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Strategy Session Sets Course for TBEP's Future
Members of TBEP's Policy and Management Boards gathered in January for a day-long Strategy Session to prioritize the Program's goals and activities through the year 2020.
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Former Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood co-facilitated the session
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The session was facilitated by Steve Seibert, a former Pinellas County Commissioner and an original member of TBEP's Board, and Glenda Hood, former mayor of Orlando. The pair have teamed up as partners in the consulting firm triSect, LLC.
Through the facilitated session, Board members discussed the accomplishments of the Program as well as ongoing challenges such as sustainable funding. Board members, many of whom are elected officials, expressed unanimous support for continued local government funding of TBEP, and praised the Program's ability to bring together diverse interests to achieve measurable environmental results. The Boards also recognized the importance of the Estuary Program's strong scientific foundation.
Areas where Board members would like to see increased emphasis include environmental education and long-term funding.
Specific goals include:
- Developing a sustainable funding source for the Program's operating expenses. A Finance Committee has been established to examine various funding options.
- Maintaining scientific integrity as the Program's cornerstone
- Reinforcing and enhancing the Program's commitment to creating a constituency of informed, involved citizens. TBEP's Community Advisory Committee will play an active role in forging partnerships with specific bay user groups.
- Maintaining the institutional knowledge and skills of TBEP's staff and Boards through personnel and leadership transitions.
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Members of TBEP's Policy and Management Boards listening intently at the daylong Strategy Session
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A FOND FAREWELL
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TBEP Executive Director Holly Greening presents Councilman Paul Gibson of Clearwater with a framed photo in appreciation of his service.
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Clearwater City Councilman Paul Gibson, who is retiring from public office in March, attended his final meeting as a member of TBEP's Policy Board in February. He has served on our Board for nearly seven years, most recently as Vice Chair, and has been a strong supporter of our bay restoration grant program as well as our fertilizer education campaign.
Councilman Gibson singled out the Estuary Program's success in uniting local governments in pursuing the common goal of a healthier bay as the Program's greatest achievement.
"When you look at what this small group has accomplished, it's stunning,' he said.
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TBEP STAFF ON THE GO
 TBEP Executive Director Holly Greening presented longtime bay advocate Suzanne Cooper with a "Champion of the Bay" award at Suzanne's retirement ceremony in January. Holly recognized Suzanne's 20 years of support for bay restoration as a planner for the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and staff director of the Agency on Bay Management. Suzanne is keeping busy as a volunteer editor for Bay Soundings and spoiling her first grandchild.
TBEP Environmental Scientist Lindsay Cross recently attended an international conference at USF focused on promoting "green" infrastructure in urban areas. Speakers from throughout the world discussed opportunities for implementing low-impact stormwater management in metropolitan areas.  | |
Lindsay (far right) and Sara Kane from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program met USF President Judy Genshaft while attending the Green Infrastructure conference.
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Executive Director Holly Greening and husband Gerold Morrison spent almost two weeks over the Christmas holidays hiking, birdwatching and doing photography in Costa Rica's highlands. They spotted 239 bird species, among them this stunning blue-crowned motmot. 
Project coordinator Misty Cladas has been busy overseeing TBEP's traveling exhibit "Chasing The Waves" featuring photos taken during "King," or extreme high tides. After displays at Weedon Island and Robinson Preserve, the exhibit moves to the Oldsmar Public Library in April and the St. Petersburg Main Library in May.
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Misty installing the "Chasing the Waves" exhibit at Robinson Preserve
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Staff scientist Ed Sherwood took his kids skiing for the first time in the mountains of North Carolina during the Christmas holiday. Ed survived his own newbie experience on snow skis (barely) but declares that he'll be sticking to water skis in the foreseeable future.  | |
Ed Sherwood and son Charlie on the slopes of Beech Mountain, NC
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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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Indian River Lagoon Looks To Tampa Bay Blueprint
for Success
Citizens, scientists and managers concerned about pollution problems plaguing the Indian River Lagoon are looking to TBEP as a source of inspiration and ideas for halting the declines.
TBEP Executive Director Holly Greening was recently invited to speak to local elected officials and other community leaders attending a forum on the Lagoon's health. She shared lessons learned from the successful public-private Nitrogen Management Consortium that has helped to kickstart Tampa Bay's impressive recovery. That 40-member alliance, coordinated by TBEP, has implemented more than 300 nitrogen reduction projects since 1996, leading to the return of 8,500 acres of seagrass and water quality equivalent to that of 1950. Holly cited the Consortium's willingness to work together in good faith, adherence to science-based targets and adoption of measurable environmental indicators as keys to the group's success.
Communities in the Indian River Lagoon watershed are now considering forming their own Nitrogen Management Consortium. Several counties also are adopting TBEP's "Be Floridian" campaign to support their urban fertilizer use ordinances.
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Water Quality Gets A Green Light, Again
All major segments of Tampa Bay met water quality goals in 2013, for the second year in a row, as scientists collecting the data report unprecedented water clarity in many areas of the bay.
 To help track seagrass recovery, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program annually compares water quality to established targets in the bay and reports the results through the "Decision Matrix." This simple report card uses a red, green and yellow color system to assess overall water quality in the bay. The rating system considers the amount of microscopic algae in the water (as indicated by chlorophyll a, a plant pigment), as well as the amount of visible sunlight penetrating the water column.
"Green" means a bay segment is meeting water quality targets, while "red" means it is not. "Yellow" indicates that the area bears watching.
The 2013 analysis shows a green light across the board for all four bay segments: Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. This means that water quality is good enough to foster continued recovery of underwater seagrasses that are the backbone of a healthy bay.
The assessments are based on data collected monthly by the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County from 45 sampling stations throughout the bay. EPC scientists are reporting unprecedented water clarity, including being able to see the bottom of the bay in waters 16 feet deep.
More information about the bay's overall health will come later this year when seagrass surveys conducted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District are released. The last surveys, covering 2010-2012, documented an increase of 3,250 acres, or more than 1,000 acres per year.
TBEP Scientist Ed Sherwood noted that aerial photographs taken this winter have shown patchy seagrass in an area of Feather Sound previously bare of vegetation -- a positive sign that likely stems from improved water clarity in that troubled area.
Find a Fact Sheet about the 2013 water quality assessment here.
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Public-Private Grant Partnership to Boost Bay Restoration
An innovative public-private grant partnership forged by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program will offer more than $600,000 this year for important restoration, research and education projects in the Tampa Bay watershed.
The Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund (TBERF) is financed with contributions of up to $350,000 from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD); $175,000 from The Mosaic Company Foundation through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; $75,000 from Manatee County; and $10,000 from TECO Energy. Port Tampa Bay also has committed funds to the program
 Grant applications are being accepted now from local governments, non-profits, universities and other groups. The deadline is March 14, with recipients
to be notified in June. Find the online application here.
The grant program is being managed jointly by the Estuary Program and Restore America's Estuaries (RAE), who have pledged to work together to recruit financial donors and achieve measurable conservation outcomes from the funded projects. They hope to secure $1 million a year in grant funding.
"It's exciting to be part of a partnership with such a clear focus on achieving tangible improvements to Tampa Bay," said Jeff Benoit, President of Restore America's Estuaries.
The funding and administrative partnership was cobbled together by the Estuary Program as a permanent replacement for the highly successful Pinellas County Environmental Fund. That program provided more than $10 million over a decade for bay restoration projects; when it was phased out, TBEP led the search for new sponsors to keep this important grant opportunity afloat.
In 2012, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, SWFWMD, Mosaic and Hillsborough County funded the program as the Tampa Bay Environmental Fund. This year, Restore America's Estuaries - a respected national alliance of 11 community-based conservation organizations, including Tampa Bay Watch - agreed to join the Estuary Program in a key management role, and the name of the program was modified to the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund.
"We are looking forward to providing a stable, long-term source of funding to keep the momentum going and sustain the remarkable progress we've made as a region in improving Tampa Bay," said Holly Greening, executive director of the Estuary Program.
Grant requests may address water quality improvement, habitat restoration, fish and wildlife protection, environmental education, or applied research and monitoring needs. A selection committee composed of representatives of the Fund's partners and local scientists will review and select projects for funding. Each project is required to have a dollar-for-dollar match, further leveraging the impact of the grant funds.
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Climate Change Handbook Showcases Protection of Vulnerable Habitats
TBEP has just completed a "Gulf Coast Community Handbook" that highlights ways Gulf of Mexico communities are incorporating sea level rise in their habitat protection efforts.
The handbook also provides a review of the latest climate science, with a focus on impacts to habitats such as marshes and mangroves that are especially vulnerable to rising sea levels. It features 21 case studies from Gulf Coast National Estuary Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves that showcase effective techniques for improving the resiliency of coastal habitats.
The document also contains interactive links to climate change resources, such as online mapping tools and scientific publications, and step-by-step recommendations to assist communities in assessing  their vulnerabilities and developing response and resiliency strategies. The handbook is intended for environmental managers and community leaders in the five Gulf states. It was funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Ready Estuaries program.
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A Land Remembered
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Rick Smith autographing copies of "A Land Remembered," his father Patrick's beloved novel that spans more than a century of Florida history. Rick presented a captivating multimedia program about the book, and his father's other works, to a capacity crowd at Weedon Island Preserve in February. TBEP was pleased to bring this memorable show that integrated music, video clips of interviews with the author, and readings from Mr. Smith's novels. Patrick Smith passed away recently after a long illness. It is often said that a copy of "A Land Remembered" should be given to everyone who crosses the state line into Florida along with their complimentary cup of orange juice!
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Artsy Flamingo Flock Reminds Residents to "Protect Our Fun"
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Artist Cathie Carol Zurich-Wus with flamingos
"Roaming Ronny," left, and "Ramblin' Rosie"
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Artists from throughout the Tampa and Sarasota Bay watersheds have put their creative touch on our signature "Be Floridian" flock of plastic pink yard flamingos, making each one a unique piece of outdoor art. The custom-painted flock will be the centerpiece of our fertilizer education campaign this Spring, helping to promote our message to skip the fertilizer during the summer rainy season and protect the waterways that make living in Florida fun. Look for the colorful flock at art and community festivals all over Tampa, Manatee and Pinellas counties.
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Volunteers prepare to spread seeds at Perico Preserve.
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'Give A Day' Volunteers Shine
(and Sweat) In All Kinds of Weather
This winter's chilly temperatures have not stopped TBEP's devoted "Give A Day for the Bay" volunteers from digging in to lend a hand at the habitat restoration workdays. In December, 52 volunteers spread more than 360 pounds of native plant seed over some 30 acres at Perico Preserve in Manatee County. Seeds from several dozen species of plants had been collected from natural habitats in Manatee County over the previous two months.
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Volunteers hauled Australian pine from the work site at Fort de Soto Park.
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In January, a barbecue picnic lunch was the reward for 36 hard-working volunteers who took aim at invasive Brazilian pepper and Australian pine at Fort de Soto Park. Lowry Park Zoo was the location of a late February workday that brought volunteers out to battle more invasive plants.
The season's final workday will be back at Perico Preserve on April 12. For more information or to volunteer, contact Colleen Gray at colleen@tbep.org.
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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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