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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.  Marc Minno and John Douglass study the contents of the sweep net before releasing the captured insects  A sweep net being used to capture insects 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 male Twilight Darner collected and cataloged by John Douglass on the Lower Suwannee NWR 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.  Acting Refuge Manager John Stark assigns John Douglass a collection permit. 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.  Winter Solstice Celebration 2024 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. 
Staff positions authorized in 2012. Those in green were vacant because of hiring freezes.
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.  Map of Erosion and deposition between 2018 and 2024 at Shell Mound. Blue represents areas of deposition, and brown represents areas of erosion. 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. |
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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