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We’re thrilled to announce we have selected our team of trekkers for our upcoming “Strand to Slough” Expedition and documentary film! In just one month, they’ll embark on a week-long journey through critical connections in the Florida Wildlife Corridor in Southwest Florida!
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The Strand to Slough Expedition brings together three passionate individuals—Laura Foht, Kenton Beal, and Em Kless—who each reflect a unique connection to wild Florida. Through the lens of parents who are raising their families to connect to nature, like Laura and Kenton, the trek will highlight the urgency to conserve local connections in the Florida Wildlife Corridor. Em brings a deep expertise in youth education and nature’s healing power, and offers a dynamic, poetic approach to their stewardship ethic and connection to the natural world.⁠
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Together, they emphasize the critical role of adults in advocating for the protection of Florida’s wild spaces TODAY for the generations of tomorrow.

Meet The Trekkers

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Laura Foht

Laura Foht is passionate about nature and art and lives to share their healing powers. She teaches art at the Community School of Naples, and earned her BA degree at FGCU. On the weekend, she can be found flying across the Gulf with her business Smile Surf & Sail, or advocating for foster children as a Guardian ad Litem volunteer. Together with her husband Eric who shares her love of the natural world, they have a 10-year-old nature boy, Finnegan. Their family dinner conversations revolve around the Florida Wildlife Corridor, favorite snakes, weather, native trees, prescribed fire, and bees. Laura aims to promote next generation stewardship, encouraging a budding relationship with nature and Florida’s flora and fauna.

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Kenton Beal

Kenton Beal is a native to southwest Florida and is a seventh generation Floridian. An accredited Professional Wetland Scientist, Kenton specializes in landowner outreach for ecosystem restoration and conservation. Kenton has recently introduced his 19 month old daughter to the vast biodiversity that Florida offers and hopes her experiences result in a love for wild Florida. “It’s amazing to watch a young girl witness a roseate spoonbill flyover, a dolphin playfully rolling in a boat’s wake, and the graceful dive of a swallow-tailed kite, all in the blink of an eye. These are the types of moments that truly capture wild Florida. I hope she cherishes these moments, they are cherished by other young people and they can be cherished for eternity.”

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Em Kless

Em Kless is a native Neapolitan currently working as the Interpretation Supervisor at Naples Botanical Garden. Em leads middle school students from Immokalee Community Academy in a plants and climate change after-school program, among other job responsibilities. The most challenging and rewarding experience of Em’s career has been stewarding the next generation of land conservationists. Em is humbled by the privilege to ignite sparks of hope and instigate moments of genuine connection with youth in nature.

In their free time, Em and their service dog, Clementine, love hiking, paddling, birding, beach bumming, trail running, writing poetry, dancing, and tackling obstacle course races. Em’s connection to wild Florida has been foundational to overcoming adversity as a disabled person and sharing a passion for the magic of the swamp with others.

A Spotlight On Southwest Florida

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Entering Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary by Ethan Coyle

This November we will continue the legacy of Corridor Expeditions in Southwest Florida, exploring connectivity within a critical area of the Corridor. The trekkers will explore the Florida Wildlife Corridor starting at Picayune Strand State Forest and travel north to the Caloosahatchee River. The core of the Expedition will involve a multi-day journey which will include hiking through private and public lands as well as biking and paddling in areas near or in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Okaloacoochee Slough.

The Expedition will feature family heritage, community and spiritual connections to at-risk land, and local engagement in Corridor connectivity. The trek will also highlight agricultural lands critical to maintaining Corridor connectivity in southwest Florida, as well as native wildlife and waterways. This Expedition will explore opportunity areas vital to keeping the southwestern edge of the Corridor connected to the rest of the statewide Corridor geography.

This expedition would not be possible without the support from our premiere sponsors the Wanda and Jim Moran Foundation and the J.W. Couch Foundation.