Orlando Wetlands Festival
February 23, 2008 – 9am-3pm

Print & Post 2008 Festival Flyer SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Games Exhibits Door Prizes Face Painting Rock Climbing Wall 6:00 Sunrise Photo Hike Refreshments & Merchandise Booths Bounce House Talako Indian Dancers Live Wild Animals Interactive Displays Guided Birding Hikes Live Entertainment Backyard Tree Giveaways Guided Wilderness Hikes Guided Native Plant ID Hikes Guided Bus Tour of Wetlands Animal Catch & Release Demo Out-on-a-limb Kids Tree Climbing And much, much more!

Come and enjoy the Orlando Wetlands Park Festival on Saturday February 23, 2008, from 9am-3pm. This world renowned example of Wetlands Engineering is a 1,650 acre oasis for flora, fauna, and feathered friends near the Ft. Christmas Park in Christmas, Florida.

The Orlando Wetlands Park represents the world's first large scale wetlands treatment system. This wetland treatment system is a series of impoundments, which were planted with many different species of aquatic plants. These impoundments are now treatment marshes that polish excess nutrients from the reclaimed wastewater before it is discharged to the St Johns River. The water that is sent to the St Johns River is cleaner than the water within the river. So in a sense, the Wetlands are serving to help cleanup the St Johns River.

On February 23, 2008, come and experience this unique Wetland Treatment System with the entire family. Event co-sponsor, the Orange Audubon Society, will lead guided birdwatching excursions; expert-guided nature photo shoots. The Florida Native Plant Society will lead native plant identification hikes and wilderness hikes will also be available by the Florida Trail Association. Expert wildlife photographers Vinny Colucci of North Carolina and Milton Heiberg of Orlando will be leading photo expeditions. For those who like to sit and ride, guided bus tours will travel along the wetland berms, giving riders a chance to experience first hand, Florida's wild wetlands.

In addition to the numerous guided tours, there will be bird banding and mist-netting demonstrations, tree giveaways, door prizes and live folk music. The Talako Indian Dancers will also be present demonstrating Native American dances. Featured in the various wildlife shows, many different live animals will be present such as alligators, snakes, birds of prey and many others. Also the City's Families, Parks and Recreation Division will be giving away free backyard trees to each family. Food will be available for purchase.

There will be many interactive children's activities (like the Out-On-A-Limb kids tree climbing, rock climbing wall, horseback riding, hay rides and games), so bring the whole family and invite your friends and neighbors to this fun, free, educational festival. Bring your cameras, off-road bikes or sturdy hiking shoes, and prepare for an adventure in the wilderness. Free admission and free door prizes! For more information call Olabisi Slade Cox at 407.246.2213 or the Orlando Wetlands Park at 407. 568.1706.

Event Sponsor: Post, Buckley, Schuh and Jernigan, Inc.

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Directions:

To get to the Park, take S.R. 50 to Christmas, Florida. Turn north onto 420, Ft. Christmas Rd and travel 2.3 miles, turn right onto Wheeler Road and travel 1.5 miles. The address is 25155 Wheeler Road, Christmas, Florida 32709.

Snail Kite	Anhinga Chick	Roseate Spoonbill
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History of Orlando Wetlands Park

In the mid 1980's, the City of Orlando's Iron Bridge Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant needed more overflow capacity than what was allowed in the Little Econlockhatchee River. In 1986 the City of Orlando purchased 1,650 acres and in July 1987, the 1,220 acres wetland treatment system was completed and reclaimed water began to flow from the Iron Bridge Plant. The system was designed to polish up to 35 million gallons a day of reclaimed wastewater. The water is conveyed through a four-foot diameter pipeline approximately 17 miles.

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