into farmland, where the primary crop was sugarcane. Approximately 50 percent of the original Everglades has been developed as agricultural or urban areas, following this period of rapid development and environmental degradation, the ecosystem began to receive notable attention from conservation groups in the 1970s. Internationally, UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention designated the Everglades a Wetland Area of Global Importance, the construction of a large airport 6 miles north of Everglades National Park was blocked when an environmental study found that it would severely damage the South Florida ecosystem. With heightened awareness and appreciation of the region, restoration began in the 1980s with the removal of a canal that had straightened the Kissimmee River, however, development and sustainability concerns have remained pertinent in the region. The deterioration of the Everglades, including water quality in Lake Okeechobee, was linked to the diminishing quality of life in South Floridas urban areas. In 2000 the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was approved by Congress to combat these problems, to date, it is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental restoration attempt in history, but its implementation has faced political complications. The first written record of the Everglades was on Spanish maps made by cartographers who had not seen the land and they named the unknown area between the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida Laguna del Espíritu Santo. The area was featured on maps for decades without having been explored, British surveyor John Gerard de Brahm, who mapped the coast of Florida in 1773, called the area River Glades. Both Marjory Stoneman Douglas and linguist Wallace McMullen suggest that cartographers substituted Ever for River, the name Everglades first appeared on a map in 1823, although it was also spelled as Ever Glades as late as 1851. The Seminole call it Pa-hay-okee, meaning Grassy Water, the region was labeled Pa-hai-okee on an American military map from 1839, although it had earlier been called Ever Glades throughout the Second Seminole War
19.
Mountain biking
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Mountain biking is the sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability, Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories, cross country, trail riding, all mountain, downhill, freeride and dirt jumping. However, the majority of mountain biking falls into the categories of Trail and this individual sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. Advanced riders pursue both steep technical descents and high incline climbs, in the case of freeriding, downhilling, and dirt jumping, aerial manoeuvres are performed off both natural features and specially constructed jumps and ramps. Mountain biking can be performed almost anywhere from a yard to a gravel road. There are aspects of mountain biking that are similar to trail running than regular bicycling. Because riders are often far from civilization, there is an ethic of self-reliance in the sport. Riders learn to repair their broken bikes or flat tires to avoid being stranded miles from help, club rides and other forms of group rides are common, especially on longer treks. A combination sport named mountain bike orienteering adds the skill of map navigation to mountain biking, one of the first examples of bicycles modified specifically for off-road use is the expedition of Buffalo Soldiers from Missoula, Montana to Yellowstone in August 1896. The Swiss military had its first bike regiment in 1891, bicycles were ridden off-road by road racing cyclists who used cyclo-cross as a means of keeping fit during the winter. Cyclo-cross eventually became a sport in its own right in the 1940s, the Rough Stuff Fellowship was established in 1955 by off-road cyclists in the United Kingdom. In Oregon, one Chemeketan club member, D. Gwynn and he named it a mountain bicycle for its intended place of use. This may be the first use of that name, in England in 1968, Geoff Apps, a motorbike trials rider, began experimenting with off-road bicycle designs. By 1979 he had developed a custom built lightweight bicycle which was suited to the wet. They were designed around 2 inch x 650b Nokian snow tyres though a 700x47c version was also produced and these were sold under the Cleland Cycles brand until late 1984. Bikes based on the Cleland design were sold by English Cycles. There were several groups of riders in different areas of the U. S. A. who can make valid claims to playing a part in the birth of the sport. Riders in Crested Butte, Colorado and Cupertino, California tinkered with bikes, at the time, there were no mountain bikes
20.
Triathlon
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A triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed transitions between the individual swim, cycle, and run components. The word triathlon is of Greek origin from τρεῖς or treis, a transition area is set up where the athletes change gear for different segments of the race. This is where the switches from swimming to cycling and cycling to running occur and these areas are used to store bicycles, performance apparel, and any other accessories needed for the next stage of the race. The transition from swim to bike is referred to as T1, the athletes overall time for the race includes time spent in T1 and T2. Transition areas vary in size depending on the number of participants expected, in addition, these areas provide a social headquarters before the race. The nature of the focuses on persistent and often periodized training in each of the three disciplines, as well as combination workouts and general strength conditioning. Triathlon is considered by some to have its beginnings in 1920s France and this race is held every year in France near Joinville-le-Pont, in Meulan and Poissy. An earlier tri-sport event in 1902 featured running, cycling, there are documented tri-sport events featuring running, swimming, & cycling in 1920,1921,1945, and the 1960s. In 1920, the French newspaper L´Auto reported on a competition called Les Trois Sports with a 3 km run,12 km bike, and those three parts were done without any break. Another event was held in 1921 in Marseilles with the order of events bike-run-swim, the first modern swim/bike/run event to be called a triathlon was held at Mission Bay, San Diego, California on September 25,1974. The race was conceived and directed by Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan, members of the San Diego Track Club, and was sponsored by the track club. It was reportedly not inspired by the French events, although a race the year at Fiesta Island, San Diego. The International Triathlon Union was founded in 1989 as the governing body of the sport, with the chief goal, at that time. In addition, the ITU has a Long Distance Triathlon series, the World Triathlon Corporation is a private company that sanctions and organizes the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races each year. These races serve as qualifying events for their own annual World Championships, the Ironman World Championship is held annually in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in October while the Ironman 70.3 World Championship is held in September and changes location each year. The Ironman and Iron brands are property of the WTC, therefore, long-distance multi-sport events organized by groups other than the WTC may not officially be called Ironman or Iron races. For its part, the ITU does not sanction WTC races, however, USAT uses a combination of ITU, the Challenge Family brand produces long-distance events around the world, and includes events like Challenge Roth
21.
Extreme sport
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Extreme sports is a popular term for certain activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a level of physical exertion. While use of the extreme sport has spread far and wide to describe a multitude of different activities. There are, however, several characteristics common to most extreme sports, while not the exclusive domain of youth, extreme sports tend to have a younger-than-average target demographic. Extreme sports are sanctioned by schools. Extreme sports tend to be more solitary than traditional sports, in addition, beginning extreme athletes tend to work on their craft without the guidance of a coach. Activities categorized by media as extreme sports differ from traditional sports due to the number of inherently uncontrollable variables. These environmental variables are frequently weather and terrain related, including wind, snow, water, because these natural phenomena cannot be controlled, they inevitably affect the outcome of the given activity or event. In a traditional sporting event, athletes compete against each other under controlled circumstances, while it is possible to create a controlled sporting event such as X Games, there are environmental variables that cannot be held constant for all athletes. Examples include changing snow conditions for snowboarders, rock and ice quality for climbers, whilst traditional sporting judgment criteria may be adopted when assessing performance, extreme sports performers are often evaluated on more subjective and aesthetic criteria. While the exact definition and what is included as extreme sport is debatable, a passenger in a canyon jet boat ride will not fulfill the requirements, as the skill required pertains to the pilot, not the passengers. Thrill seeking might in these cases be a suitable qualification than extreme sport. Extreme sports may be subdivided into, These sports require the use of snow, ice or water) sports, the phrase is, There are only three sports, bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering, all the rest are merely games. The implication of the phrase was that the word sport defined an activity in one might be killed. The other activities being termed games, the phrase may have been invented by either writer Barnaby Conrad or automotive author Ken Purdy. The Dangerous Sports Club of Oxford University, England was founded by David Kirke, Chris Baker, Ed Hulton and Alan Weston. They first came to public attention by inventing modern day bungee jumping, by making the first modern jumps on 1 April 1979, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol. Bungee jumping was treated as a novelty for a few years, then became a craze for young people, and is now an established industry for thrill seekers
22.
Kayak
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A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic language, where it is the word qajaq, in the UK the term canoe is often used when referring to a kayak. The traditional kayak has a deck and one or more cockpits. Kayaks are also being sailed, as well as propelled by means of electric motors. The kayak was first used by the indigenous Aleut, Inuit, Yupik, kayaks were originally developed by the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut. They used the boats to hunt on inland lakes, rivers and coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic, Bering Sea and these first kayaks were constructed from stitched seal or other animal skins stretched over a wood or whalebone-skeleton frame. Kayaks are believed to be at least 4,000 years old, the oldest existing kayaks are exhibited in the North America department of the State Museum of Ethnology in Munich. Native people made many types of boat for different purposes, the baidarka, developed by indigenous cultures in Alaska, was also made in double or triple cockpit designs, for hunting and transporting passengers or goods. An umiak is an open sea canoe, ranging from 17 to 30 feet, made with seal skins. It is considered a kayak although it was originally paddled with single-bladed paddles, native builders designed and built their boats based on their own experience and that of the generations before them, passed on through oral tradition. A special skin jacket, Tuilik, was laced to the kayak. This enabled the eskimo roll to become the method of regaining posture after capsizing, especially as few Inuit could swim. Inuit kayak builders had specific measurements for their boats, the length was typically three times the span of his outstretched arms. The width at the cockpit was the width of the builders hips plus two fists, the typical depth was his fist plus the outstretched thumb. Thus typical dimensions were about 17 feet long by 20–22 inches wide by 7 inches deep and this measurement system confounded early European explorers who tried to duplicate the kayak, because each kayak was a little different. Most of the Aleut people in the Aleutian Islands eastward to Greenland Inuit relied on the kayak for hunting a variety of seals, though whales. Skin-on-frame kayaks are still being used for hunting by Inuit people in Greenland, because the smooth and flexible skin glides silently through the waves. In other parts of the home builders are continuing the tradition of skin on frame kayaks, usually with modern skins of canvas or synthetic fabric
23.
Munisport
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The 170-acre Munisport landfill contains approximately 6.2 million cubic yards of municipal waste, and was in operation for 7 years. Munisport was found to contain contaminants, and an amount of hospital biohazard waste was found on the site. Audubon Society compiled a list of chemicals Munisport employees admitted had been buried in the dump, location, North Miami, Florida Congressional District,22 City of North Miami, Florida. Munisport is about 2,000 feet northwest of Biscayne Bay, Munisport is bordered on the north by Northeast 151st Street. On the south by N. E. 135th Street on the east by Florida International University, Munisport Landfill comprises some 291 acres, containing 6.2 million cubic yards of municipal, biohazardous, and industrial waste. It is a registered Superfund site, natural soils in the landfill area had been removed prior to dumping, increasing risk of pollution seepage, especially into the Biscayne Aquifer, a primary source for drinking water in South Florida. The remainder of Munisport site beyond the landfill area unfortunately lies below the high water line. Both inside and outside a dike constructed along the edge of the property are mangrove swamps. Biscayne Aquifer lies 150 feet below the ground surface, the flow of regional groundwater is southeastward, towards Biscayne Bay, but varies locally due to mounding. For 7 years, nearby residents have suffered as wastes were dumped into groundwater, after heavy rains, contaminated water flows from the dump, flooding and contaminating the area. The original EPA evaluation of the stated that the onsite samples originally tested contained diphthalate, dieldrin, pentachlorophenol. Other samples contained lead, cadmium and ammonia, the ASTDR Public Health report stated, The report stated that the dumping of 2,600 pounds of styrene in 1989, and 12,000 pounds in 198, occurred by just one boatyard. Governmental regulatory agencies at that indicated that the extent of contaminants on the entire property remained unknown. The report indicated that it was necessary to go more than two feet below ground to know what was really brewing beneath the surface. There is no evidence that this was ever done, the Public Health Assessment concluded, Inhalation of contaminated dust is a past and future air exposure pathway. Contaminated soils and fill material are sources of contaminated dust, the Western portion of Munisport Dump was backfilled with solid waste consisting, among other things, of solid waste consisting of trash and municipal garbage. Among the non-permitted dumping discovered and documented were 12 drums containing tricresyl phosphate, ethylcyanoacetate, small amounts of hospital waste was found on the site. 1,500, by stormwater run-off and contaminated airborne pollution, in addition, Highland Park residents expressed concerns that children have been directly exposed when trespassing on the site
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Superfund
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Superfund is a United States federal government program designed to fund the cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances and pollutants. It was established as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, CERCLA created the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. S. Approximately 70 percent of Superfund cleanup activities historically have been paid for by parties responsible for the cleanup of contamination, the exceptions occur when the responsible party either cannot be found or is unable to pay for the cleanup. Despite the name, the program has suffered from under-funding, as a result, the EPA typically negotiates consent orders with PRPs to study sites and develop cleanup alternatives, subject to EPA oversight and approval of all such activities. The EPA and state agencies use the Hazard Ranking System to calculate a score based on the actual or potential release of hazardous substances from a site. A score of 28.5 places the site on the National Priorities List, as of 9 August 2016, there are 1,328 sites listed, an additional 391 have been delisted, and 55 new sites have been proposed. CERCLA was enacted by Congress in 1980 in response to the threat of hazardous waste sites, typified by the Love Canal disaster in New York, and the Valley of the Drums in Kentucky. The initial trust fund to clean up a site where a polluter could not be identified, the EPA published the first Hazard Ranking System in 1981, and the first National Priorities List in 1982. Reagans policies were described as laissez-faire, until the mid-1990s, most of the funding came from a tax on the petroleum and chemical industries, reflecting the polluter pays principle. In 1994, the Clinton administration proposed a new Superfund reform bill, which some environmentalists and industry lobbyists saw as an improvement, the newly elected Republican Congress made numerous unsuccessful efforts to significantly weaken the law. The Clinton Administration then adopted some industry favored reforms as policy, even though by 1995 nearly $4 billion in fees were in the superfund, Congress did not reauthorize to collect these and by 2003 the superfund was empty. By 2013 funding had decreased from $2 billion in 1999 to less than $1.1 billion, from 2000-2015, Congress allocated about $1.26 billion of general revenue to the Superfund program each year. Consequently, less than half the number of sites were cleaned up from 2001 to 2008, the decrease continued during the Obama Administration, and since under the direction of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Superfund cleanups decreased even more from 20 in 2009 to a mere 8 in 2014. CERCLA authorizes two kinds of actions, Removal actions. These are typically short-term response actions, where actions may be taken to address releases or threatened releases requiring prompt response, Removal actions are classified as, emergency, time-critical, and non-time critical. These are usually long-term response actions, Remedial actions seek to permanently and significantly reduce the risks associated with releases or threats of releases of hazardous substances, and are generally larger more expensive actions. They can include such as using containment to prevent pollutants from migrating. These actions can be conducted with federal funding only at sites listed on the EPA National Priorities List in the United States, a potentially responsible party is a possible polluter who may eventually be held liable under CERCLA for the contamination or misuse of a particular property or resource
25.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
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Miami-Dade County Public Schools is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County, in the U. S. state of Florida. The district is managed by the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Alberto Carvalho has been Superintendent since September 12,2008. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is one of a few school districts in the United States to offer optional international studies programs. Bilingual education is offered in Spanish, French, German, Haitian Creole, m-DCPS is the only school district in Florida to offer bilingual education in Mandarin. 35% of MDCPS teachers are graduates of Florida International University, the School Board of Miami-Dade County first met in Miami, Florida, June 27,1885. Those present at the first Board of Education meeting were Superintendent C. H, lumm, and members of the Board, W. H. Benest, Joseph F. Frow, and Adam C. The main order of business consisted of dividing the district, which at the time spanned from current day Florida Keys to Martin County, Superintendent and members divided Dade County into four districts. Lake Worth was declared District #1, while Miami became known as District #2, Coconut Grove fell within the boundaries of District #3, with Elliotts Key, and all other islands or keys comprising District #4. The First Coconut Grove School, erected in 1887, served as both the religious and educational center of the pioneer community, in 1889, the building was rented to the School Board for the purpose of servicing children in District #3. The first teachers at the First Coconut Grove Schoolhouse included Mrs. C. L, the first students in attendance included Annie and Harry Peacock, John, James, Trinni, and Mary Pent, and Lillian, Grace, Charlie, and Joseph Frow. The First Coconut Grove Schoolhouse is a one-story, one-room, rectangular structure, built with a frame. In 1970, the schoolhouse was moved from its location to its current home on the grounds of the Plymouth Congregational Church, at 3429 Devon Road, Coconut Grove. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the turn of the 20th century launched Miami and its school system into decades of growth. By 1924, the county lines had shifted with the creation of Broward, Palm Beach, Lee, despite losing jurisdiction over many of its schools in just twenty years, the school system still boasted thirty-three separate schools and a student population of nearly 5,000. Following the 1926 Miami hurricane, many schools were destroyed, the hurricane ended the 1920s land boom in Miami, and ushered in the Great Depression to the area long before the actual market crash of 1929. The crash forced many schools not destroyed by the hurricane to be closed. Beginning in 1930 the school board faced its first overcrowding and funding problems, in 1928, Miami Senior High, the districts first secondary school, moved into its fifth and current location. The building cost over $1 million to construct, in 1926, the original Booker T. Washington Senior High School building opened in what is now the Overtown district
26.
North Miami High School
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North Miami Senior High School is a secondary school located at 13110 NE 8th Avenue in North Miami, Florida, United States. The school opened as Edward L. Constance Junior-Senior High School in 1951, another grade was added each year for the next three years. The class of 1955 was the first graduating class, early in 1955 the name of the school was changed to North Miami Senior High School. In the fall of 1955 the 7th, 8th and 9th grades were moved to the new North Miami Junior High School, after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, North Miami High enrolled 88 survivors, the largest number of any MDCPS school. North Miami is a center of middle class Haitian Americans and most of the survivors who came to the Miami area were middle class, michael Winerip of The New York Times interviewed 10 survivors at North Miami. They all indicated that the work at North Miami was less rigorous than the work at their private Haitian schools. After the earthquake, eight of the students reached Miami by flying on commercial airline services out of airports in the Dominican Republic. All of the students had visas to reside in the U. S. since January 1990, North Miami has offered the International Baccalaureate program. This international non-profit educational foundation was founded in 1968 in Geneva, the organization administers programs for elementary, middle, and high schools, providing an international curriculum intended to be acceptable to universities around the world. North Miami Senior High hosts a program that offers a rigorous diploma curriculum approved by the International Baccalaureate Organization. The IB Magnet Program consists of approximately 250 students divided between pre-IB in grades 9 and 10, and IB in grades 11 and 12, students are selected based upon academic achievement, previous advanced coursework and promise. The North Miami IB program is culturally and ethnically diverse due to the fact that students are transported throughout Miami-Dade County, IB diploma candidates are assessed at international standards in six areas with three exams taken at a higher level and three exams taken at a standard level. IB diploma candidates must also complete a 150-hour creativity, action and service requirement, write a 4, 000-word independently researched Extended Essay, North Miami Senior High also has an International Affairs program, which focuses on languages and international studies. This rigorous course of study offers the IB certificate in the fields of study, while offering a variety of IB. The school district cited a violation of its values as reason for Ibers reassignment. North Miamis Auxiliary was awarded an Superior rating
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Miami-Dade Public Library System
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The Miami-Dade Public Library System is a system of libraries in Miami-Dade County, Florida in the United States. MDPLS is a County Department within Miami-Dade County Government that reports to the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners is the Governing Body over MDPLS. The full scope of the Library Advisory Boards duties can be reviewed at the link provided, the service area of MDPLS is defined by the Miami-Dade Library Taxing District. The Miami-Dade Library Taxing District includes the majority of the boundaries of Miami-Dade County, including most of its 35 municipalities. Exceptions include the Cities of Hialeah, North Miami, North Miami Beach, additionally, the Cities of Bal Harbour and Surfside are not part of the Miami-Dade Library Taxing District. The Miami-Dade Public Library System traces its origin to the nineteenth century. The first library was a reading room established in Lemon City on April 7,1894 by the Lemon City Library, in 1902 the Lemon City Library moved into its own building made of wood planks located at 412 NE 61st Street. The Cocoanut Grove library opened on June 15,1895 by the ladies of the Pine Needles Club, mrs. Andrew Carnegie helped with the beginning of the library with the contribution of bundles of books. In 1900 the Cocoanut Grove Library Association was incorporated and in 1901 Miami-Dade Countys first library building was built in Cocoanut Grove, the City of Miamis library was founded by the Ladies Afternoon Club, later the Miami Womens Club. Its purpose was reading and the discussion of literature, by 1905, the Club was trying to provide a public reading room for its collection of books. The Club had no permanent home and for a number of years the reading room moved from place to place, by 1913 the Miami Womens Club had its own building located at the corner of todays Southeast Second Avenue and Flagler Street on property donated by Henry Morrison Flagler. His gift of land for the construction of a clubhouse contained a proviso that a reading room be maintained in the building. Reliable financial support for the library was a problem and in 1915 the Miami City Commission was convinced to support the library. This downtown location was sold and the Miami Womens Club erected its current building at 1737 North Bayshore Drive. The Flagler Memorial Library was established in new building. By 1925 the communities of Coconut Grove and Lemon City had been annexed into the City of Miami, the first bookmobile was proudly pictured in the Miami Herald of January 5,1928. The first public library serving the Black community was the Dunbar Branch at 2059 N. W.6 Court, established March 14,1938 by the Friendship Garden Club, assisted by the Miami Womans Club. When Annie M. Coleman, and her husband, Reverend James E. Coleman, moved to Miami in 1922 from Quitman, Georgia, Colored Town had no paved streets, no parks, mrs. Colemans vision and initiative made her a pioneer in obtaining these much-needed facilities
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Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
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The Museum of Contemporary Art is a collecting museum located in the heart of downtown North Miami, Florida. MoCA offers visitors both temporary exhibitions and exhibitions of its collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art began as the Center for Contemporary art in a single gallery space in 1981. In 1996, the opened a new building, following the establishment of its permanent collection in 1995. MOCA’s Optic Nerve is recognized as an important forum for emerging artists working in film, since its inception in 2000, over 220 artists have been featured in this series, many of them publicly presenting their work for the first time. The split came after a lawsuit claimed that the City of North Miami failed to meet its obligation to the museum, the lawsuit was eventually settled and as a condition, approximately 70 percent of MOCAs 700 works of art were gifted to the city. 200 pieces were to be held by the new organization, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Florida Miami-Dade County, Florida Official website
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Protected areas of the United States
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The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation, as of 2015, the 25,800 protected areas covered 1,294,476 km2, or 14 percent of the land area of the United States. This is also one-tenth of the land area of the world. The U. S. also had a total of 787 National Marine Protected Areas, covering an additional 1,271,408 km2, some areas are managed in concert between levels of government. The Father Marquette National Memorial is an example of a park operated by a state park system. As of 2007, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, federal level protected areas are managed by a variety of agencies, most of which are a part of the National Park Service, a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. They are often considered the jewels of the protected areas. Other areas are managed by the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is claimed to provide 30 percent of the recreational opportunities on federal lands, mainly through lakes and waterways that they manage. The highest levels of protection, as described by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, are Level I, the United States maintains 12 percent of the Level I and II lands in the world. These lands had an area of 210,000 sq mi. A confusing system for naming protected areas results in some types being used by more than one agency, for instance, both the National Park Service and the U. S. Forest Service operate areas designated National Preserves and National Recreation Areas. The National Park Service, the U. S. Forest Service, National Wilderness Areas are designated within other protected areas, managed by various agencies and sometimes wilderness areas span areas managed by multiple agencies. States and local zoning bodies may or may not choose to protect these, the state of Colorado, for example, is very clear that it does not set any limits on owners of NRHP properties. State parks vary widely from urban parks to large parks that are on a par with national parks. Some state parks, like Adirondack Park, are similar to the National parks of England and Wales, about half the area of the park, some 3,000,000 acres, is state-owned and preserved as forever wild by the Forest Preserve of New York. Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska claims to be the largest state park by the amount of protected land, it is larger than many U. S. National Parks. Many states also operate game and recreation areas. S, State and tribal wilderness areas Various counties, cities, metropolitan authorities, regional parks, townships, soil conservation districts and other units manage a variety of local level parks. Some of these are more than picnic areas or playgrounds, however
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Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
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National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
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Biscayne National Park
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Biscayne National Park is a U. S. National Park located in southern Florida, south of Miami. The park preserves Biscayne Bay and its barrier reefs. Ninety-five percent of the park is water, and the shore of the bay is the location of a mangrove forest. The park covers 172,971 acres and includes Elliott Key, the islands farther north in the park are transitional islands of coral and sand. The offshore portion of the park includes the northernmost region of the Florida Reef, Biscayne National Park protects four distinct ecosystems, the shoreline mangrove swamp, the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay, the coral limestone keys and the offshore Florida Reef. The shoreline swamps of the mainland and island margins provide a nursery for larval and juvenile fish, molluscs, the bay waters harbor immature and adult fish, seagrass beds, sponges, soft corals, and manatees. The keys are covered with tropical vegetation including endangered cacti and palms, Offshore reefs and waters harbor more than 200 species of fish, pelagic birds, whales and hard corals. Sixteen endangered species including Schaus swallowtail butterflies, smalltooth sawfish, manatees, Biscayne also has a small population of threatened American crocodiles and a few American alligators. The people of the Glades culture inhabited the Biscayne Bay region as early as 10,000 years ago before rising sea levels filled the bay. The Tequesta people occupied the islands and shoreline from about 4,000 years before the present to the 16th century, Reefs claimed ships from Spanish times through the 20th century, with more than 40 documented wrecks within the parks boundaries. While the parks islands were farmed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, their rocky soil, in the early 20th century the islands became secluded destinations for wealthy Miamians who built getaway homes and social clubs. Honeywells guesthouse on Boca Chita Key was the areas most elaborate private retreat, following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Elliott Key was used as a training ground for infiltrators into Fidel Castros Cuba by the Central Intelligence Agency and by Cuban exile groups. Originally proposed for inclusion in Everglades National Park, Biscayne Bay was cut from the park to ensure Everglades establishment. Through the 1960s and 1970s, two fossil-fueled power plants and two power plants were built on the bay shores. A backlash against development led to the 1968 designation of Biscayne National Monument, the preserved area was expanded by its 1980 re-designation as Biscayne National Park. The park is used by boaters, and apart from the parks visitor center on the mainland, its land. Biscayne National Park comprises 172,971 acres in Miami-Dade County in southeast Florida, the parks eastern boundary is the ten-fathom line of water depth in the Atlantic Ocean on the Florida Reef. The parks western boundary is a fringe of property on the mainland, the only direct mainland access to the park is at the Convoy Point Visitor Center, adjacent to the park headquarters
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Dry Tortugas National Park
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Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park in the United States about 68 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the archipelagos coral reefs are the least disturbed of the Florida Keys reefs. The park is noted for abundant sea life, tropical bird breeding grounds, colorful coral reefs, the parks centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. Fort Jefferson is the largest brick structure in the Western Hemisphere. Among United States forts it is exceeded in only by Fort Monroe, Virginia and Fort Adams. Dry Tortugas is unique in its combination of a largely undisturbed tropical ecosystem with significant historic artifacts, the park is accessible only by seaplane or boat and has averaged about 63,000 visitors annually in the period from 2007 to 2016. Activities include snorkeling, picnicking, birdwatching, camping, scuba diving, Dry Tortugas National Park is part of the Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve, established by UNESCO in 1976 under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. The Dry Tortugas is an archipelago of coral islands about 70 miles west of Key West. They represent the westernmost extent of the Florida Keys, though several reefs and submarine banks continue westward outside the park, the park area is more than 99 percent water. The seven major islands, all within the park, are, roughly from west to east, Loggerhead Key, Garden Key, Bush Key, Long Key, Hospital Key, Middle Key and East Key. The park is bordered on the east, south and west by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the total land area within the park is 104 acres. The park is in a maritime climate, with rainy seasons coinciding with hurricane season from May to October. The area is influenced by frequent hurricanes and tropical storms. Even with exposure to tropical systems the Tortugas are among the driest places in Florida, there is little temperature variation, with high temperatures in summer around 90 °F and low temperatures in winter around 66 °F. Vessels wishing to moor in the natural area must use designated mooring buoys or docks. About 54 percent of the park open for fishing. Visiting the park by boat is difficult because of its distance. Official ferry and transportation services to the Dry Tortugas includes the Yankee Freedom III catamaran, the Dry Tortugas are the western extension of an arcuate chain of Pleistocene reef and oolitic limestone islands, with the eastern limit in the vicinity of Miami
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Everglades National Park
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Everglades National Park is a U. S. National Park in Florida that protects the southern 20 percent of the original Everglades. In the United States, it is the largest tropical wilderness, the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River and it is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states after Death Valley and Yellowstone. It has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, although most U. S. national parks preserve unique geographic features, Everglades National Park was the first created to protect a fragile ecosystem. The Everglades are a network of wetlands and forests fed by a river flowing.25 miles per day out of Lake Okeechobee, the Park is the most significant breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America and contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere. The majority of South Floridas fresh water, which is stored in the Biscayne Aquifer, is recharged in the park. Humans have lived for thousands of years in or around the Everglades until plans arose in 1882, to drain the wetlands, as the 20th century progressed, water flow from Lake Okeechobee was increasingly controlled and diverted to enable explosive growth of the South Florida metropolitan area. The park was established in 1934, to protect the quickly vanishing Everglades, the ecosystems in Everglades National Park have suffered significantly from human activity, and restoration of the Everglades is a politically charged issue in South Florida. Everglades National Park covers 1,509,000 acres, throughout Dade, Monroe, the elevation typically ranges from 0 to 8 feet above sea level, but a Calusa-built shell mound on the Gulf Coast rises 20 feet above sea level. The terrain of South Florida is relatively and consistently flat, although rock formations are not a central draw to Everglades National Park, the limestone that underlies the Everglades is integral to the formation of the diverse ecosystems within the park. Florida was once part of the African portion of the supercontinent Gondwana, after it separated, conditions allowed a shallow marine environment to deposit calcium carbonate in sand, shells, and coral to be converted into limestone. Tiny bits of shell, sand, and bryozoans compressed over multiple layers forming unique structures in the limestone called ooids, the Florida peninsula appeared above sea level between 100,000 and 150,000 years ago. As sea levels at the end of the Wisconsin ice age rose, Lake Okeechobee began to flood and convection thunderstorms were created. Vast peat deposits south of Lake Okeechobee indicate that regular flooding had occurred about 5,000 years ago, plants began to migrate, subtropical ones from the northern part of Florida, and tropicals carried as seeds by birds from islands in the Caribbean. Although the limestone shelf appears to be flat, there are slight rises—called pinnacles—and depressions caused by the erosion of limestone by the properties of the water. Portions of the Everglades that remain flooded for more than nine out of the year are usually covered by peat. Areas that are flooded six months or less are covered by marl, plant communities are determined by the type of soil and amount of water present. While they are common in the portion of Florida, no underground springs feed water into the Everglades system. An underground reservoir called the Floridan Aquifer lies about 1,000 feet below the surface of South Florida, however, the Everglades has an immense capacity for water storage, owing to the sponge-like permeable limestone beneath the exposed land
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De Soto National Memorial
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The memorial includes 26 acres, where the Manatee River joins Tampa Bay. It has 3,000 feet of coastline, eighty percent of the area is mangrove swamp In May 1539, Hernando de Soto and an army of over 600 soldiers landed in the Tampa Bay area. They arrived in nine ships laden with supplies, two hundred and twenty horses, a herd of pigs, war dogs, cannon, matchlock muskets, armor, tools, and rations. They were executing the order of King Charles V to sail to La Florida and conquer, populate, the expedition did not yield the gold and treasure these men sought. Instead, they marched from one village to the next, taking food and enslaving the native peoples to use as guides, hundreds of lives were lost on this calamitous four year,4,000 miles journey. The de Soto expedition would change the face of the American Southeast forever, ultimately, it was the first hand accounts of survivors, describing the native cultures and the richness of the land, which became the journeys enduring legacy. The national memorial was authorized on March 11,1948, as with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15,1966. The mission of De Soto National Memorial is to preserve the controversial story of this exploration, part of the memorial was designated a U. S. National Historic Landmark on April 6,2001 under the title of the Shaws Point Archeological District. Exhibits at the center include historic armor, 16th-century weapons. A theater displays the movie Hernando de Soto in America, about the DeSoto Expedition, during the cooler months, visitors can observe Camp Uzita, a living history camp which runs from December through April. The season ends with a re-enactment of DeSotos landing on the beaches of Tampa Bay, other park activities include nature trails and guided trail walks, fishing, bird watching, and picnicking. Washington, U. S. Department of the Interior
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Fort Caroline
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Fort Caroline was one of the first French colonies in the present-day United States, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on June 22,1564, as a new territorial claim in French Florida, the Spanish continued to occupy the site as San Mateo until 1569. The exact location where the fort stood is unknown. In 1953 the National Park Service established the Fort Caroline National Memorial along the bank of the St. Johns River near the point that commemorates Laudonnières first landing. This is generally accepted by scholars as being in the vicinity of the original fort, the memorial is now managed as a part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve although it remains a distinct National Park Service entity. Ribault then traveled to present-day South Carolina and with twenty-eight men built a settlement known as Charlesfort, without supplies or leadership, and beset by hostility from the native populations, all but one of the colonists sailed back to Europe after only a year. During their voyage in a boat, they were reduced to cannibalism before the survivors were rescued in English waters. Johns Bluff on June 22,1564, the fort was named for King Charles IX of France. For just over a year, this colony was beset by hunger, Indian attacks, and mutiny, the ship and provisions gained from Hawkins enabled the French to survive and prepare to move back to France as soon as possible. As Laudonnière writes, I may saye that wee receaved as manye courtesies of the Generall, wherein doubtlesse hee hath wonne the reputation of a good and charitable man, deserving to be esteemed as much of us all as if hee had saved all our lives. The French introduced Hawkins to tobacco, which all were using. After a brief skirmish between Ribaults ships and Menéndezs ships, the latter retreated 35 miles southward, where they established the settlement of St. Augustine. Ribault pursued the Spanish with several of his ships and most of his troops, meanwhile, Menéndez launched an assault on Fort Caroline by marching his forces overland during the storm, leading a surprise dawn attack on Fort Caroline on September 20. At this time, the garrison contained 200 to 250 people, the only survivors were about 50 women and children who were taken prisoner and a few defenders, including Laudonnière, who managed to escape, the rest were massacred. As for Ribaults fleet, all of the ships sank or ran aground south of St. Augustine during the storm. Ribault and his marooned sailors marched northwards and were located by Menéndez with his troops. Apparently believing that his men would be treated, Ribault capitulated. Menéndez then executed Ribault and several hundred Huguenots as heretics at what is now known as the Matanzas Inlet, the atrocity shocked Europeans even in that bloody era of religious strife
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Castillo de San Marcos
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The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. Located on the shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. Construction began in 1672,107 years after the founding by Spanish Admiral and conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The forts construction was ordered by Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega after the raid of the English privateer Robert Searles in 1668. Work proceeded under the administration of Guerras successor, Manuel de Cendoya in 1671, the construction of the core of the current fortress was completed in 1695, though it would undergo many alterations and renovations over the centuries. The fort was declared a National Monument in 1924, and after 251 years of continuous military possession, was deactivated in 1933, the 20. 48-acre site was then turned over to the United States National Park Service. In 1942 the original name Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by an Act of Congress, Castillo de San Marcos was twice besieged, first by English colonial forces led by Carolina Colony Governor James Moore in 1702, and then by Georgia colonial Governor James Oglethorpe in 1740. The Native American art form known as Ledger Art had its origins at the fort during the imprisonment of members of the Plains tribes such as Howling Wolf of the southern Cheyenne. The European city of St. Augustine was founded by the admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés for the Spanish Crown in 1565 on the site of a former Native American village called Seloy. Over the next century, the Spanish built nine wooden forts for the defense of the town in various locations, the need for fortifications was recognized after it was attacked by Sir Francis Drake and his fleet of 22 ships in 1586. Following the 1668 attack of the English pirate Robert Searle, Mariana, Queen Regent of Spain, the Castillo is a masonry star fort made of a stone called coquina, made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone. Workers were brought in from Havana, Cuba, to construct the fort in addition to Native American laborers. The coquina was quarried from the Kings Quarry on Anastasia Island in what is today Anastasia State Park across Matanzas Bay from the Castillo, construction began on October 2,1672 and lasted twenty-three years, with completion in 1695. The fort has four bastions named San Pedro, San Agustín, San Carlos, multiple embrasures were built into the curtain wall along the top of the fort as well as into the bastions for the deployment of cannon of various calibers. Infantry embrasures were built into the walls below the level of the terreplein for the deployment of muskets by the forts defenders. It was through one of these embrasures that twenty Seminoles held as prisoners would escape in 1837, in 1670, Charles Town was founded by English colonists. As it was just two days sail from St. Augustine, the English settlement and encroachment of English traders into Spanish territory spurred the Spanish in their construction of a fort. In 1702, English colonial forces under the command of Carolina Governor Governor James Moore embarked on an expedition to capture St. Augustine early in Queen Annes War, the English laid siege to St. Augustine in November 1702
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Fort Matanzas National Monument
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Fort Matanzas National Monument was designated a United States National Monument on October 15,1924. The monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort called Fort Matanzas and it is operated by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in the city of St. Augustine. Fort Matanzas was built by the Spanish in 1742 to guard Matanzas Inlet, the mouth of the Matanzas River. Such an approach avoided St. Augustines primary defense system, centered at Castillo de San Marcos, in 1740, Gov. James Oglethorpe of Georgia used the inlet to blockade St. Augustine and launch a thirty-nine-day siege. St. Augustine endured the siege, but the episode convinced the Spanish that protecting the inlet was necessary to the security of the town, under Gov. Manuel de Montianos orders, construction of the fort began that year and was completed in 1742. Engineer Pedro Ruiz de Olano, who had worked on additions to the Castillo de San Marcos, convicts, slaves, and troops from Cuba were used as labor to erect the structure, which was sited on present-day Rattlesnake Island and had a commanding position over Matanzas Inlet. The fort, known to the Spanish as Torre de Matanzas, is a structure made of coquina. The marshy terrain was stabilized by a foundation of pine pilings to accommodate a building 50 feet long on each side with a 30-foot high tower. The standard garrison of the fort was one officer in charge, four infantrymen, all soldiers at Fort Matanzas served on rotation from their regular duty in St. Augustine. Five cannon were placed at the fort—four six-pounders and one eighteen-pounder, all guns could reach the inlet, which at the time was less than half a mile away. In 1742, as the fort was nearing completion, the British under Oglethorpe approached the inlet with twelve ships, cannon fire drove off the scouting boats, and the warships left without engaging the fort. This brief encounter was the only time Fort Matanzas fired on an enemy, Spain lost control of Florida with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, and regained control with the 1783 Treaty of Paris. With the Spanish Empire falling apart, Spain spent little effort maintaining the fort after this time, when the United States took control of Florida in 1821, the fort had deteriorated to the point where soldiers could not live inside. The United States never used the fort and it became a ruin, in 1916, the U. S Department of War began a major restoration of the badly deteriorated fort. By 1924, three vertical fissures in the wall were repaired and the structure was stabilized, in the same year, Fort Matanzas was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10,1933. As a historic area under the Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15,1966, Fort Matanzas National Monument Headquarters and Visitor Center For the etymology of Matanzas see Matanzas River. Hispanic Heritage Site National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Fort Matanzas - Official Map and Guide. Official website Historic American Buildings Survey No, fL-15-5, Fort Matanzas, Saint Augustine, St
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Canaveral National Seashore
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The Canaveral National Seashore is a National Seashore located between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville, Florida, in Volusia and Brevard Counties. The park, located on an island, was created on January 3,1975. Canaveral National Seashore celebrated its 25th birthday on January 3,2000, however, during 1955, a National Park Service survey team visited the Turtle Mound area and found the seashore a priceless scenic and scientific resource for which there is no substitute. The committee included several former presidents of the NSB Chamber of Commerce and they were Dr. Cook, John Deal, and Walter Mulbury. Other members were Ed Hughes, mayor of NSB, Bill Owens of the ECFRPC, Volusia County Commissioner Harris Saxon, smith, and Chamber of Commerce Manager Hanford Eckman. The proposed name was Cape Canaveral National Seashore, the entire country today has only 10 national seashores, including Gulf Island National Seashore in the Florida Panhandle and Cape Lookout in North Carolina. No other recreation site in the Region, the State, or perhaps the Nation can compare with it, on April 26,1968, the Volusia County Board of Commissioners passed Resolution No. 68-51 requesting the Department of the Interior to establish the National Seashore on the east coast of Volusia County, Bill Chappell was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. During his first year in office, Chappell promised the chamber that the project would be one of his top priorities. He kept his word and on April 5 and 6,1974, Congressman Roy Taylor, chairman of the subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation. A second group, including chairman of the Senate National Parks and Recreation Committee, Senator Alan Bible, by this time, the original 9,000 acres had grown to 35,000. Things then began to progress quickly, the House passed the Seashore Act on December 3, as did the Senate on December 17. After 10 years of perseverance, the chamber realized its goal to establish Canaveral National Seashore when President Gerald Ford signed his approval on January 3,1975, local artist and environmentalist Doris Leeper was instrumental in the creation of the park. The Canaveral National Seashore is home to more than 1,000 plant species and 310 bird species, the parks 24-mile-long beach is the longest undeveloped beach on the east coast of the state. The southern part is known as Playalinda Beach, the middle section as Klondike Beach. Mosquito Lagoon borders the side of the cape from the seashore. The Playalinda Beach has 13 parking lots numbered from the south, the space shuttle launch facility is easily visible from the approach to Parking Lot number one
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Gulf Islands National Seashore
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Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven islands, some islands along the Alabama coast were originally considered for inclusion, but as of 2009, none is part of the National Seashore. The Florida District of the seashore features offshore barrier islands with sparkling white sand beaches, historic fortifications. Mainland features near Pensacola, Florida, include the Naval Live Oaks Reservation, beaches, all Florida areas are accessible by automobile. The Mississippi District of the seashore features beaches, historic sites, wildlife sanctuaries, islands accessible only by boat, bayous, nature trails, picnic areas. The Davis Bayou Area is the portion of the National Seashore in Mississippi that is accessible by automobile. Petit Bois, Horn, East Ship, West Ship, the 4,080 acres Gulf Islands Wilderness offers special protection, within the seashore, to parts of Petit Bois Island and Horn Island, Mississippi. Considerable damage to public infrastructure occurred as a result of storms during the 2004 and 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasons, in subsequent years, infrastructure was fully repaired. All roadways, parking areas, campgrounds, and visitor centers have been repaired and are fully operational, a few trails and associated boardwalks and dune crossovers were still under repair as of late 2010, especially near the Fort Pickens campground. The wilderness area was designated on November 10,1978, four visitor centers, staffed by National Park personnel, are located within Gulf Islands National Seashore. Three are located in Florida, and one is located in Mississippi, colmer Visitor Center,3500 Park Road, Ocean Springs, Mississippi Two developed campgrounds are located in the National Seashore. Primitive camping is permitted in designated areas. Campground fees are posted at the Fees and Reservations website, in Florida, the Pickens Campground is a developed one and provides water and electrical hookups for recreational vehicles and tents. Roads are paved throughout the campground, as well as each campsite, the environment is characterized by sand scrub oaks, small brackish ponds, and a remnant pine forest on a barrier island between Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Central restrooms and showers are available, a campground store reopened in late 2010. There are no sewer hookups at the campsites, however, a station is available. Reservations can be made through the ReserveAmerica website from March through October, from November through February, sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The campground is located approximately 1.5 miles from Fort Pickens itself, in Mississippi, the Davis Bayou Campground is developed, providing water and electrical hookups for recreational vehicles and tents
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United States National Forest
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National Forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands in the United States. The National Forest System was created by the Land Revision Act of 1891, abbot Kinney and forester Theodore Lukens were key spokesmen for the effort. In the United States there are 155 National Forests containing almost 190 million acres of land and these lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area of the United States, an area about the size of Texas. Some 87 percent of National Forest land lies west of the Mississippi River in the ranges of the Western United States. Alaska has 12 percent of all National Forest lands, the U. S. Forest Service also manages all of the United States National Grasslands, and around half of the United States National Recreation Areas. There are two different types of forests within the National Forest system. Those east of the Great Plains in the Midwestern and Eastern United States were primarily acquired by the government since 1891. The land had long been in the domain and sometimes repeatedly logged since colonial times. These are mostly lands that were kept in the domain, with the exception of inholdings. Land management of these areas focuses on conservation, timber harvesting, livestock grazing, watershed protection, wildlife, unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by the National Park Service, extraction of natural resources from national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged. National Forests are categorized by the U. S. as IUCN Category VI protected areas, however, the first-designated wilderness areas, and some of the largest, are on National Forest lands. There are management decision conflicts between conservationists and environmentalists, and natural resource extraction companies and lobbies, over the protection and/or use of National Forest lands, many ski resorts and summer resorts operate on leased land in National Forests
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Apalachicola National Forest
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The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest U. S. National Forest in the state of Florida. It encompasses 632,890 acres and is the national forest located in the Florida Panhandle. The National Forest provides water and land-based outdoors activities such as biking, hiking, swimming, boating, hunting, fishing, horse-back riding. Apalachicola National Forest contains two Wilderness Areas, Bradwell Bay Wilderness and Mud Swamp/New River Wilderness, in descending order of forest land area it is located in parts of Liberty, Wakulla, Leon, and Franklin counties. The forest is headquartered in Tallahassee, as are all three National Forests in Florida, but there are local Forest ranger district offices located in Bristol, hunting and fishing are monitored and governed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The national forest itself is a management area. The FWC divides the management area into sections that allow dog hunting, still hunting, modern gun season for large game starts Thanksgiving weekend and ends in January. The Apalachicola National Forest is in the conifer forests ecoregion. Areas of the national forest with dry, sandy soils support Florida longleaf pine sandhills, sandhills are woodlands dominated by longleaf pine. Pine flatwoods are forests and woodlands on broad, sandy flatlands, both of these pine communities are sustained by frequent fires. Near the floodplains of spring-fed rivers grow southern coastal plain hydric hammocks, dense forests of evergreen, blackwater rivers support southern coastal plain blackwater river floodplain forests of baldcypress along their banks. Major rivers support diverse east Gulf coastal plain large river floodplain forests, the National Forest is also home to several wetland plant communities. Southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamps are large, seasonally flooded depressions of baldcypress, east Gulf coastal plain savannas and wet prairies are low, flat plains covered in grasses and sedges, which are seasonally flooded and maintained by frequent fires. Southern coastal plain cypress domes are small wetlands of pond cypress notable for their dome-shaped appearance. The Forest contains thousands of acres of old growth Pond Cypress swamps, in addition, Bradwell Bay Wilderness contains about 100 acres of old-growth Slash Pine - Swamp Tupelo swamps
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Ocala National Forest
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The Ocala National Forest ls the second largest nationally protected forest in the U. S. State of Florida. It covers 607 square miles of Central Florida and it is located three miles east of Ocala and 16 miles southeast of Gainesville. The Ocala National Forest, established in 1908, is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River, the word Ocala is thought to be a derivative of a Timucuan Indian term meaning fair land or big hammock. The forest is headquartered in Tallahassee, as are all three National Forests in Florida, but there are local district offices located in Silver Springs. The Ocala National Forest lies between the Ocklawaha and St. Johns Rivers in Central Florida, in descending order of land area it is located in parts of Marion, Lake, Putnam, and Seminole counties. The Ocala National Forest is in the conifer forests and the Florida sand pine scrub ecoregions. Dry, sandy areas support Florida longleaf pine sandhills and Florida peninsula inland scrub, longleaf pine sandhills are woodlands dominated by longleaf pine. Inland scrub consists of sand pines growing amid shrublands of evergreen oaks, both of these pine communities are sustained by frequent fires. The Ocala National Forest contains a proportion of remaining inland scrub habitat and is noted for its sand pine scrub ecosystem. The forest contains the largest concentration of sand pine in the world as well as some of the best remaining stands of pine in central Florida. Where fire is absent, southern coastal plain oak domes and hammocks can grow and these are small stands of thick evergreen oaks. The forest contains several slow-moving rivers and numerous wet prairies, blackwater rivers support southern coastal plain blackwater river floodplain forests of baldcypress along their banks. The forests spring-fed rivers support southern coastal plain hydric hammocks, hammocks of evergreen and hardwood trees, the prairies are Floridian highlands freshwater marshes. Southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamps are large, seasonally flooded depressions of baldcypress, the Ocala National Forest receives more visitors than any other national forest in the Sunshine State. Millions annually visit the forest, which is one of Central Floridas last remaining traces of forested land, the forest’s porous sands and largely undeveloped character provide an important recharge for the Floridan Aquifer. The Rodman Reservoir system forms most of the northern and north western border as part of the Ocklawaha River Basin, the Ocala Forest is also known for having over 600 natural lakes and ponds. Between the river boundaries of this Forest lie central highlands, coastal lowlands, swamps, springs and hundreds of lakes, near the Juniper Prairie Wilderness and Juniper Springs is The Yearling Trail, the location where The Yearling was filmed. Ocala has a variety of wildlife
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Osceola National Forest
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Osceola National Forest is a National Forest located in Florida. Osceola National Forest was created by President Herbert Hoovers proclamation, on July 10,1931 and it is named in honor of the Native American Seminole warrior, Osceola. The forest is made up of approximately 200,000 acres of pine flatwoods and it is located in parts of Columbia, Baker, Bradford, and Hamilton counties. The forest is headquartered in Tallahassee, as are all three National Forests in Florida, but there are local district offices located in Olustee. There is one officially designated area in the forest, the 13,660 acres Big Gum Swamp Wilderness. Within the forest is the Osceola Research Natural Area, designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1974, Osceola National Forest is home to many species including the American alligator, the Florida black bear and the red-cockaded woodpecker an endangered species. A 28-mile section of the Florida National Scenic Trail is included in the park grounds, other hiking trails in the park include, Olustee Battlefield Trail, Trampled Track Trail, and Mt. Carrie Trail. There are two horseback riding trails through pine flatwoods and near scenic bays. The park is open to hunters and fishermen with permits. Ocean Pond Campground - Ocean Pond Campground is located on the side of Ocean Pond. Sixty-seven campsites are available for tents, trailers, or motor homes, Ocean Pond provides a variety of recreational experiences such as fishing, boating, water skiing and camping. A beach area, boat ramp, drinking water, hot showers, the Landing Group Area - Available by reservation only, this is a 50-person private group area. Recreational activities include swimming, boating, camping, and picnicking, facilities include a sand beach, boat launch for small boats, picnic shelter, large group grill, and restrooms with showers. Hunt Camps - Hunt camps include Hog Pen Landing, Cobb, Wiggins, West Tower, and East Tower
