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Sarasota County is a county located in southwestern Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL metropolitan statistical area.
Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,800. It is part of the Sarasota-Bradenton-Punta Gorda Combined Statistical Area.
Pine Island Sound is located in Lee County, Florida, lying between Pine Island and the barrier islands of Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, North Captiva Island and Cayo Costa, which separate the Sound from the Gulf of Mexico. The Sound connects to Gasparilla Sound and Charlotte Harbor to the north, and to San Carlos Bay and the Caloosahatchee River to the south. The Sound is conterminous with the Pine Island Sound Aquatic Preserve, which was established in 1970 and consists of 54,000 acres (220 km2) of submerged land. Important habitats in the Sound include mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, oyster communities, tidal flats and sponge beds. All animals in and around Pine Island sound, including mollusks, fish, birds and mammals, are affected by periodic outbreaks of red tide. The Sound is relatively shallow in many locations, and boaters are cautioned to utilize up-to-date charts and tide tables.
First acquired in 1977, Big Lagoon State Park is a 705-acre (2.85 km2) Florida State Park located on the northwestern Florida coast, approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Pensacola on Gulf Beach Highway. It encompasses the northern boundary of Big Lagoon as it snakes toward Pensacola Bay to the east. Wild Grande Lagoon and its minor tributaries lay within the boundaries of the park, as does the alligator-inhabited Long Pond, a man-made freshwater pond.
Shoreline at Mountain View is a park in Mountain View, California, United States. The city park was dedicated in 1983, some fifteen years after the City undertook the daunting task of planning a regional park that would provide citizens with environmentally savvy recreation opportunities, from a site that was originally a landfill.
Oscar Scherer State Park is a Florida State Park located between Sarasota and Venice, near Osprey. The address is 1843 South Tamiami Trail. There are more than 250,000 visitors a year.
The Blackwater River of Florida is a 56.6-mile-long (91.1 km) river rising in southern Alabama and flowing through the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico. The river enters Florida in Okaloosa County and flows through Santa Rosa County to Blackwater Bay, an arm of Pensacola Bay. The river passes through Blackwater River State Forest and Blackwater River State Park. Milton, the county seat of Santa Rosa County, is located on the river.
The Weedon Island Preserve is a 3,190 acre natural area situated along the western shore of Tampa Bay, and located on 1800 Weedon Drive NE. St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is predominately an estuarine preserve composed of upland and aquatic ecosystems such as mangrove forests, pine/scrubby flatwoods, and maritime hammock, and is home to a variety of native wildlife. The preserve is also a designated archaeological area with several shell mounds identified on the property that provide evidence of early peoples who inhabited the land for thousands of years.
Rookery Bay Reserve protects 110,000 acres of coastal lands and waters at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the gulf coast of Florida, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve represents one of the few remaining undisturbed mangrove estuaries in North America.
Charlotte Harbor Estuary, the second largest bay in Florida, is located on the Gulf of Mexico coast of west Florida with two thirds lying in Charlotte County, Florida and one in Lee County. The harbor's mouth is located behind Gasparilla Island, one of the many coastal barrier islands on the southwest coast of Florida, with access from the Gulf of Mexico through the Boca Grande Pass between Gasparilla Island on the north and Lacosta Island on the south. Charlotte Harbor covers about 270 sq mi (700 km2)
In 1999, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve was designated in St. Johns and Flagler counties, Florida as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) system. The GTM Research Reserve represents the east Florida sub-region of the Carolinian bioregion. It is one of 29 NERRs in 23 states and one territory. GTM is one of three NERRs in Florida, and is administered on behalf of the state by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Coastal Office as part of a network that includes forty-one aquatic preserves, three NERRs, a National Marine Sanctuary, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council. Additional interests are held in the research and management of the GTM and connected preserved or conserved lands including:
Terra Ceia Preserve is a 1,932-acre (7.82 km2) preserve located in Manatee County, Florida north of Palmetto. The preserve is maintained and co-owned by Southwest Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Piney Run Park is a nature park in Sykesville, located in Carroll County, Maryland. It is Carroll County's oldest developed park and hosts thousands of visitors annually. The park encompasses 550 acres of fields, forest and open spaces, features over 15 miles of hiking trails, a 300-acre lake and many sports and recreational facilities. Prior to being a park, this land was a private farm.
Sleeping Turtles Preserve includes 373 acres of land in Sarasota County, Florida, that were purchased in four parcels during 2003 and 2004 through the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP). The preserve is separated by Interstate 75 which runs east-west. Access to the northern preserve is located at 3462 Border Road in Venice and the southern preserve is located at 2800 River Road.
Pasco Palms Preserve is an area of protected lands in the Beacon Square section of New Port Richey in Pasco County, Florida. It is located adjacent to Eagle Point Park to the west of U.S. Highway 19 North at 4466 Strauber Memorial Highway. The 116-acre preserve offers hiking and is open from sunup to sundown. It was acquired in 2009 and includes habitat for bird species, including the white ibis and snowy egret. It fronts on the Gulf of Mexico and includes nature trail with "wetlands, salt marshes, mixed hardwood pine forests, mangrove swamps and tidal flats," according to the Pasco County website Pasco County Environmental Lands Department holds events there, as does Pasco's EcoFest.
McKay Bay Nature Park is a 38-acre (15 ha) park in Tampa.
The Manasota Scrub Preserve is an area of protected land in Sarasota County, Florida. It is located at 2695 Bridge Street in Englewood, Florida, in a suburban area that is part of the Lemon Bay watershed.
Boca Ciega Bay is a body of water connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida. It is bordered by Gulfport, St. Petersburg, and other municipalities in Pinellas County. Clam Bayou estuary feeds into the bay.
Wolf Branch Nature Preserve is a 1,400-acre (570 ha) nature preserve in Hillsborough County, Florida. The preserve is managed by Hillsborough County's Conservation and Environmental Lands Management Department Hillsborough County Conservation and Environmental Lands Management Department</ref>. It offers fishing and 2 miles (3.2 km) of hiking trails in areas of natural mangrove shoreline, upland cabbage palm hammocks, offshore sea grass beds in Tampa Bay, and tidally-influenced Wolf Branch Creek.
