About Us

Our Story

The Keep Woods publishing firm grew out of a local effort to preserve land from over-development.

In 2015, it was announced that a dense housing project was planned for a 33-acre site adjacent to the Braden River and semi-rural neighborhoods. The river is the source of drinking water for the major city in Manatee County.

While surrounding homesites consisted of one or one-half acres, the proposed subdivision would have three or four houses on a single acre. A natural habitat would be destroyed, and much wildlife would be displaced. There was to be a single point of entry and exit from the development, located at the juncture of two other communities.

A neighborhood group was formed to petition the county to prevent the development and establish a passive public park.

After three years of organizing, campaigning, negotiating, and fund-raising, the local community was able to convince county commissioners to purchase the land and build the park. The preserve encompasses 44 acres, including adjacent acreage that was also saved.

At this time, we are publishing a collection of stories written by a single author, the person who initiated and led the coalition that successfully prevented unnecessary development and saved a threatened natural habitat.