Why the Myakka Canopy Walkway Was Built

"The Myakka Canopy Walkway was the inspiration of canopy scientist Dr. Margaret Lowman. After spending a couple of decades devising methods to study treetops in the forests of other continents, Dr. Lowman settled in as the director of Sarasota's Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Though her experience was with tropical ecosystems, she realized that Florida's forests were as imperiled as many of the legendary rainforests.

Why not use the same methods employed to study and conserve canopies of far-away endangered forests to save our own threatened ecosystems?
Little research exists on the canopies of subtropical forests. Dr. Lowman's position provided an opportunity to augment current knowledge.

She began studying Myakka's treetops with traditional methods that included ropes, ladders, and pulleys. Then she devised a plan to build a walkway through the treetops, as had been done at several of her previous research stations.

By building a canopy walkway at a popular state park, she could not only carry out Selby's research objectives but also entrance the general public with her passion: conserving our planet's forests.
Dr. Lowman had yet a third agenda for her planned walkway.

While raising her two sons, she had seen the declining interest of students in the sciences. If teachers could involve their students in actual research projects at the walkway, not only would valuable data be gained, but perhaps the experience could forever change the way the students perceived the sciences and their natural world.
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