The insects are annoying, but the wildflowers are worth the trip. The refuge staff members have opened the edges of the Nature Drive to more sunshine and less shade. They have been mowing the edges strategically to promote wildflowers. It is working! A drive through the refuge is a joy to the eyes.
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Friends are still staffing the front desk at the Refuge office, at least a few hours a week during "low season" when the biting insects seem to visit more often than tourists. Come on out on Mondays and see us. It gets a bit dead around here.
Sam Shine, retired CEO of Samtec, has given the people of the Big Bend region an amazing gift --- 6,200 acres of pine land property that abuts St Mark's National Wildlife Refuge on its north side. All the water that flows across St Mark's comes through this property. The land has a market value of about $9 million, but to those of us who cherish the Big Bend as it is, this land is priceless.
Dan Frisk, our Complex Manager, said "It rarely happens that we get large tracts of land, especially land that’s already started to be restored. And, since it joins our property, we now own all the land from the gulf up to the coastal highway. So that’s pretty cool." You can read more about it in this press release: https://www.fws.gov/southeast/articles/a-shining-example/ |
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September 2023
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