By Joe Murphy
This March, after months of waiting, daylight expanded into the evening, providing us with extended time to enjoy the outdoors. March 8 through Nov. 1 is a time of light and sweet summer days that seem to stretch out forever – at least in Florida. Ah, the blessings of daylight saving time!
The challenge that presents itself is deciding what to do with this sacred gift. How do we best embrace the light? How do we celebrate the additional sunshine? I have decided to make this sacred time my “Season of Public Lands.”
If you follow what I write, you may have noticed I tend to occasionally praise the virtues of public lands – not as an obsession, but because they provide a sense of true focus and place. Well, perhaps it’s a healthy obsession.
I have decided to pledge to use each and every day that I can of this season of sun and light to immerse myself in, better connect myself to and speak more eloquently and effectively for public lands in Florida.
On the morning of Sunday, March 8, I pledged to spend some part of every day that I could for six months hiking, paddling, fishing, wildlife viewing or simply being in some of the amazing public lands of the Nature Coast, Tampa Bay and beyond.
It will be good for my ever-expanding gut, my blood pressure, my lifespan, my emotional health and my overall disposition.
It will be wonderful inspiration for my nature writing and conservation advocacy.
It will provide my brain with fresh and new stimulus, thus offsetting and delaying some degree of cognitive decline.
It will better connect me to friends and family, particularly my amazing granddaughters.
And I will be able to get sunburned, sweaty, rained on, bug bit, thirsty, lost, muddy and overheated – bliss!
I am pledging two things to myself: to seek out and explore some type of public land in Florida on as many days as possible, and to then write about and share my experience with others on Facebook and Instagram.
If the public bought it, manages it and maintains it, it’s for me: state parks, state forests, state recreation areas, wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges, national parks and any other place for outdoor recreation or wildlife.
I will write about the place, post some pictures and “thank you” thoughts to those who manage it, and add a video from my visit to the list of episodes on social media.
I want to contact the land managers who oversee the places I go, and the elected officials who fund the acquisition and management of places like them. I plan to thank the agencies and staff who do the hard work every day to manage Florida’s public lands.
The 2026 Florida legislative session saw a continuous assault on our public lands. Thousands of Floridians have pushed back. There were losses and victories. But truth be told, the assault on our public lands did not stop when the session ended.
The effort to prepare for the next legislative session, and to strengthen our protection of public lands, begins now. Public lands must be an essential issue in the elections of 2026.
If all of us thought of ourselves as ambassadors and advocates for public lands all year round, perhaps we could reset the balance in Florida. If nothing else, we would have a lot of fun outdoors and cultivate some adventures.
My goal is to use social media, the written word and the spoken word to share stories of public lands with Floridians and encourage them to use, embrace and support them. While my social media skills are basic at best, I hope they will improve and continue to spread the word.
I hope to see you out on the trails and rivers of Florida. Bring a backpack, some binoculars and some good snacks. May we cross paths on the backroads, backwaters and backwoods of all the wonders of creation we are blessed with.
I have begun my “Season of Public Lands.” Perhaps you might as well.
Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives in Brooksville. You can follow his “Season of Public Lands” on Instagram (@naturecoastjoe) and on Facebook (https://bit.ly/joemurphyfacebook). Banner photo: A hiker on a trail in Florida (iStock image).
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