Written by Ashley Pardee – Eldest Daughter
Present
Wetland Preserve is a family business. Our family’s roots are in Saint Johns County Florida. We still have a family home on the beautiful Satin Johns River in Fruit Cove and are involved in the community. Louann, my mother, works on a volunteer basis with the Saint Johns County Library System. Ben, my father, is passionate about the health of the Saint Johns River and is an active member of the River Keepers. I myself live in Jacksonville Beach where I run a small business from home and have art work in a few local galleries. My younger sister and only sibling, Emily, is not involved with Wetland in a professional manner but enjoys time on the farm with her husband and their 5 young daughters.
Past
We didn’t start out as a tree farming family! In fact, we didn’t know a thing about farming or trees before purchasing the land that was destined to be Wetland Preserve. Ben and Louann did however have a great deal of experience and knowledge of how to run a business. Having owned and run a retail seafood market and wholesale business in mandarin from the late 80’s to 20015 when it was sold. Wetland Preserve was a sort of “retirement” plan that did not involve retiring at all! The property was purchased in 2009 and so began our tree farming story.
Vision
From the outset Ben and Louann always loved the outdoors and spent much of their time either hunting, fishing, camping or generally “wandering” the woods – as my dad , Ben would put it. So, though it might seem like a huge leap to go from a seafood market to a tree farm it really made sense in a lot of ways. The long-term goals for Wetland Preserve are to preserve it as a wild space and open it for research. Wetland Preserve will never be bulldozed for a housing development or converted back into a high intensity farming operation as it was before we purchased it. We also work with groups and organizations like the Florida Native Plant Society and the Florida Wildlife Commission. By opening Wetland Preserve to them they are able to perform ongoing studies and gather information to help further their research. Some of the ways we are ensuring these goals into the future include implementing conservation easements and designing a management plan for Wetland Preserve that focuses not only on profit but, also on Best Management Practices as set out by the Florida Forestry Service.
When you come to visit we hope that you leave with a better understanding of Florida’s forestry industry, which contributes $25 billion to the state’s economy annually and provides 124,000 jobs ….all while providing habitat for wildlife, filtering our water and air and offering many recreational activities.
Fun Fact: Did you know that over 5000 items are made from forest products? Some surprising examples include : soaps, cough syrups, the cancer-fighting drug Taxol, football helmets, car wax, crayons , sports drinks and the list goes on!
