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Lealman's Eden
By ANNE LINDBERG
© St. Petersburg Times, LEALMAN -- The intersection is nondescript: five roads, a railroad track, a drainage ditch in need of mowing. But walk east along that drainage ditch. Ignore the "no trespassing" sign as you squeeze through a gap in the first locked gate. Walk a few hundred feet more. Avoid the second locked gate by slipping into a woods to duck through a huge hole in a chain link fence. "Oh, my God!" "That's what everyone says," said Ray Neri, president of the Lealman Community Association. A satisfied smile spread across Neri's face as a visitor got a first look at 16 or so undeveloped acres in the middle of east Lealman. For Neri and others who want to revitalize the Lealman area, the acreage is the repository of big hopes and dreams. They want the county, which owns the land, to donate the land to the community so it can become a place where kids can come to fish and play pickup ball games while families picnic nearby. The park would be such an asset, they believe, that it would help entice businesses and families to settle in and improve the Lealman area. "This little piece of land, really, can make a difference to all of Lealman," Neri said. Neri and other Lealman activists have been urging county officials to turn the property over. The snag is that there is some contamination on part of the property. But the contamination is 26 feet down, Neri said, and will not hurt anyone at that depth. County officials are studying the issue now. In the meantime, the Lealman group is trying to garner support from everyone they can to urge that the area be preserved. Most recently, they invited the St. Petersburg Audubon Society to tour the property and see the unexpected Eden in mid Pinellas. "People can't fathom this until they see it," said Becky Harriman, a member of the Lealman Community Association. Neri agreed, saying, "It's like living in New York and never seeing Central Park, (then) all of a sudden, going through a hedge and there it is." Certainly, it is different from most of the rest of Pinellas County. The dew-ridden grass soaks shoes and pant legs. As you walk through the grass, brown moths are kicked up, only to disappear again into the shadows of the earth. A visitor can sit on the grassy shore by the pond and watch a moorhen taunt an alligator in order to protect its young. Other moorhen seem to walk on water as they move from one spot to another across lily pads. Surfacing turtles cause the glasslike calm of the pond to ripple. Gaudy butterflies of orange and black or black and yellow or plain yellow flit from place to place. Dragonflies hover above the tall grass. And birds. Birds of all kinds are everywhere. "We need to have these park and protected areas, a place that is for people and all living things to be together." said Helen Warren, the board member of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society who organized the field trip to Lealman. "We should have places like this pocketed throughout our community." The argument for such places is based on the need for a better quality of life and for community education, she said. But it's also based on the emotions felt while at the site. "There's just a sense of, my, this is precious. This is a jewel," Warren said. "It's like all is right in the world. But it could be better. We the people could make it better." LEALMAN -- Members of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society walked Saturday through an undeveloped area of the Lealman community next to Joe's Creek. While there, they spotted wildlife such as alligators, dragonflies, butterflies and birds. Lots of birds. Here's a list of the birds they saw. Anhinga Great blue heron Great egret Snowy egret Tricolored heron *Black-crowned night-heron White ibis *Wood stork Mottled duck *Cooper's hawk *Red-shouldered hawk Common moorhen *Limpkin Laughing gull Eurasian collared dove Mourning dove Monk parakeet Belted kingfisher Blue jay Fish crow Blue-gray gnatcatcher Northern mockingbird European starling *Summer tanager Northern cardinal Red-winged blackbird Boat-tailed grackle *Birds that society members did not expect to see. - Source: St. Petersburg Audubon Society
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
