b'PAGE22 FPAN RETROSPECTIVE 2005-2020 PAGE23WEST CENTRALREGIONAnchored by the extensive estuary systems of Tampa and Sarasota Bays, the West Central Region is home to Floridas largest and most diverse population along the Gulf Coast. Many residents are clustered in the metropolitan areas of Tampa and St. Petersburg, making the University of South Florida (USF) an ideal partner since FPANs launch in 2005.The regions natural shorelines are protected by a dark green blanket of mangroves. These walking trees, known for their prop roots, act as a nursery for the annual replenishing of marine life and resources. Inland, the region transitions from salt and brackish waters to seasonal wetlands and spring-fed creeks that create the Hillsborough, Manatee, Peace, and Myakka River systems. From these banks, pine and palmetto prairies stretch to the horizon of peninsular Floridas mostly flat landscape. At the regions eastern boundary, a north-south oriented spine of large hills form an abrupt change in topography. This limestone karst sandhill terrain, known as the Lake Wales Ridge, is a relic of Floridas time as an archipelago over two million years ago. More recently, the Tampa Bay area has been the setting for thousands of years of indigenous American history continuing to the present day. The Seminole Tribe and their ancestors, such as the Tocobaga, along with other peoples going back thousands of years, left their mark on the land through their stories, place names, and remnants of their communities. Some of these memories are in the form of objects from activities including tool making and meal preparation, seafaring canoes, and community celebrations. Others are monumental feats of architecture like the shell mounds dotting the area. These special places, some now concealed by mangrove shorelines and modern streetscapes, allow FPAN to help tell the full history of the Tampa Bay area.Top:Former Public Archaeologist Kassie Kemp delivers a briefing to Heritage Monitoring Scouts before visiting a nearby site. Middle left: Kassie Kemp listens to volunteers as they impart their observations about what a shell artifacts purpose may have been. Middle center: A student documents a gravestone, learning that cemeteries can be places of reverence and learning. Middle right: Junior archaeologists learn how to put math and drafting skills to work. Bottom left: Junior archaeologists learn archaeology in the field under the supervision of Regional staff. Bottom right: Regional partners History Bike Tampa share a Saturday to learn about archaeological remains of Fort Brooke in downtown Tampa.'