Sunday, January 19, 2014

Ending the Florida State Park Passport Stamp Program is Not a Wise Move

The Florida State Park Service's Passport to State Parks Book

The National Park Service began a program called “Passport to Your National Parks” in 1988.  In the program each of the units of the National Park Service system (there are now 401 separate units) maintains a stamp (or stamps – depending on how large the unit is) that resembles a stamp that travelers get in the real passports when they travel to a foreign country.  The purpose of the passport stamp program is to encourage the public to get out and enjoy national parks – and if they are lucky to learn something about the nation in which they live.   Currently I have visited 393 of the 401 units of the National Park Service system and have obtained a little over 1,000 individual stamps from all of the parks, monuments, national historic sites, national seashores and other parts of the system that are maintained by the agency.

The Florida Park Service, an agency of state government that has twice received an award for being the best state park system in the nation, initiated a passport stamp program similar to the National Park Service.  I discovered this program in April 2008 not long after I moved to Florida.  Given the intense interest that the passport stamp program created in me for the National Parks, I purchased my first state passport book at Collier-Seminole State Park near Naples, and started traveling around Florida attempting to visit all of the parks.  And I have – six times.


An example of a Florida Park Service passport stamp for one of its units

Florida State Parks extend from Perdido Key on the Alabama border near Pensacola, east to Little Talbot Island on the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville.  From there they extend down both coasts to Fort Zachary Taylor at the end of the road in Key West.  State lands include vast expanses of what once was at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve in Okeechobee County (my all-time most favorite state park) to tiny areas surrounding natural springs like Troy Springs in the Panhandle.  State Parks are as diverse as the state itself with historical state parks like Ybor City Museum State Park in Tampa where you can learn about the early Cuban cigar makers on Florida’s west coast to Olustee Battlefield State Park in Baker County where once again the Union forces were defeated by the Confederates (but….remember Richmond and Petersburg and …oh right…who signed what at Appomattox!) to beautiful botanical gardens like Eden Gardens in Walton County near Santa Rosa Beach.  Florida State Parks are in many cases the best of what is left.

When I began seeking out state parks I did so with three objectives in mind.  The first objective was to visit every park; second to learn about the history and geography (flat!) of my adoptive state; and third to work on finding as many species of birds possible in each of Florida’s 67 counties. In many places (around Ratworld or in Miami for instance) state parks are the only places where you can get out and walk in a forest and not be trespassing on private land.  I finished my first circuit of state parks, obtaining a passport stamp for each, at Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West. There I purchased a second passport book and worked my way back up the Keys and across the state to Perdido Key at Pensacola.  When I completed the first circuit and turned in the certification form, the Florida Park Service gave me a front license plate as an award.  They gave me a second front license plate after the second complete circuit of all state parks.


The next thing west from Perdido Key State Park is the Flora-bama Bar on the Alabama/Florida state line made famous in a Jimmy Buffett song

For the third adventure across the state I added to the effort a desire to take a picture of the entrance sign of every park in the system.  Now if anyone questioned me or doubted my effort I had a picture of every park entrance to prove I had been there.  As of today the only park entrance sign I am missing is Anclote Key offshore from Tarpon Springs. The original sign was blown over in a hurricane and has not been replaced.


If you don't have a boat or a kayak, your only option for visiting Mound Key in Estero Bay near Fort Myers is to swim

At the conclusion of my third circuit of the system I received a letter from the Director of the Florida Park Service and with it was a free annual pass to all of the state parks.  I received another annual pass after my fourth circuit and yet another after the fifth time I had visited all of the state parks.


Some spectacular botanical resources are protected in Lignumvitate Key Botanical State Park in the Florida Keys. Watch for sand sharks under your kayak as you paddle to the park

My sixth and most recent successful circuit of all the state parks ended on Friday January 17, 2014, when the helpful people at the front desk of Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area near Flagler Beach stamped my passport book.  As this was happening I learned from the park manager that the Florida Park Service was going to discontinue the passport stamp program.  The park manager didn’t know the reason(s) why but hearing the news was really depressing.  It is such a simple, almost cost-free incentive for Florida residents and visitors to explore every nook and cranny of this state I can’t believe that people would want to end it.


The form certifying my sixth successful circuit of the Florida State Park system.  It was filled out by helpful staff at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area near Flagler Beach.  My address is blocked off from the bottom of the form below my name

I wrote a letter to the Florida Park Service transmitting the certification of having visited each state park again.  Included in the letter (copied to the very helpful director of the park system) are my reasons for why, as the old idiom goes, eliminating the passport stamp program would be “a penny short and pound foolish.”  That letter is included with this blog post.


If you have had a similar positive experience with the Florida Park Service and all of its 140 or so units, please contact the agency and your local representative in the state legislature.  Encourage both to not make the huge mistake of ending a program that drips with good and about which I cannot find a single thing that is not positive.

January 19 2014


Passport Stamp Program
Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
4156 South Suncoast Boulevard
Homosassa Springs, Florida 34446

Dear Florida Park Service

Attached is my certification of having completed another circuit of the Florida State Park system.  Your records should show that this is my 6th complete circuit of your system and the 6th passport stamp book that I have filled.  The final park visited on this circuit was Gamble Rogers near Flagler Beach.

While at Gamble Rogers I heard the disturbing news that consideration is being given to suspending or eliminating the passport stamp program and I hope this is only a discussion item and no decision has been made.  I have lived in Florida for six years and in that time I have tried to find as many species of birds as possible in each of Florida’s 67 counties.   In many places about the only public land available where you can get out and walk in wild habitat is in state parks (think Oleta River, Honeymoon Island, Wekiwa Springs for example).  Seeking out public lands for bird watching and then adding to it the challenge of filling in the passport books has been one of the most enjoyable parts of living in Florida for me.   In the process I have learned an incredible amount about the history of my adoptive state, its geography, and some of the colorful characters that make up its population.  Credit for that lies largely with the passport stamp program.  I started chasing after National Park Service passport stamps in 1995 and it is because of them that I have now visited 393 of the 401 units of the National Park Service system.  The same passion has overtaken me in Florida.  The program for National Park Service sites has grown so popular that an organization, The National Park Travelers Club, has been formed.  It includes thousands of dedicated passport fans and more importantly thousands of National Park Service fans.

Thinking about it since hearing this news on Friday I cannot come up with a single reason to eliminate the program.  The books cost the state nothing because participants buy the passport books.  Local economies are bolstered by the money brought to them by people visiting the State Parks to obtain passport stamps and the message of your agency is enhanced by knowledgeable people seeking out passport stamps.  If the issue is the time it takes away from staff to stamp passport books I think the National Park Service program has the answer for you.  All of the National Parks have a Passport Stamp Station set up in their visitor center.  Travelers simply walk in the visitor center, find the station and affix the stamp to their passport book themselves.  The stamps are attached to a table by a chain so they can’t be stolen and the entire process takes a matter of seconds all the while park staff are attending to other visitors and not involved with the process.  Obtaining a Florida stamp is an elaborate affair that takes a couple minutes of staff time because Florida staff believe it is necessary to basically hide the stamps until you ask for one and then they personally affix the stamps for visitors.  Setting up a stamp station in each State park office similar to the ones in the National Parks would eliminate that process and free up more staff time to attend to other issues.  This is a very simple solution.

In my six years residence in Florida as I have traveled from Perdido Key to Little Talbot Island to Fort Zachary Taylor I have met a lot of people who are also seeking out passport stamps.  Every one of them I have met and talked to has raved about the program and how it has been a great incentive for them to get out and explore Florida.  The passport stamp program has done the same for me and in the process I have contributed thousands of dollars to the state’s economy as I have traveled all over it. 

There is an old idiom that talks about decisions being “a penny short and pound foolish” which generally is interpreted to mean that doing something small now will prevent bigger issues later.   I think that idiom can be applied to the passport stamp program.  The Florida State Park system is building a cadre of dedicated individuals who will go to bat for you with legislators and others who might seek to harm the agency, its budget and its programs if you asked us.  Why would people want to end something that produces only positive outcomes for all involved?

 I hope that Florida Park Service doesn’t make a penny short and pound foolish decision to end such a successful and advantageous program.  If there is anything I can do to help change the outcome of what I was told at Gamble Rogers I would gladly help you.

As an aside, I have purchased another passport stamp book and I’m now working on my seventh circuit of your excellent park system.

xc:  Director, Florida Park Service

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Slices of America's Pie is Hot Off the Press!


My publisher just let me know that my latest book, "Slice's Of America's Pie" is hot off the press and available for purchase. Here is what the book is about: 

A simple question posed on a moonlit Wisconsin summer night sent author Craig Faanes on a journey. Tens of thousands of miles later the journey ended on a highway in central Oregon when he had visited every county in the United States. Where most people are content to visit all 50 states, Faanes took the challenge one step further and visited every county in each of the 50 states. His travels provided an intimate glimpse into the foibles and faults and funny characters making up the core of the United States. 

This story began in the 1950s when everyone knew their neighbor and when you could leave a car on the street with the keys in the ignition and fully expect it to still be there when you returned. It ends in the 21st century when the probity of earlier days is more difficult to find. This series of short stories reveals that, despite its sometimes mercurial nature, America’s innocence can still be discovered whether it’s a baffled woman at a Jimmy Buffett concert on Waikiki Beach, or a recently-enlightened Lion’s Club member in Palco, Kansas, or Bonnie the waitress with her bouffant hair do at a truck stop near Cuba, Alabama. The only requirement is a desire to seek out what lies beyond your backyard fence.

The book is now available for purchase from my publisher and if you purchase it from them I recieve a larger royalty. However my publisher charges an extortionate rate for shipping and handling that is simply not fair to you or anyone else who purchases the book.  That being the case I'd highly recommend that you simply purchase it from a bookstore like Barnes and Noble (if its not in stock they can order it for you) or from Amazon.com   Ordering from Amazon usually allows you to enjoy free shipping and handling.  Although these options result in a smaller royalty they don't result in ripping you off on a ridiculous shipping and handling charge!

So, crank up your credit card and buy a copy.  Maybe 10 copies.  I hear it makes a great gift.

The counties used in the story along with the title of each chapter are in this list:

Chapter Titles in Slices of America’s Pie

Chapter
Topic/State
County
Chapter Title
1
Introduction

How It Began
2
Alabama
Sumter
Black-eyed Peas for Lunch
3
Alaska
Northwest 
Staring Down a Moose
4
Arizona
Cochise
Looking for Trogons with Jennifer
5
Arkansas
Monroe
A Special River Runs Through It
6
California
Monterey
“What Are You Doing to Those Sea Otters?”
7
Colorado
Jefferson
When A Leader Can’t Be Trusted
8
Connecticut
New London
A Tropical Outpost on a Connecticut River
9
Delaware
Kent
Bombay Hook Isn’t In India
10
Florida
Monroe
If They Shoot, Shoot Back
11
Georgia
Clark
What Language Are You Speaking?
12
Hawaii
Oahu
The Best Buffett Concert Ever
13
Idaho
Lemhi
Two Million Acres of Wilderness
14
Illinois
Pulaski
A Safe Haven for Venomous Snakes
15
Indiana
Montgomery
Fossil Hunting in Crawfordsville
16
Iowa
Des Moines
Walking in Aldo Leopold’s Footsteps
17
Kansas
Rooks
A Meeting of the Palco Lions Club
18
Kentucky
Muhlenberg
Mr. Peabody’s Coal Train
19
Louisiana
Lafayette
The Gator Cove
20
Maine
Washington
Barna Norton’s Puffins
21
Maryland
Somerset
See It Before It’s Gone
22
Massachusetts
Dukes
Is Carly Simon On The Island?
23
Michigan
Keweenaw
Wolves and Moose and a Great Lakes Island
24
Minnesota
Hennepin
When WCCO Radio Ruled the Upper Midwest
25
Mississippi
Jackson
The Pascagoula Run
26
Missouri
Greene
A Baseball Game in the Ozarks
27
Montana
Gallatin
Hunting the Elusive Wapiti
28
Nebraska
Hall
Tornado Warning!
29
Nevada
Elko
On Top of the Ruby Mountains
30
New Hampshire
Coos
This Car Climbed Mount Washington
31
New Jersey
Cape May
The Marshes of Avalon
32
New Mexico
Hidalgo
The Mexican Mountains of New Mexico
33
New York
New York
An Irrational Fear of a City
34
North Carolina
New Hanover
My First Time on the Ocean
35
North Dakota
Stutsman
Tranquility Wrapped in Prairie Grasses
36
Ohio
Portage
Never Forget Kent State
37
Oklahoma
Oklahoma
In the Aftermath of Timothy McVeigh
38
Oregon
Deschutes
The End of the Quest
39
Pennsylvania
Delaware
An Urban Center for Environmental Education
40
Rhode Island
Washington
The Clam Diggers of Point Judith Pond
41
South Carolina
Charleston
Where the Northern War Began
42
South Dakota
Harding
“We’re All Going to Die” 
43
Tennessee
Moore
The Dry Home of Gentleman Jack
44
Texas
Hidalgo
The Potential Energy of Dwight Lee
45
Utah
San Juan
Monkey Wrenching With Hayduke
46
Vermont
Essex
The Northeast Wilderness
47
Virginia
Arlington
Riding the Orange Line
48
Washington
San Juan
Where Killer Whales are Guaranteed
49
West Virginia
Cabell
A Wild Plane Ride from Pittsburgh
50
Wisconsin
Pierce
On The Banks of the South Fork
51
Wyoming
Teton
The Otters of Teton Marsh