Nassau County, the first coast you come to in the beautiful state of Florida. Maritime hammocks with oak trees hundreds of years old, canopy dunes that protect the land farther inland. Tidal flats crawl with fiddler crabs, and sometimes you are lucky enough to peep a rosetted spoonbill dabbling along the bank. Native grasses and wildflowers create a mosaic of beautiful meadows under the tall pine canopy. This is where the dark water of the St. Mary’s flows into the intercoastal. It’s where you can find gators laid up on the white sandy banks of the river in west Nassau County and walk the beaches in the east. Its uniqueness is what draws people in and keeps families here for generations.
I come from a family that has been rooted in Nassau County for over five generations. We’ve lived here so long because we love what Nassau County has always been, a place with a small-town country vibe where it feels like everybody knows everybody. When we drive almost an hour to get to the nearest city—what we have always referred to as “going to town” —we make that drive because we appreciate the quietness that has always existed in the rural parts of the county. The sounds of nature, the peace that comes from being in a forest of pines or under an old oak tree.
The loss of Nassau County’s culture, heritage, and ecosystems is a direct result of over-development, and is both heartbreaking and infuriating. Heartbreaking when I watch mature oak hammocks get bulldozed for another housing development or car wash. Heartbreaking when I think of all the wildlife that is without food or shelter now because of it. Birds that migrate back here, only to find the habitat that was here last year is gone now. Wetlands, an endangered ecosystem that we depend on for flood prevention and water filtration, are being filled in, creating problems for both homeowners and native wildlife. It’s infuriating to know that all of this development is happening even though the majority of local residents do not want it.
If you are displeased with the way Nassau County is being developed, please speak up. Call your local and state representatives, email, attend a commission meeting, let them know you do not support the over-development that is currently happening throughout the county. Alachua County is a model community for how development can be managed in a way that preserves cultural heritage, rural areas, and threatened ecosystems.
Reach out to your local conservation groups, and visit Homegrown National Park’s website for more info on native plants. Get involved. Through sustainable development and ecological landscaping techniques, we can have a positive impact on our ecosystems, preserve our culture, and enrich our county’s beauty for future generations.
Join me on our next discussion, ‘What is a Land Ethic,’ the first of many in a blog series on how to become a better steward for the environment.