Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
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2020 Annual Meeting Brings Close to 150 Participants

2/29/2020

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The weather was perfect and the crowd was large for the 2020 Annual Meeting. From the Friends' perspective, President John McPherson provided an overview of the year's actions and a preview of what is planned for the coming year. Refuge Manager Andrew Gude did the same from the refuge perspective.
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Meet and greet time
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Starting soon
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John McPherson, Friends president
2020 Annual Meeting Presentation by Friends President John McPherson
2020 Annual Meeting Presentation by Refuge Manager Andrew Gude
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About the Friends and the Refuge
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Andrew Gude, refuge manager
The membership elected new officers and directors. Their photos and short bios are available on the About Us - The Board tab. We also ratified changes to the Bylaws to bring them up to date. They are available on the Records Archives - Bylaws tab.
The excellent featured presentation was by Dr. Ken Meyer of the Avian Research and Conservation Institute in Gainesville, FL. He talked about their tracking studies and conservation issues of Swallow-tailed Kites. ARCI has been studying Swallow-tailed Kites since 1988, discovering their migration routes and winter range and all aspects of needs and threats along the way.
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featured speaker, Dr. Ken Meyer
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Fund raising for Suwannee, our Swallow-tailed Kite
The Friends sponsored the tagging of a Kite, named Suwannee, who spends part of his year on the Refuge. At the meeting, T-shirts were available to purchase to support our Suwannee-tracking project, and donations were also accepted, reaching more than $600 during the meeting. The shirts are available at the town of Suwannee Art Festival on March 14 and at the Welcome Desk in the headquarters at the refuge. This article includes an interactive map that tracks Suwannee on his migration. Scroll down in the article to find the map. Use the dot in the caption to "fly" him from the Refuge to Brazil and as far back as he is so far.
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Forming a lunch line
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After lunch, catered by Ken and Rose McCain, everyone walked to Vista to see the property that will eventually be added to the Refuge. It is gorgeous Suwannee riverfront  acreage with several buildings. With grant support, Friends is currently having an architectural firm evaluate the historical, cultural, and structural characteristics of the property for planning purposes.
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On the way to Vista
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On the Vista property
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Relaxing on the Vista dock
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Taking in the scene
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Hearing about the consultants' findings
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Old house boat at Vista
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Near the dock
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One of the vista buildings
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At the river's edge
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Friends members Sue and Jim Connor relaxing at the dock
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Native azaleas
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Friends members Richey and Sandra Smith, Bob and Carol McKinstry, and Bob's sister Elsie talking at Vista
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Another of the Vista buildings. Note the rooftop resurrection fern.
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Friends members Peg Hall and Sandra Smith at Vista
Journalist Blaine Vitallo attended the meeting, reporting for Hardison Ink. Read his story and see his photos - Annual Meeting Focuses on National Wildlife Refuges.
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March Welcome Desk Volunteer Hours

2/29/2020

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UPDATE: The Welcome Desk is CLOSED as a Coronavirus Precaution

The volunteers at the Welcome Desk greatly enjoy having lots of visitors. Come on out. Learn about the refuge and pick up maps and trail guides! 
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Where's Andrew?

2/16/2020

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Refuge Manager Andrew Gude spent the week of February 9 to 14 at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia learning more about Land Conservation Easements .
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A significant portion of the wildlife habitat in the continental United States is privately owned. Conservation easements are a valuable tool for protecting working landscapes and habitat values on private land that is adjacent to refuges, and impacts the wildlife and natural resources protected on the refuges.
 
This course provided information on the planning, acquisition, management, and enforcement of conservation easements that enhance refuges like our Lower Suwannee Refuge.

Discussion topics included how to:
  • Determine if a conservation easement is the best way to proceed in a given situation
  • Engage with the potential sellers, the community, and potential partners in situations when a conservation easement would serve the best interests of the refuge and the property owners
  • Acquire conservation easements in accordance with all regulations and relevant policies
  • Develop and maintain working relationships with landowners and communities
  • Effectively manage conservation easements and their uses once they are established
  • Ensure the taxpayers’ interests in the land are protected
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Impact of M-CORES Highway Project on our Refuge

2/16/2020

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photo from Fox 51 Gainesville
Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) is a massive, landscape-scale development across the remaining rural areas of Florida, including refuge lands in Levy and Dixie counties. If implemented, it represents the greatest challenge to Florida conservation in 40 years. It may go through Levy and Dixie counties just north of the Refuge boundary.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law in May 2019. He says it “is intended to re-vitalize rural communities, encourage job creation and provide regional connectivity while leveraging technology, enhancing the quality of life and public safety, and protecting the environment and natural resources.”
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Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys NWRs is concerned about the overall degradation that this project will cause to the ecosystem of the Refuge and the surrounding region. Since the late 1970s, when such a project was last proposed and when the Refuge was established, in part, to counter that proposal, the Lower Suwannee Refuge has been a buffer preserving the quality of water in the Suwannee River and the Gulf, protecting and preserving the flora and fauna of this last stand of undeveloped coastline in the country. A byproduct of the Refuge’s protection of the wildlife is that it also protects the fishing- and tourism-based economies that are the core of our way of life.
If this highway project proceeds, the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge is not large enough or strong enough to protect the wildlife, or us, against the direct and indirect degradation that M-CORES would bring to the environment and natural resources that the Governor says he wants to enhance.
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Tonight, February 12, on PBS -- Wild Florida

2/12/2020

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During the 2018 nesting season, the Avian Research and Conservation Institute (the featured program for Friends Annual Meeting in two weeks)  worked with a dedicated BBC film crew on a new addition to their Florida Wildlife series (which airs in the U. S. on PBS Nature), this time featuring Swallow-tailed Kites.  They were particularly interested in describing this species’ dramatic pre-migration communal roosting behavior, the national population monitoring program ARCI has built around this incredible phenomenon, and the importance of protecting the kites at these critical sites, including the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. 

Dr. Gina Kent and Dr. Ken Meyer have not seen the resulting piece, so we can all see it revealed together, tonight.  Gina says it will most likely be 10 minutes of kites or less.  There's a chance there are behind the scenes interviews at the end, so keep watching :)
Here is a trailer with a brief description of the program:
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/florida/2020/02/04/florida-pbs-show-focuses-nature-wild-animals-gators-pythons-manatee/4649916002/

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Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
P. O. Box 532
Cedar Key, FL 32625
friends@friendsofrefuges.org

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.


  • Home
    • Current News
  • About
    • About Friends >
      • Who We Are
      • What We Do
      • Current News
      • Contact Us
    • About the Refuges >
      • Our Refuges
      • Places of Interest
      • Hunting Brochure
  • Join
    • Donate
  • Maps
    • Paddling Guides
    • Refuge Maps
    • Trail Brochures
    • Places of Interest
  • Wildlife
    • Science
  • Hunt & Fish
    • Hunting
    • FWS Hunting Brochure
    • Fishing
    • Hunter SignUp
  • Search
  • Store
    • Shirts
    • Hats
    • Books
    • Earrings
    • Gift Donation
    • On Sale