Tom Bayles

This is one non-native animal that has infiltrated Sanibel Island very, very slowly. A turtle, the invasive pond slider, first appeared on the barrier island more than 60 years ago.

Nesting by wading birds was at its lowest point since consistent record-keeping began 30 years ago.

The changes would allow the use of nearly all types of off-road vehicles except those with propellers in the water, including trucks, swamp buggies, airboats, hovercraft or any other device capable of moving over land, water, marsh, and swamps. Vehicles would be limited to designated routes throughout 230 square miles of Big Cypress.

Herpetologists blame not the slider, but the former freshwater ponds in the interior of the island spiking in salinity after being inundated with saltwater storm surge from recent hurricanes.

Every two years, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection checks the state's waters against its pollution limits and 41 contaminated water bodies in Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties were added.

But buying mined sand is now commonplace throughout Florida, especially on the Gulf Coast where shoals of the easy-to-reach white powder with the pitch-perfect squeak have been all but used up.

An idea to keep the Sanibel River from contributing to flooding the island during storms, and some bad timing, brought the lingering environmental

More than 50 of Stone's large-format photos of cypress trees will be mounted along the 2.25-mile boardwalk that winds through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, which has one of the oldest, untouched, bald cypress tree forests left in America. Some of the massive 500-year-old cypress trees are just yards away.

Commercial and recreational divers compete in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission event to win fishing and boating gear, and earn bragging rights.

An 11-acre stretch of land next to a birding site is now open, marking the completetion of a project that turned a bare field into wildlife habitat. The new space has walking trails, a pond, and a place to watch birds.