The 487-acre Robinson Preserve was a hair’s-breadth away from becoming Southwest Florida’s latest waterfront golf course community. Now restoration plans call for removing exotic vegetation and restoring a mosaic of native wetland and upland communities with hiking trails, boardwalks and primitive campsites. Snaking through the Preserve is a 2.5-mile blueways trail running from the Manatee River south to Perico Bayou with connections to Roberts Bay south of State Road 64. The interior of the preserve features hiking paths, kayak and canoe waterways, bridges, picnic spots, a primitive campground, mangrove forests and a 53-foot-tall tower with a wide-open view of the Tampa Bay area. the preserve also serves the needs of many other creatures — 75 species of fish and marine invertebrates can be found in the preserve and more than 100 species of birds, including roseatte spoonbills, peregrine falcons, bald eagles and marsh sparrows.