Doug Morrison | Protecting Florida's special places

Since Green Horizon Land Trust’s inception, Doug Morrison has been an involved member and served on the board of directors for many years. Growing up on Crooked Lake swimming, sailing, and slaloming, he would become an advocate for clean water and one of the Defenders of Crooked Lake’s early board members.

A football scholarship led him to Charleston, S.C. and The Citadel, a civil engineering degree, and two years military service. Though he loved to travel, he would settle back in the Babson Park/Crooked Lake area where he was dedicated to his family and community. He will be remembered throughout Florida for his tireless willingness to consult and share his knowledge of the plant world, making the world more beautiful as he helped people through his Wirt's Point Nursery.

A steady & devoted father to his children and family, he kept his heart close in his chest, and lived a quiet personal life.

His humanity and land/water ethic will be forever reflected in his many projects and loves:

• Tropical Trading Company and management of his one-acre tropical grove with his siblings
• Protect Tiger Creek blocked a proposed sand mine
• Led Stop the Toxic Waste Incinerator successfully for Polk County
• Save Windy Hill & Straw Hat Valley
• Stop the Toll Road to Ruin Initiative

"Doug was a rock in support of the Trust's mission To say he will be missed is like saying we can do without the sun." – Luther Parrott, GHLT Director

"Doug was happiest and in his element in his fruit tree groves but never afraid to step up to the podium to address a threat to the environment. Land preservation, a sand mine at the Tiger Creek headwaters, a toxic waste incinerator, or toll roads to nowhere were causes Doug would rally for. This world needs his type of energy for the good. I will miss his gentle way." – David Price

"For those of you who might not know this, Doug, Tim Steorts and my husband were the leaders of the opposition to the ill-conceived hazardous waste incinerator that was proposed for Mulberry years ago. Their efforts, supported by many others, lead to the nation-wide moratorium on the construction of new hazardous waste incinerators. The Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club recognized them in 1995 with the Pelican Award for exceptional work, above and beyond the call of duty, on a conservation project of statewide importance." - Marian Ryan, Green Horizon Land Trust President

Sally Morrison joins her brother Doug in efforts to preserve the view from Windy Hill for future generations.

The Fan Club

"I remember before Green Horizon Land Trust was formed Doug and Myra asked me if I would be interested in meeting to talk about what we could do to preserve environmental lands that were being overlooked by the State and The Nature Conservancy. There were ecological gems all around us that were not big enough for statewide organizations to be interested.

We started meeting on Ken Morrison’s back porch. We didn’t have a name then, so we decided on the “Fan Club” as we were fans of the fan. We all jockeyed to get a place in front of the oscillating fan to discuss the details of becoming a nonprofit, what our mission and vision should be, what we should do for by-laws. When we were kicking around names for a land trust Ken looked up out across Crooked Lake to the horizon and said “how about Green Horizon Land Trust”.

Doug was a quiet organizer, a lot like his mother Helen. He learned from her to get your facts together (make sure they were accurate and true), prepare for meetings, speak with knowledge and calmness, coach others to speak, and show up to meetings with others so it looks like there was a movement. He would call me to remind about meeting times and places, always with information 'in case you want to speak on this'."
– shared by David Price

The Windy Hill Initiative seeks to preserve the magnificent view of Crooked Lake from Windy Hill, and expand the Crooked Lake Sandhill preserve to make it more viable.

The Initiative will employ strategies to support continuation of agriculture on the hill as the best way to preserve the view, including new options for distressed grove owners that need to sell. Photos by Doug Morrison.