Friends' Online Store's year-end sale features the luna, butterfly and women's tree shirts. It also has some fun gift-idea items to consider. Take, for example, our earrings. They are made in America, actually in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, by a family of nature enthusiasts. There also is a Florida connection . . . earring artist and co-owner Kevin Abbott has a Wildlife Ecology degree from the University of Florida. The nature-themed earrings are made of re-cycled, locally-sourced cereal boxes. We select sets that are appropriate to our part of Florida, such as roseate spoonbills, dolphins, box turtles, white pelicans, luna moths, swallow-tailed kites, red mangroves, and spicebush swallowtail butterflies. Most sets have different versions of the plant or animal for each ear. They are a charming $15 gift. In 2022, we added a long-sleeved hooded shirt with trees specific to the Lower Suwannee Refuge and a short-sleeved shirt with an animals-at-sunset design. ![]() If you're looking for an alternative gift, the online store now has an option for you to make a gift to Friends "in appreciation of", or "in the name of" a nature-lover, especially one who cares about the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys Refuges. Donate any amount to Friends and we'll send a card with a refuge photo and a short message of your choice hand-written by one of us inside. All the purchases help Friends print brochures, maps, and trail guides; host the Annual Meeting (on the last Saturday in February); pay for the website platform and software; and sponsor our other activities. Purchases are an important revenue stream for Friends and your shopping with Friends is greatly appreciated.
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Hopefully, at 5:39 we will see the sun set near Palmetto Mound, which was an ancient burial ground. Each of the past 5 years, the weather has been cold and blustery. Each of those years, we had to imagine the sun setting behind the clouds we were watching. Nevertheless, we celebrated.
Be there, rain or shine. It is becoming a Friends' tradition. If you are thinking about an end-of-year or future gift to Friends, consider making a donation to help with our matching fund commitment that will help leverage the grant for work at Vista.
By way of update, the November News Brief mentioned that the grant had met a bump in the road. Because of the recent hurricanes in our state, architects and contractors are harder to hire and more costly than our proposal projected when we submitted it in summer 2021. With Refuge Manager Andrew Gude, Friends continues working on ways to move ahead in the new fiscal reality.
Currently, Friends has about 210 members, down from 260 before the pandemic. We would like to rebuild the membership base to increase our strength as advocates for our Refuges.
If you took a membership break during the pandemic, please consider renewing your membership. If you don't know whether your membership lapsed, email [email protected] and we will let you know. In hopes of encouraging you to participate in Friends accomplishments, here is a long overview of what has happened in 2022. Vista
Refuge Enhancements
Members and Visitors
Outreach and Advocacy
Be a Friend. Support our Refuges. Thanks!
On Saturday, November 19, Friends hosted the Paynes Prairie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society on a nature walk led by Refuge Manager Andrew Gude. The walk was a follow up to a talk Andrew gave at the Native Plant Society's meeting in Gainesville a few days earlier. About 25 participants walked from Gate 14 along the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge's Nature Drive to Fletcher's Landing on the Suwannee River. Check out the nice piece in the January edition of The Rhexia, their newsletter, about their visit with us.
In August, speaking for the board and Friends, our president Debbie Meeks wrote to Congressman Neal Dunn, and our Senators to advocate for improving the internet at the Refuge. In this day and age, no organization can work efficiently and effectively with weak internet connections. We had already bumped into connectivity issues with internet when Friends had volunteered to staff the Welcome Desk at Refuge headquarters before the pandemic closures. We'd known that staff were required to use cloud-based software programs for map-making and other functions. However, the internet connections were often not reliable enough to do the work.
In October, Congressman Dunn replied that he had made inquiries of the Fish and Wildlife Service in response to Debbie's letter. It looks like there is now some hope for improvement. Friends is delighted and hopes it is not long in coming to fruition.
Friends of Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys NWRs and the Paynes Prarie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will hold a native plant walk on the Lower Suwannee Refuge on Saturday November 19 at 10 a.m. All are welcome.
Meet at Gate 14 along the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge Nature Drive. The gate is about 7 miles from the south entrance to the Nature Drive, off Rte 347. Refuge gates are yellow and numbered. The GPS coordinates for Gate 14 are 29.351035, -83.052415. Click here for a map of the entire Refuge. Click here for a guide to the Nature Drive, which notes Gate 14. The walk is 1/2 mile long on a compacted secondary Refuge road that is grassy and muddy in spots. Sunny open flatwoods transition to shady floodplain and the road ends with a view of the Suwannee River. Cell service is poor in the area. Ticks are abundant if you venture off the mowed road. Sand gnats or mosquitoes might be a nuisance depending on the amount of breeze. Despite those adventure-related issues, it promises to be a lovely walk.
Cedar Key had perfect weather for the Festival and the crowds were abundant. Hundreds visited our booth at the park. Friends gave away maps and brochures to more than 50 families who planned to visit sites on the Lower Suwannee Refuge. Many visitors also bought our shirts, hats, and earrings, helping to support our projects and our refuge advocacy. We greatly appreciate their financial support and the fact that they increase awareness of the refuges when they wear our merchandise. The enthusiasm that visitors expressed for our Junior Ranger program was welcome. It is being developed now and will be launched soon. Folks who are already familiar with the refuges also gave helpful feedback on ideas for future programs and also ways to enhance access and interest for people not yet familiar with the area. Thanks to all for the conversations, the purchases, and the ideas.
On October 10th, Refuge lovers set off with our expert guide Barbara Woodmansee for a perfect morning of fall butterfly watching on Barnett Creek Road. As soon as the sun came up over the trees, a Monarch welcomed us and then the action really began. We saw 26 species of butterflies, including lots of Gulf Fritillaries, Long-tailed skippers, Queens and many others. Fall is a wonderful time to see butterflies in the Refuge and Barnett Creek Road never disappoints. We look forward to another walk together in early April for Spring butterflies next year. Details TBA.
The day was weather perfect for the last Open House of 2022. About 150 visitors came out the 3-mile trip from Cedar Key to Seahorse Key. They came in shuttles operated by the local tour boats, in their personal boats, many after a morning of fishing, and they even came on family-size jet skis. The visitors enjoyed the touch tanks and lab tours in the Nature Coast Biological Station area. They toured the light station, learning about its history since the Second Seminole Indian War, and they walked the beach on the far side of the island taking pictures and watching birds. A short history of the light station is available here on lighthousefriends.com.
Both the Cedar Keys and the Lower Suwannee Refuge were spared significant damage from the hurricane. The water was pulled out of the Cedar Keys Refuge area. It was remarkable to see and Friends members Ann Kamzelski and Denise Feiber documented it in photos. Refuge staff members are now in south Florida helping others less fortunate than we were. On Monday October 24, Cedar Keys Audubon will host a presentation by Leslie Sturmer of the University of Florida IFAS Shellfish Aquaculture Extension entitled Clamalot: The Story and Significance of Shellfish Aquaculture in Cedar Key.
Leslie has worked with the shellfish aquaculture industry since it began in Cedar Key during the early 1990s. She will provide an overview of the industry including how it began, current status, and introduction to farming components. The environmental benefits that clam farming provides and importance of water quality on its sustainability will be discussed. The Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges are key factors in maintaining the water quality that is needed for the industry to thrive here. The presentation will be at 5:00 at the Cedar Key Community Center. Much more than a conference, Friends Academy was the best summer camp ever. The information-packed seminars made every day feel like a week. We covered a range of Friends-related topics including board governance, merchandise, expanding membership through diversity, and advocacy. But I learned the most by sharing problems and successes with fellow attendees. I came away knowing that our work for the Refuges is appreciated and that other Friends members are an infinite source of inspiration.
Matthew Emmer, an academy Friend from Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuge, said it best below. -Debbie Meeks Pre-pandemic the Friends assisted Refuge staff with visitor orientation at Refuge headquarters but that office is now occupied by staff and we miss interacting with visitors.
We are considering a mobile welcome center that will allow us to go where the people are. Being mobile has several advantages:
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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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