It has been more than a decade since Friends of Wakulla Springs State Park sounded an alarm over the possible location of a gas station right on top of one of the underground caverns that feeds into Wakulla Springs. The cavern is part of the Woodville Karst system.

Since then, Wakulla Springs has become one of the most studied wonders of the world. As a citizens group that supports the mission of Wakulla Springs State Park we are very proud that National Geographic has explored some of these caves. Imagine that! Right in our back yard explorers set up a scientific camp as impressive as any you might expect in the Himalayas or Antarctic.

Since the earliest days of Spanish colonization Wakulla Spring has attracted poets, Indian chiefs and traders. All of them had to walk or ride a horse to get to the remote wilderness. The remains of visitors of an earlier age are at the bottom of the spring and can be seen clearly through glass bottom boats.

What the earliest visitors could not know is how this first magnitude spring would knit a variety of people together to try and restore what, in the 21st century, is a rapidly deteriorating environment. Where the limpkin once gorged on apple snails and its screeching awoke people at night, invasive plants such as hydrilla and algae have supplanted these animals. Alligators, however, are still plentiful and birding is also a popular activity.

The State of Florida purchased the initial 3,800 acres surrounding Wakulla Springs from a private foundation in 1986. Since then, for the protection of the groundwater that surfaces at the spring, another 3,000 acres have been added. This land is valued for its sinkholes-windows on the karst formations-and particularly Cherokee Sink, and for its archaeological significance.

We all like to hike, swim, and observe nature on the Sally Ward or Millie Frances trails or river tours. But we also are passionate about educating everyone about the protection and restoration of our county's spring systems. Wakulla Spring is one of dozens of springs and sinkholes in Wakulla County. It is also where you'll find some impressive, historic champion size trees.

Our county is named after this spring. Wakulla (la appears to be the Apalachee Indian's word for "spring," according to old Spanish records). Wakulla-Mysterious spring-had some folks speculating that the water came from as far away as the Great Lakes!!

We celebrate the spring annually at the Wildlife Festival each April. We raise awareness throughout our region about the Wakulla Springs Basin. This basin is the large geographic region stretching north into Georgia, contributing surface water that emerges at the spring. Nitrates and phosphates from a variety of sources within this basin are the major threat to this system.

In 1931, the Tallahassee Democrat claimed that one visit to Wakulla Springs would be insufficient. "It is like looking into a master's painting-each time you look you see something that escaped you before."

Friends of Wakulla Springs State Park feels the same way. The park is a thrill we hope you will come to enjoy and protect. It is the only state park in Florida where a lodge provides accommodations in a grand, historic style.