Lee County 4-H / Trail Blazers 4-H
Club
4-H Trail Blazers’ youth Reed &
Grant Gilmore – ages 12 and 8, planned, organized, and led the Lee County 4-H
Civic Day Service Project to continue the mangrove restoration they
started a year earlier on Conservation 20/20 land. This land impacts not
only the residents of Pine Island but future generations to come.
On October 12, 2013, using a mini-grant from the Youth Ocean Conservation
Summit, a non-profit organization started by former State 4-H President Sean
Russell dedicated to empowering youth, the 4-H Trail Blazers’ club youth and
Park Rangers Mickey Miller and Parke Lewis collected, raised, and planted
propagules, also known as seedlings and conducted field research on the status
of last year’s plantings.
Because of their dedication to the environment, commitment to conservation, and
the partnership with Lee County Park Rangers, Lee County 4-H youth planted over
300 new mangroves in addition to the 200 planted the year before.
Mangroves are incredibly important
to Southwest Florida because they
provide food, shelter, and structure for estuarine sea life. Mangroves
serve as a hurricane buffer, conserving 20/20 land for our children and their
children. Mangroves also improve our water quality, protecting against
coastal erosion, providing a habitat for birds and wildlife. They are
also crucial to southwest Florida’s commercial and recreational fishing
economies.
Originally published by Luke
Turner; County
Reporter, Lee County 4-H; Club
Reporter, 4-H Trail Blazers Club
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