Joel Jackson had three objectives when he designed Lettuce Lake Conservation Park: to make it an enjoyable place to experience nature, provide environmental education, and preserve it for future generations.

Jackson paid attention to every detail when designing the park from scratch, including where the paths should meander and parking lots should be situated.

The park features a variety of amenities such as a hardwood swamp forest, paved exercise trail, boardwalk with observation tower, and more.

In honor of the park’s 40th year of operation and Jackson’s many contributions during his career with the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County (including designing Lettuce Lake), the nature center was renamed after him.

Read the full article on our sister site, The Laker/Lutz News, here.