Why I donated land to the Alachua Conservation Trust to help the Santa Fe River
Water: Elemental, dear folks, elemental! The source of life and lots of fun! Water can be disastrous at times, but is still of elemental importance.
Growing up in Lake Wales playing in and on that ridge area’s lakes; going to Young Girl’s Club Camp at O’Leno State Park and River Rise on the Santa Fe River; taking trips through Yeehaw Junction to Vero Beach in high school with friends for swimming, play and camaraderie on the Atlantic Ocean beaches; fishing with my dad and great-uncle Gaines in Lakes Weohyakapka and Okeechobee; and vacationing with my parents at Lido Beach on the Gulf of Mexico — all these activities meant that I grew up in and on the waters of Florida.
When I came to live on the Santa Fe River, I fully appreciated the spring-fed waters and I learned how rare the large spring areas in North and Central Florida are. These springs are natural resources that are national treasures, whether so designated or not, and as an area they constitute a global wonder.
Studying photography with Evon Streetman at Florida State University started me on a career that has taken me all over the world. Visually, our springs are a mass of diamonds in the sands of the earth, and streams and rivers are ribbons that intertwine through our landscape reaching for the seas.
After also studying marine biology and oceanography, I have maintained an intense interest in the waters on Earth and how they are maintained — how, for example, cutting trees disrupts the water cycle by depleting the canopy of vegetation that enables the evaporation of water. Water is precious globally and we have an abundance of that resource to treasure, if only we will.
The lands around the springs and rivers, lakes and glades are of essential importance. I am constantly aware of what I put on the ground and how it will either run off or be filtered into the aquifer. That is why I gave land to the Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT).
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Gifts of land protect the waters. Waters in Florida are essential for residents and tourists alike, since we all use water in numerous ways.
As residents, we depend on good water for drinking, cleaning, health, multiple pleasures and our livelihoods. Tourists, who contribute to a large part of the state’s economy, come to Florida for many reasons. Besides our wonderful sunshine and warmth, people come to kayak, canoe, paddleboard, fish, boat, swim, dive, walk on our clean beaches, study freshwater and marine life and biodiversity, and enjoy myriad other water-based activities.
Saving lands along Florida’s rivers, in particular, is crucial. Making that donation to the Alachua Conservation Trust was an easy and joyful process for me, a process that ACT facilitated. All I had to do was have my deed, get an appraisal and sign over the property.
Land trusts such as ACT can accept outright gifts or help you arrange for a conservation easement on your property. Conservation easements limit forever any land use that may be harmful to the aquifer beneath your land or along your waterway.
If you want to make a difference in the quality and quantity of water in Florida’s waterways and springs so future generations can enjoy these marvels, please consider either creating an easement on your land or making a gift of your land to an organization such as the Alachua Conservation Trust. Such gifts matter and the result is so-o-o good for your soul!
Martha A. Strawn is a retired professor emerita of art/photography, photographer and author/editor of four books. She lives and works in High Springs, Florida, and Tryon, North Carolina, with her husband, William Latham. She has worked with conservation and arts non-profits for over 50 years. Her exhibition, “Across the Threshold of India,” is at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design in Raleigh, North Carolina, from May 5 to Nov. 12, 2022. This column is part of The Sun's Messages from the Springs Heartland series.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Martha A. Strawn: Why I donated land to help the Santa Fe River
