A Land Remembered (Part 2)

I just finished reading one of the Floridiana books titled "A Land Remembered". Overall, I thought the book was inspiring. This story motivates the reader to learn more about Florida's past and to better understand our impact on the environment. The story starts with the MacIvey family trying to survive in a hostile environment and ends with the struggle to prevent personal self interest and greed from destroying more Florida landscape.
Sol, the son of Zech MacIvey, transformed the land his family owned. Sol's grandparents along with his father, respected the land and hoped Florida would always be a wild place. Surprisingly, Sol fell into the trap and convinced himself to dredge the swamps and convert the wilderness areas into agriculture fields. He made a lot of money with his business along with selling thousands of acres to developers. At the end, Sol felt deeply sorry for what he did and felt he betrayed his father's teachings. South Florida was never the same again as the state's population and need for development increased.
This story brings me back to the Babcock Ranch story previously posted. The Babcock family is a spitting image of the MacIvey family. Both families lived in Florida for many generations and survived and became wealthy through the cattle business. Finally as the demand for land increased, both families were willing to sell the land for their own personal gains and completely ignored the environmental impacts of their decision. Commonly, these lands are home to many threatened and endangered wildlife and help sustain Florida's wetlands and tremendous biodiversity. I think "A Land Remembered" would've changed the minds of the Babcock family.