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Thursday, July 12th, 2012 #1363 |
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 | Gonna be a great day!
Mark Renz photo
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GOVERNING BOARD MEETING AGENDA
This meeting is open to the public, Webcast
July 12, 2012
9:00 AM
District Headquarters - Auditorium
3301 Gun Club Road
West Palm Beach, FL 33406 |
Tropical Audubon Society
| 5530 Sunset Drive Miami, Fl 33143
| (305) 667-7337 |
www.tropicalaudubon.org
Turkey Point Expansion & Everglades Restoration: Competing Interests South Florida already struggles to meet water supply demands, yet an application by Florida Power & Light (FPL) to build two new nuclear reactors (6 & 7) would increase water demands by over 90 million gallons a day. Meanwhile, our federal and state governments are spending an estimated total of $22.5 billion to restore Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park, and the proposed expansion of Turkey Point directly conflicts with planned restoration projects. Water Impact · FPL proposes to place radial collector wells approx. 40 feet below Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, in the upper levels of the Biscayne Aquifer (the Fort Thompson Formation). This depth may be within the "take zone" of the Biscayne Aquifer. · FPL proposes to inject 40 million gallons a day (MGD) of waste in the boulder zone, a layer of the lower Floridan aquifer. This assumes infinite holding capacity within this layer. · The Turkey Point expansion would require either approximately 90 MGD of reclaimed water, 124 MGD from its radial wells under Biscayne Bay or a combination of both. By comparison, the entire Florida Keys uses about 17 MGD. Everglades Impacts · the proposed expansion will impact over 800 acres of wetlands. FPL's plan to mitigate this loss is not sufficient. · At least 3% of the water to be used in the radial collector wells will come from the Biscayne Aquifer. This will result in a reduction of more than 3 million gallons a day of groundwater flow needed to support the flora and fauna of Biscayne Bay. The proposed expansion is in direct conflict with the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project, the goal of which is to return the bay to less saline conditions. · The availability of reuse water to meet both the projected needs of FPL to operate the new plant and the needs of the Everglades restoration is questionable. The outcome of a reuse feasibility study is expected in 2011. · The plan includes construction of transmission lines within the Everglades and along US1. · FPL's proposed transmission corridors impede upon lands within Everglades National Park and the footprint of BBCW and seek to fill more than 300 acres of wetlands. · US1 is an important corridor for growth because it is a public transportation route. If growth cannot occur along this corridor, sprawl is more likely to happen. · The proposed rock mining project, which is planned within the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands footprint (part of Everglades restoration), violates Miami-Dade County's Comprehensive Development Master Plan, interferes with planned restoration projects and could worsen saltwater intrusion and chloride contamination in the Biscayne aquifer-South Florida's primary drinking water supply. · Planned road expansions would block water flow to wetlands within Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and compartmentalize the areas to be used in wetland rehydration. · Releasing 30 MGD of steam from the reactor cooling process into the atmosphere (known as aerosol drift) has potentially damaging implications for local climate, wildlife and wildlife habitat, Biscayne Bay and locally grown food. · The Turkey Point property is a known habitat for endangered or threatened species such as indigo snakes, Florida panther, wood storks and roseate spoonbills and is critical habitat for the American crocodile. Contaminant loading into the Cooling Canal System and loss of habitat through plant operation and construction may negatively impact these species.. |
 | After the fire
Okaloacoochee -- Mark Renz photo art
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Why Burn in North America?
The Nature Conservancy supports the safe and ecologically appropriate use of fire Florida, where almost 70 percent of the state's 9 million acres of conservation land depends on fire to maintain its diversity of plant and animal life.
Long ago, when Florida was free of roads and houses, fire was a normal occurrence. Bolts of lightning would start a wildfire that meandered along, stopping at rivers or wetlands. Many native plants and animals still require regular fire for survival - just as they need rain and sunshine. However, human development has interrupted this natural pattern. Some conservation lands may not have burned for decades. So The Nature Conservancy's Florida Fire Team performs prescribed fires (also called controlled burns) to help keep nature in better balance. Fire helps keep non-native, invasive species in check and natural areas from becoming overgrown. And, regular prescribed fire may reduce the intensity of a wildfire by reducing fuel loads such as dead limbs and leaves. Baby, it's hot!
Prescribed fire is conducted by a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals. A "burn boss" organizes and supervises the event around a written plan and schedule. Strict safety procedures ensure the safety of the crew, nearby residents and private property, and conditions such as weather, wind and drought factors must be just right. Some staff will light a line of fire using drip torches. Others drive trucks carrying supplies and water to be used as a control agent. ATVs and even helicopters or trained horses may be on site, along with specialized tools. Florida Fire Manager Zach Prusak has many stories about some of the Conservancy's most flamboyant characters and fascinating work. Native animals escape
Thousands of Florida's key animal species depend upon fire. These include: - reptiles: gopher tortoise and indigo snake
- mammals: Florida mouse and Florida panther
- birds: Florida scrub-jay, red-cockaded woodpecker and burrowing owl
During a fire, as many as 40 species take refuge in gopher tortoise burrows. These wide, cool burrows average 15 feet long and 6 ˝ feet deep. Other species escape danger in their own way. Native plants rebound
After a controlled burn, a blackened field quickly revives with new, green life. Pitcher plants, many orchids, cutthroat and wiregrasses are among key species that thrive upon fire. Indeed, hundreds of Florida's plant species would be lost without it. See a slideshow. Longleaf pine is the perfect example. Its life cycle begins when fire prepares the soil for a pine seed to germinate by clearing the ground and turning leaves, dropped pine needles and sticks into fertilizer. For years a young seedling looks like a fuzzy pipe cleaner, its bud protected by tight needles while it grows a deep taproot. A second fire frees the bud and a tree quickly shoots high into the sky, above the fire line. Fire literally stimulates the next generation of this fabulous tree. A longleaf pine forest is one of the most endangered systems in North America; only 2 percent of a once-magnificent southeastern United States forest remains. Prescribed fire keeps the system alive. See a video about why we burn in North America. Yes, in my backyard!
The Conservancy owns approximately 61,000 acres of Florida conservation land, much of which needs fire. In 2010, the Florida Fire Team burned 7,478 acres of these sites, including: Conservancy teams also assist conservation partners who may lack experience or crews. In 2010, they helped tackle challenging projects on 133,551 acres, from base camps at: - Tiger Creek Preserve on the Lake Wales Ridge, protecting ancient scrub habitat;
- Ordway-Swisher Biological Station outside Gainesville, focusing on northeast Florida;
- Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve; and
- the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership, focusing on the Panhandle.
What problems does the Conservancy address?
- More professionals are needed to provide more prescribed fire. The Conservancy employs the best trainers available to groom fire leaders, using classroom work and hot-'n-dirty field experience.
- Support for fire from Florida's policy leaders is inconsistent. So the Conservancy works with agency directors and legislators to promote fire's benefits and improve management.
- Some Florida residents - especially newcomers - are afraid of fire or concerned about smoke, and government and media representatives may be, as well. The Conservancy gives public presentations, informs the media and creates brochures and pamphlets.
Partnerships are critical to success
The Nature Conservancyis the only nonprofit organization that is a National Wildfire Coordinating Group partner, able to collaborate on controlled burns with federal, state and local agencies. The Conservancy also cooperates with other groups in Florida and the Caribbean. Prescribed fire is a valuable tool to help preserve the diversity of life on Earth - now and for future generations. Have we kindled your interest?
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The sugar lobby will have you believe that the sugar program is a 'no cost' program that is working for U.S.
consumers, businesses and workers. In reality, the program is primarily only benefitting well-off farmers and
sugar companies. Here are some more myths and facts about the sugar program.
MYTH: The sugar program helps sustain 142,000 American jobs and reform efforts threaten those jobs.
FACT: Based on U.S. Census data, the International Trade Commission stated in August 2011 that there are
18,000 jobs in sugar crop farming and processing in the entire United States. That's not very close to
142,000. By contrast, Census data show approximately 600,000 jobs in those segments of the food industry
that purchase sugar. For an Agralytica white paper debunking the 142,000 jobs myth, please click here.
MYTH: The sugar program does not need reform because it is working.
FACT: Working for whom? Not consumers and business owners who pay an extra $3.5 billion a year
because of artificially high U.S. sugar prices. Not the U.S. economy, which lost 125,000 jobs in sugar-using
industries between 1997 and 2010.
MYTH: U.S. retail sugar prices are cheap compared to other countries.
FACT: This claim is based on an American Sugar Alliance chart with inaccurate numbers, which shows a 2011
U.S. retail sugar price of 58 cents per pound. However, there was not a single month in 2011 when the retail
price was below 66 cents, and the average for the year was 68.3 cents, according to the Bureau of Labor
statistics. The U.S. sugar price remains 50 percent higher than the world market price for refined sugar.
MYTH: Candy companies make enormous profits, so the sugar program can't be hurting them.
FACT: Due in large part to the high price of sugar, U.S. sugar-using companies continue to move offshore or
go out of business altogether. In 2011, Yarnell Ice Cream in Arkansas closed after 80 years, blaming high
sugar prices. Judson-Atkinson Candies in San Antonio, Texas halted domestic production because of high
sugar costs.
For more myths and facts about the sugar program, click here.
Congress - Reform Outdated Sugar Policies in the 2012 Farm Bill!
Learn more about the need to reform U.S. sugar policy in the 2012 Farm Bill at
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 | Ding Darlings
Mark Renz photo art
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The 225-page report is available HERE.
New Report: Interior Activities Contributed $385 Billion to Economy, Supported Over 2 Million Jobs in FY 2011
Economic Engines for Local Communities Include Energy Development and Outdoor Recreation
WASHINGTON -- From facilitating energy development to managing America's public lands for tourism and outdoor recreation to assisting Indian tribes with education and economic growth, the activities of the Department of the Interior contributed $385 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 2 million jobs in 2011, according to a new report released today.
"The Interior Department has a uniquely diverse mission that benefits the American people by promoting tourism, outdoor recreation, energy development and other economic activities that fuel local economies," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. "This report underscores that there are real, lasting impacts on communities and small businesses across the country where Interior is helping to strengthen economies and support families."
The report, The Department of the Interior's Economic Contributions, highlights the impacts of the Department's broad mission, including land and water management; energy and mineral development on public lands; encouraging tourism and outdoor recreation at national parks, monuments and refuges; wildlife conservation, hunting and fishing; support for American Indian tribal communities and Insular Areas; and scientific research and innovation.
Prepared by Interior's Office of Policy Analysis, today's report underscores the findings of other studies on the economic impacts of Interior Department lands and programs. For example, an earlier study found that recreation in national parks, refuges, and other public lands alone led to nearly $47 billion in economic contribution and 388,000 jobs in 2010.
Another report recently released by the Outdoor Industry Association showed that 140 million Americans spent $646 billion on hunting, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor recreation on public and private lands, including on the 500 million acres of public lands managed by Interior agencies.
"Under President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative, we are seeking to connect Americans, especially young Americans, to nature by providing more outdoor recreation opportunities. The President has also launched a major initiative to work with states and communities across the country to promote domestic and international tourism - America's #1 export - at places such as national parks and national wildlife refuges," said Salazar. "President Obama's focus on expanding responsible domestic energy development is working alongside our 21st century conservation, travel and tourism agendas to reinvigorate local communities - particularly in rural America."
The major highlights of the Department of the Interior's Economic Contributions report include:
- The 435 million recreational visits to Interior-managed lands in 2011 supported about 403,000 jobs nationwide and contributed nearly $48.7 billion in economic activity.
- Many jobs associated with recreation on Interior lands are located in rural communities, including 18,000 jobs in Utah, 16,000 jobs in Wyoming, 14,000 jobs in Arizona and 10,000 jobs in Colorado.
- Energy development and mining on Interior-managed lands and offshore areas supported about 1.5 million jobs and $275 billion in economic activity. Most of these jobs are in Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, New Mexico, California, and Florida.
- Interior provides services to 1.7 million American Indians and Alaska Natives from 566 federally recognized tribes. Activities on tribal lands contributed around $12 billion in economic output and supported nearly 126,000 jobs. Support for tribal governments through loan guarantees and other aid contributed an additional $1.2 billion in economic output and about 9,500 jobs.
- Interior's water supply, forage and timber activities, primarily on public lands in the West, supported about 290,000 jobs and $41 billion in economic activity.
- Investments in construction and maintenance totaled approximately $2.6 billion, which contributed about $7.2 billion in economic activity and supported almost 49,000 jobs.
- Interior administers a variety of grants and payments programs. These programs support activities such as reclamation of abandoned mine lands, historic preservation, conservation activities, and tribal governments. Grants and payments totaling $4.2 billion in 2011 contributed about $10 billion worth of economic activity and supported about 84,000 jobs.
The 225-page report is available HERE. |
Lee 20/20 Purchase in Alva
Written byKevin Lollar - News-Press
Lee County's latest Conservation 20/20 acquisition is a $1.7 million fixer-upper: 309.69 acres of forested wetlands, pine flatwoods and hardwood hammock that's 70 percent covered in non-native vegetation.
But as of Monday, the property is part of the 1,155.49-acre Alva Scrub Preserve and, once restored to a more natural state, will be important wildlife habitat.
"It's a large piece of property that adds to a wildlife corridor out in Alva," said Lynda Thompson, Conservation 20/20 program coordinator. "It's not in natural condition, but it was cattle range and easily restorable. Obviously, the most desirable property is completely natural. This is the second most desirable."
Lee County bought the property for $1.7 million through its Conservation 20/20 program, which uses property taxes to acquire environmentally and archaeologically sensitive lands.
The program, which was approved by voters in 1996, has spent $300 million for 115 properties totaling 24,781 acres to create 43 preserves.
Alva Scrub Preserve now consists of seven parcels ranging in size from 24.72 acres to 309.69 acres; the seven parcels cost $16.66 million.
Although much of the new property is covered with non-native vegetation, which is not good habitat for native wildlife, most of it is easily removable Brazilian pepper, said Laura Greeno, 20/20 land stewardship coordinator.
"We can come out with our big grinder and grind it up," she said. "It will take a few years doing it a piece at a time."
Other restoration will include thinning out native slash pines, which have formed unnaturally thick stands on some parts of the property.
"That will open it up," Greeno said. "A lot more understory stuff will grow for the gopher tortoises and turkeys - we have a lot of turkeys."
For a property to be eligible for purchase under the 20/20 program, the 15-member Conservation Lands Acquisition and Stewardship Committee consider such criteria as the existence of environmentally sensitive elements, size and location and habitat for plants and animals.
"This is a relatively big piece, so it's going to have good habitat diversity," Greeno said of the Alva Scrub addition. "It's not just 10 acres of pine forest. "It has wetlands that are good for amphibians, which are the base of the food chain. There are good gopher tortoise areas. Being big is a good thing." Haven for jays
One of the most important criteria for the new Alva Scrub property was location: It joins the rest of the Alva Scrub Preserve, which, in turn, joins the 1,115-acre Hickory Creek Mitigation Park. While 12 species on the state's list of imperiled species have been documented in Alva Scrub Preserve, including endangered wood storks and snail kites, of special interest is the threatened Florida scrub jay. Scrub jays are territorial and live in family groups with home ranges of 10-25 acres. In 2004, a survey showed 12 of Lee County's 15 scrub jay family groups were in the Hickey's Creek-Alva Scrub area. "Three hundred and nine acres could be quite significant as you're trying to patch together a bigger piece of property for these birds," said scrub jay expert Steve Shattler, a biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Any time you're dealing with threatened species, you're looking long term. Restoration is the goal. The more space you have, the more opportunity to work with what's there." In all, 130 animal species have been identified in Alva Scrub Preserve. Some of those species would presumably move to the preserve's latest edition. "You don't buy land like that just for scrub jays," Shattler said. "Eventually, that property will be really nice. This is how conservation works, buying one piece at a time.".... |
 | Molluscivore
Female Everglades snail kite
Mark Renz photo
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Red Tide Report
This Website also provides links to additional information related to the topic of Florida red tide including satellite imagery, experimental red tide forecasts, shellfish harvesting areas, the FWC Fish Kill Hotline, the Aquatic Toxins Hotline (for information or to report human health effects), and other wildlife related hotlines:
(http://myfwc.com/research/redtide/events/status/contact/. ) and click on "Harmful Algal Bloom Species". Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Karen Karen E. Atwood Harmful Algal Bloom Group FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute |
This morning, we took a giant, lifesaving step forward in the protection of imperiled frogs, turtles, toads, lizards and salamanders.
The Center for Biological Diversity just filed the largest-ever Endangered Species Act petition focusing solely on saving America's reptiles and amphibians. It will provide badly needed protection for some of our nation's most vulnerable wildlife in 45 states -- from Florida and the Northeast to California and the Midwest.
I wanted to take a moment to personally thank you and share this great news. You can also read more on our Web page.
Though rarely in the news, reptiles and amphibians are in the midst of a profound, human-driven extinction crisis unlike any other they've ever faced. The Center is the only conservation group in the country tackling this crisis at such a large scale.
We teamed up on the petition with renowned scientists like E.O. Wilson and Thomas Lovejoy who understand the incredible value of herpetofauna, also known as "herps," and the unbelievable strain frogs, turtles, salamanders and lizards are under from habitat loss, disease, climate change and pollution.
Scientists estimate that one in four of the nation's amphibians and reptiles are at risk of extinction. And yet just 58 of the 1,400 U.S. species protected under the Endangered Species Act are herpetofauna.
That's why we worked with wildlife experts on an exhaustive investigation to find the country's most vulnerable but least protected herps. Our 450-page petition filed today to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service highlights 53 species that most urgently need protection under the Endangered Species Act.
They include:
- Prehistoric-looking alligator snapping turtles, which have declined by up to 95 percent in parts of their historic range in the Southeast;
- Illinois chorus frogs, whose distinctive, high-pitch songs are heard less frequently because of urban development in their habitat;
- California's Kern Canyon slender salamanders, which are struggling to survive against grazing, logging, mining and highway construction.
Today's petition is the culmination of months of work and an important step in securing protection for America's most vulnerable reptiles and amphibians. We're proud of the work we're doing on this -- and thankful for your generous backing in making it happen.
Thank you especially to all our members whose donations last month made this life-saving petition possible. Your support helped make this ambitious petition a reality.
P.S. These 53 species are all integral parts of the wild places where they live, and it's crucial they get protections before it's too late. The Center has the nation's only full-time attorney focused on saving herpetofauna and a tireless team of expert scientists who are making it happen. Find out more about this exciting campaign on our website. |
Big Cypress Gallery Annual Open House
September 1-3, 2012
Featuring Guided Swamp Walks Tours
SWAMP WALKS....
Your guide will lead you into the mysterious, primeval environment of the Big Cypress Swamp behind the Big Cypress Gallery. There are not many people who brave the difficult swamps and cypress strands in order to understand the beauty and peace found in more than a million acres of swamps and land located in the Everglades eco-system of South Florida. The natural world of Big Cypress Swamp is a richly diverse wilderness of subtropical flora and fauna found nowhere else in our country. | |
For this event only: you will receive a $25 gift certificate to use in the gallery with purchase of swamp walk ~ kids are free with paid adutls. Swamp Walks $50 per person
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Eco-Voice, Inc. is a non-partisan, independant communication portal for individuals and organizations interested in the environmental issues impacting the southwest Florida environment. The opinions of those posting on this site are not necessarily those of the site managers or their sponsors. If posts are found to have factual errors or partisan political statements not appropriate for a 501c3, they will be deleted without comment by the moderator. Eco-Voice, Inc. does not sell, share, trade, distribute or otherwise use your e-mail address other than to send you the notices to which you subscribe.
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.'' REGISTRATION# CH31394.
Checks to support Eco-Voice can be sent to Post Office Box 50161, Fort Myers, Fl 33994. |
Take a Walk to Protect People, Pets, Livestock, Bears and Panthers
What: Volunteer to join us in walking a neighborhood in northern Golden Gate Estates to distribute information to residents on living responsibly with Florida panthers, bears, and other southwest Florida wildlife.
Who's Involved: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the FL Panther Refuge, Conservancy of SW Florida, Naples Zoo, National Park Service, Collier County Sheriff's Office and a host of others working to conserve the Florida panther and other native wildlife.
When: Saturday, July 14, 2012
At 8:00a.m.
Orientation with Cathy Connolly,
Bear Management Specialist,
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Where:
Golden Gate Estates Library
1266 Golden Gate Blvd., W.
Naples, FL 34120
Sign up: Contact Shannon Miller at
Defenders of Wildlife
smiller@defenders.org |
 | Darwin discovers enchanted forest
Mark Renz photo
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Lecture: Helping Stranded Marine Mammals
Wed., July 11
5:30 pm = doors open
6-7 pm = lecture
Speaker: Denise Boyd, FWC Research Associate
Sort of like an ER doctor, Denise Boyd is often on the run to the next emergency as the first responder to manatee, dolphin and whale stranding events in southwest Florida.
Find out more about the animals that need her help, what happens to them after they've been rescued and what it takes to get these creatures back into the waters where they belong.
RSVP suggested online or to 417-6310 x401
$8 members/$10 public and includes wine and cheese
Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center
300 Tower Road, Naples |
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http://watercitizen.com/
Introducing Water Citizen - Everything Water for Every Water Citizen!
Water Citizen is a free, independent, nonpartisan, nonadvocacy social enterprise dedicated to increasing public access to, awareness of, and involvement in the current understanding of water and our interactions with water. Water Citizen includes three components:
1) Water Citizen News - a free, independent, nonadvocacy press that provides water news and features including both "hard news" (water and policy, business, and technology) and "soft news" (water and sports and recreation, arts and entertainment, spirituality, community). Water Citizen News provides original content as well as contributed content and invites active participation from water citizens.
2) Water Citizen Education - providing educational products and programs for a general audience - the first of which is the Water Citizen's Guide to Water in Congress (estimated release in Fall 2012).
3) Water Citizen WaterTainment(TM) - providing original online programming and other multimedia productions.
The Water Citizen News Preview Edition will be available SOON. This news site is for YOU - please consider becoming a reviewer for Water Citizen News Preview Edition - check back often and provide your comments on how we can be of service to you, providing the water stories you want to read! Be one of the first subscribers to this free online news source, providing "Everything Water for Every Water Citizen." To be sure you find out about the latest stories posted (including a SPECIAL SERIES ON WATER IN THE OLYMPICS), enter your name and email into the subscription box TODAY.
Please note that, for a limited time, every subscriber to the Water Citizen News Preview Edition will receive a free copy of THE WATER CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO WATER IN CONGRESS. To be developed this fall by water planning and policy expert (and Water Citizen founder) Cat Shrier, this exciting new guide will provide a simple break-down of the many different congressional committees that consider legislation related to water, explain the process, key players, and timeline so that individual citizens who are interested in water can have a better understanding of water legislation and how they can get follow and even get involved in the process. As with all aspects of Water Citizen, this will be a nonadvocacy, nonpartisan guide. To reserve your free copy, please enter your name and email into the subscription box TODAY.
Please check back often, enter your subscription information for the latest updates, and follow us on Twitter @WATCITSAY!
Who Are We? Water Citizen's Founder and CEO is Cat Shrier, Ph.D., P.G. Cat is a leading expert in water resources planning and policy, and has worked extensively on nonadvocacy water educations, communications, and outreach. The Founding Managing Editor of Water Citizen News is Robert Thomason. Robert has been a journalist and editor for nearly three decades, with 20 years at the Washington Post as well as positions with newspapers in North Carolina. For the last 3 years, he has created and run a news site on global resources, posting stories and datasets on the interrelations of the environment, the economy and conflict. |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Everglades Ecosystem Assessment Program is a long-term research, monitoring and assessment effort. Its goal is to provide critical, timely, scientific information needed for management decisions on the Everglades ecosystem and its restoration. Since 1993, three phases of marsh sampling and one phase of canal sampling have been conducted throughout the Everglades at over 1000 different locations. The Program is unique to South Florida in that it combines several key aspects of scientific study: a probability-based sampling design, which permits quantitative statements across space about the condition of the ecosystem; a multi-media aspect; and extensive spatial coverage.
This Program:
- contributes to documenting the effectiveness of phosphorus and mercury control efforts;
- contributes to the joint federal-state Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) by quantifying conditions in three physiographic regions: Everglades ridge and slough; marl prairie/rocky glades; and Big Cypress Swamp;
- provides information on four groups of Everglades restoration success indicators: surface water, soil and sediment, vegetation, and fish;
- provides a baseline against which future conditions can be compared and the effectiveness of restoration efforts can be gauged;
- assesses the effects and potential risks of multiple environmental stressors on the Everglades ecosystem, such as water management, soil loss, water quality degradation, habitat loss, and mercury contamination; and
- provides data with multiple applications - updating and calibrating surface water management models; updating models that predict periphyton or vegetation changes in response to phosphorus enrichment or phosphorus control; developing empirical models in order to better understand interrelationships among mercury, sulfur, phosphorus, and carbon; developing water quality standards to protect fish and wildlife.
www.sfrestore.org
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You and me and us and them
Stir the winds now and then
Maybe if we backed away
we could stir a calmer day
-- Mark Renz
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Please note that due to a scheduling conflict the DEP/SFWMD special call in to talk about Water Quality Plan originally scheduled for Friday, July 13th at 1:00pm has been moved to 4:00pm. Greg Munson (DEP), Ernie Marks (DEP) and Ernie Barnett (SFWMD) have asked to go over the states recently announced Water Quality Plan.
The call in will be on Friday, July 13th from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm. DEP Participants: Greg Munson & Ernie Marks SFWMD Participants: Ernie Barnett
Conference Number to use:
Call in: 1-888-670-3525
Participant code: 1204237595 then #
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51st ANNUAL MEETING
Island Beach State Park, Seaside, New Jersey
September 20 - 23, 2012 |
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This 51st annual meeting of the Society will be held at Seaside Park, NJ, starting Thursday evening, September 20, and ending Sunday, September 23. As usual, the long weekend is an excuse to get out into littoral territory to see nature in action. |
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 Submit your artwork for the CHNEP 2013 calendar We live in a beautiful place and many of you have captured this beauty in your artwork, as is evidenced by the calendars produced by the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) since 2005. The CHNEP is a partnership program working to protect the natural environment of Florida from Venice to Estero Bay to Winter Haven. We hope you will consider being a part of the 2013 calendar. Please let others know who you think may be interested in participating. You can have your artwork published. Have you captured an image of the beauty of the natural environment? The image could have been captured today or 50 years ago in any medium (photography, oil, illustration, etc.) within the CHNEP study area of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee and Lee counties and portions of Highlands, Manatee, Polk and Sarasota counties. Whether you are young or old, professional or amateur, you may submit up to three (3) digitized entries for consideration by the people within the region for inclusion in a 2013 calendar. There are two ways to submit your images: by email or on a compact disk (CD). No matter which way the images are provided, they must be received by 5 p.m. July 14, 2012. If you hand deliver them, they must be dropped off at the office before 5 p.m. on Friday, July 13. Each entry mustbe accompanied by a release form that allows the CHNEP to use the entries in items such as the calendar, the Harbor Happenings newsletteror on the program website. Images will only be posted for selection if a completed release form (available at www.CHNEP.org) is received and if the images are submitted as digital files. A signed model release form (available at www.CHNEP.org) must also be provided for each recognizable person in the image(s). Send the images by email to mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org. Do not consider them received until you receive an email confirming they were received. If you do not receive this confirmation email, your entries were not received. In lieu of the printed release form, go to the website and complete an online version of the entry form. (Our email has been upgraded so we are now able to accept large files.) |
Remembering John Ogden
Remembering John Ogden
By Frank Graham Jr.
National Audubon's staff and environmental activists suffered a tragic loss this spring with the death, at 73, of John Ogden, a great scientist and an influential conservationist in the preservation of Florida's Everglades.
"John was a stickler for just that-sound, well-conceived, properly conducted, peer-reviewed science," says Nathaniel P. Reed, a former Audubon board member and Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and National Parks in the Nixon and Ford administrations. "John was a giant, a determined companion in our efforts to save what's left of the great Everglades ecosystem and dramatically improve the management of the water resources on which so much of South Florida's wildlife depends."
Audubon hired Ogden away from the National Park Service in 1974 as its senior research biologist. He became a leading authority on wood storks and their complex needs in southern wetlands. During the early 1980s he helped manage Audubon's research and conservation campaign to preserve the California condor.
He continued working closely with Audubon biologists after returning to the National Park Service in 1988 as a senior research scientist on restoration projects in the Everglades. He later became lead environmental scientist in the planning department of the South Florida Water Management District. Fittingly, before his official retirement, he served as director of bird conservation for Audubon of Florida.
In recent years Ogden was a consultant for various wetlands restoration initiatives. He also made several trips to Cuba, building partnerships between American and Cuban scientists studying birds and butterflies. Before his illness, he had planned two trips to Cuba for this past spring.
On March 30, John's wife, Maryanne Biggar, and daughter Laura Ogden brought him from the hospital to his home, set among lush Florida foliage in Homestead. "He died the next day," says Laura. "Maryanne and I were with him. The French doors were wide open to the butterfly garden, and the garden was filled with painted buntings."
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Frank Graham Jr. is a field editor for Audubon. |
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