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Tampa, Florida is an area full of great outdoor activities, and that includes a variety of hiking trails. Whether you're an experienced hiker, or just getting started, there are some incredible trails to explore in the Tampa area. From scenic views, to diverse wildlife and flora, let's take a look at the four best hiking trails near Tampa, Florida!

1. Upper Tampa Bay Trail

The Upper Tampa Bay Trail is a four-mile long trail that is perfect for a leisurely stroll. It runs parallel to the Tampa Bay and connects the city of Tampa to several neighborhoods, such as Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, and Keystone. The terrain is mostly flat, and there are some scenic views of the bay to take in. The trail is mostly asphalt, but there are some areas of crushed shells and knobby bridges to make for a more interesting experience.

2. Brooker Creek Preserve

The Brooker Creek Preserve is a fantastic spot to explore nature near Tampa. The preserve covers over 8,500 acres and has over 30 miles of trails. The terrain is predominantly flat, with a few hills here and there. The trails are marked with numbered posts and maps so it's easy to keep track of your journey. There is an abundance of wildlife to observe, including alligators, hawks, and a variety of other birds.

3. Alafia River State Park

The Alafia River State Park is a great spot for experienced hikers looking for a challenge. This park has over 25 miles of trails with hills, roots, and rocks that require a bit of expert navigation. The park is situated close to the Alafia River, so there are plenty of scenic views. The terrain is diverse with sand, mud, and a variety of different landforms. Wildlife is abundant, and the trails are well-marked.

4. New Tampa Nature Park

The New Tampa Nature Park is a great spot for families and beginner hikers. The trails are mostly flat and the terrain is easy to navigate. The park is surrounded by natural wetlands and there is plenty of wildlife to observe. There are three main trails to explore, each ranging in length from 0.75 to 2.25 miles. The trails are clearly marked and the terrain is mostly dirt and grass.

With four great trails located near Tampa, Florida, there is something for every hiker to enjoy. From leisurely strolls to more challenging hikes, the Tampa area has some amazing trails to explore. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, take some time to experience the wonderful outdoor activities that Tampa has to offer.

Clearwater's pilot program at the Clearwater Beach roundabout is designed to improve safety and relieve congestion during spring break.

|Updated Thu, Mar 2, 2023 at 5:17 pm ET

CLEARWATER, FL — Just in time for the throngs of students anticipated to descend on Clearwater for spring break, the Clearwater Traffic Engineering Division has implemented a pilot program at the Clearwater Beach roundabout designed to improve safety and relieve congestion.

More than 50,000 vehicles drive through the Clearwater Beach roundabout on a typical spring break day, according to the city.

The pilot program is aimed at improving safety and traffic on and off Clearwater Beach.

As a result, the following changes have been made:

The city says those who drive to Clearwater Beach during the spring break season should add 45 minutes to one hour to their travel time to accommodate traffic and parking.

Find out what's happening in Clearwaterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The program will be reviewed after it's in place for six months to determine if safety improves. Street markings and flexible posts will be installed in the area to alert drivers of the changes.

To reduce the amount of traffic on Clearwater roads during the busy spring break season, Clearwater will team up with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority for the fifth year on the Jolley Trolley Park & Ride program that offers beach visitors a place to park in a free designated lot, and then ride the trolley to the beach for free.

"Clearwater Beach continues to thrive as one of the top destinations in the state of Florida. While there is plenty of room to spread out over three miles of our sugar sand beaches, finding a place to park your vehicle can be challenging at times,” said Lisa Chandler, operator of the Pier 60 concessions and founder of the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. “Alternative modes of transportation like the Jolley Trolley, buses and water taxi services are crucial to the success of our barrier-island economy and vitality, as they offer a convenient, cost-effective way to experience the best of Clearwater Beach.”

The Trolley Park & Ride service runs from March 1 to April 30:

Beach-goers can park for free any day of the week at the former Clearwater City Hall, 112 S Osceola Ave.

Additional parking will be available Friday, Saturday and Sunday at:

For more information on parking in Clearwater, click here.

Additionally, the Clearwater Ferry carries beach-goers to Clearwater Beach and Dunedin, allowing them to park for free in downtown Clearwater and Dunedin, thus avoiding heavy beach-going traffic.

The ferry departs from downtown Clearwater with stops at the Clearwater Beach Marina, Clearwater Marine Aquarium/Island Estates, North Beach Recreation Center and downtown Dunedin. For reservations, click here.

Clearwater residents tend to cringe at the words "spring break," knowing the season is going to bring more traffic, bigger crowds and round-the-clock parties.

However, before condemning spring break as the bane of the permanent residents, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, Pinellas County's tourism marketing agency, reminds residents that spring break doesn't only bring headaches; it brings millions of dollars in revenue to Pinellas County.

According to Visit Florida, the state's tourism bureau, an estimated 570,000 students will visit the Sunshine State this year for spring break, which has its peak weeks on March 11 to 18 and March 18 to 25.

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater CEO and President Steve Hayes said thousands of spring breakers are already filling hotel rooms throughout Pinellas County. But the current crowds are nothing compared to the numbers residents will see in just two weeks.

In Tampa Bay, 99,417 college and university students and more than 400,000 public school students in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties are off school for spring break the week of March 14-18.

And with the pandemic now over, for the most part, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is anticipating a big year for tourism.

"Tourism looks very positive going forward this year," said Hayes, noting that Florida's peak tourism season is from March to August.

He said all estimates show Pinellas County will surpass the 15 million visitors who came in 2022.

Those tourists, Hayes said, will infuse Pinellas County with $6.8 billion in direct spending and support more than 100,000 local jobs, most of which are employed at small businesses, for a total economic impact of $10.8 billion in Pinellas County.

Last year, tourists spent 162,000 nights at Pinellas County hotels, amounting to $12.3 million worth of hotel bookings. And the county collects 6 percent of all those bookings through its tourist development tax, also called the bed tax.

The tax is applied to overnight stays at every hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, vacation beach cottage, RV park and condominium and home that are available for short-term stays.

Last year the tax generated $95,244 for Pinellas County, up from $78,142 in 2021, said Hayes.

Clearwater generated the most tourist development taxes in the county —about 34 percent — followed by St. Petersburg, which contributed about 7 percent.

To further lure tourists to Pinellas, Hayes said Visit St. Pete/Clearwater launched a new advertising campaign last year titled "Let's Shine."

Additionally, the tourism bureau partnered with Keep Pinellas Beautiful and TikTok influencer Caulin Donaldson (@TrashCaulin), a tireless beach cleanup advocate with 1.4 million TikTok followers, for an award-winning responsible travel campaign, "Unwind and Be Kind."

Spring break and family vacations aren't the county's only source of tourism dollars.

Hayes said the Pinellas County Film Commission, a branch of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, has the only film incentive program in the state. As a result, 18 feature films were filmed in Pinellas County last year, the most ever in a single year, with an economic impact of more than $2 million.

Already the spring training homes of two Major League Baseball teams — the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin and the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater — Hayes said the county has attracted 119 major sporting events including the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the Valspar Professional Golf Association tournament at Palm Harbor’s Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort, the U.S. Open Sailing Series, the Clearwater Nationals boat-racing championships and the Gator Nationals BMX supercross world championship in Oldsmar.

In all, sports events had a 109 million economic impact on Pinellas County.

Residents of Clearwater, Dunedin and surrounding communities who would prefer to avoid crowds may want to skip the beach on the following weeks when Florida universities, colleges and public schools will be on spring break:

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After recently holding its ninth annual Black Financial Advisors Network Symposium, Raymond James diversity leaders pointed to the progress BFAN has made over the past nine years.

But, as the firm gears up for the 10^th BFAN Symposium next year, company leaders made it clear they’re still working toward new diversity milestones throughout the year, with career fairs, internships and other programs to build a diverse talent pipeline.

The goal of these programs is to expose students of various majors, career changers and others who may not have considered a career in financial services to the opportunities available, according to Renée Baker, head of the Private Client Group’s Advisor Inclusion Networks at Raymond James.

“We recognize that there’s only a limited pool of individuals that are currently Black experienced financial advisors,” she told ThinkAdvisor during a recent interview.

Therefore, the work that the BFAN Advisory Council is doing is “really about creating a pipeline [for] talent development,” she said. “So we recognize that, in order to move the needle, we have to get into colleges and universities.”

That is why they’re “working to attract the next generation of leaders through our various training programs that we offer, career fairs and internships and other opportunities where we can share more about this profession and help the next generation see the opportunity that we have here at Raymond James,” she explained.

‘Cultivating Progress’

The ninth BFAN Symposium, held in Palm Harbor, Florida, was the best-attended one yet, with more than 160 attendees, said Baker, who noted there were only about 35-40 advisors at the first BFAN Symposium.

The event’s theme this year was “cultivating progress,” noted Chris Fils, complex manager and BFAN Advisory Council member.

“Cultivating progress is really our goal here at Raymond James: to provide an opportunity for Black financial advisors to network, learn, share and really collaborate on best practices of growing their businesses,” Baker explained.

Pointing out that the firm has four advisor inclusion networks, she said Raymond James is focused on “providing opportunities to shift and disrupt the status quo when it comes to increasing representation in this industry and profession.”

She added: “It is about progress and we know that we want to be part of the change of what it looks like to grow representation in this industry, and there’s so many ways that we’re doing that here at the firm.”

For example, this year, BFAN worked in partnership with the University of South Florida Diversity Initiatives Black Leadership Network to host a student track during the BFAN Symposium, Fils pointed out.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU softball team hosts Oakland for a midweek doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Wednesday is Music Bingo Night and Athletic Training Staff Recognition and First Pitch Night. Admission is free for FGCU students, faculty, and staff are free with valid Eagle I.D. Both games against the Golden Grizzles will be streamed on EagleVision. Individual watch links for a specific game can be located on the 2023 softball schedule on FGCUAthletics.com.

Tickets can be purchased online at the FGCU Ticket Office and at the FGCU Softball Complex. No pets or emotional support animals are allowed at the FGCU Softball Complex. Only certified service animals are permitted.

FGCU enters Wednesday's action 9-9 this season after closing the Unconquered Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., with a Saturday sweep of Troy and Lamar that ended a five-game skid. The Eagles are 7-4 on their home turf.

Oakland has played only four games thus far, and sits 2-2. Oakland's two wins have come against UT-Martin and Valparaiso. Last season and with now-current FGCU assistant coach Jenna Modic-Blythers at the helm, Oakland won the Horizon League Tournament Championship to punch its ticket to the Evanston Regional before being eliminated by No. 9 Northwestern and Notre Dame.

The Green & Blue is 8-1 all-time against Oakland dating back to 2014. The Eagles have won the last eight meetings between the two squads, the last occurring in 2018 -- a 5-4 victory.

FGCU and Texas Tech are the only teams in the country this season to record a triple play. Offensively, the Eagles rank 23rd nationally in doubles, collecting 24.

Graduate Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF) and sophomore Kayleigh Roper (Venice, Fla./Venice HS/Michigan State) are in a five-way tie in the ASUN Conference for the league lead in home runs with three. Filla is second in the ASUN with 16 RBIs, while Roper is tied for third at 15.

Filla has produced a team-leading 20 hits this season, averaging .328 at the plate. Freshman Nikki Gibson (Yorktown, Va./Grafton HS) looks to extend her 18-game reached-base streak against the Golden Grizzlies.

Freshman Olivia Black (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central HS) is tied for fourth in the conference in total steals with seven.

In the circle, senior Ally Hulme (Safety Harbor, Fla./Sickles HS State College of Florida) leads all Eagles in total innings pitched with 46.0. Three Eagles have tossed 20.0 or more innings this season – Hulme, senior Baylee Haggard (Naples, Fla./Palmetto Ridge HS/Florida SouthWestern State & South Florida State College) and junior Claire Maulding (Casey, Ill./Casey Westfield HS/Lake Land College). Hulme is 24 strikeouts away from cracking FGCU's all-time top 10 list in career strikeouts.

Junior Angelina Bonilla (Coral Gables, Fla./Coral Gables HS) and Hulme are tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 22 each.

For up-to-the-minute information on the FGCU softball program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_Softball, Instagram at fgcusoftball, Facebook, and stay tuned at FGCUAthletics.com.

COACH DEIROS The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros enters his 21st season as head coach in 2023. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the ground up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 715-406-3 (.637) record, gone 176-109 (.618) in the ASUN, had 16 seasons with a winning record and nine campaigns of 35+ wins. Deiros has also led the Eagles to three ASUN regular season championships (2008, 2012, and 2016) and one ASUN Tournament title (2012). In 2012, FGCUdefeated No. 5 Florida in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season (2022), FGCU took down both No. 8 Texas and No. 10 Florida once again. Deiros is a former head coach at the 1998 Florida State Runner-Up Lely High School in Naples and is the founding head coach of the 1999 District Champion/2001 Regional Runner-Up Gulf Coast High School in Naples.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow.

#FEEDFGCU FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCUCampus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---

, a provider of technology, conformity assessment, and consulting solutions, announced today that it has acquired Gaudet Associates, Inc. (“Gaudet Associates”), a provider of owner representation services in South Florida. Gaudet Associates has worked on behalf of owners to oversee new facility development and renovations in Florida for 35 years and strengthens NV5’s existing owner representation capabilities. The acquisition was made with a combination of cash and stock and will be immediately accretive to earnings.

Gaudet Associates operates out of its headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida and specializes in owner representation services for the hospitality industry, high-rise buildings, and government facilities. Gaudet Owner Representatives coordinate the activities of all parties during the planning and construction of facilities, including program management, contract administration, change order reviews, cost estimates, value engineering, environmental assessments, and quality assurance.

“With the fastest growing population in the nation and recent growth in tourism, Florida building owners are turning to owner representatives for construction and renovation oversight to meet the needs of Florida’s residents and visitors,” said Dickerson Wright, PE, Chairman and CEO of NV5. “Gaudet Associates has been serving the Florida market for over three decades, and we look forward to the contributions that it will bring to our existing owner representation group in the state.”

“We are excited to offer NV5’s broad array of services to our valued clients, and we look forward to the career opportunities that will now be available to our team members,” said Joseph Gaudet, President and Founder of Gaudet Associates.

About Gaudet AssociatesFounded in 1971, Gaudet Associates is a professional owner representation company that has managed over $2 billion in design, construction, and environmental projects. Gaudet Associates prides itself on thoroughly understanding client needs as well as the latest building trends and technologies to provide the most comprehensive and reliable service for every project.

About NV5NV5 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVEE) is a provider of technology, conformity assessment, and consulting solutions for public and private sector clients supporting sustainable infrastructure, utility, and building assets and systems. The Company focuses on multiple verticals: testing, inspection & consulting, infrastructure engineering, utility services, buildings & owner representation, environmental health sciences, and geospatial technology services to deliver innovative, sustainable solutions to complex issues and improve lives in our communities. NV5 operates out of more than 100 offices nationwide and abroad. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.NV5.com. Also visit the Company on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company cautions that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such factors include: (a) changes in demand from the local and state government and private clients that we serve; (b) general economic conditions, nationally and globally, and their effect on the market for our services; (c) competitive pressures and trends in our industry and our ability to successfully compete with our competitors; (d) changes in laws, regulations, or policies; and (e) the “Risk Factors” set forth in the Company’s most recent SEC filings. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update such statements, except as required by law.

Investor Relations Contact

NV5 Global, Inc.Jack CochranVice President, Marketing & Investor RelationsTel: +1-954-637-8048Email: ir@nv5.com