Google Map of RCSP

Here's a map I've created on Google Maps (https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024396?hl=en); right now it shows mostly access points and parking lots off major roads. Keep coming back! I'll be hiking and uploading trails as I walk them. Google Maps was super-easy to use. The easiest way I found to upload trails is figure out how to export the .gpx from whatever app you use (Strava is my go-to for this) and you can Choose file or drag and drop. I'll also be photographing and showing plant species of interest, or other cool features along the trails so you can hike out and see them for yourself!

Basics of Ecology

A slide-show presentation prepared to talk about some basics of ecology as
it relates especially to biodiversity.

Enjoy!

Why Biodiversity at Raccoon Creek State Park?

I’ve chosen to study Raccoon Creek State Park for several, mostly personal reasons. I grew up in this park – it was the first place I remember fishing with my family; I got my mom to drive me out to their Soldier and Sailor Days when they had re-enactments and displays for every war from the American Revolution through Desert Storm; I’ve hiked the nearby Wildflower Reserve enough to know exactly where I am and where to go from every point; I’ve mountain biked the few miles of trails they have, and despite being some of the worst trails around, they’re still a perennial favorite of mine.

But for all that, there’s so much to the park I didn’t know existed, really, until recently: there’s 40+ miles of hiking trails I’ve never hiked; there’s campsites at which I’ve never camped; there are events I’ve never attended or knew about. So, in a way, this is my chance to get to know my favorite park even better.

But I also want to make sure those experiences – the ones I’ve had and the ones I’ve yet to have – are available for others. Raccoon Creek State Park is not an unknown park, but if I can live my whole life that close to it and have experienced it so little, I can bet others have too. So I want to help put it even more in the public eye. If I can study some aspects or parts to it and make it more relevant to even more people, if I can understand what it has to offer and promote visitation by whole ranges of people, I can help ensure not only it’s survival – which I doubt is in jeopardy – but can perhaps help it thrive.

If nothing else, I intend to find out.

For directions to the park:

https://goo.gl/maps/DmPH8E4Ezzr

What Is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity refers to the variation of all forms of life within a given area.