Posts Tagged With: Babcock eco-tours

The autonomous vehicle in Babcock Ranch

Babcock Ranch, March 29

We rode on our first autonomous, driverless vehicle today. And, we rode on a bumpy old school bus through mud and swamps. Quite a variation. Both rides occurred within a few miles of each other at Babcock Ranch.

With a history that goes back to the late 1800s, Babcock Ranch has changed focus with the years. Its first owner was a Montana gold miner who struck it rich. Perry McAdow moved to the warmer climes of Florida and chartered the Punta Gorda Bank. He purchased thousands of acres of land in the area. Edward Babcock was a Pittsburgh native who owned a lumber company, at one time the largest in the world. He also liked the warmer climes of Florida and bought out McAdow in 1914. Babcock added on to McAdow’s holdings, eventually owning over 100,000 acres.

Cracker cattle at Babcock Ranch Preserve

The Babcock Ranch cut timber, using much of the cypress logs for shoring in mining due to cypress’ ability to resist rot. After the timber was cut, Babcock added raising cracker cattle, rock mining, and agricultural products. You may recall from an earlier Florida posting that cracker cattle were brought over by the Spanish. Cracker cattle can live off the land but their meat is low quality. The term cracker comes from the sound of the whips used by the Spanish cowboys to control the cattle.

The ranch lies astride an important water connection between Lake Okeechobee and the Gulf of Mexico. By the late 1900s, the ranch was run by Babcock descendants willing to part with the land. A plan was devised to divide the ranch into two parts; making most of the land into a preserve with about 20% going into a planned community. Today that division has resulted in the state-run Babcock Ranch Preserve and Eco-tour as one part and the Babcock Ranch planned development as the other. We visited both today.

Momma alligator with baby alligators on her back

The preserve is 67,000 acres and continues the timbering and ranching operations. The preserve protects critical waterways and diverse natural habitats. In addition, a eco-tour is offered that brings visitors through grasslands, swamps, and woodlands. In Florida, an elevation difference of just a few feet changes the habitat from swamp to woodland in just a blink of an eye.

Wild pigs on the eco-tour

Barred owl in the swamp

Our tour and bus driver has his own horse and cattle and enjoys hunting wild pigs. His understanding of the Florida environment added immensely to the tour experience. We had arrived early and were able get on a tour that had about 15 people. Each of us had our own window seat. Luckily (for us), the school kids who arrived had their own tour and a separate bus.

Alligators and birds on the eco-tour

On the tour, we came across wild pigs, sandhill cranes, alligators, deer, egrets, limpkins, several types of herons, and a barred owl. None of these were new to us but still it was a pleasure to observe them again and hear the tour leader’s additional information.

The preserve has a small cafe on the premises and the cook gave us special attention, making sure our hot dogs were well burnt-after we assured her we truly did want them burnt.

After the preserve, we drove a few miles to Babcock Ranch. This planned community expects to eventually have 20,000 housing units, with only a few multi-unit properties. A mix of housing, commercial, retail, and public facilities are planned. Initial homes were just completed a year ago but signs of rapid construction are evident. We stopped in at the town center where the information center is located. We also observed a school, day care, health care facility, a restaurant, etc. open for business.

It was at the town center that we rode the autonomous self driving “bus”. The vehicle has six seats and standing room. Our vehicle did have a human manipulating some controls. The system is still being planned, programmed, and de-bugged. For instance, the vehicle stopped and would not move at a pedestrian crossing where a temporary sign indicating pedestrian crosswalk had been placed in the middle of the street. Since the temporary sign was not included it its programming, the vehicle thought the sign was a pedestrian and would not advance. Our human overrode the system while a few cars backed up behind us. Eventually the system will have individual addresses programmed and will take riders anywhere in the community. The vehicles will be called and dispatched via a smart phone app.

One of the initial features planned into the community is solar power generation. Between solar power, batteries, and natural gas, the community should be green beyond belief. It re-uses waste water for irrigation and individual homes must receive at least bronze level energy conservation certification. Fiber internet is everywhere. The Babcock Preserve surrounds the community. All in all, the vision of a livable, pleasant community seems doable.

The home prices are not outrageous although it seems certain to be an income-segregated community. The sales lady I talked to you professed ignorance of the concept of “affordable housing”. For all the talk of a planned community, though, our new Evergreen hosts mentioned that the county until just recently has not even planned road improvements to the existing road network to handle the increased traffic which will be generated.

After the autonomous vehicle ride, I worked outside on the blog in the town square. We had an early dinner there before driving to North Fort Myers where we will be staying for the next three nights.

Working on the blog at Babcock Ranch

Ed and Chris. March 29