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Friday, Jan. 20th, 2012 # 1188 |
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Daily Eco-Voice Emailed Digest of news, views and events.
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The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is a founding Eco-Voice sponsor
http://www.collieraudubon.info/index.html
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The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has a long history monitoring and protecting our water, including the first landmark Naples Bay study conducted in 1979. Water quality monitoring and research are still large parts of the work we do.
Throughout the five-county region, we work with planners and decision-makers to ensure they are educated on the that stringent water management tools and best practices are in place, utilized and enforced across the region, and that they base their decisions on best-available science.
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An exciting new Nature Center is on its way!
Although the Conservancy Nature Center is currently CLOSED, a phased-in reopening is planned for early 2012. Actual dates will be posted here once they are confirmed. We are looking forward to seeing you. Please note that the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic and Administrative offices are open as usual. All members and their families are invited to "Sensational Saturday Celebrations!" 11 AM and 2 PM on January 21 and 28, and February 4, 11, 18 and 25. Family-friendly education programs are followed by an earth-friendly craft or game. Gordon B. eagle, the Conservancy mascot, will visit at 12 noon. Click here for more information. The Nature Zone will also be open to view the new baby loggerhead. Nature Store also will be open.
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If we could stop the sun from fully setting
and capture it during it's most dramatic moment
We could appreciate its beauty again and again and again
But wait...We can!
Click!
Mark Renz photo art and words
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A record number of manatees were counted Tuesday in Broward County , as near-perfect conditions made it easier for biologists to see the endangered mammals from the air. A helicopter survey found 1,192 manatees, the vast majority in the cooling lakes of a Florida Power & Light plant west of Fort Lauderdale Hollywood-International Airport.
Power plants suck in water to cool their turbines, discharging warm water that attracts manatees. The animals can't tolerate cold and flock to the plants when the temperature drops. ..
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Speak Out to Protect Florida Bay
Passionate citizens make the difference when it comes to saving Florida's natural wonders. Floridians who let our elected leaders know how important these places are often are the difference between a good outcome and a damaging environmental decision.
Florida's environmental history is full of examples of citizens coming together to influence public policy and achieve important conservation results. You can make your voice heard through letters, email, phone calls, face-to-face meetings, Facebook and other social media. But most importantly, take action today.
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Photo by DAVID ALBERS // Buy this photo
David Albers/Staff - Seasonal Naples resident Vincent Castelluzzo digs for sand fleas near a water drainage pipe under repair near the Fourth Avenue North beach access on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, in Naples. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has backed off a requirement for the City of Naples to remove the drainage pipes. The city council doesn't have a plan for removing the pipes but has pledged to work on one.
Naples Mayor-elect John Sorey praised the DEPs flexibility, saying it is a reflection of a new approach to government that Gov. Rick Scott has brought to Tallahassee. |
Putting Farmland On A Fertilizer Diet
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a document recently that got no attention on the nightly news, or almost anywhere, really. Its title, I'm sure you'll agree, is a snooze: National Nutrient Management Standard.
Yet this document represents the agency's best attempt to solve one of the country's - and the world's - really huge environmental problems: The nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute waterways.
There's a simple reason why this problem is so big, and so hard to solve. Farmers have to feed their fields, before those fields can feed us. Without fertilizer, harvests would dwindle. But lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters lie downstream from highly fertilized farmland, and now they are choking to death on too much nutrition.....
So around the world, environmentalists and scientists are mobilizing to fight the plague of over-nutrition. That's where the new USDA document comes in. It lays out a host of steps that farmers can take - and will have to take, if they get funding from certain USDA programs - to minimize the spread of nutrients outside farm fields.
Essentially, it involves putting farmland on a sensible diet. Only feed the land as much as it really needs. And don't apply fertilizer, including manure, when the crops don't need it. Also, try to capture and store any excess nutrients. For instance, grow wintertime "cover crops" that can trap free nitrogen before it leaches into groundwater....
http://www.npr.org/rss/rss.php?id=1025
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Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.
Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.
Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel.
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
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 | Best buds?
Not quite The mockingbird at lower left has staked out a bougainvillea bush in our backyard perhaps to build a nest The pigeon made the mistake
of landing in a pine above the bush which upset the mockingbird For 30 minutes, the pigeon tried to fly off but was bombarded by the mocking bird and forced to perch tight until nest-builder-to-be lost interest and flew back to her bush Mark Renz photo and story |
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Updated Blueprint for Economic and Environmental Leadership
In Florida, having abundant fish and wildlife, public access to beaches and state parks, and clean rivers, springs, bays, and oceans are a matter of economic survival. Coastal tourism and recreation are two of Florida's top ocean industries and both depend on healthy ecosystems.
The Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition, of which the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is a member, released Florida's Coastal and Ocean Future: An Updated Blueprint For Economic And Environmental Leadership ("Blueprint Update") on January 4, 2012. This report addresses Florida's most challenging coastal and marine topics and recommends actions for protecting and preserving the future of Florida's coasts and oceans. It provides a road map for the public and policy makers on pressing environmental issues.
The Blueprint Update recommends actions for restoring the Gulf of Mexico by addressing many of the concerns that were prevalent before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and that received much needed focus following the spill. The report also addresses coastal policy and development, protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife, coastal water quality, and planning the future of our oceans and coasts.
Jennifer Hecker, Director of Natural Resource Policy for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida stated, "The Florida Department of Environmental Protection should work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish strong numeric nutrient pollution standards to protect and improve the health of Florida's water bodies, including coastal and estuarine ecosystems. This is a central issue to the health of Florida's coastal and marine environments."
Please read the full report here.
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Magic Under the Mangroves fundraiser takes place March 8, 2012.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has announced the Eagle Award winners for the eighth annual Magic Under the Mangroves fundraiser, which will take place March 8, 2012, returning to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida Nature Center campus..... |
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Canoe Expedition Highlights
A canoe expedition sponsored by the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation will draw attention to the invaluable role the Everglades plays in the ecology of Florida. Paddlers will travel from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County to Water Conservation Area 2 in Broward County. From there, the group will head toward the trip's finish at the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County, covering 78 miles during six days of paddling and camping.
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Reports and background information on Caloosahatchee conditions are available online at:
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 | I was sipping coffee the other morning
and contemplating water flow and quality in the Glades...
When an aircraft passed high overhead...
 | As I watched the exhaust trail widen and slowly settle over Lee County,
The thought occurred to me...
 | Are we including "air" in Everglades restoration?
Is it an issue?
According to ideaconnection, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change reported that airplane exhaust is having an effect on global warming and is expected to grow over the next 50 years despite improvements in technology. Its current contribution is about 3% rising to 5% in 2050...(click any photo for their web site)
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Mark Renz photos
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Sincerely,
Eco-Voice Moderator
Eco-Voice, Inc.
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