Oscar Scherer State Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Oscar Scherer State Park | |
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| IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
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| Location: | Sarasota County, Florida, USA |
| Nearest city: | Sarasota, Florida |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 1,384 acres |
| Established: | 1956 |
| Governing body: | Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
Oscar Scherer State Park is a Florida State Park located between Sarasota and Venice, near Osprey, amidst the heavily-developed southwest Florida coast. The address is 1843 South Tamiami Trail. There are more than 130,000 visitors a year.
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[edit] History
The park's genesis was in 1955, when Elsa Scherer Burrows, owner of the 462 acre South Creek Ranch, died. Her will left the ranch to the state to form a park. It was to be dedicated to the memory of her father, Oscar Scherer, the developer of a shoe leather dyeing process in 1872. A year later, the park was ready and opened to visitors.
Thirty years after that, realtor and environmentalist Jon Thaxton started work to protect the neighboring Florida Scrub-Jay territory. This resulted in 922 acres being added from the adjacent Palmer Ranch in 1991, in large part due to the Nature Conservancy, public support, and the use of Preservation 2000 funds, expanding the park's size to 1384 acres.
[edit] Biology
[edit] Flora
The habitats that are part of the park are pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods and the hardwood hammock surrounding South Creek. A variety of other plants exist within the park, like blueberry, persimmon, wild grape, cabbage palm, coontie, wax myrtle, prickly pear cactuses, mangrove trees and giant leather ferns (Acrostichum daniaefolium).
[edit] Fauna
Land and aquatic inhabitants include bobcats, rabbits, foxes, river otters, alligators, indigo snakes, gopher tortoises and gopher frogs (Rana capito).
The park is one of the few places in the state where there are enough scrubby flatwoods for the Florida scrub-jay to maintain a healthy population. Other birds that can be seen in the park are bald eagles, ospreys, warblers, woodpeckers, egrets, and the great blue and little blue heron.
The 3 acre freshwater Lake Osprey has bream, bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish, among others. South Creek is brackish, so it can contain saltwater fish.
[edit] Recreational Activities
The park has such amenities as beaches, bicycling, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, kayaking, picnicking, snorkeling, swimming and wildlife viewing. It also has an interpretive exhibit and visitor center.
[edit] References and external links
- Oscar Scherer State Park at Florida State Parks
- Oscar Scherer State Park at Absolutely Florida
- Oscar Scherer State Park at State Parks
- Oscar Scherer State Park at the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
- Oscar Scherer State Park at the Osprey, Florida Community and Shopping Guide
- Elsa Scherer Burrows at the Office of Cultural & Historical Programs
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
