High above the treetops, Lloyd Strickland has a birds-eye-view of the world. Strickland mans the watch towers that stand near Madison County’s wooded regions; for seven hours a day, four days a week, he sits high above the world, giving a watchful eye to the horizon to be on the alert for any smoke or other sign that a wildfire is in progress. After retiring from Duke Energy after 31 years of working with them, Strickland says he “got bored sitting at the house doing nothing” and decided to spend his retired time doing something else. “It keeps me out of trouble,” said Strickland in good-humor. His favorite part of the job is just being out amongst nature. When he isn’t in the watchtower, he’s either hunting or fishing. The position of having a man inside the watchtowers is slowly becoming a “dying position,” Strickland says, as computers take over the job of keeping an eye to the horizon and watching over our forests. But Strickland enjoys his time in the tower, mentioning how most crop dusters that fly by are lower than he is up in the tower. “I see turkey, I see deer moving and I can really see the change of seasons now,” said Strickland. “I never paid that much attention to the seasons, but after sitting year ‘round, you can tell. It’s not an exactly exciting job, but it’s not boring either.” He says sitting at the top is peaceful; his position on the top of the world gives him the opportunity to read a book while keeping an eye out, and he can go through a good book in about two weeks. Llyod Strickland is a native North Floridian; raised, and schooled all in the North Florida regions. He also used to judge AKC Hunt Tests in the Retriever Trials. Madison County is one of the few counties left that still have personnel manning their four towers; in a time of technology, it’s nice to take a pause and turn our eyes to the wooded forests that Florida is so rich in and remember those who use their time to protect it from wildfires.
