Suwannee Community Center, 23465 SE Hwy 349 (opposite the Salt Creek Restaurant) Wednesday, October 18 at 8:30 am Boat, walk or ride your golf cart to help de-litter the roads and waterways around the village of Suwannee. Refuge staff will transport volunteers down the river from Fowlers Bluff, there is room for 16 onboard. Free smoked chicken lunch provided by Jerry Everett of the Waterfront Market. Contact: Debbie Meeks 352-278-5088
RSVP for the Fowlers Bluff boat ride
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As we know, the number of staff members at our Refuges has been cut over the past several years. One unfortunate result is that visitors to the headquarters compound often have less personal interaction with the people who know the Refuges well and can share information about their history, where interesting sites can be found, the fishing and hunting opportunities, or the best wildlife viewing spots.
Over the same few years, Friends has developed many walking and paddling trails, making information about them available in print and online for free. But a brochure never quite does what a conversation could do. So, we are considering the establishment of a Friends Visitor Contact Program. If there are Friends members interested, we plan a get-together to talk through plans and possibly set up a pilot project starting as early as November. One thought is that Friends volunteers would spend time at the front desk greeting walk-in visitors and chatting with them about the Refuges. The volunteers would need to be knowledgeable and able to work independently of the Refuge staff. We would provide training and information. Each Friends member will receive an email soon about this idea. If such a program might interest you, email [email protected] to be on the contact list for the initial discussion. Be in Cedar Key the weekend of October 21 and 22! The Seafood Festival will be in full swing on both Saturday and Sunday. Friends will have an information booth at the City Park. We will be telling visitors where, why, and how to visit the refuges by car, on foot, or in boats. We will also have Friends merchandise for sale to help raise awareness of the importance of our Refuges to the community and its economy. If you could help out for a couple of hours either day at the booth, it would be great! Email [email protected].
Double benefit -- On Saturday, the Refuge, in partnership with the Nature Coast Biological Station, will hold on Open House at Seahorse Key. The island is only open a few times a year. The Open House is free. You need to find your own way out there, either by personal boat or by taking one of the private, fee-based shuttle services that leaving from the Cedar Key dock. The Refuges, in partnership with the Nature Coast Biological Station, engaged William Wolfson a summer intern to initiate work on a series of kayak-fishing guides. The Friends will continue the project this fall and work to develop them into user-friendly brochures.
In the interim, we have posted the draft documents, knowing that interest in kayak-fishing in this area is high. Please use them knowing that refinement may be needed. We would appreciate your providing comments here or sending them to us a [email protected]. Find them under the Maps/Trails tab above.
Summer is HOT. Refuge work goes on apace.
Dr. Ken Sassaman, the Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology at the University of Florida, and his students have been working with the Lower Suwannee Refuge to understand the history of Shell Mound, and what it can tell us about our present and future. Changes have been made to the Shell Mound Trail to better highlight the newest information from their investigations. With some assistance from the Friends, Dr. Sassaman will soon have a new trail guide available to the public. For a sneak peek, you can look at the draft version of the guide in the Maps/Trails section of this website.
The Friends had the extraordinary opportunity in August to host a visit to the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge by internationally famous nature photographer Clyde Butcher. Friends Past President Maria Sgambati was his guide. Members Frank and Mandy Offerle, Robin Gilles, Anne Lingren, and others introduced him to the wonders of our beautiful Refuge and region. The Cedar Keys Art Center will be hosting an exhibit of his works next spring and we are all hoping to have a chance to hear him talk and to meet him.
The Dixie County roads department has been helping the short-staffed Refuge with limerock deliveries and grading on the Dixie Mainline. Friends of the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys Refuges adds its thanks to those of the Refuge staff. We all really appreciate the help!
The Lower Suwannee Refuge is working with several potential partners on submitting grants for Gulf oil spill funds to conduct a hydrologic engineering assessment in preparation for restoring more natural hydrology on the Refuge.
The 143 miles of Refuge roads and trails are former logging roads constructed to access timber stands. Natural hydrologic flow and connections to the Suwannee River Sound, estuary, and Big Bend region of the Gulf of Mexico is negatively impacted by this old road network. The roads function the same way levees or dikes would. They impound the water and in many instances redirect it into culverts, disrupting natural sheet flow. This blockage of surface flow means that much of this water does not make it to the estuary. It is detained long enough to evaporate inland altering the estuarine balance and the ecology and productivity of the nearshore waters. This affects freshwater and marine fisheries that are important for recreation and commerce. The proposals being worked on address the most significant road features, the Dixie Mainline and the southern half of the Nature Drive. They seek to restore hydrology on the Refuge through:
Researcher Joe Donoghue, of the Planetary Sciences Group in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida, and his graduate students are conducting research on the Lower Suwannee NWR to determine the paleo-climate of Florida. They are collecting sediment cores from coastal ponds that would likely have been inundated by marine water and sediment during long-ago storm surges. The sediment cores will be carbon-dated and analyzed to determine sediment grain size and geo-chemical make up. The results may be able to provide a history of major storm events in the region for as far back as several thousand years.
Friends members Libby Cagle and Roger McDaniels happened upon the researchers when taking visitors along the Nature Drive recently. After a severe drought dating back to last fall, the Refuge has finally gotten enough rainfall to resume prescribed burning. The Refuge recently conducted a successful 850-acre burn on the Triangle Loop area near Suwannee Town. With so many unfilled staff vacancies on the Refuge fire crew, the generous assistance provided by the Florida State Park Service, Florida Forest Service, and the staff of the St Marks NWR was greatly appreciated.
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June 2024
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Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
P. O. Box 532 Cedar Key, FL 32625 [email protected] We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. |
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