FLEMING ISLAND – Moccasin Slough is comprised of two loops, a pavilion and a playground and is located just off U.S. 17, the park is a popular spot for dog walkers and bike riders.

But what could be an attractive sight isn’t visible: acres of pristine marsh. County officials are calling for a watchtower, boardwalk and environmental education center through the legislative appropriation process.

James Householder, the county’s director of facility operations and maintenance, pointed to the top of the pines where the sky broke through.

“You come out to this park and you can’t see the coolest environmental feature. We need to get a path cut out there,” Householder said. “It really needs a tower, so you can go up there and look at that expanse.”

Householder grew up in Clay County and said he could see the marsh from U.S. 17 when he was young. Trees and shrubs encroached on the marsh, and the trees had no natural fires to act as a deterrent.

A watchtower and boardwalk, slated at $950,000, would allow the public to see the marsh.

“Back then, the trees and stuff hadn’t started growing in it so all you saw was that natural marsh grass,” Householder said. “It was pretty cool. It looked like a savannah or something you would see in another country.”

An education center is in the Moccasin Slough Management Plan, most likely placed at the northwestern portion of the parking lot. The estimated appropriation is $850,000. Moccasin Slough made it to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ final list of appropriations, though it didn’t survive the veto pen.

Householder said the center would function as a classroom setting for classes and events. He referred to three spots pavilions could be placed at Moccasin Slough.

“Every weekend, people are looking to get out of the heat for their birthday parties and then they can let their kids go play on the playground,” he said.

Karen Kubasiewicz, a Fleming Island resident, favored a bike ride with her husband through the park.

“It’s nice to ride inside there because the trees are almost like a canopy over the path,” she said. “I think teaching young people about environmental issues is a very important thing because we have a tendency to not think about those kinds of things or think somebody else is going to take care of it.”

The park is home to gopher tortoises, deer, snakes, protected birds and salamanders, wading birds and the occasional eagle. Moccasin Slough, about 255 acres in all, has about 3,000 feet of frontage to the river. An environmental assessment found 53 acres of floodplain marsh, 166 acres of hardwood swamp and .6 miles of shoreline classified as a Blackwater Stream.

The property was acquired by the county in 2003 with assistance from the Florida Communities Trust and other grants. The county spent about $1.1 million to develop the park.

Pamm Turner was walking her 5-month-old Wheaten Terrier named Sailor. She said she’s visited the park since it opened, two to three times a week. It was an ideal spot to take her grandchildren, she said.

“I’ve always been really impressed with it,” Turner said. “A watchtower would be fabulous.”