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By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 16, 2007

Updated: 12/15/2007 10:56 pm

GOWERS CORNER - Something lay dead up ahead.

The seventh-graders from Rushe Middle School craned their necks, trying to guess which of the many creatures that call Cross Bar Ranch home had met its demise near the unpaved road that winds through the 12,000-acre preserve.

They would know soon enough. The safari bus they rode on their wilderness tour was headed straight for the unfortunate creature.

"It's an armadillo," someone shouted.

And so it was. The armadillo was the first - and only - dead animal of the day but served in its way as part of the students' environmental lessons on their hourlong trek.
Cross Bar Ranch is home to one of three environmental education centers the school district operates. The others are at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey and at the Energy and Marine Center in Port Richey.

The marine center is a field-trip destination for elementary schools. Middle schools make use of Starkey and Cross Bar. The district has hired a new teacher who will oversee a high school program at all three facilities.

The three centers are tied together by more than just their mission. All three lie within the Pithlachascotee River watershed.

This allows teacher Jean Knight to help the students understand that what happens in inland communities can impact coastal communities.

Rainwater from Cross Bar drains into Crews Lake, which flows into the Pithlachascotee, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

When the Rushe students arrived at Cross Bar for their excursion, Knight pointed out that no sign on U.S. 41 directs drivers to the ranch. A deputy guards the gate, admitting only visitors with legitimate business.

"This is not open to the public," Knight said. "This is a very special opportunity for you to be out here."

That's because Cross Bar Ranch is more than just an educational center and a preserve. It's a well field owned by Pinellas County Utilities and is a source of water for homes and businesses.

Pinellas wants to sell the land and Pasco is trying to snag a state grant to buy it and dedicate it to conservation.

Otherwise, the property could be acquired by developers and become home to future subdivisions, something Knight and the students don't want to see.

Encounters With Wildlife

On their trip across Cross Bar, the students saw plenty of evidence - well houses and exposed pipe - of what traditionally has been the ranch's primary function.

Those reminders that this is a water source represented a side note as far as the students were concerned, though.

The focus of these school field trips is the wildlife, the vegetation and the habitats. Young people see swamps, marshes, ponds and lakes.

About 4 million pine trees - both slash and longleaf pines - have been planted on the property. Workers collect the pine needles, which are sold as mulch. The money comes back to Cross Bar Ranch to help manage the preserve.

Animals that call this place home include deer, sandhill cranes, egrets, turkey vultures, scrub jays, gopher tortoises, bobcats, coyotes, otters and owls.

Not every species shows itself for every field trip. The bobcats, coyotes, otters and owls remained out of sight on this particular day.

The Rushe students scored a bonus, though, when they encountered a Sherman's fox squirrel sitting perhaps 30 to 40 yards from the bus.

The dwindling numbers of Sherman's squirrels led the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to classify them as a species of special concern. The squirrels aren't an endangered or threatened species so far, but the state is keeping an eye on them.

On every field trip, Knight issues each student a pair of small binoculars. The children are divided into teams and use a list to check off what they see.

Before the trip, Knight issues this reminder: "That bus is my classroom."

Message: Listen to the teacher and don't disrupt the classroom, even if in this case the classroom is a moving, open-air, camouflaged bus and the view is always changing.

It's a classroom Alex Passarello, 12, came to appreciate.

"It's better than McDonald's," said Alex, who didn't expect to have that kind of reaction when he arrived.

"I thought it was going to be boring," he said. "But it was interesting when we got to see animals up close and how they are used to the bus. They weren't that far from us."

A visit to an environmental education center isn't simply a one-day field trip. The students and their teachers spend two weeks preparing, using a curriculum called the Wetlands Ambassadors Program, sponsored by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

The lesson isn't limited to science classes. It's integrated into all academic disciplines.

The teacher who brought the Rushe Middle students to Cross Bar Ranch doesn't teach science. Kylene Nelson is a language arts instructor.

Her students will use the experience to write essays and poems, and to create pamphlets. The field trip also provides the impetus for a vocabulary lesson.

The Alligator's Tail

Among the last stops on the trip was a sinkhole that's home to an alligator.

Knight estimates the reptile might be as long as 12 feet. Mark Roller, who drives the bus for her, is skeptical that it's quite that long. They agree on this: Part of the animal's tail is missing, perhaps because it ended up on the losing end of an argument.

The students trained their binoculars on the sinkhole, hoping for a good look at the gator and its truncated tail. On this day, that wouldn't happen.

"I see his eyeball," Knight said.

"Yeah, I see it," said Taylor Torres, 12.

The rest of the alligator stayed submerged, so they had to take Knight at her word.

"Poor alligator; half a tail," Taylor said.

Then Knight's camouflaged, moving classroom left the gator and its sinkhole far behind.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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