The Hurst's

We canoed from the Riverwoods Field Lab on the original Kissimmee River to the channelized river (Canal 38). I tried to insert the text in the picture above at the appropriate locations so you could see where the two intersect. When the restoration project reaches to this point, the spoil banks on each side of the canal will be pushed back in, filling up the dredged channel. This will divert the water back into the natural riverbeds and flood much of the surrounding area, restoring thousands of acres of wetlands. The coolest thing of all is that scientists and those working on the restoration project have never planted native species or distributed seeds in an effort to return the habitat to its original state. With a little water and sunshine, seeds that have been dormant in the soil for all of these years spring forth to life! It is truly amazing to see the determination of nature as this ecosystem thrives with the plant and animal life that it was always meant to possess.