Endgame by Michael Grunwald goes into the impact that the Everglades had made on politics in the late 1990's as many projects intended for the Everglades were the main focus for Floridians. One of the projects that were discussed by politicians at this time was an airport for the Everglades. The Homestead airport was a project that was being funded by many investors, but the development of this airport was coming at a time where much money was going into restoring the Everglades." It made no sense for the federal government to green light a major airport at the edge of the Everglades at the same time it wanted taxpayers $ 8 Billion to restore the Everglades." This quote shows that at the time preserving the Everglades was a major point of interest for the state. At the time Al Gore who was vice president who was indeed focused on environmental issues, but was on the fence about the airport. "Airport opponents kept up the pressure. In February they threatened to protest an Environmental voters for Gore rally." Because of this pressure on Gore's campaign it shows that the right decision needed to be made, thus the rally was cancelled. As the election was coming closer activists were stilling pressing the Gore campaign about the airport which they received a profanity for a response. This would eventually lead to having Voters turn to a new candidate in Ralph Nader. The reason why I thought this section in Endgame was interesting is because I do enjoy politics and the 2000 election was one of the earliest memories I still remember. Now hearing these details of how the Everglades played a part in this election makes sense as Gore would lose a lot of potential voters to 3rd party candidate Ralph Nader. With Nader getting over 10,000 votes because of just the airport issue alone it shows how the Homestead airport played a part in  America history as it shifted the election towards Bush's favor as he would beat out Gore by only 537 votes in Florida. This shows that no issue regarding Florida's environment should be taken lightly as voters do care about the well being of their state.

Smith: A Land Remembered

Tobias MacLvey has been the main character in A Land Remembered  to the point of me writing this blog post.  He is the grandfather of Sol MacLvey who is introduced in the first chapter, the father of Zech MacLvey and the husband to Emma. He is a very humble man who is a hard worker but for whatever reason he cant catch a break. But after an encounter with a group of Seminoles, that involved feeding, sheltering and protecting them for a night, his luck began to change. Even though it would be quite some time and a few hardships in the process, Tobias reencountered the same Indians, who taught him how to properly raise and herd cattle and gave him the proper horse and dogs which he couldn't afford on his own. Tobias generosity wasn't limited to the Indians as he encountered an African American named Skillit who has been wandering Florida all the way from Tallahassee and allowed him to live with his family in return for help with capturing and raising cows. When the opportunity comes for him to move over 800 cows out to west to get shipped to Cuba, for $16 a cow, Tobias rounds up his family, Skillit and hires two drifters who later prove their worth Bozo and Frog. After a long but successful trip, Tobias finally makes the hard earned money he has been waiting for years. But before he even thinks about himself  he makes sure to pay everyone handsomely, buy them gifts and feed them extremely well, he also decides to create his herding company and offers Bozo and Frog permanent work, along with paying Skillit more money than he could ever imagine.

To this point in the story I can tell that Tobias is a hard working man and is a very generous human being.  His relationship with the natural world is that he is a cow herder and he is moving cows all over Florida and into Cuba to be used for many different purposes such as their skin and for meat, the cows im assuming are not found in Cuba but with the high amount of cows being shipped they will soon be. His sense of place must be in the pastures herding cows as he makes this his full time commitment and the way he provides for his family, this is where he spends his time with his son which is clear in the story that he cares most about. I believe that  in the following chapters that his legacy, his work ethic, and his generosity is going to pass on to Zech who will continue on the tradition that Tobias  has started. I compare myself to Tobias as he seems to be very open minded as he welcomed in an African American to live with him and hire drifters who then became worthy companions. He also is a hard worker who even when things are not at its best will keep working to reach his goal.

A Sand County Almanac: With essays on conservation from Round River

This weeks reading was an excerpt from A Sand County Almanac, it is titled, The Land Ethic. In the passage an ethic is described as "ecologically a limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence. Philosophically, is a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct (Leopold 58)." This relates back to the environment in different ways. An ethic can be considered a kind of instinct in the making, so animal instincts are ethics how the animals continue to survive in the wild, by hunting and breeding. The human lifestyle can be seen as a limitation on freedom as we are constantly destroying wildlife for various reasons such as, homes, buildings, etc. Hundreds of species are becoming endangered and at this rate heading towards becoming extinct such as the Florida Panther.

"Conversation is a state of harmony between men and land (62)." The excerpt seems to relate this quote with how the farming industry was farming in a way that was not necessarily the best way for harmony between men and land. A change in a way of how somehow farms can be seen as a major drastic change. If a farming technique that has been done for years and worked that would be unfair for a farmer to have risk his livelihood, for a more ecological friendly way to preserve land. So that is why farmers were not necessarily agreeing with some of the laws being passed. They want to continue with remedial practices that were profitable but not in best interest for communities.

The passage ends with the author saying "our educational and economic system is headed away from rather than toward an intense consciousness of land (75)." I do believe that the so called lack of consciousness can be traced back to the educational and economic system, as the environment may not be a major focus or profit maker.  With the general mind state like this conservation is something that will be hard to reach perfectly because of  the lack of understanding land and the economic use of land.

Journal Entry 2: Last Child In The Woods

The last chapter in our text goes into great detail about a subject that I find extremely interesting and important going forward in the relationship between society and nature. This is the ever growing concern of attention deficit disorders, and the affect that nature may have on children facing these issues. "ADHD may be a set of symptons aggravated by lack of exposure to nature"(Louv Pg 11).This quote sets the premise of what this chapter is trying to explain. Throughout the chapter, it explains how different treatments known as nature therapy may reduce symptoms. Parents have found that children who spend more time being one with nature then watching television, reduces attention deficits but also increases joy in life (pg 10). I do believe that this is true, I know from personal experience as a child, that having my dad encouraging me to go outdoors and participate or at least try certain "green activities" such as fishing, or riding a bike, made me have a better understanding of nature and the importance of outdoor activities. I know that in the future, when I will have my own family, that technology is going to be even more advanced then it is now, and now we have 4 year olds using Ipad's! The chapter begins with a report on how schools are deciding to eliminate physical education and recess from curriculum. This is not just a factor to the issue of attention deficit disorders but it can also contribute to the untouched issue in this chapter of obesity. I understand why schools are doing this, they are trying to improve test scores but if children cant be given 30 minutes a day in the early developmental years of their lives then I think that is not worth it. Lastly I enjoyed the last piece in the chapter that described that positive impact that being out in nature did for "at risk" children. I understand that not all children are able to grown up in a great environment and this can cause behavioral issues, but I believe that if you show them fun activities that require venturing into the outside world and participating in green activities, you are doing much more then punishing them.