Photography ArchiveThe Oakland Nature Preserve Photography Archive aims to showcase the diversity of plant and animal life here at ONP, as well as how beautiful our facility is. If you have photographed something particularly exciting or have a great photo in general- feel free to email new pictures to clay@oaklandnaturepreserve.org.
The Oakland Nature Preserve is also on Flickr, an internet site designed for the public shareing of photography. We hope you view our Flickr page and add some of the photos you have taken yourself! http://www.flickr.com/groups/oaklandnaturepreserve/
Many of the photographs used in the construction of our website are by the talented nature photographer Mike Brinkley. We thank him for his artwork and time spent documenting the wonderful creatures found on our preserve over the years. His website can be accessed at http://www.mikebrinkleyphoto.com/
 | Our Beautiful Visitor Center |
|  | The ONP Breeze Way |
|  | The ONP Serenity Porch |
|  | The View to the Office at ONP |
|  | The ONP Lecture Hall and Classroom |
|  | The American Alligator |
|  | A class at the ONP Lecture Hall |
|  | President Jim Thomas Lectures to a group |
|  | A terrestrial snail |
|  | Turn of the Century artifacts on display |
|  | Our Children's Discovery Corner |
|  | The ONP Library |
|  | Displays in our Natural/Cultural History Museum |
|  | Our 2/3 mile boardwalk to Lake Apopka |
|  | A felled tree provides many creatures with a home |
|  | Water on its way down to Lake Apopka |
|  | An entrance to one of our many nature trails |
|  | The ONP Microscope Lab |
|  | Turtle Exhibit |
|  | Professor Jason Wenzel Lectures at ONP |
|  | The Lecture Hall |
|  | Putting together a Alligator skull |
|  | Lake Apopka |
|  | Lake Apopka 2 |
|  | Archaeologists Gather |
|  | Discussing Research |
|  | Luch Time for the Archaeologists |
|  | Pop Ash Trees at Lake Apopka |
|  | The ONP Archaeology Dig Display |
|  | A lecture at ONP |
|  | ONP Director of Education Lectures |
|  | Our Florida Snapping Turtle |
|  | Lake Apopka in the Winter |
|  | Parking lot lectures |
|  | Our Director of Education Walking on our Nature Trails |
|  | Bird of Prey Lecture |
|  | Darris Mager Lectures on Birds of Prey |
|  | A "Touch Table" in the Museum |
|  | A Great Horned Owl in the Lecture Hall |
|  | Holding a Cara Cara Eagle in the Lecture Hall |
|  | The ONP booth at Bloom & Grow Festival 2010 |
|  | Our volunteers teaching |
|  | The entrance to the ONP boardwalk |
|  | Two male Green Anoles fighting over a female |
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Lake Apopka The West Orange Time's article's headline read "St. Johns River Water Management District signs Lake Apopka Death Warrant." Published in the May 16, 1991 edition, the article outlined the decision of the St. Johns Water Management District's governing board giving the Zellwood Muck Farms a permanent permit which would have allowed them to continue dumping polluted water into Lake Apopka.
The legislation was referred to as 40C-44FAC which stated that existing agricultural systems are "presumed to satisfy the conditions for issuance." An amendment to this ruling that would have required existing agricultural systems to get into compliance with the state's pollution standards before the issuance of a discharge permit failed. Another provision to limit the duration of the permit to five years also failed. The final paragraph of the article stated, "The local muck farmers are economically and politically powerful; and they appear to control state regulators. There does not seem to be anyone in government who is able to protect the lake."
James Hawley of Killarney was mentioned in the article. For years Jim had worked for the lake both in and out of court trying to force responsible agricultural practices. Jim and his wife live on the shores of Lake Apopka . He and a group of citizens sought restoration of the lake by forming "People for Lake Apopka Now!"
Members of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce distributed, at numerous chamber events, hundreds of reprints of the Times article along with a call for action. The Chamber board of directors established a Steering Committee to organize interested volunteers and prepare a course of action to press for an end to the pollution. This subcommittee operated under the sanction of the Chamber's Government Affairs Committee. Jim Hawley, Bill Breeze, Pat Smith, Andrew Bailey, Mike Malloy and Pat Arndt were among those early committee members.
It was after a number of meetings of this committee, that the need for expert assistance in the formation of an advocacy group was recognized and Jim Thomas, a environmental biologist and owner of BIOSPHERE in Winter Garden, was invited to attend committee meetings. Jim Thomas had served as president of the Friends of the Weikiva and was knowledgeable in restoration processes and in the organization of citizen advocacy groups. He agreed to serve as an advisor. After attending several committee meetings, Jim became a permanent member of the committee.
With Jim Thomas's guidance and dedication, The Steering Committee went on to draft a charter and, spun off from the Chamber of Commerce, formed what is now "Friends of Lake Apopka." Many of the original Steering Committee members became directors of the new group. An active relationship with the West Orange Chamber continues to this day. Without the initial support by their board and clerical support by staff, FOLA would not have achieved their goals. A special thanks will always go to the West Orange Chamber for this support.
Since then, FOLA has worked undauntingly to secure a solution for the lake restoration which finally, with the 1996 signing of the Lake Apopka Restoration Act, culminated buyout of the muck farms and the end to the phosphate loading.
To learn more about Lake Apopka restoration efforts go to www.fola.org.
There is also the most recent 2010 lake health update available for download in PDF format below.
2010 Water Quality Report
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