Tampa Bay: The Story of an Estuary and Its People

This book explores the environmental history of the largest open water estuary in Florida, revealing how people have interacted with nature throughout the long history of Tampa Bay.
Exploring the environmental historyof an important natural area Thelargest open water estuary in Florida, Tampa Bay has been a flashpoint ofenvironmental struggles and action in recent years. This book goes beneath today’snews headlines to explore how people have interacted with nature in the regionthroughout its long history. InTampa Bay, Evan Bennett reveals thathumans have been part of the Bay’s ecology since the estuary took its modern form2,000 years ago, along with the communities of fish, birds, reptiles, and mammalsthat proliferated in its seagrass meadows, tidal salt flats, and mangroveforests. Bennett discusses the natural resources that drew people to settlethere, the trade that encouraged development, and the shipping and industrythat increased biological and ecological change. Whilethe past 150 years have seen serious environmental damage from dredging, waterpollution, red tides, and more, Bennett shows how people have been fighting toclean up the Bay and regain a balance with nature. Informed by the latest inmarine science, area environmentalists, policymakers, and citizens are workingto create a model for other societies that have developed in fragile naturalareas. Thefirst book to examine the environmental history of the region, Tampa Bay uncovers deep-rootedrelationships between water, land, and people and offers hope for bringing threatened coastal spaces back fromthe brink.  A volume in the series Florida in Focus, edited by Andrew K. Frank