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the park's raised wooden walkways wind
hundreds of yards through the marsh
on the northwest side of Lake Jackson.
Beneath towering bald cypress trees are
several covered rest stops with benches
that allow visitors to casually, quietly view
the plants and animals living underfoot.
Signs describe the varied plants including
pickerelweed, cattails, bulrushes, water
lilies, Spanish moss, water primrose and
ferns. There are frequent sightings of
hawks, owls, herons and belted kingfishers.
Crawfish, water snakes, turtles, frogs,
salamanders and small fish are easy to view
as they swim in the shallow, clear wetland.
Less apparent, but ever present, are
raccoons, opossums, beavers and rabbits.
It may seem odd that within 100 yards
of the secluded Wetlands Park, a man is
sending spray high toward the afternoon
sky as he maneuvers his speeding slalom
ski along the side of Lake Jackson. The
spectacular yin and yang of the scene
is something that's perhaps grown
commonplace for many after a lifetime in
Florala.
"I think we sometimes take the lake for
granted," says Strickland. "We do realize
this is beautiful and unique. We're really
sitting on a gold mine."
Fishing piers reach onto Lake Jackson and elevated
wooden walkways wind around the wetlands surrounding
the 500-acre body of water that straddles the border of
Alabama and Florida.
