Patty Steman
My husband was in the Air Force and we lived all over the country before retiring to Ormond Beach. I grew up in the Orlando area.
My volunteer relationship with North Peninsula State Park began when I joined the park's sea turtle patrol 10 years ago. I soon became involved with the Pepper Pickers group, removing the highly invasive Brazilian pepper tree from the park.
My love of the outdoors blossomed in college. North Peninsula provides many great outdoor experiences that I love - hiking trails, beachcombing, kayaking in the river and salt marsh, and biking along A1A. As a hobby, I enjoy butterfly gardening and raising butterflies. I also help out with educational programs and materials for Gamble Rogers State Park's butterfly garden.
In the summers you'll find me marking, recording and inventorying sea turtle nests on the beach. Over the past several years, North Peninsula/Gamble Rogers have had near-record sea turtle nesting numbers. In the winter months, I'm in the woods removing Brazilian pepper trees. I'm proud to say that Gamble Rogers is mostly free of Brazilian pepper, and large areas of Brazilian pepper have been removed from North Peninsula, restoring it to native salt marsh vegetation.
