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Saturday, February 24. As has been our tradition, Friends Annual Meeting will be on the last Saturday in February at Refuge headquarters, which is located off State Road 347 between Chiefland and Cedar Key. The official address is at 16450 NW 31 Pl, Chiefland, FL 32626. Friends members do not pay a fee to attend the event, including the program, lunch, and afternoon nature walks. The fee for those who are not Friends members is $20 per person. Pre-program activities will start at 9:30. They include:
Again This Year So much is happening with Friends and the Refuges that the Welcome/Outreach trailer and information tables will be set up in the grassy area in front of the log cabin office building. Members and visitors can talk to board members and other volunteers about ongoing and planned projects and programs, discuss ideas for ways in which they'd like to participate, and learn more about:
 The formal program in the "shop" building will start at 10:15.
 After the Featured Presentation, while lunch is being set up and served, the information and discussion tables will be open again.
Lunch will be about noon. Ken McCain will cater. A vegetarian option will also be available. Afternoon Walk-to-Vista Exploration Options
Here is a link to the post about last year's Annual Meeting.
Our visitors at the Annual Meeting who will provide the demonstration about accessibility are Brandon Imhoff and Michael Dumas from the Unlimited State of Ability. Click on their names to read their bios.
At her request, we met at the Refuge on February 8th when she planned to be in the area. We were pleased to have her enthusiastic and undivided attention. Cammack serves on the House Agriculture Committee, and several caucuses, including Law Enforcement, Forests, and the Sportsmen's. With her support, those connections could positively affect the needs of the Refuges. We discussed the fact that the Refuge staff oversees 53,000 acres on the Lower Suwannee with responsibilities including rebuilding forests, providing hydrologic improvements to clean water flow which impacts clamming, oystering, commercial and residential fishing. She was interested in the indigenous archaeological importance of Shell Mound and other areas within the Refuges. She was pleased and surprised to learn that our Refuges have about 250,000 visitors annually, who boost the economy of the region and enjoy the recreational opportunities the Refuges offer such as hunting, biking, hiking, bird and butterfly watching and nature walks.
The Congresswoman, who insisted we call her Kat, got right to the point, "What can I do? What do you want to happen?" We wanted two things:
We reported that our Refuges have gone from a staff of 14 to 5, losing both full-time and collateral-duty law enforcement officers. Public safety has become a major concern. Due to an injury of the one law enforcement officer the Refuges did have, we currently have zero. Without law enforcement to deter crimes including poaching, vandalism, and an increase in other undesirable behaviors, there is a risk of forced closures to the public, including for hunting. Notably, the Lower Suwannee NWR has more hunt days than any other refuge in the lower 48 states. The Advocacy Committee felt good about the Congresswoman's interest in our Refuges and particularly in our concern about the need for more law enforcement. We invited her and her staff to join us at the Annual Meeting. We will continue our conversations and are confident that she will have our desire for increased law enforcement on our Refuges front of mind as a significant concern for her constituents.  Welcoming Congresswoman Cammack to the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys NWRs
The granting agency, Florida Division of Historical Resources, has been reviewing Friends' plans for the Cook's House restoration and last week, they were approved! Window restoration started right away and a request for proposals for roof work and other repairs has gone out. Hooray! The window repair is being contributed as a Gift-in-Kind by Debbie Meeks, an expert in historical restoration as well as Friends" immediate past president extraordinaire. A few other Friends members with restoration skills will be working under her supervision to help with the 10 antique windows in the building. The Request for Proposals for the roof and miscellaneous work is on the homepage, as well as here. If you know any contractors who have the skills and might be interested in working on a meaningful project, please share the RFP with them.
On Friday, February 9th, several Friends and other supporters met at Vista to plan how to design our Vista Camp Pollinator garden, as envisioned by those who attended the recent retreat of the Friends' board of directors. We looked over the magnificent space we have at Vista for our garden and tried to imagine the best possible presentation to delight and inform Refuge visitors. Claudia Larsen, of Micanopy Wildflowers, is our expert botanist and mentor. She is working on a 25 x 25 foot lay-out for the garden now. The Friends can't wait to get our hands in the dirt and plant some plants. If you would like to be part of the work team, your participation would be much appreciated. We also need work time to build some picnic tables, chairs and fencing. And, we are wishing for donations to purchase native plants and the materials for the tables, chairs, and fences. When we know what we want and what they cost, we will add the specifics to the Wish List. With over 90 species of butterflies in the Refuge as well as all the moths, bees, and other pollinators, our garden will be full of different wonders every day. The picture, by Barbara Woodmansee, who is the Friends' Champion for this Vista Camp Pollinator Garden, is just to let everyone know that spring is here! Redbuds and plums are blooming and lunas are on the wing! Barbara will lead a Butterfly Walk on the Refuge on Saturday April 13. Save the Date. More information will be posted as the time nears.  Luna moth by Barbara Woodmansee  The researchers at the Avian Research and Conservation Institute named the kite whose tracker we helped sponsor Suwannee 22, because she was caught and fitted with her device in 2022. She is still calling home and is on her way back to the Lower Suwannee NWR from Brazil. Here is hoping for a successful nesting season!
We all miss the River Trail so very much! It was one of the most popular places to walk in the Refuge, and the most accessible trail to see the Suwannee River, before Hurricane Idalia destroyed the boardwalks.
Refuge Manager Andrew Gude will need to apply for funds to rebuild the boardwalks from the regular maintenance funds within the National Wildlife Refuge System. He expects it will be years before our turn will come up in the queue. Friends are very impatient when it comes to our favorite points of Refuge access and helping visitors see and enjoy the River. With staff along to guide the discussion, board member John Thalacker studied the extensive damage to provide an assessment for Friends' possible action. It appeared that if a section about 35 feet long could be repaired, the boardwalk to the River overlook would be usable.  The boardwalk after Hurricane Idalia struck Refuge staff members tore out the most damaged section to get a clear view of the underpinnings and better assess the safety of the remaining sections.  After the staff members removed the destroyed wood and debris from the section Friends hoped to repair. Unfortunately, the damage turned out to be much more extensive than originally thought. Many of the 4x4 posts are nearly rotted through, so it is not possible to replace one section. The whole thing has to come down and be rebuilt.  Looking down into a 4x4 upright that was hallowed out. Now, we are back to the early understanding that our River Trail will be closed for years. What next? We are trying to find a way.
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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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