Getting Back to Pre-Pandemic Membership Numbers

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

• Donors Sandra Roe Smith and Linda Roe Alexander turned over their life tenancy of the property, making it available as a Refuge interpretive area when safety and staffing needs are met.
  
• Friends received its 2nd grant related to Vista from the Florida Division of Historical Resources. With it, we will begin repairs on one of the most endangered buildings.
• Friends initiated a campaign to raise the $15,000 in matching funds needed for the grant which will total $75,000.
• A workday was held to clear unusable items and store items that will enhance its future interpretive purpose.

Refuge Enhancements

• Friends is working with Refuge staff to survey butterflies and strengthen our iNaturalist presence. In both cases we will also create a database to help with management decisions related to improving the habitat.
  
• The Refuge managers have made significant progress on the years-long project to improve the hydrology of the Lower Suwannee Refuge. When the land that is now the Refuge was commercially lumbered, roads and ridges were built that stopped the free flow of water across the land. Working with partners, including the counties and the Water Management District, hydrology studies have been completed and the Refuge is initiating changes, which will take years to complete, to reintroduce that energizing and nourishing flow of natural water across the Refuge into the Suwannee River and the Gulf.

Members and Visitors

Andrew Gude speaking at Friends 2022 Annual Meeting

• Friends is working to acquire a concession trailer to outfit as a Mobile Outreach Center to use at festivals and provide visitor information on busy winter weekends at the River Trail, Shell Mound, and other Refuge areas.
  
• Friends held its first post-pandemic, in-person Annual Meeting at the Refuge, with more than 200 participants.
• Friends has been invited to apply for a $15,000 grant to improve or expand visitors’ experiences on the Refuges.
• Events such as a Butterfly Walk, a Native Plants Walk, a Vista Photo Walk, and a Winter Solstice Celebration have been held or are planned.
• Friends published a “Gravel Riding” guide for visitors who want to bike the Refuge and prepared a iGuide Poster with QR codes to place at 13 locations where visitors access Refuge information.
• Friends is developing a Junior Ranger program to be ready this winter.

Outreach and Advocacy

• Friends initiated an online store to provide more access to items that increase awareness of the Refuges. Individual board members fulfill orders from their homes as people buy from the store.
  
• Our president Debbie Meeks was selected as one of 25 participants from among the 250 Friends groups nationwide for a week-long Friends Academy at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia in August.

Be a Friend. Support our Refuges. Thanks!