"I think that each town should have a park, or rather a primitive forest, of five hundred or a thousand acres, either in one body or several, where a stick should never be cut for fuel, nor the navy, nor to make wagons, but stand and decay for higher uses – a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation."
Henry David Thoreau, "Wild Apples," 1862 

Eckerd College Campus is home to many natural areas and a native garden in which the ecosystems of Florida's west coast can be tracked and studied as well as admired and enjoyed.  Some examples include:

	The Alumni Grove, a small forest of pine trees adjacent to the Forever Wild preserve, was planted by the class of 1967 upon their graduation. Today it holds a canopy of tall pines and several comfortable hammocks from which to enjoy the bird life in the nearby pond.
	Forever Wild  is a strip of campus at the College's most eastern edge that has been designated "wild" and left in its natural state without human management.
	Native Plants Garden The Eckerd College Native Garden is planted and maintained by students, faculty and staff to showcase a Florida-friendly landscape that models xeriscaping and is also designed to attract butterflies. In 2005, Eckerd Environmental Studies major, Samatha Symon, received a National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellowship for her work developing an environmental literacy project related to the garden.
	Palm Hammock Nature Area is a five acre coastal hardwood hammock on the western edge of campus.  It contains a cabbage palmetto and live oak forest in various stages of succession.  Five exotic eucalyptus trees provide snags frequented by hawks, osprey, and other large birds of prey. View images of Palm Hammock species