A Florida couple bought a 45-acre swamp to save it from development; 15 years later, 275 wood storks were nesting there in a thriving wildlife haven

When Jim Stevenson and Tara Tanaka looked at a 45-acre cypress swamp beside their home in Tallahassee, Florida, they saw something far more valuable than land waiting to be developed. They saw a wildlife habitat worth protecting.

In 2007, the couple bought the adjoining swamp after becoming concerned that the wetland could be cleared. What began as a personal conservation effort gradually turned the property into a thriving wildlife sanctuary, complete with a large wood stork rookery.