Outdoors

City wants us off the couch, in the park

By TERRY TOMALIN, Times Outdoors Editor
Published February 1, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - We're only one month into the new year, and I've already broken one of my resolutions.

I had pledged to a friend that I would do something outdoors every day in 2008, come wind, rain, sleet or heat. But a recent spell of below-average temperatures kept me in the office one day last month, so it looks like I owe somebody a cup of coffee.

In all honesty, I kind of got roped into this bet. I was at a Starbucks one morning meeting with Mayor Rick Baker when he told me about his St. Pete Outside program.

"You wouldn't believe all the great places we have right here close to home," the mayor said. "You would be surprised. Check it out."

When it comes to cool things to do outdoors, I don't mind saying that I consider myself an expert. I've been to most of Florida's well-known state and national parks. I've also explored several remote tracts in Florida's lesser known national and state forests.

I've also made it a point to seek out county lands that seldom show up in the tourist brochures.

For example, in Pinellas County you have Brooker Creek Preserve, a 8,500-acre wilderness area so secluded, remote and exclusive that you better stop by the Environmental Education Center before you hit the trail or you might get lost.

In Hillsborough County, you could spend a day cycling and hiking the trails of the Wilderness Park system and never see it all. Pasco County's J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park has tent camping and cabins that rival anything in the state system. Hernando County's Fickett Hammock Preserve hasn't changed much since Seminole warriors once walked its trails.

But, as Baker pointed out, I've been so busy looking at the forest that I can't see the trees.

"People move here for the quality of life," he said. "Look around, and I bet you will find something great to do outside within a half mile of any place in this city."

We had started our conversation talking about Baker's City Trails program. When completed, it will add 150 miles of urban trails, making St. Petersburg one of the most cyclist-friendly cities in the United States.

If you don't ride a bike, you may not notice the new bike lanes all across St. Petersburg. This is great news for two reasons. First, it keeps people safe. Second, the safer the streets, the more people will consider riding to work, which will also make St. Petersburg a carbon-neutral city.

It's too bad more local governments aren't as progressive. It seems like safe streets for kids to ride bicycles should be an unalienable right guaranteed under the Constitution.

Taxpaying citizens should also be assured playgrounds, parks and preserves, where people can enjoy the outdoors in its natural state, the way it looked before people got carried away with the bulldozers and backhoes.

We are lucky to have such a place in St. Petersburg in Boyd Hill Nature Park. Hikers regularly see bald eagles perched in the pine trees, and not too long ago, a volunteer spotted a rare bird of prey, the crested caracara.

If this isn't enough to motivate you to get outside, at least do it for your dog. Walking Fido or Fifi around your neighborhood isn't enough. Take your canine to one of the city's five dog parks and let it run wild.

And speaking of running wild, I almost forgot about the city's kid parks, more commonly known as playgrounds. The list was so long I couldn't count them all math was never my strong point. On Baker's suggestion, I took my little rascals to the newly redone Dell Holmes Park on the shores Lake Maggiore, and afterward it made me wish I could go back in time to being 10 again.

But no place is perfect. The city, county and state could do a better job of providing fishing opportunities for children. St. Petersburg is off to a good start with the fishing pier at Dell Holmes but more could be done.

So Mr. Mayor, if you're listening, I've got a couple of ideas. We could talk about it over coffee. After all, I owe you one.

Terry Tomalin can be reached at (727) 893-8808. Leave a message, he's probably outdoors.

St. Pete Outside

To learn more about St. Petersburg's recreational opportunities, go to www.stpete.org/outside/index.shtm.

[Last modified January 31, 2008, 23:22:31]