Florida has the longest history of ranching of any state in the country, and most of it takes place in the Everglades watershed. Ranches play a critical role in connecting our remaining open spaces. Vevie Lykes Dimmitt painted this image of cowgirls on her family’s land in Brighton, Florida. The area of the ranch depicted... more

The Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is the first of its kind to be designated specifically to protect plants. Mollie Doctrow’s shrine trail is accessible from South Florida Community College and Archbold Biological Station. In her woodcut art work, she had long been thinking about how to bring the medium outdoors. The result is... more

The Caloosahatchee River, in southwest Florida, is a critical source of water for the Everglades. Though dredged and channelized in the past, recent efforts have been made to restore historic the river’s historic flow. Megan Kissinger painted where sky, oaks, water and osprey meet on an oxbow from Caloosahatchee Regional Park. In this video, she... more

At Rookery Bay Estuarine Research Reserve, an elevated boardwalk takes visitors through the 12,700-acre reserve’s oak scrub, pine flatwoods, wet hammock, fringe marsh, brackish pond, and mangrove fringe. Elizabeth Smith describes how such experiences are essential. She says, “if people have a connection, an emotional response, they will then want to protect and conserve. Without... more

Jerry Cutler describes the process of getting to know the Everglades, and learning to change focus to see more. At the southern tip of Everglades National Park, the West Lake area provides excellent habitat for white, red, and black mangrove trees. After sketching mangroves over time, Jerry Cutler painted a large work of these trees... more