"Choke Point," a new documentary short about the fight to save the University of South Florida Forest Preserve (USFFP), is now available to stream.

The 12-minute film, which was directed by filmmaker and USF grad Luke Myers, debuted last night at New World Brewery and follows biologists Jeannie Mounger, Christian Brown and Stephen Hesterberg as they hike the preserve, which is considered a vital piece of land connecting the Cypress Creek floodplain with the Green Swamp and Richloam Wildlife Management Area.

Since the USFFP connects migrant wildlife between these areas, it technically should be protected from any type of development under the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act. However, USF has already accepted at least eight construction bids, with plans that range from affordable housing to a new football stadium.

“Standing next to those gigantic Cypress trees makes you feel pretty young,“ said Myers previously to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “Being out there, then looking at the proposed developments makes you realize how precious the land is, how we take its existence for granted. And how easily it could be destroyed.”

Mounger told CL that while university president Steve Currall was invited to last night’s premiere, he did not show and he also disabled the ability for him to be tagged in Instagram posts. She also added that Hillsborough County Commissioners Kim Overman and Patricia Kemp were in attendance.

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