LAKELAND, Fla. — Jason Lauritsen walked right into Gator Creek, balancing easily on rocks and pointing to the clear stream and the water moving at his feet.

What You Need To Know

  •  The new "Wild Space Gallery" at The Factory St. Pete is an extension of the new Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation offices

  •  "Art is portal to appreciation," says foundation Chief Conservation Officer Jason Lauritsen

  •  The corridor is a "statewide network of nearly 18 million acres of connected lands and waters supporting wildlife and people," Lauritsen says

  • Critical connections include Peace River parts of the corridor, where there is no wide path for wild animals to travel

“The water that’s passing right behind me right now is gonna end up in the Hillsborough River and then Tampa Bay," Lauritsen said.

This 20 miles north of Lakeland is in Colt Creek State Park.

Lauritsen, now the chief conservation officer of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, has been a champion of wild Florida since he first laid eyes on it. 

"I came here from Iowa in 1990,” he said, first seeing Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in the Naples area. “And have been just in love and involved with Florida wildlife and conservation ever since.”

The new "Wild Space Gallery" at The Factory St. Pete is an extension of the corridor foundation's offices, offering a glimpse of the state's wildlife and maybe encouraging them to get a look at it in person.

Lauritsen's big message in three sentences:

  1. It’s all connected, so be good to the people downstream to you — just like you want the people upstream to be to you.
  2. Let’s protect wild Florida for humans and wildlife. We all benefit from its care and preservation.
  3. And let’s do it all together — developers, city planners, hikers, kayakers, beachcombers, people who like clean water. Everyone is welcome to their table.

“This is one of 175 state parks in Florida," Lauritsen said of Colt Creek State Park. "Seventy-five of them are in the Florida Wildlife Corridor."

The park protects 5,000 acres of land in the Green Swamp.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor stretches from Key West north to the Florida state line.

“That geography covers 18 million acres, and 10 million acres have been preserved,” he said.

Scientists used animal research to identify corridor spaces and to show where connections are thin and critical, like along parts of the Peace River.

“We’ve protected a lot of incredibly beautiful places, but their value is really their ability to stay connected to one another,” Lauritsen explained.

Keeping the connections mean wild animals have a place in all of Florida.

The wildlife corridor’s social media channels offer glimpses of what they are working toward.

Lauritsen’s hope is to insert Floridians into the natural wonder of the state.

“That future generations will have the same opportunities that we have to enjoy and appreciate the wildlife,” Lauritsen said.

He said he hopes that will help Floridians see the necessity of saving it all.