Living Heritage: The Nature and Culture of Florida Ranchlands

Firm helps sponsor conservation event

TAMPA, FL — WilsonMiller, Inc., is among the sponsors of a wide-ranging event on the conservation of Florida’s vanishing ranch land set for April 10 at the Tampa Theatre. “Living Heritage: The Nature & Culture of Florida Ranchlands” will feature a slide show of photographs by acclaimed photographer Carlton Ward Jr. and a panel discussion exploring the dynamic but often overlooked story of Florida’s ranch lands.

“We are pleased to be a part of the ‘Living Heritage’ event,” said WilsonMiller CEO Alan D. Reynolds, AICP. “Florida’s ranches and the families that have owned and worked them for generations are among Florida’s greatest treasures, and WilsonMiller is committed to preserving this vital agricultural and cultural heritage.”

The event, presented by the Legacy Institute for Nature and Culture (LINC) and Reclaiming Our Heritage, Inc., is part of the state-wide Florida Heritage Month and the local Florida Heritage CELEBRAT!ON, an area-wide, week-long festival heralding Tampa’s 50 boomtown years (1875-1925) with the theme, “…from Cracker to Flapper!”

WilsonMiller also joined the LINC last fall as a principal sponsor of “The Heart of Florida 2007 Ranch Calendar,” which was created as a tool to raise awareness for the unique landscapes, wildlife habitat, and living culture of Florida ranch country. The calendar also contains Ward’s highly lauded nature photography and includes references to the award-winning Rural Land Stewardship (RLS) program pioneered by WilsonMiller.

RLS is an innovative land-use plan that protects critical natural habitat while enabling the continuation of cattle ranching as an environmentally compatible and proven land-management activity. Established by the Florida Legislature as a specifically encouraged land use strategy, RLS addresses the pressing needs of community involvement, environmental concerns, preservation of natural and cultural resources, and economic diversification. Already preserving and protecting thousands of acres in Florida, RLS is fast becoming a nationwide model for land planning in rural areas.

The “Living Heritage” panel discussion will include ranch owners Bud Adams and Cary Lightsey, whose working cattle ranches have both received awards for land stewardship, along with Hilary Swain, who heads the Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, and Richard Hilsenbeck from The Nature Conservancy’s land protection department. Along with Ward, they will share their interest in stewardship of Florida’s remaining undeveloped land and wildlife habitat.

“Today, our great ranching culture is under threat, as are the landscapes, watersheds, and wildlife that thrive in their domain,” Ward said. “With 1,000 new residents moving to Florida each day and 200,000 acres of agricultural land being converted to development each year, much of the unique living heritage in our state is being lost.”
Ward said the event promised to be “an evening of discovery.”

“How many people know that Florida has five of the top 10 beef-producing ranches in America or that cattle arrived here in the early 1500s, the first in North America?” he said. “Or that Florida’s ranches provide critical habitat for endangered wildlife, including panthers, black bears, wood storks, and many others?”

“Living Heritage: The Nature & Culture of Florida Ranchlands” will be presented from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, at the Tampa Theatre, 711 North Franklin Street, Tampa. Tickets are $12 ($6 for students) and proceeds support the charitable efforts of the LINC and Reclaiming Our Heritage. Tickets are available at the door or by calling the theater at (813) 274-8982.

The LINC encourages sustainability and believes connections to natural environments and rural cultural legacies are essential in achieving this goal. Its Advisory Council includes representatives from The Nature Conservancy, Audubon of Florida, Smithsonian Institution, University of Florida School of Natural Resources & Environment, WILD Foundation, and Conservation Trust for Florida.

Reclaiming Our Heritage is a nonprofit organization charged with the mission of locating, preserving, and sharing every surviving article of Southern Florida’s first daily newspaper, The Tampa Daily Times. It sponsors the Florida Heritage Celebration and other programs centered around Tampa’s boomtown era.
For additional information on the “Living Heritage” program, visit the Tampa Theatre Web site at www.TampaTheatre.org. For more on the LINC and Reclaiming Our Heritage, visit www.Linc.us/ and www.ReclaimingOurHeritage.org

ABOUT WILSONMILLER: A multidisciplinary planning, design, engineering, and surveying firm with 10 Florida offices from Northwest Florida to its corporate headquarters in Naples, WilsonMiller celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. The firm offers a single source of high-level, diverse services for land development, infrastructure, transportation, and resource management projects for public and private clients throughout Florida and beyond. The Tampa office is located at 2205 North 20th Street. For more information, call (800) 649-4336, or visit www.wilsonmiller.com

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