Alafia River State Park
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Alafia River State Park
Alafia River State Park is a Florida State Park, located near Picnic in Hillsborough County in central Florida, 17 miles southeast of Tampa on County Road 39. Even before it became a park, the area, and particularly Hurrah Lake, was the center of leisure activities since the early 1880s. History Phosphate mining began in the area in the 19th century. At its peak the Lonesome Mine was owned by American Cyanamid and then its subsidiary Brewster Phosphates, who excavated the area with draglines until it was no longer commercially profitable to do so. In 1993, Brewster Phosphates including the Lonesome Mine was transferred from American Cyanamid to Cytec Industries. In 1996, Cytec donated the land to the state to be used as a park in perpetuity. Some of the topographical changes caused by mining have been reclaimed, but others, including the features known as the Old Agrico Pits, persist. Some of these were shaped into small lakes during reclamation efforts by Brewster Phosphates un ...
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Hillsborough County, Florida
Hillsborough County is located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metropolitan area. A 2021 estimate has the population of Hillsborough County at 1,512,070 people with a yearly growth rate of 1.34%, which itself is greater than the populations of 12 states according to their 2019 population estimates. Its county seat and largest city is Tampa, Florida, Tampa. Hillsborough County is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg–Clearwater, Florida, Clearwater Tampa Bay Area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Hillsborough County was created on January 25, 1834, from Alachua County, Florida, Alachua and Monroe County, Florida, Monroe Counties, during the Florida Territory, U.S. territorial period (1822–1845). The new county was named for Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, Wills Hill ...
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Picnic
A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding an open-air theater performance, and usually in summer. It is different from other meals because it requires free time to leave home. History shows us that the idea of a meal that was jointly contributed to and enjoyed out-of-doors was essential to picnic from the early 19th century. Picnickers like to sit on the ground on a rug or blanket. Picnics can be informal with throwaway plates or formal with silver cutlery and crystal wine glasses. Tables and chairs may be used but this is less common. Outdoor games or some other form of entertainment are common at large picnics. In public parks, a picnic area generally includes picnic tables and possibly built-in grills, water faucets (taps), garbage (rubbish) containers and restrooms (toi ...
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State Parks Of Florida
State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our State'', a monthly magazine published in North Carolina and formerly called ''The State'' * The State (Larry Niven), a fictional future government in three novels by Larry Niven Music Groups and labels * States Records, an American record label * The State (band), Australian band previously known as the Cutters Albums * ''State'' (album), a 2013 album by Todd Rundgren * ''States'' (album), a 2013 album by the Paper Kites * ''States'', a 1991 album by Klinik * ''The State'' (album), a 1999 album by Nickelback Television * ''The State'' (American TV series), 1993 * ''The State'' (British TV series), 2017 Other * The State (comedy troupe), an American comedy troupe Law and politics * State (polity), a centralized political organizatio ...
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American Alligator
The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the genus ''Alligator'', and is larger than the only other living alligator species, the Chinese alligator. Adult male American alligators measure in length, and can weigh up to , with unverified sizes of up to and weights of making it one of the largest members of the family Alligatoridae, alongside the black caiman. Females are smaller, measuring in length. The American alligator inhabits subtropical and tropical freshwater wetlands, such as marshes and cypress swamps, from southern Texas to North Carolina. It is distinguished from the sympatric American crocodile by its broader snout, with overlapping jaws and darker coloration, and is less tolerant of saltwater but more tolerant of cooler climates than the American crocodile, which ...
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Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to coastal Spain, the Azores, and areas of far southern Europe. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keys is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether this represents a white color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species. The status of white individuals known to occur elsewhere in the Caribbean, and their existence is rarely found elsewhere besides in eastern North America. Taxonomy The great blue heron was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, '' Systema Naturae''. The scientific name comes from Latin ''ardea'', and Ancient Greek (), both meaning "heron". The great blue ...
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International Mountain Bicycling Association
The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is a non-profit educational association whose mission is to create, enhance and preserve trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide. IMBA was formed in 1988, when five California-based mountain bike clubs created an alliance to fight widespread trail closures. The founding clubs were the Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association, Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay, Bicycle Trails Council of Marin, Sacramento Rough Riders and Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers. Gibson Anderson, of Sacramento, was elected IMBA's first executive director. In 1993 IMBA hired Tim Blumenthal, a former IMBA board member and cycling journalist, as its executive director. When Blumenthal began, the organization had roughly 1,200 individual members and about 60 affiliated clubs. The headquarters moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 1994. In the late 1990s, IMBA's membership grew in Canada, Europe and Australia. An international summit wa ...
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SouthWest Association Of Mountain Bike Pedalers
The SouthWest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers (SWAMP) club is an association of mountain bikers that creates, and maintains mountain biking trails in Florida. The organization has built and maintains trails in several parks, including Alafia River State Park, Balm-Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve, Croom Trail, Santos Trail and the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park Trail in Pasco County. Many of the trails are built on the remains of abandoned phosphate mines, which allows for a great variation in difficulty from easy to extremely advanced. SWAMP maintains over 100 miles of trails within 70 miles of Tampa, and sponsors events including the Alafia River Epic and the Alafia Fat Tire Festival. History The club was founded in 1992 by Wes Eubank. Since that time, the club has grown to several hundred members in size and sponsors educational as well as recreational rides. In addition to raising and spending approximately $20,000 per year on trail building and maintenance, the group help ...
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Strip Mine
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through Shaft sinking, shafts or tunnels. In North America, where the majority of surface coal mining occurs, this method began to be used in the mid-16th century and is practiced throughout the world in the mining of many different minerals. In North America, surface mining gained popularity throughout the 20th century, and surface mines now produce most of the Coal mining in the United States, coal mined in the United States. In most forms of surface mining, heavy equipment, such as earthmovers, first remove the overburden. Next, large machines, such as dragline excavators or bucket-wheel excavators, extract the mineral. The pros of surface mining are that it has a lower ...
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Phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. It has a concentration in the Earth's crust of about one gram per kilogram (compare copper at about 0.06 grams). In minerals, phosphorus generally occurs as phosphate. Elemental phosphorus was first isolated as white phosphorus in 1669. White phosphorus emits a faint glow when exposed to oxygen – hence the name, taken from Greek mythology, meaning 'light-bearer' (Latin ), referring to the " Morning Star", the planet Venus. The term '' phosphorescence'', meaning glow after illumination, derives from this property of phosphorus, although the word has since been used for a different physical process that produces a glow. The glow of phosphorus is caused by oxidation of the white (but not red) phosphorus — a process now called chem ...
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Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, such as air or coil-sprung shocks used as suspension, larger and wider wheels and tires, stronger frame materials, and mechanically or hydraulically actuated disc brakes. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into five distinct categories: cross country, trail riding, all mountain (also referred to as "Enduro"), downhill, and freeride. This sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. Advanced riders pursue both steep technical descents and high incline climbs. In the case of freeride, downhill, and dirt jumping, aerial maneuvers are performed off both natural features and specially constructed jumps and ramps. Mountain bikers ride on off-road trails su ...
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Camping
Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more natural ones in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment or an educational experience. The night (or more) spent outdoors distinguishes camping from day-tripping, picnicking, and other similarly short-term recreational activities. Camping as a recreational activity became popular among elites in the early 20th century. With time, it grew in popularity among other socioeconomic classes. Modern campers frequent publicly owned natural resources such as national and state parks, wilderness areas, and commercial campgrounds. In a few countries, such as Sweden and Scotland, public camping is legal on privately held land as well. Camping is a key part of many youth organizations around the world, such as Scouting, which use it to teach bot ...
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Wildlife
Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game (hunting), game: those birds and mammals that were trophy hunting, hunted for sport. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, plains, grasslands, woodlands, forests, and other areas, including the most developed urban areas, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that much wildlife is human impact on the environment, affected by human behavior, human activities. Some wildlife threaten human safety, health, property, and quality of life. However, many wild animals, even the dangerous ones, have value to human beings. This value might be economic, educational, or emotional in nature. Humans have historically t ...
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