Many people often get confused between Everglades and Corkscrew Swamp.
Is Corkscrew Swamp Part Of The Everglades?
Corkscrew Swamp is part of Everglades and the area is mainly water.
About 13,450 acres of land at the center of the Corkscrew Watershed in Southwest Florida, part of the Western Everglades is occupied by Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
It comprises the largest remaining virgin bald cypress forest in the world which is about 700 acres.
Historically, this place is the biggest nesting colony of Federally Endangered Wood Storks in America.
Wood Stork is not the only thing you will see in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
There are many other Federal and State listed species like the Florida panther, American alligator, gopher tortoise, Florida sandhill crane, Limpkin, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Big Cypress fox squirrel, and the Florida black bear it serves as a habit for.
You will see many rare plants like the ghost orchid there too.
Is Corkscrew Swamp Part Of The Everglades?
Yes, Corkscrew Swamp is part of the Everglades.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a great habit for wildlife, and water that flows to coastal habitat in the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, and Delnor-Wiggins State Park through the Estero, Imperial, and Cocohatchee rivers originates from there.
It is also a connecting link between other important habitats that are located in southeast Lee County, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, the Big Cypress National Preserve, and the south via Camp Keais Strand.
The importance of the strategic location of the Sanctuary cannot be overemphasized.
Its natural resources provide the perfect habitat for wildlife.
The wetlands extend to the local aquifers, rivers, and estuaries, creating a perfect environment for fishing and coastal recreational activities.
It also provides clean drinking water for the people, and water for agricultural irrigation.
Corkscrew Swamp
Southwest Florida has been transformed by different battles over birds, lumber, water, and land that have lasted for about a century.
The area has witnessed significant changes that it no longer bears any resemblance to its native roots, but Corkscrew is still a vibrant wet wilderness.
There is still the demand for resources and space.
There is a challenge to our resolve to be able to preserve some of our larger charismatic creatures such as the Wood Stork, and the Florida Panther.
Southwest Florida is the epitome of a sanctuary for wild Florida.
It has become a mobile natural history repository, accessible any day of the year.
The government is ensuring that it protects and preserves this place for the good of the wildlife that depends on Corkscrew.
Everyone is involved in this preservation project.
We have to remember how we got here first to be able to achieve this.
We also have to be watchful over the current and future challenges that will come to Corkscrew and its denizens.
Everglades
In South Florida is the Everglades, a vast subtropical wetland ecosystem, covering large swathes of the region.
The starting point of the ecosystem is Lake Okeechobee.
This lake floods and overflows during the rainy season.
When it overflows, the water flows gradually toward south Florida Bay.
It flows across a lot of unique habitats that gave South Florida the unique beauty it has.
Everglades used to be a bigger ecosystem in the past.
However, in the 1800s there was an increase in human development for residential buildings and agricultural activities.
This brought about significant changes in the outlook of the region.
Everglades have significantly shrieked owing to the restriction of water flow across the land because of agricultural activities, and other human interventions.
This has harmed local species living in South Florida.
A Brief History of Corkscrew Swamp
Corkscrews have been popular among people who even live outside of southern Florida as far back as the early 1900s.
This was the time egret and heron plumes were highly demanded by the fashion industry.
This was the time plume hunters stood to make a lot of gains whenever they go on the well-timed weekend hunt, and they were speedily devastating rookeries all through Florida and the southeastern side of America.
Among the targets are the rookeries at Corkscrew.
The National Audubon Society employed Rhett Green as a warden.
Guarding and protecting the Corkscrew rookery was his primary assignment.
He became a guide to people like Thomas Gilbert Pearson, F.M.
Phelps, Oscar E.
Baynard, and W.
F.
Blackman by 1913.
These were people who were documenting the bird life that was in Corkscrew.
Logging
In 1944, in the Fakahatchee strand, south of Corkscrew, the Systematic logging of South Florida cypress forests began.
After WWII most of the lumbers went over to Europe to assist in the rebuilding of the continent.
All the Fakahatchee cypress had been logged by the early 1950s, and Lee-Tidewater Cypress Company had relocated to Corkscrew in the north.
Big trees that were about 500 years old were cut down as networks of roads were being built.
The locals fear that they would lose the great cypress forests to logging, making them start a campaign to save the swamp.
There was collaboration between the National Audubon Society and many other organizations and individuals for the purchase of every expanse of virgin bald cypress anywhere available.
This became home to the largest and most valued Wood Stork rookery in America.
They were able to buy about 5,680 acres by 1954.
640 acres out of this was a gift from Lee-Tidewater Cypress Company.
The name of Corkscrew rookery was changed to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
FAQs
Why is it called Corkscrew Swamp?
Corkscrew got its name from a twisty river that used to flow into the Gulf of Mexico.
It is a major destination for tourists.
It is also a gateway to western Everglades City.
I listen for pileated woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, and barred owls anytime I walk through the trees in the swamp.
What significance does Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary play in our watershed in Southwest Florida?
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is an important connection for wildlife and water that flows to coastal habitat in the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, and Delnor-Wiggins State Park through the Estero, Imperial, and Cocohatchee rivers.
What ecosystems are in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary?
The 13,000-acre Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary located in Collier and Lee Counties in southwest Florida was established in 1954 as a wildlife sanctuary.
