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Great news! The CDC Covid tracker now rates Levy County as LOW. Come join us RAIN or SHINE at the Friends Annual Meeting. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for registration and for Friends merchandise. Presentations begin at 10:00. Updated April 1 Happily, we are meeting at the Refuge, in-person, for our Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 2. We re-scheduled from February to April because of the Covid situation. We know this is likely to make the Annual Meeting smaller, since so many of our members have returned to their other-season homes by now. But despite fewer attendees, our day's agenda is mostly back to pre-pandemic normal.
Wouldn't you know . . . the weather forecast, as of March 28, predicts a rainy day. That has happened before and the forecast improved by our meeting day. Indeed, the weather has tended to be good to us. Regardless, we will meet. Rain or shine. 9:30 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
12:00 Lunch, catered by Ken and Rose McCain. Board Members are bringing desserts. If any members would like to also bring some, they would be welcome. It is hard to imagine "too many sweets." 1:00 Nature Walk to Vista (rides provided for those who prefer them). Annual Meeting participants will be able, in small groups, to walk through the main house at Vista for short visits, if they wish. Although everything will probably never be fully back to pre-pandemic normal, the great news is that the Covid-19 Community Level in Levy County has moved from High to Medium. There are no limits on the number of attendees at events at the Refuge. The CDC still recommends wearing a mask if you are at high risk of illness, staying up-to-date with Covid vaccines, and not attending an event when you have symptoms of being ill. Further changes are possible, of course. If they come up, we will send a News Brief to inform you. We also will post in this blog and on the homepage of this website. We look forward to seeing you on April 2 at the Refuge.
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Researcher Gina Kent brings good news. After 5 months, Suwannee uploaded data. He is safely back on the Lower Suwannee NWR. The Avian Research and Conservation Institute had a lot of challenges with tracking this year because the GSM/cell technology is changing rapidly and the birds are not able to upload data to the new technology. But they still are able to do so on the Lower Suwannee Refuge. We thought his tracker had died, but not so. He is here.
Historic logging (some 0f it very intensive) occurred on this land over 40 to 120 years, before it became the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge in the late 1970s. Since the land became the Refuge, forest restoration has been a primary goal. The forest is coming back with a vengeance. Our three-pronged forest restoration program uses prescribed fire, herbicides, and mechanical treatments.
We are grateful for the community's support in the work we do. If anyone has questions feel free to call me on my cell phone: 703.622.3896.
When Friends hosted the “Shell Mound - Plants and Peoples” walk with the Cedar Key Garden Club, we realized how many different resource items about Shell Mound are here on Friends website. Here is a summary:
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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. |
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