Our baby Ishi, so far, the only child of our sweet Harriet
Not wishing to put you all to sleep or bore you yesterday with a excruciatingly long post, I decided to split it in half, this then, is part two.
All the news today is not bad, some of it is actually wonderful.
To begin…
A group of investors on the Gulf Coast here have donated over 200 acres of pristine land to be used for the benefit of Florida wildlife like the Florida Panther, red-cockaded woodpecker and Florida Black Bear.
This was an unexpected and generous thing and the animals say “thank you”
My only objections are, that hunting will be allowed on the land perhaps reducing the primary food source for the highly Endangered Panther that calls this area home and secondly, the donors built a golf course in 2001, adding to the hundreds that are already here.
Next…
At a meeting in Tallahassee yesterday, the FFWCC laid out their plans for spending the millions that have been allocated to the state for the purpose of improving, expanding and maintaining prime and pristine wildlife areas.
One of the beneficiaries of this money and these new proposals, will be a personal favorite that we love and admire on our property here in the Ocala Forest, the long leaf pine.
This magnificent tree at one time covered most of the south-east of this country and supported many species of birds, including the nearly extinct red-cockaded woodpecker and the already gone, ivory billed woodpecker.
Another species of bird to benefit from all of this, is the now teetering on extinction, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow.
The details of the meeting will be here as they are revealed.
You can read more about the long leaf pine and Endangered birds here: Walking With the Alligators
Now for the two sad stories…
The magnificent Monarch butterfly may soon be listed as Endangered.
DUH!
We have personally watched in horror here in the Forest, as their numbers in the past few years have dropped to nearly zero.
When we first moved here in 2006, they were all over our yard, but in the past two years they have nearly completely disappeared, along with other fragile species, like our green treefrogs and green lizards, which by the way is the only lizard native to Florida.
These species are the “canary in the coal mine,” but for that to matter, someone has to ask why?
The blame for the Monarch decimation, lies squarely on the shoulders of companies like Monsanto, who know and care little, about the negative impact that their number one selling pesticide Round Up has had on the Global Environment and can I mention it doesn’t do much for people either.
Monsanto is a very powerful company and their long arms reach way into our Government and the agencies that should be harnessing them.
With the Monarch now approaching the same fate as the millions of Bison that once roamed this country, will our Government finally rein them in?
I guess that depends on whether or not we force them to, by boycotts, picketing and shunning both the company and those who choose to support them.
When I began writing this Blog, I was not convinced that anything done on Blogs had an impact on the real world, but after seeing what a Blogger did to Subway and their “rubber mat bread,” I now believe that we can and do make a difference.
We have the power to create change and we must use it for the good it can do.
This final story is the most painful for us personally.
If you have been here for a bit, you know about our baby Ishi, pictured above the day we found her.
She was the sole survivor of our resident dear Gopher Tortoise, Harriet.
We were so very grateful to have found her and are praying that she makes it to adulthood, unlike her siblings, which did not.
So, seeing this story about the kidnapping and planned murder of 170 precious, rare and Endangered ones like her, from the island of Madagascar where they live, makes our blood boil.
The idea that these monsters can take these beautiful creatures, murder them to make, God knows what, jewelry, or ???, is simply beyond our comprehension.
Any one of them might have been our baby Ishi, so this post today is dedicated to Ishi, et al.
Places to learn more:
Investors donate land for wildlife habitat to DEP:
Florida funds to restore long leaf pine, endangered species habitat
Monarch Butterfly May Join Endangered Species List
Endangered tortoises found at Paris airport
Baby tortoises found at airport
Walking with the Alligators 
Reblogged this on sachemspeaks and commented:
GO ISHI GO!
Thank you Dear for sharing their stories~
Nice to hear from you again.
Thank you. It is awesome to be back~
Monsanto truly is the devil’s work. And I sincerely hope Ishi survives and thrives in her happy home with you.
– sonmi upon the Cloud
They are the single most loathsome company in the world I believe.
As for Ishi, we adore her.
She is growing as fast as a baby Tortoise can grow, and we watch her very closely~
It’s so good to see you back here. I’ve missed you. Praying that Ishi survives in that cruel world he lives in and helps to repopulate the turtle families of Florida. If only it could be easy to reforest a city park after the Village Idiots cut down the live trees and build concrete trees to take their place, thinking if the children never see the real ones they will never know what they have missed.
Thank you so much.
It is wonderful to be back here with all of your great minds and beautiful hearts~
Perhaps it is time for you to run for office??
I’m 72 with advanced MS and extremely limited income. They don’t recognize senior citizens as people around here. I have gone up against some of the politicians with questions during the campaigns, and they don’t even see the older people. I’m making noise, but most of the time it’s the sound of one hand clapping.
If you want to be in a better place for your health care, you might consider coming down to Florida?
Your age puts you in an influential group here, as a matter of fact, you would be considered a youngster~
Seniors have more than just a bit of power here!
While this may not be my wish, I suspect that entities like Anonymous or other politically energized groups will eventually have/find there way with Monsanto. Grassroots efforts seem to be one of few ways in which evil is matched by a counter force. If we wait for our government to intervene, nothing will be done. With this issue there *is* a tipping point.
Thank you for your thoughts and concern Eric.
We do agree on all points~
Let’s hear it for Ishi…
Thank you Curt~
It is people like you who encourages us all to contact our government officials, and speak up for those who can’t. Monsanto is an ugly monster that needs to be stopped. Their nefarious reach is frightening.
Thank you and AMEN!
We agree completely. Thank you.
I always learn so much from your blog Donna – I admire your knowledge and concern for the environment. Thank for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you so much Anjali, for your very kind words and love of animals.
Reblogged this on Ta hendene til din kjære – se på dem og hold dem hardt Disse hendene skal du følge, leie og lede. Du skal få føle på varmen fra dem og kjenne en inderlig glede. De skal stryke deg og de skal holde rundt deg – de er ikke skapt for å såre i vrede For du skal ikke alene mer vandre. De skal klemme og kose og aldri klandre De skal skjerme deg for det du ikke selv ser. De skal elske og aldri forakte – bare hjelpe når du ber. Disse hendene skal jobbe for at dere skal få det godt De skal gi – og du skal takke for det du har fått. De skal tvinnes sammen i kjærlighet og være ømme og gode og et tegn på inderlighet Hendene du holder er sterke og unge De skal gjennom mye for din skyld når dagene er tunge De skal stryke og klemme og være gode og fromme De skal ruske i ditt hår og takke når dagen er omme Disse hendene skal følge deg gjennom livet. De skal holde fast ved deg og verne om samlivet De skal være hos deg når alle andre har gått De skal aldri slippe men holde fast og tørke tårer når du har grått. Hendene skal bære din ring med rette Den skal skinne og for alle berette Jeg elsker deg! – kan den bekjenne Det er bare en som har maken til denne En dag er hendene blitt ru og grå Hver fure og rynke forteller om livet som bak dere lå Dere kan minnes den dagen i dag – da et livslangt bånd Ble knyttet Og fra denne dag dere gikk Hånd i hånd..