Pennsylvania native Sally Lieb has dedicated nearly three decades of her career to the Florida State Park system where she tackled issues from prescribed burns to land management.
Lieb spent 12 of those years as park manager for Silver Springs State Park. Now, nearly two years into her retirement, she reflected on her time in North Central Florida and conservation in the region.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Q: What first drew you to work in North Central Florida?
A: It's hard to put it into words. Even though I grew up in Pennsylvania, I just never felt that sense that was where I belonged. I always told people I was born in Pennsylvania by accident. And, maybe it's just the fact that there's so much wildlife everywhere you look. I love it all. And, it's abundant and it's everywhere.
Q: How have you seen the region’s landscapes and ecosystems change since you began your work?
A: Silver got in on the burn program, and it was wonderful. It got all the habitats looking the way they were supposed to look with the open understories. We had fox squirrels, quail and brown-headed nuthatches. The cooler, rarer species increased immediately as soon as we started burning. I feel a little sad about what's happening in the headspring of the river because of the popularity of the river. Since it became a state park, there are a lot more users. But, keeping it restricted to more canoes and kayaks helps reduce impacts. And, in the years since I've been there, the population of manatees coming into Silver Springs has vastly increased.
Q: What is the biggest threat to Silver Springs?
A: The most negative impact to me is people getting in the water. I'm really glad the swimming area has not happened and I hope it never does, because it's just not big enough to support that much recreation without severely impacting it. In the summer months, as long as people stay in their boats, it's okay. But they tend to park on the banks and get in the water. There goes the subaquatic vegetation.
Q: How have policy shifts at the state or federal level affected your work or the broader approach to conservation and your mission as a state park?
A: Well, every time there's a new governor, depending on the attitude and the influences of the particular governor, things have the potential to change. Most recently, there was this wonderful idea they had, and I am dripping with sarcasm, to build golf courses and pickleball courts in state parks. Now, that is not resource-based recreation – that destroys the resource for recreation. Fortunately, the people of Florida love their state parks. So, the state parks are able to continue the mission and do a darn good job at it in spite of the whims of different elected officials.
Q: What role have partnerships between public agencies, nonprofits and local residents played in long-term conservation success?
A: Yeah, that's a loaded question for sure. There's a lot of cooperation between agencies. The park service gets permits from the water management districts. All the other agencies participate when the parks have events. Silver Springs has an annual Springsfest event that is all about just educating the public about water conservation, and all the agencies that I mentioned and more all come in and set up booths and talk about their role in the process. And then, public education. Florida's done a bang-up job educating the public about prescribed fire.
Q: How do you see climate change influencing the park in the years ahead?
A: I don't think it has really affected the spring much. It's not the climate change, it's just the more people that move to Florida, the more wells are drilled, the more water’s withdrawn for public use, the less water there is for the spring. So, you can see a reduction in flow. And, in urbanized areas, the biggest contaminant is wastewater and in rural areas, the biggest contaminant is agriculture.
Q: What was the most challenging conservation mission throughout your career?
A: Just finding that balance between allowing recreation without too negatively impacting the resources.
Q: Looking back at 30 years on the job, what was your favorite part?
A: Burning. I love prescribed fires. It's scary, but there's a lot of training. There's a lot of good, skilled crew. After the burn, there's deer and turkeys. Everything's in there, licking ashes. Then the plants start recovering in days. It's why the state was called Florida — they must have arrived in the early fall because that's when all the blooms happen. There's purple and yellow and all these different colored flowers. It's just a beautiful thing to see.
A photo of Ocala spring visitors tubing in the 1960s, left, compared with a photo of tubers in 2023, right. (Courtesy of Florida Memory Project and Sydney Johnson)
Q: If you could pass along one message to people about conservation in this region, what would you say?
A: When you go into a park, treat it like your grandmother's house. Treat it with respect. Try to learn what the park is trying to do and know what behaviors would negatively impact it. Just be polite and respectful. There are so many people who have given their life of service to try to do right by these lands, and hardly make any money to even survive on. But there are people who work and stick with it for the cause.
I did my bit and I'm sure people that come will do their bit and create those opportunities to experience the real Florida.