Stephanie Byrne

As the temperature in Southwest Florida drops, visitors head to Lee County’s Manatee Park in hopes of running into sea cows. The mammals migrate toward warm waters during the cool months, which makes the refuge of Manatee Park a good herding spot. Twelve-year-old David Witmer was lucky enough to find a few at the park […]

Environmental advocates fear the gopher tortoise could lose some protections after a state agency decided to temporarily give developers more flexibility on where gopher tortoises can be relocated. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said more development in Florida has led to a greater need for places gopher tortoises can be relocated to. But […]

There’s a coast-to-coast effort to understand algal blooms better, and that work just got another boost. From the air we breathe to the water we live, work, and play on; when there’s blue-green algae around, we can tell. Dr. Shirley Gordon is a principal investigator and professor, Florida Atlantic University. She said, “We focus on […]

A new reservoir is officially open on the east side of Lake Okeechobee. This it is about half of the size of The City of Naples. The new reservoir could also be seen as a blueprint for cleaner waterways in what is being called a monumental day for Florida’s environment and water quality. Florida Lieutenant […]

Some of the biggest shopping days of the year are just days away in the form of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While it is a big-time for deals, it is also a big-time for pollution. If you want to try and reduce your pollution when shopping this year, a big part of it comes […]

The operating manual to layout how to manage Lake Okeechobee is now nearing the finish line, and it’s good news for the Caloosahatchee Estuary. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday afternoon that it narrowed thousands of scenarios related to lake-level management down to one. It’s all part of the Lake Okeechobee System Operating […]

Gov. Ron DeSantis is upping the ante when it comes to our environment. On Tuesday, he stopped in Collier County and recommended nearly a billion dollars be spent on protecting the environment. That money would help all aspects of the environment, including the big issues that often plague Southwest Florida like red tide, algal blooms […]

As consumers, we’re continuing to add to the amount of discarded trash, and as more people move to the Sunshine State, it’s only growing. One Fort Myers family is working to lessen their environmental impact through composting and shows us how they do it – in hopes to encourage others to do the same. The […]

Palm trees are iconic in Southwest Florida, especially if you take a drive down McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers. While we love to see them in our landscape, is there a better alternative for our planet? Beneath the lush greenery of the garden at Edison and Ford Winter Estates are the people who keep the […]

Promises were made on the world stage Tuesday about how the world’s biggest countries will slow down the effects of climate change. If the U.S. follows through on its promises, it will have an impact on Southwest Florida. Some of those promises include reducing methane emissions and committing to ending deforestation. From hurricanes to forest […]