 Imagining the sun setting near Palmetto Mound was the best we could do in blustery 2021.
Hopefully, at 5:39 we will see the sun set near Palmetto Mound, which was an ancient burial ground. Each of the past 5 years, the weather has been cold and blustery. Each of those years, we had to imagine the sun setting behind the clouds we were watching. Nevertheless, we celebrated.
Be there, rain or shine. It is becoming a Friends' tradition.
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If you are thinking about an end-of-year or future gift to Friends, consider making a donation to help with our matching fund commitment that will help leverage the grant for work at Vista.
By way of update, the November News Brief mentioned that the grant had met a bump in the road. Because of the recent hurricanes in our state, architects and contractors are harder to hire and more costly than our proposal projected when we submitted it in summer 2021. With Refuge Manager Andrew Gude, Friends continues working on ways to move ahead in the new fiscal reality.
Currently, Friends has about 210 members, down from 260 before the pandemic. We would like to rebuild the membership base to increase our strength as advocates for our Refuges.
If you took a membership break during the pandemic, please consider renewing your membership. If you don't know whether your membership lapsed, email [email protected] and we will let you know. In hopes of encouraging you to participate in Friends accomplishments, here is a long overview of what has happened in 2022. Vista  Sandra Roe Smith giving the key to Vista to Refuge Manager Andrew Gude
Refuge Enhancements 
Members and Visitors  Andrew Gude speaking at Friends 2022 Annual Meeting
Outreach and Advocacy 
Be a Friend. Support our Refuges. Thanks!
On Saturday, November 19, Friends hosted the Paynes Prairie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society on a nature walk led by Refuge Manager Andrew Gude. The walk was a follow up to a talk Andrew gave at the Native Plant Society's meeting in Gainesville a few days earlier. About 25 participants walked from Gate 14 along the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge's Nature Drive to Fletcher's Landing on the Suwannee River. Check out the nice piece in the January edition of The Rhexia, their newsletter, about their visit with us.
In August, speaking for the board and Friends, our president Debbie Meeks wrote to Congressman Neal Dunn, and our Senators to advocate for improving the internet at the Refuge. In this day and age, no organization can work efficiently and effectively with weak internet connections. We had already bumped into connectivity issues with internet when Friends had volunteered to staff the Welcome Desk at Refuge headquarters before the pandemic closures. We'd known that staff were required to use cloud-based software programs for map-making and other functions. However, the internet connections were often not reliable enough to do the work.
In October, Congressman Dunn replied that he had made inquiries of the Fish and Wildlife Service in response to Debbie's letter. It looks like there is now some hope for improvement. Friends is delighted and hopes it is not long in coming to fruition.
 Friends of Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys NWRs and the Paynes Prarie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will hold a native plant walk on the Lower Suwannee Refuge on Saturday November 19 at 10 a.m. All are welcome.
Meet at Gate 14 along the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge Nature Drive. The gate is about 7 miles from the south entrance to the Nature Drive, off Rte 347. Refuge gates are yellow and numbered. The GPS coordinates for Gate 14 are 29.351035, -83.052415. Click here for a map of the entire Refuge. Click here for a guide to the Nature Drive, which notes Gate 14. The walk is 1/2 mile long on a compacted secondary Refuge road that is grassy and muddy in spots. Sunny open flatwoods transition to shady floodplain and the road ends with a view of the Suwannee River. Cell service is poor in the area. Ticks are abundant if you venture off the mowed road. Sand gnats or mosquitoes might be a nuisance depending on the amount of breeze. Despite those adventure-related issues, it promises to be a lovely walk.
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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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