About the Ancient Islands Group
Ancient Islands Group Officers
Chair Andy Quinn 863-683-9600
Vice-Chair Marian Ryan 863-293-6961
Secretary Janet Jackson 680-1143
Treasurer Robert Crabbs 863-424-2976
Outings:
Ann Marie Haywood 813-817-3240
Membership Vacant
Member-at-large Paul Anderson 965-8241
Member-at-large Al Greulich 967-6783
Member-at-large Gail Bagley 683 - 3334
Newsletter Editor Frances Howell-Coleman 863-956-3771
Email Tree Coordinator Jenny Jacobs 863-439-1926, jennyjacobs1@gmail.com
Nesting Boxes Bob Taylor 439-2251
Marian and John Ryan Local Conservation 863-293-6961
Chuck Geanangel State Conservation 863-326-5748
Marian Ryan FL Sierra Club Steering Committee 863-293-6961
also Ancient Islands Issue Chair: Green Swamp and Bone Valley Ecosystems
Mailing address for Sierra Club - Ancient Islands Group, Florida Chapter is
P.O. Box 7544, Winter Haven, FL 33883-7544
Our location in Florida
This area is truly Central Florida--whether one considers our location from east to west or north to south. Sumter, Polk, Hardee, DeSoto and Highlands counties make up the Bone Valley Region of Florida.
Map from National Atlas of the United States http://nationalatlas.gov/
Why We Are Called Bone Valley
Our area of Florida has been dubbed Bone Valley because of the enormous deposits of fossilized bones which have been discovered here. Many of these finds have been made during the phosphate stripmining process. The bones of land animals are mostly from the Pleistocene age and those of marine creatures are mainly found within the Miocene-Pliocene phosphate layer.
Ancient Islands - The Ridge
In addition to the phosphate deposits and fossilized bones our region contains the peninsula's unique Ridge. Through the millennia as ocean levels rose and fell the 300 feet above sea level "back bone" of Florida always remained out of the water. For hundreds of thousands of years these high points were isolated islands and their flora and fauna evolved characteristics found nowhere else in the world. It is a race against time to preserve as much of this land as possible because it is prime citrus and development property. For further information visit http://www.archbold-station.org/fai/index.html.
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