Friends’ updates in April and in May concerning the staff reductions and other precipitous changes at the Refuges received several comments from Friends members and News Brief readers expressing their concerns. Community support for our Refuges is apparently strong and surely essential. Sharing Friends' Perspective and Concerns We sent the updates to Congresswoman Kat Cammack. The District Director of her Gainesville office, Jessica Norfleet, invited Peg Hall and Jay Bushnell, members of Friends' Advocacy Committee, to meet with Kat during the Memorial Day Congressional break to discuss Friends’ concerns. Our plan was to emphasize to her the critical role of the Refuges in the economy and quality of life in her District and the need for her to be an advocate for the Refuges. As it turned out, our meeting was postponed until her next time in the District. Friends will continue to communicate with her in the interim.
The Public Lands Caucus
Contacting our Representative
Using her website's contact form, Friends’ president Ron Kamzelski wrote to Kat, urging her to join the Caucus. Other Friends’ board members and volunteers have contacted her also to encourage her to support the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs and join the Public Lands Caucus. If you want to urge her to support our Refuges, you can send a message by way of the contact form on her website or call one of her offices: DC- (202)225-5744, Gainesville (352) 505-0838, or Ocala (771) 200-5542. So far, when one of us from Friends’ has called, we have always reached a staff member who took our message.
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Friends' Summer Solstice event is just around the corner at the Low-Key Hideaway Tiki Bar on Saturday, June 21st at 5:00 pm. Until the Shell Mound Pier is rebuilt, the Tiki Bar is a beautiful setting for the celebration of the longest day of the year. Click here to learn more about Shell Mound's connection to the solstices and the indigenous people who lived there as well as those who gathered there from throughout the southeast region. Our guest speaker is Dr. Ken Sassassman, Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology at the University of Florida. Whether or not you've attended previous solstice events and listened to Dr. Sassaman's enthralling discussions of the civic-ceremonial activities estimated to have occurred at Shell Mound at least 1,500 years ago, there is always more to learn from his enthusiastic accounts. Please join the celestial celebration Saturday, June 21, 2025 Low-Key Hideaway Tiki Bar 12050 FL 24, Cedar Key 5:00 pm - Gather 5:45 pm - Friends Welcome 6:00 pm Dr. Sassaman's Presentation Q&A More socializing and enjoying the libations of the Tiki Bar ![]() ![]() Hurricane Helene damaged the newly-rebuilt Shell Mound Pier. Some might say that it could have been worse, But the bottom line; it needed some work. The great news is that re-building is underway and expected to be finished by later in July. In the meantime, Friends has relocated the Summer Solstice event to Low Key Hideaway this year. While the agenda will be different, the opportunity to mark the longest day of the year with a celebration and a very interesting program will continue. Hope to see you there! In the meantime, stay tuned for the reopening of the pier in a few weeks. ![]() Our Friends organization is in good shape. The Board of Directors is committed to good stewardship of not only the Refuges we support but the funds and volunteer time that members and visitors invest with us.. We are happy to announce that the Friends of the Lower Suwannee-Cedar Key Wildlife Refuge has earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency Rating from Guidestar, the organization that reviews and rates nonprofits for good governance, You and our partners can be confident that our finances are well-managed and our work is always directed to the good of our Refuge, it’s environment, and the people who enjoy both. Three staff members are now responsible for managing everything that our Refuges need to do to meet their mission. Their achievements in these first weeks with only half of their already small team is an impressive testimony to their skills and commitment to the wildlife, the land, and the river they signed on to conserve and protect for all of us. However, they cannot possibly do all that is needed. Here is some of what they are accomplishing. Achievements
The achievements speak to how well the Refuge staff set priorities. However, necessarily, some important tasks have to be postponed or outsourced and some deadlines can't be met. Tasks Postponed, Timelines not Met
A lot is happening. Our Refuges are open and operating. But all is not well.
This is the month when, with luck, the scientists from the Avian Research and Conservation Institute will tag a third Swallow-tailed Kite at the Lower Suwannee NWR. And the Winner is Suwannee Scout! When the story of our second kite's encounter with Hurricane Debby was published in USA Today, the students at Parkside School in Collier County read the story in their science class and wanted to help tag a bird they could track. Their science teacher David Ware asked if they could partner with Friends' to sponsor the next kite. Of course, Friends agreed. The students wanted to select the name for the kite. The first kite's name was Suwannee. The second was Suwannee 22 because she was tagged in 2022. The students proposed many names for kite number 3. Their votes are in and the winner is "Suwannee Scout". Wish List Success The Parkside students raised $1,300 at their Everglades Day event and received another $500 from the Florida Ornithological Society toward the tracker for Suwannee Scout. Friends agree to commit the remaining needed amount, $2,500. We have almost reached the goal. If you would like to participate, visit the Wish List here.
Now we all need to cross our fingers that our lucky bird is tagged. When you step into a national wildlife refuge, you’re entering more than just a protected natural space—you’re stepping into a living laboratory. These wild places are where scientists, nature lovers, and dedicated volunteers come together to explore, observe, and uncover secrets that can reshape how we understand and manage our public lands. ![]() The Power of Citizen Science Some of the most exciting discoveries happening in our Refuges come from an unexpected source: citizen scientists. Driven by curiosity and a love of nature, volunteers are making meaningful contributions to science every day. Armed with field guides, smartphones, and keen eyes, they’ve identified new species, documented surprising behaviors, and even helped change conservation policy. In one notable instance, volunteer Barbara Woodmansee documented an impressive 97 species of butterflies in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. Her dedicated citizen-science survey work culminated in the creation of the Butterflies of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge guidebook, a valuable resource for both beginners and seasoned butterfly enthusiasts. So far this year, volunteers have contributed to a range of ongoing research projects, including a firefly survey where the intertidal firefly was documented for the first time in 10 years. Swallow-tailed kite nests are also being monitored by volunteers, and extensive ongoing butterfly identification teaches us more each year. These collaborative efforts not only expand scientific knowledge but also deepen the connection between people and the natural world. Uncovering Hidden Worlds Large public lands like wildlife refuges provide rare opportunities to study elusive or understudied species in their natural habitats. One such example is the Twilight Darner, a dragonfly species that has captured the imagination of both researchers and visitors. This primarily tropical insect is known for its theatrical appearance—emerging “explosively precisely at dusk,” as lepidopterist and dragonfly monitor John Douglass puts it, to feed in frenzied swarms before vanishing into the trees. Studying species like the Twilight Darner requires careful permitting. In limited numbers, researchers collect voucher specimens—dried and preserved dragonflies that become part of the Florida State Collection of Arthropods in Gainesville. This world-renowned facility houses the largest dragonfly collection on Earth, preserving a global snapshot of insect biodiversity. More than half of Northwest Florida's 140 species of dragonflies and damselflies are expected to occur on the Refuge. A Testament to Biodiversity Research on the Refuge goes beyond the charismatic creatures we all love. On the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, scientists are testing insect repellents and studying the behavior of biting bugs—critical info for everyone from military personnel to weekend hikers. ![]() A Place Where Science Meets Conservation Wildlife refuges are governed by strict guidelines to protect the delicate balance of life within them. Visitors are welcome to hike, observe, photograph, and learn—but collecting specimens, or even leaving behind equipment requires a permit. These rules aren’t about restriction—they’re about preservation. They ensure that science can happen responsibly, without harming the very ecosystems we're trying to understand. You Can Make a Difference
Whether you’re a seasoned naturalist or someone who simply enjoys a quiet walk in the woods, you have the potential to contribute to conservation science. By volunteering, joining a species count, or simply submitting your wildlife observations through platforms like iNaturalist or eBird, you become part of a growing network of citizen scientists making a real difference. In the end, national wildlife refuges are more than places to explore—they’re places where everyday people help write the next chapter in the story of conservation. Friends of Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs invite one-and-all to celebrate Summer Solstice with us on Saturday, June 21st at the Tiki Bar in Cedar Key. We will gather, meet, and greet at 5:00. Friends’ member Dr. Ken Sassaman, the Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology at the University of Florida, will speak about Summer Solstice at Shell Mound. The solstices are special to Friends because they were important to the indigenous people who lived at Shell Mound as well as those who gather here from afar at Summer Solstice. How is Shell Mound connected with Summer Solstice? It is located on the remnants of a large U-shaped dune. On the Summer Solstice, the sun rises over the closed end of the dune and at Winter Solstice it sets between the arms of the open end of the dune. The UF Laboratory of Southeastern Archaeology describes it this way: Shell Mound is located on a parabolic dune that is oriented to the solstices. This is actually a common feature of Ice Age dunes in the study area, and it resulted from prevailing winds blowing from the southwest to the northeast at about 60 degrees east of north, the azimuth of the summer solstice rise. This of course is happenstance, but the orientation of dunes up to 2 km long were no doubt noticed by people so attuned to the cyclical movements of celestial bodies. Like the periglacial fissures of bedrock beneath Stonehenge or the erosional rift that is Chaco Canyon, natural features of the landscape with celestial orientations were often valorized by indigenous people as places where the sky and earth intersected. Such places are sometimes considered portals to other realms of existence or places where ancestral beings or forces reside. In this respect, it is hardly coincidental that denizens of the Lower Suwannee region emplaced their deceased on the distal ends of parabolic dune arms stretching towards the opposite of the summer solstice rise, which is the direction of the winter solstice set, 240 degrees east of north. We suspect that at the time it was established no later than 2,700 years ago, Palmetto Mound, located across 500 m of intertidal water to the west of Shell Mound, was at the end of a dune arm. It follows that Shell Mound was probably sited in relation to Palmetto Mound although its connection to summer solstice feasts is uncertain. (extracted from a longer explanation to be read at:
https://lsa.anthro.ufl.edu/projects/lower-suwannee-archaeological-survey/shell-mound-summer-solstice-feasts/) As our blog reported in the April News Brief, Friends is planning to help outfit a third Lower Suwannee Swallow-tailed Kite with a tracker to follow its migration between the bird’s nesting area on the Refuge and its wintering grounds in Brazil. The time to capture a bird and fit it with a tracker is upon us. Audubon magazine published a story about the process when the first bird was captured on our Refuge in 2019. Recently, Friends’ president Ron Kamzelski accompanied Senior Conservation Scientist Gina Kent from Avian Researcher and Conservation Institute in Gainesville on a couple of scouting trips to locate areas where a successful capture would be likely. The attempt will happen soon. It will be important to have the tracker working as the bird is preparing for migration in order to provide data about which sections of the Refuge and surrounding areas are used by the birds as they feed for the trip.
We will post again soon to keep you informed. by Peg Hall, former Friends’ president and board member, relentless believer that if we lose the work of our refuges, we will lose community resilience. As we said in the April News Brief, our Refuges are experiencing major disruption. It matters. Why?
Why Disruption Matters
Because if the Refuges cannot protect the Suwannee River and the Gulf Estuary, the economy and quality of life of our communities take a worrisome hit. Also, we need people like Andrew, George, and Johnny to make our communities strong, resilient, good places to live. Over the past month, Friends reacted with disappointment, sadness, anger, and fear to the turmoil at the Refuges.
What turmoil?
On April 1, our Refuges were down to 6 full-time staff members, as well as a project leader responsible for managing much of the interface with the regional and national offices for ours and several other refuges. He lifted some weight from our Refuge Manager. There was a cohort of managers, heavy equipment operators, and burn crew members at nearby refuges with whom our team collaborated to get work done at our Refuges and theirs when big teams were needed. By May 1, we had only 3 full-time staff members. Refuge Manager Andrew Gude is gone. Heavy equipment operator George Pelt is gone. Administrative Officer Johnny Mendoza is gone. Project Leader Dan Frisk is gone. All the managers and deputy managers at nearby refuges are gone. The cohort of colleagues that our Refuge staff turned to is as decimated as our staff.
And yet, over the past month, Friends has been surprised by the success, accomplishments, and optimism at our Refuges.
What success?
In these first few weeks since Andrew, George, Johnny, Dan and the folks at St. Mark’s and Crystal River NWRs had to leave, Friends has been amazed at the how much the three remaining staff members have achieved. They have racked up successes on several major projects. For example,
So, what do we lose?
If all that can be accomplished with three staff members, what do we lose if staff are forced out and budgets are not renewed? It has taken months and years to tee up those projects and successes. Without them, the Suwannee River and the Estuary suffer. Our economy suffers. Our communities lose resilience.
All of us who know the Refuges and the staff know that regardless of their dedication, it is not possible for three people to keep up with everything needed to keep our communities whole. Yes, the staff accomplished herculean amounts of work with just the three of them. But that doesn’t mean they can do it again month after month, without time to plan and set up future projects.
Creating success
To protect the wildlife and their habitats, the Refuge staff must figure out what the wildlife, the River, and we need several years out. They must vet the plans and meet with law enforcement agencies, fire crews, the water management district, city councils, chambers of commerce, aquaculturalists, fishers and fishing businesses, and landowners. They must find the areas of mutual interest and negotiate what can be done by whom within their individual missions and constraints. It all takes skill, vision, and TIME. Saving our communities
By protecting the waters of the Suwannee River and the Gulf Estuaries from commercial and agricultural infringement that would destroy aquaculture, oyster farming, recreational fishing, and much of our ecotourism, the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs protect the life blood that maintains the economy of our rural communities and enables our cherished way of life. Standing with our Refuges Our communities need the Refuges to thrive. Let’s take every opportunity to shout it from the roof tops that we need the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges to keep our communities resilient. Let’s encourage our community leaders and everyone with access to tell the decision makers that our Refuges are essential to our infrastructure, economy, and rural life choices. Let’s stand with our Refuges so they can stand with us. When our Refuges conserve our wildlife and the habitats in which they can thrive, our Suwannee River and Gulf estuaries are cleaner and more able to support the regional economy and way of life. Many staff hours of work are required for:
The organization charts show how staffing to accomplish this work has diminished over the past several years . . . and months. Staff in May 2025 ![]() Staff in January 2025 Staff in 2012
Positions in green were vacant because of hiring freezes Annually, the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs in collaboration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and others conduct a flight survey of the birds nesting on the Cedar Keys Refuge. They nest primarily on Snake Key and Seahorse Key. Each day the count starts a 1 ½ hours after sunrise and lasts for two hours. This year the survey was conducted on three days. Friends’ member Ann Kamzelski is the count photographer. Here are the 12 species of birds that were recorded this year at Snake Key.
- Photographs credit Ann Kamzelski (Click on images for more info!) from Lukas Desjardins, member of Friends' Board of Directors and UF graduate student of public archaeology Continued post-hurricane recovery is underway at Shell Mound. During the University of Florida’s spring break in mid March, our team of archaeologists conducted another round of excavations, this time continuing from the base of the escarpment on the south ridge that was excavated this January. Further analysis of this round of excavations will be forthcoming, however we are able to to reach the bottom of the shell deposits using a bucket auger. In addition to on-the ground excavation, we are working on developing methods for analyzing hurricane impacts at Shell Mound and neighboring sites using high tech LiDAR data collected by the GatorEye unmanned flying laboratory at UF. LiDAR is a technology which uses laser scans to create three-dimensional models of the earth’s surface. By comparing data collected in 2018 and 2024, we have been able to detect with a high resolution exactly how hurricanes Helene and Idalia have changed the surface of Shell Mound. Early results of analysis indicate that as a result of the 2023 and 2024 hurricane season, approximately 550 cubic meters of shell were displaced. Areas with the greatest impact were along the south ridge and the northern road, where relatively recent human impacts have disturbed the original slope of Shell Mound. Less severe impacts were also found at the southern end of the site, where past Shell Mining also disturbed the original slope. ![]() Results from this analysis will be used to assist in long-term planning and disaster mitigation efforts at Shell Mound. We are currently working to develop a predictive model for storm impacts at Shell Mound which can also be applied to other threatened sites in the Lower Suwannee. Additional data collected on neighboring sites such as Komar and Richard’s Island will be used to test the applicability of the model to other sites in the region. In the long term, predictive modelling will allow us to identify which parts of each site are most likely to be affected by future storm events, and to focus our research resources on areas which are the most vulnerable. Richard Joyce, a biologist for the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation and a coordinator of the Firefly Atlas Project, reached out to Friends and the Refuge for support to conduct surveys of firefly species, with a focus on imperiled salt marsh species. A group joined Richard on a survey in April 2025 with encouraging results. These surveys were part of an effort to understand the distribution of two firefly species that are thought to be imperiled by threats such as sea level rise and habitat loss: the Florida intertidal firefly (Micronaspis floridana) and the keel-necked firefly (Pyractomena ecostata). The Florida intertidal firefly was actually first described from a specimen that was collected in Cedar Key, and researchers from UF have done firefly research at the Shell Mound site for decades, but it has been over ten years since the species was observed or collected there. Richard related the following account of the survey: "A group of surveyors from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the Friends of the Refuges, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Florida State Parks met up at sunset at the Shell Mound and scanned for flashes or glows as night fell. About 40 minutes after sunset, we spotted the first firefly glowing as it flew near the boardwalk. We caught this firefly in a net and by examining it were able to confirm that it was an adult male Florida intertidal firefly. As it continued to get darker, more flashes began to sparkle at the edge of the salt marsh and mangroves-- male fireflies advertising their presence to females waiting in the vegetation near the high tide line. We also found multiple firefly larvae, spotting their glows as they crawled in the marsh. These larvae are predatory, feeding on snails. Given the significant storm surge that Cedar Key experienced last year during Hurricane Helene, it was heartening to find that the Shell Mound's firefly population was able to weather the storm. The Shell Mound site is significant for the Florida intertidal firefly because it is the northernmost place on the Gulf coast where it is known to occur. The following night, a group of surveyors looked for Florida intertidal fireflies at the Fishbone Creek boat landing in Dixie county, but found none.
There is still a lot we don't know about fireflies in the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Key Refuges! Have you seen fireflies in the marshes and mangroves in Levy or Dixie counties? If you are interested in surveying other sites in the area, the Firefly Atlas provides data sheets and a portal for submitting your findings." -Richard Joyce The contractor has begun the project early. The road will be closed until the pier is repaired and equipment removed. It should take about 60 days. ![]() You might have missed the newly rebuilt Shell Mound pier that was only open four months before the hurricane Helene swept through in late September 2024 causing significant damage and forcing another closure. Good news, though—repairs have begun and are expected to take about 60 days. During this time, vehicle access to Shell Mound will be closed. We’ll keep you posted as work progresses and look forward to seeing the pier reopened again!
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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. |