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A needed boost to park's ecology

When Pinellas County officials proposed putting a paved boat ramp at H.S. "Pop" Stansell Park in Palm Harbor, many people objected, saying the boat ramp and associated vehicle traffic would ruin the park's delicate ecology.

What went unspoken at the time was that the park's ecology already had been badly damaged, in part by park users, in part because of benign neglect.

Stansell Park is a small neighborhood park located on quiet, shallow Sutherland Bayou. Homes surround the park and ring the bayou.

Because Stansell Park has saltwater access, boaters use it, even though there is no paved ramp. They just drive their vehicles across the sand and off-load their boats. Some people also drive their all-terrain vehicles through the park.

Years of such vehicle traffic created ruts that turned into rivulets in rainstorms, washing the sandy soil into the water and downstream, making the bayou even more shallow and snuffing out underwater grasses. Shoreline plants also struggled to survive. The entire area suffered from too much use and too little care.

Pinellas County is proposing some intensive care for Stansell Park, hoping to improve not only the appearance of the park but the faltering health of the bayou.

The county's proposal, which is not yet set in stone, includes building a retention pond nearby to catch rainwater and filter out pollutants that now flow into the bayou; removing weeds and non-native plants from the park; and replanting native plant species to hold the soil in place and create a more natural shoreline.

Pinellas County plans to use a grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to help pay for the project. The estimated cost is $390,000, though that could rise before work actually commences next summer. Swiftmud is providing grant money because the project promises to improve water quality in the bayou, St. Joseph Sound and even the gulf by reducing erosion and filtering pollutants picked up by stormwater flowing over land.

The public can contribute to the benefits of the project by treating the park's delicate environment with more respect in the future. Pinellas has so little publicly owned waterfront left. Even the small pieces are treasures.

[Last modified September 20, 2006, 07:11:25]