Guest Commentary

Maximo at a Crossroad:
Finding a Balance Between Cultural, Ecological, Archaeological and Recreational Uses

By Ray Wunderlich III

St Petersburg’s most unique park, Maximo Park, includes a wilderness area highlighted by a 10,000-year-old Indian mound designated as a “Preservation/Wilderness and Historically Designated Areas,” as well as rare native maritime habitat. It also is one of the city’s most popular parks with passive recreational facilities, a well-used three-lane boat ramp and an eighteen-hole disc golf course.

But Maximo Park is at a crossroad. Will it continue its course toward unspecified, unchecked recreational usage at the expense of continued cultural, ecological and archaeological destruction? Or will the City of St. Petersburg find a resolution in a master plan that recognizes these ancient icons of the past and protects these rare features?

As recently as 50 years ago, besides an occasional archaeological dig, the Maximo area was virtually a pristine site. Its rich history began almost 10,000 years ago when the ancient American Indians settled here, mining Tampa Bay’s plentiful resources and building a series of intricate mounds all along south St. Pete. Maximo is eligible for the Federal Registry for its inherent archaeological significance.

Maximo sits protected, nestled along Boca Ciega Bay with Eckerd College to the north separated by Frenchman’s Creek, once a source of fresh water. Native plant communities unique to the Indian mounds grew across the park, including pine flatwoods, a hydric maritime oak hammock and a maritime mound plant community with several rare species for Pinellas County. Inherent wildlife, such as the gopher tortoise and marsh rabbit, was once abundant as this author remembers them from his childhood in the early 1970s and 1980s.

Beginning about 20 to 40 years ago, the city began installing recreational facilities on the waterfront site where views of the Skyway Bridge and barrier islands dot the horizon. Many picnic tables, an observation tower, a plastic playground area and cooking facilities stretch along the shoreline. A bathroom and city work shed were built on the mound itself with a large concrete slab nearby. Asphalt paths meander through some of the hydric mound area. (The boat ramp is on the northernmost area of the park with a large grassy parking area, all built outside the preservation areas.)

About nine years ago, the City Parks Department agreed to a disc golf course installation, hoping that more recreational activity would decrease complaints about illegal activity. The course’s layout was coordinated with the City Parks Department and disc golf players. The holes include ten 4-foot by 10-foot concrete slab tees, with some of the tees located in the preservation area or on the mounds. The holes are frequently moved to provide variety for players. The Maximo Disc Golf Course – the only disc golf course in the city – is now very popular and attracts many hundreds of players from across the region.

However, the years of accumulated hard “brick and mortar” recreation in the park and wilderness areas, have led to subsequent incremental damage to the Indian mounds’ archaeological and cultural value. Native flora and fauna also have suffered greatly from fragmenting of their habitat and local extinction of some wildlife. There has also been significant collateral damage as city crews removed invasive plants and beach erosion when crews removed seaweed from the beach.

To some extent the original complaints about illegal activities have been lessened. But the other problems have arisen because there is a need for better balance and understanding between multiple user groups considering the archaeology, Indian culture and ecology of the site.

For example, the endangered gopher tortoise and the marsh rabbit were once a common sight in Maximo, but are nearly extinct within the park because of the increased activity and a lack of an “off-limits preservation area.” Other ordinance violations such as plant destruction, dogs off leashes and their subsequent fecal deposits, and open alcoholic containers have been common through the years, although the recent attention to the problems at the park have resulted in fewer violations.

The parks department has proven it is capable of positively responding to an organized, competent plan for restoration in non-complex, passive and wilderness parks. A massive, all-volunteer effort has nearly restored Little Bayou South, a wilderness park that received a large grant from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. The city provided major exotic tree removal with no collateral damage over the five-year process. The park manager communicates with volunteer leaders who help educate the workers and hundreds of volunteers who are helping with the restoration. This project is a complete success but needs constant, ecologically sound management.

Building upon that momentum, we are working toward creating a new partnership among the city, native Americans, archeologists, disc golfers, environmentalists and residents in nearby neighborhoods to develop and implement management tools to protect the rare resources found at Maximo as well as Jungle Prada Park and the Pinellas Point Mound.

Ten years ago, when the disc golf course was constructed, few people were aware of the mounds’ intrinsic value. They are not imposing structures, due to erosion and the plant life on them, but more like gently rolling hills. These complex Indian mounds and the beach plant communities they support require enhanced, proactive action and improved awareness. Cogent, long-term, systematic patterns and styles of management thwart problems and alleviate possible destructive, enduring damage, not only to the archaeology, but the ecology and culture of the Indians. These mound structures and all their accoutrements should inspire one to revere the Native American Culture as sacrosanct since they can never be rebuilt or copied.

Some solutions the city and its parks department may choose to consider when they address change at an Indian mound site include:

1) Native Americans should be consulted for their input on Indian mound sites.
2) Archaeologists and native/exotic plant experts should be consulted for their expertise.
3) SWFWMD and/or the Army Corps of Engineers and appropriate regulatory agencies should be contacted if any wetland or marine shore work is considered.
4) City’s master plans should include a specific “Archaeology Park” listing that identifies these priceless resources and provides additional protection and management for them.
5) Hire park employees with balanced education and experience including ecology, recreation, Indian cultural, archaeology and law enforcement.
6) Check with the city’s Historic Preservation Department for allowable work on the site.
7) Erect appropriate signage to explain the site’s history and suitable activities for the site.
Indian mounds present an opportunity to become important educational tools and valuable city resources. Other communities across the state, including Osprey, Englewood, Cedar Key, Tallahassee and Fort Walton, have protected their Indian mounds and created opportunities for heritage tourism (see http://www.visitflorida.com/articles/portals-to-the-past).

However, optimal, balanced management requires special training and experience at all levels of the parks department hierarchy. Ongoing ecological, archaeological and cultural resources must be balanced to harmoniously meld with non-destructive recreational options. Clear and open communication and open minds bode well for managing these complex resources and protecting the heritage of future generations.

— Ray Wunderlich III is a member of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Citizens Advisory Council, a board member of the Pinellas County Environmental Science Forum, a project leader in park restorative efforts, owner of a vitamin store, and a fitness enthusiast.