The weather was perfect, the views were stunning, and attendance was strong at this year’s Friends Annual Meeting—held at a new venue, the beautiful Emmitt’s River Retreat in Fowlers Bluff. This year’s gathering was especially meaningful, as it was held in conjunction with the Manager of the Year ceremony honoring our own Andrew Gude.

The event began with official Friends business. President Ron Kamzelski welcomed members and guests and provided an update on the organization’s status, highlighting many accomplishments from the past year. Ethan Bittner followed with a brief overview of the group’s fiscal health. Ron then presented the slate of new board officers; after a vote, the new leadership was confirmed.

​Ron introduced incoming President Tara Barney, who spoke about the organization’s current initiatives and future goals. She emphasized the importance of member participation, offering simple but powerful advice: don’t try to do everything—“Do one thing.” By focusing on a single area of passion and contributing there, members can collectively make a meaningful impact. With the wide range of talent and experience within the group, the future looks bright.

John Stark, Interim Refuge Manager, provided a positive update on the status of the refuges. He noted that important work continues despite reduced staffing. While not at the same scale as in previous years, the staff are getting results. He stressed the need for creativity, flexibility, and collaboration—highlighting the critical role of Friends volunteers, partnerships, and outside support in meeting ongoing challenges.

​A special moment followed as Debbie Meeks, a longtime Friends member and past president, was recognized for her extraordinary contributions. Debbie has been a driving force behind numerous initiatives, including the Vista Project, Junior Rangers, hunter engagement, website development, the News Brief, membership growth, and more. Her impact on both the Friends group and the refuges has been profound.

With that, the Annual Meeting concluded, and attendees—board members, guests, and dignitaries—gathered to enjoy a hearty lunch featuring barbecue catered by Kenny McCain, along with sides provided by the Treasure Camp.

Lunch was followed by the ceremony recognizing Andrew Gude as Manager of the Year. It is not hard to see that Andrew is an exceptional refuge manager. Recognizing that, our Friends group submitted the nomination of Andrew for Manager of the Year. This nomination was accepted by the National Wildlife Refuge Association and he was selected for the award.. 

​The event brought in dignitaries and key leaders in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service including Cynthia Martinez, Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System, Holly Gaboriault, FWS Southeast Region, Desirée Sorenson-Groves, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Jeannie Rickman, Economic Development Coordinator for Representative Kat Cammack (R-Florida's 3rd District) and others.

​The fact that these people did not have to be here but decided to visit our Refuge personally to recognize the good work of Andrew Gude, to speak at our event, and to tour our Refuges with Refuge staff and Friends board members, speaks volumes about the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge and our Friends group. 

This was a fabulous opportunity to speak to individuals who operate at a national level, not only for them to hear our concerns but for us to hear theirs. This was reflected in the words of Desirée Sorenson-Groves speaking at Andrew’s event. To paraphrase;

“As acting refuge manager, John Stark was right to say that the Refuge is doing great things.

But honestly, as president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, I have to say that despite all the hard work and success of the refuge staff, things are not All Okay with the refuges! Staff is down. Funding is down. Threats are all around all the time.

We, the public, are concerned about the ability of the Refuge System to meet it mission to conserve fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. And so, while we celebrate Andrew as Refuge Manager of the Year, we also emphasize the value and importance of the refuges to all of us.”

​These conversations also allow us to learn and understand the future direction of the refuge system, to find where we fit in the larger whole, find where our support is needed and know what support we can expect. We also introduced our visitors to city officials, aquaculture staff, UF scientists and community members  who emphasized the importance of the refuge and how its many natural ecosystems are vital to and inextricably meshed with the regional economy and our very way of life. All feedback indicates that they were impressed and that Friends, the Refuge and the community presented very well. 

Back to the meeting and award ceremony... several took the microphone to relate their experiences and tell anecdotes about Andrew, to talk about the the significance of the award being presented and importantly to  simply congratulate Andrew.

​Holly Gaboriault said it well in her comments.

"Andrew Gude:  An incredible conservation leader, person, and friend.
In 2011 Andrew stepped into one of the most complex Florida landscapes to manage the 53,000 acre Lower Suwanee NRW Complex surrounded by 250 miles of coastline, a 240 mile unimpeded river, a 1 million acre seagrass preserve, and nearly 2 million acres of undeveloped coastal habitat under mixed ownership.  When he arrived, everyone quickly knew something was different, but they had no idea.
  
Andrew’s partnership work is extraordinary . . . (his) ability to approach challenges from angles that would surprise an ordinary person . . .His steady presence, and a smile that opens doors even before a conversation begins . . . are embraced by his staff, his partners, and reflect how he genuinely cares for people and the mission of the Service.”

​Accepting the award, Andrew spoke. His talk was humble, thoughtful and engaging. Andrew stated he was “just doing his job” and that the award speaks to all of us. He related about his early years and how he gravitated to environmentalism and conservation through an “Earth Day every day” attitude learned from his father. He gave us three rules;

1. Blame the innocent and shoot the messenger.
2. Credit is infinitely divisible – give credit where credit is not due. 
3. Volunteer others to do the things that you can’t or won’t do yourself. 

There were more anecdotes spun by Andrew, one involving Skunk Apes and the official hunting guidelines regarding them. His closing comments regarding his service "I am grateful and proud to have been a US civil servant." told us a lot about the man. 

Please join us as Friends Member and butterfly expert Barbara Woodmansee leads a 90-minute butterfly walk at Lower Suwannee NWR on Saturday April 4th, starting at 9:30am.  We will meet at 9:15 at Gate 37 on Cabin Road, which is about one and a half miles from the south entrance to the Nature Drive.  

Binoculars and cameras will be helpful, but are not required.  Bring a hat, a drink and bug spray if you are sensitive to sand gnats.  Early spring is a perfect time to see many of the beautiful and sometimes rare butterflies in the Refuge. 

Details:
​Date: Saturday April 4th
Time: 9:30am
Where: Gate 37 on Cabin Road

If you have questions, please reach out to Barbara Woodmansee at "[email protected]".

In case of inclement weather we will plan an alternate day.

Work is underway at Vista to open the site to the public. The results will provide a pathway and dock providing access to the Suwannee River, a welcome replacement for the beloved River Walk, located a few hundred yards away, which was destroyed during the 2024 hurricane season.

Vista has become the site of an exciting academic partnership. The Friends helped bring a University of Florida architecture project to the refuge. A 4th year undergraduate design/build course called Reflective Building: Design/Build with the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, taught by Professor and author Charlie Hailey uses Vista as a project site. We hope they will continue to do so in future years. It's a good fit since students get a real-world building experience in an impactful setting, and the Refuge benefits directly from their work. We hope this collaboration continues for years to come.

The concept includes loungers along the riverbank and seating at points along the path where narrative panels will one day be installed describing the history of the place.​

​Much of their work involves hand tools. Here, tenons are being cut in cypress boards.

The dock itself is a major project in its own right. Now in the engineering phase under a FL Department of Transportation grant, it is scheduled to be rebuilt and open to the public in 2027. The new structure must stay within the footprint of the original dock, which historically included a floating section. We're hopeful that a floating dock can be incorporated into the new design to provide boat access, though that is still to be determined.

Some of the pieces are falling into place at Vista, and we look forward to welcoming the public to this new gateway to the Suwannee River at the Refuge.

Friends went the extra mile to set up Rover at the Suwannee Arts and Nature Festival in the town of Suwannee. We always enjoy talking about the Refuge. 
​
​Next stop for Rover is the Cedar Key Arts Festival on April 11 and 12. Come see us or even volunteer to man the Rover! 

​The Refuge Rover and Friends volunteers greeted visitors to the Three Sisters Springs Open House during the Florida Manatee Festival for the second year in a row on January 17th & 18th in Crystal River. Both years had perfect weather on Saturday but torrential rain on Sunday, what were the chances!

​Refuge coloring books and Junior Ranger activities were a big hit as well as maps and recommendations for exploring our area. 

SUPER news arrived March 17 from Gina Kent at the Avian Research and Conservation Institute!! Our Friends group has been concerned about his well-being because his tracker had not sent any messages in ages. At that time Gina reported: "Suwannee Scout is alive and back in the USA!  He slept in Alabama last night.  He'll start his over land trek back to the Refuge today.  What we now know is that his tracker was not compatible with the cell network where he was migrating and wintering in Central and South America.  All his location data is accounted for, saved during the duration away from cell towers.  Main thing is he's ok and on his way home!  Celebrate!!!"

Follow up reports as of March 25th tell us that Suwannee Scout tested the migration conditions for a few days before crossing the Gulf on March 14, 2026, departing from the northern tip of the Yucatan. It then took 32 hours to fly across the ocean, due north, to Mississippi. He rested there nearly five days, foraging in the big river swamps of the Pascagoula and Escatawpa Rivers before making his way east, through the Panhandle then south to the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. He arrived on March 23 and seems to be close to his territory from last year.  Wishing him and all kites a good nesting season!

Celebrate, we will. Hooray for Suwannee Scout!

One of the many calls he got on his personal cell phone, the number of which he made available to the public, was from a hunter who insisted he had seen a skunk ape or a swamp ape on the Lower Suwannee Refuge.

Those of us listening to the story laughed, and wondered how Andrew would deal with someone who believed the swamp ape myth. Andrew, being Andrew, said something like, “Oh really! Where did you see it? We see them all the time too.” Andrew said he frequently used such bald-face lies because they often led to his having a great laugh with a shocked caller.

In the audience, we were applauding and laughing. Fantastic as the story seemed, it was no surprise to the many of us who know Andrew and appreciate his sense of humor, and mischief.

Just as the laughter began to fade, Andrew did something that was not at all the Andrew we knew and expected. He went serious on us.

He told us that at the end of the day, in thinking about Friends and the community having nominated him for this award, he was extraordinarily proud to have been a US civil servant. Civil servants, every day, bring ethical standards, passion, knowledge, and skills to the work the American people ask them to do. The ethics and commitment of US civil servants are what make American democracy rise above all the others of the world. Andrew looked at all of us and said "I am grateful and proud to have been a US civil servant."