>> My name is Jed [inaudible].
I'm the assistant manager at the Okefenokee Swamp Park in Waycross, Georgia.
The Swamp is the public's window into the Okefenokee Swamp,
which is a truly unique ecosystem only found in the Okefenokee.
We do guided boat tours that'll take you to our observation tower.
That's 93 feet tall.
It's the highest point in the swamp.
We do guided train tours, which takes you a swamp or homestead
which will take you back a hundred years to how they used to live in the swamp,
and then we do nature shows that are hands on with snakes and gators, if you so choose.
As the assistant manager, I could be weeding one day, creating lesson plans
for educational programming the next day, and then I could be your boat tour operator.
In captivity, you'll see we have bears, we have gators, and we have an otter and as well
as I believe seven snake species, and then we have some turtles [inaudible].
Bobcats. Claim to be panthers there.
Never seen one.
I've heard one before.
Never seen one.
Turkeys, deer.
Obviously, the gators.
Lots of gators.
There's about 15,000 gators in the swamp.
So it, the research shows.
So. OK, well, we have an osprey [phonetic] society.
That's our donor foundation.
We're a 501(c)(3).
We're privately owned and operated.
We don't receive any local, state, federal funding,
and there are osprey society is big for, you know, improving the park.
We can maintain on ticket sales, but the improvements come
from our osprey society and our donations.
And we have big osprey events quarterly, and, I mean, we go all out for those.
We, you know, big spread food, I mean, everything so it'll be just perfect.
Everything.
I mean, it's, like, [inaudible] going around scissors and cut everything out,
and it's a big task to get ready for.