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With Gratitude, We Remember
Congressman Bill Young
It is with great sadness that the Tampa Bay region marked the passing of Congressman Bill Young last month. While many people are aware of his tremendous support for public health, transportation, sustainable water supplies, and active and retired military personnel, they may not be aware of his pivotal role in the creation of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
In 1990, Congressman Young reached across the political aisle to work with Congressman Sam Gibbons, a Democrat, to sponsor the legislation that established Tampa Bay as one of only 28 "estuaries of national significance." Hillsborough County Commissioner Jan Platt was also instrumental in this effort. The result of this truly bipartisan initiative was an infusion of federal funds to jump-start efforts to restore Tampa Bay through the community partnership that is the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
In the ensuing 23 years, Tampa Bay has become an international success story. Overall water quality in the bay is now as good as it was in the 1950s, and we are regaining life-sustaining underwater seagrasses at an all-time high average of 730 acres per year, putting us within reach of our goal of 38,000 acres baywide.
In 2011, Congressman Young entered a Proclamation into the Congressional Record, recognizing the 20th Anniversary of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and stating that it was "an honor to be a partner in this incredible successful partnership that has made an invaluable contribution to restoring this unique Florida ecosystem."
Indeed, it has been our great honor to have had Congressman Young's support and engagement throughout the years. Tampa Bay's recovery is a testimony to his dedication.
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UP THE CREEK WITH
LOTS OF PADDLES
The TBEP staff gave a group presentation on our inter-disciplinary approach to restoring tidal creeks in the Tampa Bay watershed at the fall meeting of the Association of National Estuary Programs in Mobile, Alabama.
The presentation showcased our integrated, holistic strategy -- from applied research to assess the causes of tidal stream degradation and cost-effective restoration techniques, to education and outreach programs that enlist citizens to restore creek shorelines and foster individual behavior changes that reduce pollution and lead to healthier creeks.
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A mangrove-shrouded tidal creek
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The more than 100 streams that flow into Tampa Bay are important fish nurseries and bird foraging areas. They also serve as natural flood storage and pollution filters. But most have been altered by human activities, including shoreline development and associated loss of native vegetation; channelization; and construction of structures such as roads and weirs that limit exchange between fresh and salty water. Research sponsored by TBEP has shown that tidal creeks support 2-3 times as many snook as other bay habitats. Our research also has identified and prioritized creeks impacted by "salinity barriers" that impede water flow. We are now evaluating the removal of barriers on select streams, including the potential changes in flow and water quality.
This work is enhanced by citizen-volunteers who help to remove invasive plants from creek shorelines and replant with native vegetation, and by the Be Floridian campaign that encourages homeowners to use less lawn fertilizer to reduce harmful runoff to the bay and its tidal tributaries.
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Visit our Pinterest Boards to ooh and aah over beautiful Tampa Bay aquascapes; learn how seagrass is monitored and measured; share the pink flamingo fun through our Be Floridian program; and get inspiration for your own Florida Yard makeover.
Check back often for new boards and photos!
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Harry Cunningham III, left, often donates the use of his boats and other heavy equipment at our Give a Day For The Bay workdays
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Community Advisory Committee Spotlight:
Harry Cunningham III
Harry Cunningham has always been drawn to water. He lives on Bullfrog Creek in South Hillsborough County, has crewed and captained many vessels including his own, snorkels and dives, and has spent countless hours cleaning trash from shorelines and restoring habitat.
Co-chair of the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), Cunningham has been a steadfast volunteer at our Give A Day for the Bay work days since 2008, and was recognized as Volunteer of the Year in 2009.
The semi-retired electrical engineer admits he has never been busier. He is a regular volunteer at Rye Preserve in Manatee County and teaches electrical engineering at Hillsborough Community College.
Harry stepped up to fill an open seat on the CAC in 2010. He says the most rewarding aspect of his work on the committee is serving as a judge for the Bay Mini-Grants, TBEP's community grant program.
"It has really expanded my knowledge of what's going on in the community ... all the small groups and organizations and individuals who are working on projects to protect the environment. It's really amazing," he said
Cunningham, 76, has been married to wife Vonda for 48 years and has five grandkids. One of them, Fallon Williams, is his regular sidekick at most Give a Days, and is even studying electrical engineering!
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TBEP STAFF UPDATE
TBEP Outreach Specialist Colleen Gray coordinated a Leave No Trace (LNT) Trainer Workshop November 2-3 at Duette Preserve in Manatee County. The course is designed to train educators, guides, agency employees and other outdoor professionals in the ethics and etiquette of enjoying natural areas. Participants were trained to teach the Leave No Trace national curriculum in schools, camps, parks, and other settings.
Our musical Environmental Science and Policy Manager Lindsay Cross performed as a member of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay with The Florida Orchestra in October. The Chorale's "Holiday Pops!" concert is December 13-15.
On behalf of TBEP, Lindsay gave a presentation on water quality improvements in Tampa Bay to attendees of the Tri-County Water School and helped to coordinate a community forum on climate change.
 Executive Director Holly Greening and her husband vacationed in New Mexico this summer where they were able to watch the amazing spectacle of bats nectaring on cactus
flowers at night!
Staff scientist EdSherwood went lobstering in the Florida Keys
in October. Alas, he did not share the lobster love with his co-workers!
Outreach Coordinator Nanette O'Hara spent the first week of November fly fishing for bonefish on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
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Revenues from the Tampa Bay Estuary plate, also known as the "Tarpon Tag," support TBEP grants to community organizations for projects that directly benefit Tampa Bay. Support the only specialty tag whose revenues stay solely within our community and our bay!
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Happy Holidays
Your Gift is Appreciated ...
Please consider a gift to the Tampa Bay Estuary Program this giving season. Your contribution will support our mission of restoring and protecting Tampa Bay, one of only 28 "estuaries of national significance"
in the United States.
Tampa Bay is Florida's largest open-water estuary, home to an incredible variety of fish and wildlife, and a rich mosaic of natural habitats. It is our home too.
With your help, we can maintain the bay's remarkable recovery -- today, tomorrow and for generations to come.
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Photo by Jose Suro
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Coastal Habitat Assessment Examines Implications of Climate Change
TBEP is launching a long-term monitoring plan to track over time the impact of climate change on critical coastal habitats such as mangroves, salt marshes, salt barrens, freshwater wetlands and coastal uplands in the bay watershed.
The plan is designed to detect both small- and large-scale changes in abundance and ecological function due to natural and manmade causes, and assess methods for improving management of these vital habitats. The work is jointly funded by TBEP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
TBEP and its partners have been tracking the relative acreage of coastal habitats in the bay watershed for two decades, as part of our "restoring the balance" strategy. This recognizes that some habitats (such as salt barrens and low-salinity backwaters) have been lost in greater proportion than others (such as mangroves) and seeks to restore the historic ratios. "Restoring the balance" recognizes that Tampa Bay is heathiest when it has a wide diversity of habitats capable of supporting our most important fish and wildlife species throughout their entire life cycles.
The new assessment attempts to document the baseline condition of key habitats, not just the quantity, to create a reference by which to monitor changes over time. The work also will analyze how both human activities such as urban and shoreline development, and natural stressors such as climate change and rising seas may alter the ecological integrity of critical bay habitats. Understanding long-term impacts may help bay managers better assist natural systems in preparing for or adapting to the changes.
"This baseline information will be particularly valuable for resource managers and agencies that restore conservation lands," said Lindsay Cross, TBEP Environmental Science and Policy Manager. "If we detect that certain habitats are being impacted we can adjust how we manage those areas or look at what habitats need greater protection in the future."
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Projected Sea Level Rise through 2100
Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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The assessment is expected to take 18 months. Specific tasks include:
-- Establishing at least one fixed monitoring transect in each of the four primary bay segments;
-- Siting the transects in low-lying areas with a full range of
emergent tidal wetland communities ( mangrove, salt marsh, salt barren,tidal rivers and creeks, and coastal uplands);
-- Establishing fixed plots at selected points representative of various plant communities along the transects; and,
-- Collecting data annually during a low tide.
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Golden Mangrove Award Presented for Stormwater Pond RestorationA condominium association in St Petersburg has received the "Golden Mangrove Award" as the Tampa Bay Estuary Program's most outstanding Bay Mini-Grant project for 2012. The Shores of Long Bayou Homeowners Association was honored for the community's "Ibis Pond" restoration project in St. Petersburg. Led by resident Ernie Franke, the condo residents restored a small stormwater pond on their property, removing invasive plants and muck from the pond, and replanting the shoreline with native plants that help cleanse runoff and attract wildlife. The Ibis Pond Restoration project was selected from 21 community groups, non-profits, and organizations who received Bay Mini-Grants from TBEP last year. TBEP's Community Advisory Committee created the award, and selected the winning project. This is the sixth year an award has been given to recognize an exceptional community grant project.  |
Click on arrow to view short video on
Ibis Pond Restoration
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This photo taken before and during a King Tide on Siesta Key by Larry Stults is part of the photo exhibit.
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King Tide Photo Exhibit Travels to
Weedon Island Preserve
For a glimpse into the future of coastal communities shaped by rising seas, visit TBEP's traveling exhibit, "Chasing The Waves," featuring photos taken during "King," or extreme high tides, on display at Weedon Island Preserve's Cultural and Natural History Center through November 30. It moves to Robinson Preserve in Bradenton for January and February 2014, to the Oldsmar Public Library in April 2014 and the St. Petersburg Main Library in May 2014.
King Tides, which occur once or twice a year when the orbits of the earth and moon align, are the highest predictable tides. The Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay Estuary Programs are sponsoring the traveling photo exhibit to raise awareness of the impact of rising sea levels. The show presents photographs taken locally and around the world to show the potential effects of sea level rise on shorelines and structures.
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"GIVE A DAY" VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR
Congratulations to Scott and Virginia Lloyd-Jones, our 2013 "Give A Day For The Bay" Volunteers of the Year! The Sun City Center couple has given generously of their time, participating in every Give a Day for the Bay over the past two years. They were honored with a cake at the October 5 Give A Day workday at Pinellas County's Sawgrass Lake Park, where they were joined by nearly two dozen volunteers who removed 40 bags of air potatoes, vines, and trash.
The Lloyd-Joneses realize that removing invasive plant species -- the primary goal of the volunteer workdays -- helps protect the bay and the native plants, birds, fish and animals that make it their home.
"We like being able to contribute our time to projects that would not get done otherwise due to staffing and budget constraints," they add. "And knowing that our small contribution is appreciated and making a difference."
The active couple are world travelers and love to join guided birding tours. This year's big trip will be birding in South Africa!
Thank you to the Lloyd-Joneses and all our
hard-working Give a Day volunteers!Upcoming Give a Days:
December 14, 2013
Perico Preserve January 25, 2014
Fort DeSoto March 1, 2014
Lowry Park Zoo April 12, 2014 Perico Preserve Click here to join our volunteer corps
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Marine Quest "School Daze"
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TBEP Project Manager Misty Cladas, with students from 74th Street Elementary School in
St. Petersburg playing "Spinning For Survival"
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TBEP Staff and volunteers led a "Spinning For Survival" game to educate students attending the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute's "School Daze" sessions about the impact of invasive species. The kids spun a roulette wheel to pick a number corresponding with an invasive or native critter, and then tried to toss a beanbag into a target associated with their critter. Many more invasives than natives "survived," illustrating how invaders can quickly outcompete native animals for food and habitat.
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About the Tampa Bay Estuary Program
The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is an intergovernmental partnership dedicated to restoring and protecting Tampa Bay, Florida's largest open-water estuary. TBEP is one of 28 "Estuaries of National Significance" designated by Congress.
Our Policy Board is comprised of representatives from Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties; the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater; the Southwest Florida Water Management District; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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