Florida's Forests example essay topic

Did you know that for ever person that lives in Florida, four more people visit the state every year? Tourism makes up eighty-one percent of Florida's gross state product. Also, "no trip is complete without tasting a fresh-picked orange or a slice of Key lime pie" (Heinrichs 11). The excellent weather and awesome beaches in Florida are irresistible to tourists. Florida's early history, geography, climate, wildlife, and economy will be explained thoroughly in this paper. Florida was first settled over 12,000 years ago when people from Asia migrated to the Americas over the Bering Land Bridge.

The first European to set foot on the North American continent was the Spaniard Juan Ponce de Le " on. In Spain, there were rumors of a spring bubbling with the magical waters of youth (Heinrichs 15). He set out determined to uncover many rumors about the New World. On March 27th, 1513, he went ashore near present-day St. Augustine and called the area La Florida for one of two reasons. It was either because it was Easter time (Pascua Florida in Spanish) or because of all the flowers he found there (Florida is Spanish for "flowery"). Unfortunately, Le " on was killed by an Indian attack on his second expedition of the area in 1521.

The next explorer to try his luck in Florida was P'an filo de Narv'a ez. Gold was the object of his voyage to Florida, but he found none when he went ashore in Tampa Bay in 1528. The first actual settlement in Florida and North America as well was Fort Caroline. It was built by French Protestants who needed refuge from persecution. The fort was built at the mouth of the St. John's River. When King Philip II of Spain heard about the French colony, he sent Admiral Pedro Men " end ez de A vil " es to eliminate the fort.

He set up a fort where Le " on originally landed and called it San Augustin (St. Augustine). This became the first European settlement in North America that still exists today. The Spanish colony thrived with 140 Franciscan missions and forts. However, by the 1700's, British and Indian raids burned out most of the mission forts. Florida went under British control in 1793 when the Seven Years' War ended. However, Spain regained Florida when the American Revolution ended in 1783.

Spain finally lost Florida to the United States in 1819 when the Adams-On " is treaty was signed between the U.S. and Spain. Later, on March 3rd, 1845, Florida joined the Union (Florida Almanac). One of the last areas of North America to emerge from underwater was Florida. It was still underwater in the dinosaur era. Florida's thin northern section is called the Panhandle and the rest of Florida is a peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point in Florida is only 345 feet which is an unnamed point in the Panhandle ("Florida Almanac").

Florida's entire eastern coast is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain which is all less than 100 feet above sea level (Blakey 248). The state's climate is generally warm, sunny, and pleasant all year-round. The south has a tropical climate with cycles of wet and dry weather, while the north has a temperate climate which is similar to the surrounding southern states. On the downside, some of the worst hurricanes hit the southern Florida in late summer. The two most recent devastating hurricanes were Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Opal in 1995. The forests, swamps, and plains of Florida are teeming with wildlife.

Black bears, gray wolves, deer, wildcats, and foxes roam through the forests, as they have for hundreds of years. Also, some of the smaller mammals include raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, skunks, and opossums. The swampy, grassy wetlands of the Everglades have a very different type of animals. Most are reptiles and birds, including deadly water moccasins, rattlesnakes, blue herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, wood storks, pelicans, and anhinga. The waters surrounding Florida also have a unique display of wildlife.

Bottle-nosed dolphins swim freely in the Gulf of Mexico and are playful towards humans (Blakey 255). Florida's forests are full of saw grass, a tall, brown, rough grass. Small patches of trees stand high above the surrounding saw grass and are also called "hammocks" of trees. Another popular tree of Florida is the palm tree. The streets of cities are sometimes lined the elegant royal palms, and short, fan-leaved palmetto palm trees line the forest underbrush. The economy of Florida is growing faster than any other state.

Tourism goes up every year, and retirees keep pouring in to spend their later years in the sun. Citrus fruits are Florida's most abundant natural resource, with orange tree orchards very common in south-central Florida. Other resources in Florida include cotton, limestone, oil, sugarcane, phosphates, and fish. Manufactured goods make up about 10 percent of Florida's GSP (gross state product). Some examples of these products include telephones, broadcasting equipment, military communication devices. Fish is another important resource of Florida.

Fishers will haul in anything people will eat: fish, crabs, shrimp, sharks and octopuses. Mines in Florida contain phosphate rock, petroleum, and natural gas, fuller's earth, kaolin, limestone, thorium, and zircon. Florida, nicknamed The Sunshine State, is a tourist and retiree magnet. The state's high temperatures, exotic wildlife, and sunny skies attract people of all ages. Even the first Spanish explorers to the area thought it was a paradise. A leading producer of oranges, Florida's economy is growing faster than any other state's.

From the shallow swamps of the Everglades of the south, to the "hammock" studded forests of the north, Florida is a truly unique state. Florida's early history, geography, climate, wildlife, and economy stand out from other states. It is a state that should be visited at least once in a lifetime.

Bibliography

Blakey, Arch F. "Florida". World Book Encyclopedia. World Book Inc. 2000.
Vol. 7, pp. 242-265". Florida Almanac from NETSTATE". NETSTATE. COM [Online State Almanac] (STATE, rev. 2001, 1997;
accessed 5 June, 2001);
available from web alma. htm. Heinrichs, Ann. Florida. Danbury, Connecticut: Children's Press, 1998.