The Lower Suwannee & Cedar Key National Wildlife Refuges are now feeling the impact of the government-wide reduction in the federal workforce.

As of our last News Brief, in March, the Refuge had six staff members . . .  Andrew, John, Daniel, Jason, George, and Johnny. Since then, all of them received a memo offering the "Deferred Retirement/Resignation 2.0." The memo said the agency is also planning for additional reductions in force in the future. They were given a very short time to accept the offer or take their chances with what the terms of the next workforce reduction might be. If they accept it, they are put on administrative leave until the end of the fiscal year on Sept 30, 2025. Between now and then they would be paid their salaries but not allowed to work or volunteer to do the job they resigned from. 

As Friends of our Refuges, we are dismayed at the loss of professional knowledge and experience. We know these staff members are effective and committed stewards of our wildlife and lands where they thrive. Their passion for service, conservation, wildlife, and country is evident in all they do. Our refuges contribute so much to us and to our communities, they deserve the care and protection these professionals provide.

In our efforts to increase membership activities, on March 27th the Friends invited interested persons to come out to the Refuge to observe the thousands (up to 30,000) of bats emerge from the otherwise unremarkable two wood bat houses on long-legged stilts. ​

Cedar Key’s charming streets were once again filled with color, creativity, and community spirit during the 2025 Old Florida Celebration of the Arts, even if just for a single day. While the event is traditionally a lively two-day affair, this year’s festival was scaled back to one day as the town continues to recover from the lingering effects of recent storms.

Turkey hunter Greg Mitchell recently shared a positive report following his trip to the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. He wrote: "​Mr. Gude, Just wanted to tell you thanks again for the information you shared with me on the Lower Suwannee NWR. I made the trip opening week of turkey season and was successful in taking a Florida bird. My hunting partner was also successful.
​I was very impressed with the Lower Suwannee. Ya'll really keep it up well. Hope to get to visit again next year. Thank you and everyone associated with the Lower Suwannee. It is a great place!"

​We’re always glad to hear about memorable experiences on the refuge, and we appreciate the kind words from visiting hunters.

Friends will contribute $3,000 toward this project. It is at the top of our Wish List for donations this month. Would you be willing and able to help? See our Wish List!

Friends has helped sponsor the tracking devices for two of the Swallow-tailed Kites that nest the Lower  Suwannee NWR. By following the birds' behaviors and movements while they are nesting on the Refuge, our staff can plan for and maintain habitat important to the iconic species.

The tracker on the original Suwannee stopped transmitting several years ago. Because the device on Suwannee 22, who was outfitted with her tracker in 2022, is at the end of its expected power, Friends wants to help sponsor our third bird. 

Back in August 2024 when Suwannee 22, had just taken off from the Refuge to fly to Brazil for the winter, Hurricane Debby hit the Gulf. Suwannee was caught in Debby’s fury, made it into the eye of the storm, and rode the storm back to Refuge. She made it alive but depleted and started her work to recover her strength and try again.

The story was written up in USA Today and seen by David Ware, a middle-school science teacher at Parkside School in Collier County. He contacted Friends to ask if his students could partner with us. The students raised $1,300 of the money needed for the new tracker and are eager to follow the bird's flights between breeding and wintering grounds as part of their science studies. David also talked to the Florida Ornithological Society  which may help with a smaller donation.

Friends Key Volunteer and butterfly expert, Barbara Woodmansee, fortunately for us butterfly lovers, is still out there surveying for new species. In her own words she describes her newest finds.

"So excited to report that we now have 97 documented species of butterfly for the Refuge!  Yesterday (4/3/25) we found our first dotted skipper (north end of the Nature Drive), and Orange-barred sulphur (found last summer) on Willie Lock Mainline."

"There are more out there to be found - so glad I get to keep on looking!!"
                                                                                                        - Barbara Woodmansee

Barbara will hopefully be updating her must-have beautiful Butterflies of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. This pocket-size booklet has descriptions, photos, and data on the butterflies that have been documented to be on the Refuge . . . except for the latest two that are not yet included. The booklet is for sale at events where the Friends' Refuge Rover can be found. 

Long-time board member John Thalacker was out walking on the Dennis Creek Trail recently. Lo and behold, he found evidence that Big Foot had been there ahead of him. What evidence, you ask?

Big Foot apparently left behind the sole of one of his shoes! John retrieved it in case Friends wants to establish a museum someday in the future.

On April 4, 2025, Desiree Sorenson-Groves who was the featured speaker at Friends Annual Meeting in February and is the President and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, provided testimony to the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies of the House Committee on Appropriations. Ninety-five organizations, including Friends of Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges signed on to this testimony concerning the 2026 appropriations for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The testimony requested a Congressional allocation of $731 million for the National Wildlife Refuge System, pointing out that the amount is the same as was allocated in 2010 adjusted for inflation.

It discussed:

• The 53% increase in visitation on the refuges and 30% decline in staffing since 2010, before the staff reductions of the current administration
• The needs for the funding for maintaining the refuges and for law enforcement

The Refuge Rover made a splashy appearance at the rainy Suwannee Art Festival on Saturday, March 8. Despite sparse attendance, Friends volunteers Debbie Jordan and Debbie Meeks had surprisingly robust interest in our shirts and other merchandise.

The new zip-lock bag system of inventory management helped keep most of the shirts dry. When it rained hard, Debbie J incredibly produced a blue tarp from her truck large enough to protect two tables loaded with merch. They covered and uncovered all day. Debbie generously donated the tarp to the Rover so it will be in our festival toolbox from now on.

One of the benefits of a rainy and therefore slower festival is longer conversations, Debbie and Debbie enjoyed meeting and talking with some of the long-time residents who deeply know and love the Lower Suwannee NWR.

Intimidatingly heavy fog greeted all of us as we made our way to the Refuge for Friends' Annual Meeting on Saturday February 8. It hung with us through the 8:00 Bird Walk led by Deputy Refuge Manager John Stark. It hovered over us as almost 100 signed in and shopped for new Friends' merchandise. We bought almost $750 worth of items, with the new butterfly shirts and visors being the most popular items and some of our legacy paddling maps still calling to new Refuge kayak enthusiasts.

Friends' finances and membership continue to be strong.

Denise and Ron provided updates on outcomes of Friends' 2024 actions and expectations for 2025. Andrew presented a Refuge update.

For many of us, a highlight of the event was Andrew's heartfelt words about the commitment that he and his fellow federal employees have to their work and how it enables them to make the world a better place for all of us. The staff members applauded in agreement and it touched us all, especially at a time when our federal workers and what they do for us are being so undervalued.

This year's featured speaker, Desirée Sorenson-Groves, is president and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association.  Her dynamic presentation gave us information about the history, present, and future of the refuges nationwide,

John Thalacker led a group of 13 on a nature walk on the Cypress Wetland  trail near the hurricane-destroyed River Trail.  They discussed the history of the property that makes up the current Refuge, key characteristics of some of the plants (including a little taste of the tender tips of the "green briar" and  how "sweet gum" got its name), and that there is a standing invitation for more plants to be identified and marked.

And with that, another wonderful Annual Meeting at our Refuge is in the books.

If you’ve visited Shell Mound recently, you have likely seen the effects of Hurricanes Helene and Milton which left behind piles of redeposited shell along the northern road and south ridge of the mound. Hurricanes are one of the greatest threats for archaeological sites in Florida, especially for coastal sites like Shell Mound. With climate change likely to increase the frequency and severity of hurricanes in the coming years, archaeologists are challenged with developing new ways to protect and manage these sites before they are destroyed forever.

In early January, a team of archaeologists from the University of Florida led by Dr. Ken Sassaman began rescue operations on Shell Mound. This first stage focuses on the south ridge, along an escarpment where some of the most severe storm impacts were found. Here, storm surge from Hurricane Helene undercut the top of the mound, resulting in a collapse of the mound’s surface and redepositing shell all along the slope. Wrack from the storm surge was deposited nearly ten feet in elevation along the slope, and the remaining surface is highly unstable and likely to collapse in future storm events.

Their first task involved excavating into the escarpment to create a flat vertical profile and remove shell which had been redeposited over the original surface. The excavated profile reached 180 centimeters in height. Based on the orientation of shells in the profile and changes in soil, the research team identified two possible pit features which may have been dug into the mound. Pit features such as these are valuable sources of archaeological information, and samples taken from one of the pits are pending analysis in UF’s Laboratory of Southeastern Archaeology.

Sifting through the excavated materials, the archaeologists found indigenous pottery, the remains of fish, and tools constructed out of gastropod shells. Laboratory analysis of artifacts recovered from the damaged portion of Shell Mound has not been conducted yet, however analysis may provide additional information about the practice of oyster mariculture at Shell Mound and use of the site during winter months. Oysters harvested in the winter months are generally higher quality than those harvested in other parts of the year. In addition, the relative absence of oyster “lids”, the flat half of the shell, compared to “cups”, the rounded half of the shell, may indicate that oyster lids were returned to the neighboring reefs to sustain long-term oyster harvesting, while the cups were primarily used as a building material for the mound.

In the spring, UF archaeologists will continue excavations from the original surface identified in this first stage of rescue operations. These excavations are likely to reach an additional two meters in depth, providing the deepest and most intact profile of Shell Mound to date which may reveal information about the origins and construction of Shell Mound. Following this second stage of excavations, the loose shell will be redeposited over the damaged areas in an attempt to stabilize the slope of the mound and mitigate the effects of future hurricanes.

In addition to on-the-ground research and stabilization, researchers from the GatorEye Unmanned Flying Laboratory have used drones to collect LiDAR data on the surface of Shell Mound following the 2024 hurricanes. LiDAR is a technology which uses laser scans to create three-dimensional models of the earth’s surface. Comparing this recent LiDAR data to data collected prior to the 2024 hurricane season will allow researchers to identify the extent of impacts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, prioritize rescue work on areas showing the most severe impacts, and predict areas most likely to be impacted by future storms.

Hurricanes aren’t the only threat to Shell Mound, and human interventions can make the effects of storms worse. It is no coincidence that some of the most severe damage was along the northern road and south ridge, where the original slope of the mound was destroyed to make room for the road in the 1970s. If you visit Shell Mound, avoid walking on or near undercut surfaces, and be mindful around areas of exposed shell.

Thanks to tireless efforts by Dusty and Kathy Dusterwinkle, the Salt Creek Trail is once again open for exploration. In the wake of the 2024 hurricanes, the trail was buried under more than two feet of marsh grass, debris, and fallen trees. But thanks to the determination and hard work of our dedicated volunteers, this delightful 1/3 mile loop is walkable again.

Our Dixie County camper volunteers tackled the overwhelming task of clearing the trail by hand, tirelessly pitchforking and raking away the layers of marsh grass. Additionally, Dusty and Kathy took on the challenge of removing five fallen trees that obstructed the path, as well as four more that blocked Salt Creek Road.

Beyond simply restoring the trail, Dusty and Kathy added their own special touches to enhance the experience for all who visit. Handcrafted signs mark the way, and thoughtfully placed seating invites hikers to pause and appreciate the views—views that are more expansive than before the storms reshaped the landscape.

Come out and enjoy the trail.

​If you can, please help us remove the litter that was deposited by the storms.