We entered on a horse trail that cuts through the scrub, and after a short while spotted a six-lined racerunner, a ground skink, and a couple of green anoles — reptiles rarely seen in the suburbs surrounding the park, but plentiful here inside the preserve boundaries. Spring wildflowers were in bloom, and my girlfriend Erin, being the plant geek that she is, couldn’t resist showing the group each new specimen we came across. The lupines were just coming in, fetterbush, blueberry, and other Lyonia flowers on their way out. Lots of violets, paw paws, thistle and at least one stunning blue iris were blooming, too.
The Serenova was purchased and added to the Starkey Wilderness Preserve as mitigation for over 220 acres of wetlands destroyed in the construction of the Suncoast Parkway. As a result, we now have 19,000 contiguous acres of protected native plants and wildlife in the heart of Pasco. However, almost as soon as it was designated two decades ago, the Pasco County Commission began lobbying to build a road across it, threatening to forever degrade some of the best remaining wetlands, scrub, and pine flatwood habitat in the county.
In January, Pres. Donald Trump signed an executive order to fast-track infrastructure projects. It’s probably not a bad idea to fix more of our crumbling highways and bridges, but building a road through a nature preserve? Apparently, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Republican representing Florida's 12th Congressional District, thinks it's a great idea. The Pasco Congressman jumped at the opportunity to write an open letter to Trump, calling his attention to the eight-mile Ridge Road extension project. Gov. Rick Scott soon joined in and endorsed the plan, too.
I doubt any of them has ever taken the time to experience the Serenova, or to seriously consider the intent behind Pasco’s official county motto, “Open spaces, vibrant places.” Plant and animal communities have spent millennia adapting to that environment, and may soon disappear with a stroke of a pen.
As we approached the shaded dry-season muck of the Pithlachascotee river, a flock of six threatened (formerly endangered) wood storks suddenly appeared soaring above. Scrub jays used to call this park home, though they’re probably gone now. But gopher tortoises are still present. Bobcats, too, we could see from the tracks we found across the sugar sand. Or maybe they were from a coyote? You can hear them call some nights.
We made our way through the slough and suddenly I glimpsed water through the trees, which was more than enough incentive for a diversion. As a few of us made our way toward it, a watering hole emerged. In the foreground, a banded water snake coiled in a cool spot, surrounded by purplish blue pickerel weed flowers. In the water a 5-foot alligator ambled over hundreds of gar and other fish. A noisy blue heron groaned, while an anhinga remained perched, drying its wings — everything gathering in tighter quarters with water being scarce during the height of dry season.
We stood for a moment in awed silence, though it was impossible not to think of what would happen if the Pasco County Commission gets its way. They have spent close to $20 million lobbying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for approval. If they succeed, the highway would cut right through this area, extending Ridge Road all the way to the Suncoast Parkway. After that it won’t take long for strip malls, subdivisions, gas stations and yet another Publix to follow.
It won’t happen without a fight. Environmentalists, equestrian groups, bike groups, average citizens just looking for some fresh air — they’ve all come together in the past to stop the road, and they’re mobilizing again. As we near Earth Day together and you read this, you might consider helping, too.
To find out more, attend the next Save the Serenova Organizing Meeting Monday, May 8 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Energy and Marine Center (9130 Old Post Rd, Port Richey) and follow Save the Serenova on Facebook.
Tim Martin is the Conservation Chair and a certified Outings leader for the Suncoast Sierra Club.
This article appears in Apr 20-27, 2017.