Why does FW look so barren??

[tiffsix]

SO i spent every spring going to FW growing up and haven't walked around any of the loops in a few years. Well we had some time this trip and did just that. Why does it look like something came through and cut down 80% of the trees and brush? That was part of the charm to me, the privacy of the place.

DOes anyone know what i'm talking about?

 

[LONE-STAR]

They cut out the plants that where not native to Florida. It was a Environmental thing is what I understand.

 

[hardhead]

I was there last week and was thinking the same thing. They cut down alot of the trees I was real happy with that

 

[schmitty]

Yeah its an environmental thing. Alot of other parks and stuff are trying to get rid of nonnative stuff also.

 

[keelyhealthnut]

I wonder if they will be replacing them with native plants then.

 

[cruising spud]

We were at the fort this summer, and I asked a cast member the same question. The cast member took me to a wooded area and showed me a "potato vine." He went on to say that this plant has been growing out-of-control at the fort and is choking the life out of the rest of the plant life. Disney decided to kill the stuff before it invaded the whole park.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Sure. Yeal right. All that is mentioned...Whatever.

 

[tiffsix]

We were at the fort this summer, and I asked a cast member the same question. The cast member took me to a wooded area and showed me a "potato vine." He went on to say that this plant has been growing out-of-control at the fort and is choking the life out of the rest of the plant life. Disney decided to kill the stuff before it invaded the whole park.

So for 35 years this potato vine was ok and now they decided to take care of it??? The place looks terrible.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

So for 35 years this potato vine was ok and now they decided to take care of it??? The place looks terrible.

Exactly what I'm talk'n about.

 

[lisa8200]

on our last trip, it looked like some native things had been planted. Of course, it will take a long time to fill in. I had also heard that the clearing was done in part to cut down on fire hazard.

 

[des1954]

They started "thinning the Fort" in the summer of 2007. I've talked to a few CM's and managers about this & I think each one makes up whatever story they want to hand you at the time you ask.

The potato vines are also known as Kudzu. It is not native to Florida, but neither are cabbage palms which abound in Florida - they were brought over by Spanish settlers. I've heard every excuse from clearing the non-native vegitation, to security issues, to fire safety issues, and I think all the explanations are covers. I think they have cleared the fort to give it a more over-all "park like" setting. If you take a look around outside the Fort & on the path between FtW & WL, you'll notice all kinds of potato vines. If it was clearing of non-native vegitation, they'd be doing it everywhere & not just FtW. I think the clearing is just a part of the long overdue remodeling of FtW. That's JMHO so take it FWIW.

 

[LONE-STAR]

They started "thinning the Fort" in the summer of 2007. I've talked to a few CM's and managers about this & I think each one makes up whatever story they want to hand you at the time you ask.

The potato vines are also known as Kudzu. It is not native to Florida, but neither are cabbage palms which abound in Florida - they were brought over by Spanish settlers. I've heard every excuse from clearing the non-native vegitation, to security issues, to fire safety issues, and I think all the explanations are covers. I think they have cleared the fort to give it a more over-all "park like" setting. If you take a look around outside the Fort & on the path between FtW & WL, you'll notice all kinds of potato vines. If it was clearing of non-native vegitation, they'd be doing it everywhere & not just FtW. I think the clearing is just a part of the long overdue remodeling of FtW. That's JMHO so take it FWIW.

Good point . Now this could be one more reason for the clearing. When I was a kid my cousins and I would have potato wars in the brush. Man there where potato's flying everywhere

 

[bama_ed]

Why didn't anyone say "kudzu" in the first place?

I'm from Alabama and I never heard of a "potato vine" unless it bears fruit which you boil and mash and pour gravy over.

Kudzu will overtake anything except growing across a road where cars run over it. I'm all for them taking out the kudzu. (During the rainy season you can almost watch it grow in realtime).

Bama ED

...and to think all this time I've wondered what the he11 a "potato vine" is. But then again, most people who live in Florida where born in the Northeast...must be them Yankees....

 

[Shan-man]

Actually "air potato vine" is distinct from kudzu. But it is about as invasive and fast-growing, the large leaves block out sunlight and kill the enveloped vegetation, just like kudzu.

 

[Memph1s]

Next time your at the fort take a good look at the 1500 loop. It looks great now but about 18 months ago they had cleared it out the way they are doing the rest of the fort. You could see every site in the loop from anywhere in the loop. They have replanted the loop and I think it looks great now. A couple of sites still have trees in weired spots but overall I think they did a great job with the clean up.

 

[mousebrain]

Our first year camping, we were put on Wagon Wheel Way, the woods was so thick that we had critters in the bushes right next to our tent at night. The bugs where everywhere..... was just to much woods. This year we were looping in a golf cart and decided to take a visit to Wagon Wheel Way, and we were just shocked to see how much they cut it back. It looked just weird..... Should grow back, but I bet it will take awhile.

MB

 

[MadFF]

Being involved in landscaping, I have to say that I would give some credence to clearing out "non-native" plants. In the last 5 years that "movement" has built up greatly across the country, not just Fort Wilderness. In Connecticut, numerous times I have received information from the state Department of Environmental Protection about removing / killing non-native plants, and in talking with other landscapers from across the country it is the same where they are.

It is an on-going "battle" -- you aren't going to get everything / everywhere done at once. Also determining what is "native" gets interesting -- over time, plants can become "native" after being in an area for a long time.