Clearing at the Fort

[lisa8200]

You know, It's one thing to read about the clearing but another to watch everything disappear while your there. For the last couple of hours the chainsaws and hatchets have been going and the vegetation dissappearing as I watch. It's really sad .I wonder if they realize or even care that they are sucking the beauty right out of this place.oh well,
I get the damaged areas for safety but, they are removing everything but the big trees nad those are scattered.

 

[Shannone1]

I think this is more than their typical clearing. I've heard people say in the past that they have to clear the underbrush every now and then to help with fire control. But it sounds to me like this is more than that...

 

[loriandmatt]

i could be wrong, but i thing that the underbrush and vegetation grow so quickly there that what looks like a scalping to you now will be lush again in a few short months.

i think they have to do this every so often to keep it managable.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

What loop are you in?

 

[big kahuna1]

I agree with the post above. The undergrowth will grow back in no time and in some loops it was getting out of hand, especially the Kudzu (Kud-zoo).

 

[lisa8200]

I actually saw a guy spraying an area that had been cleared before. I don't know if he was spraying herbicide to prevent regrowth or not but if he was, that would mean that they have no intentiond of letting it grow back.No sense in getting exited about it. This is still better than other places to camp.

 

[Shannone1]

I actually saw a guy spraying an area that had been cleared before. I don't know if he was spraying herbicide to prevent regrowth or not but if he was, that would mean that they have no intentiond of letting it grow back.No sense in getting exited about it. This is still better than other places to camp.

Right. You also said they were taking out trees, and I have heard that from other people too. Doesn't sound like they are only clearing the underbrush. I think part of it is an attempt to make it easier for big rigs to park. I know they are creating a new class of "premium" sites which will be wider for bigger rv's. I wouldn't be surprised if the loops that seem to have the most trimming and cutting are turned into premium loops.

 

[Shorty82]

I agree with the post above. The undergrowth will grow back in no time and in some loops it was getting out of hand, especially the Kudzu (Kud-zoo).

Kudzu is always out of hand where ever it grows. It loves the climate in Florida and spreads all over the place and is next to impossible to get rid of. If you don't get rid of every single piece of root it will come back.

There used to be a bunch of kudzu growing behind the property next to my aunt's by a creek and it started spreading into her property. Before it got to far into her property the city (city property leased to the local garden club) cleared it all out. The kudzu stayed away for a good while and we thought it was all gone but then it started coming back.

You can get rid of kudzu for a while but eventually it will come back.

 

[Colson39]

I think people don't realize how much damage multiple hurricanes did to the area a couple summers ago. I agree, it's going to be bad for a while with how open everything will be, but it will all grow back.

Disney could have left the trees standing and then dealt with all the lawsuits when they started falling over onto campers and cars and pets and people :/ None of us really know the extent of the damage except for Disney, but I can pretty much take a strong guess that they're not clearing out the trees just for the heck of it.

Hurricanes are natures way of clearing out areas that they hit. They are MEANT to be cleared out. Normally, by now, the damage the hurricanes had done would have been eradicated by fire, but obviously the Fort isn't going to burn itself.

I mean, the lawnmower tree died because of the hurricanes. Lots of trees it's size were killed because of the amount of bending that occured, and their roots also were probably flooded which didn't help. That's why you still see a lot of the big trees standing, because they were able to survive the hurricanes.

This is the end result of two summers ago, Disney of course cares, which is exactly why they are cutting the trees down to begin with. I wouldn't be surprised to see them begin new plantings within the next few years, especially if we hit a downcycle in hurricanes (which now appears to be happening, at least for the last two years).

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I wonder if the spraying isnt to keep the ants and insects controlled.

 

[Colson39]

Not a bad point, with all the clearing, it's sure to stir up a hornets nest (pun intended) among the insects.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Not a bad point, with all the clearing, it's sure to stir up a hornets nest (pun intended) among the insects.

I accidently stepped on a red ant mound a few years back while loading luggage at Dixie landings, that is an event I wont forget

 

[stacktester]

I'm not too sure about the trees but when we went for lunch at Trails End in May the fort was so dry and crunchy that a match would have set a wildfire. The grass and everything was a tenderbox. I know between sites there is a lot of pine straw and dead leaves which I think is the main reason for all the cleaning. We've gotten about 30" of rain in 3 weeks and I'm hoping the fort got some of that too. 30" is not a typo. We got 14" in one day last week. I seriously doubt Disney would spend a dime if it wasn't necessary.

 

[LarryJ]

As I've mentioned before IMHO a lot of the "tree removal" is from the fact that the hurricanes damaged the really high pine trees which they are removing before they can fall and cause liability issues. The guy that I talked to back in 2005 was from the Disney nursery and was a tree expert and explained to me that even when the tree looks healthy it's doomed to die and they take a proactive approach and remove it before it can even be a problem/issue. He also said that the damaging winds were really localized where swaths were damaged and 10 feet away nothing was hurt, sort of like the damage a toronado does. Also, the comment about replacing those sky high reaching pines that drop needles everywhere with new plantings I also believe is true since before 2005 I can never remember FW having Grapefruit or Orange trees at least in the 1600 loop area, but I might have just missed them from all the underbrush and pine trees. I also prior to that "Fly Fished" and now don't have to leave my campsite to "Fruit Fish" ... I'm really bad since the last time I did a Jimmy Carter when a site next to us were blessed with fruit and even struck up a conversation just to see when they would leave and planned my "Fruit Fishing" outing the morning they left around the maintenance people coming to hose down things. A good/bad thing is that by clearing up some of the underbrush has really reduced the Armadillo population. At night when I went out to walk the dogs I always that that "rustling" in the dark and during our last stay didn't have that happen at all and never saw one.

Larry

 

[lisa8200]

I agree with everone. I understand you have to do things for safety but, I would be nice to keep it. some of the stumps are rotten from the inside.Hopefully they will let it come back but if they dont I understand. the fact that they took even the small trees, 3-4 inch diameter leads me to think they have other plans but, none of us know the whole story.

 

[dreambound]

Aw, does it still look pretty out there?

 

[LarryJ]

Aw, does it still look pretty out there?

I liked the way it looked over Xmas 2005, but if they do much more I don't think I'll be pleased. I'll let everyone know since we're going again this year over Xmas. If you look thru my gallery below I have pics of most of the campsites over the years going back to 1985.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/500/page/1/sort/3/perpage/12/ppuser/155128

Larry

 

[John VN]

What bothered us with the clearing was being able to see a bunch of RVs when we were driving, walking or biking on the main roads. There is also no privacy between campsites.

Just does not have the OLD FW FEELING. Feels like a rv park where people came to spend the winter instead of a forest where people from all over the country come to enjoy the place and everything there is to offer.

 

[handman64]

I understand about the clearing. My main concern is all of the standing water. We were there in September and most of the areas looked terrible with all of the standing water. I don't live in the area, so I'm not sure if this is just a seasonal thing, but I hope there is something that can be done to help this situation (looks and mosquitoes).

 

[bgula]

I actually saw a guy spraying an area that had been cleared before. I don't know if he was spraying herbicide to prevent regrowth or not but if he was, that would mean that they have no intentiond of letting it grow back.No sense in getting exited about it. This is still better than other places to camp.

I asked about this in August and the guy said they were spraying to keep the air potato from growing back. Don't know if this is the same as kudzu or not - never heard of it. He said it grows so much that it covers the trees and eventually pulls them down. You can see this in the areas that are not cleared. Hope this helps.