From Refuge Manager Andrew Gude

First, let me say that the Refuge staff is missing all of you mosquito- and biting-fly-averse visitors, now that summer is here. Rest assured, we are feeding the monsters for you in your absence. See you in the fall.

By the way, don't fail to read Dan Kline's series about biting flies on the Lower Suwannee Refuge. His most recent entry is all about the mosquitoes. The articles are informative, accurate, and funny.

There is also other news.

The new configuration of the dock at Seahorse Key

Seahorse Key Dock and Waterfront rebuild is complete. A rebuild of the Shell Mound pier will commence soon.

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge received support from the Florida Trustee Implementation group for (currently) a $9.2M hydrologic restoration of the Dixie Mainline and the Nature Drive.  The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Facilities and Engineering Office and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf Restoration Office are now coordinating the many steps this needs to take before it plays out.  It will be a multi-year project.

The Refuge is working on removing condemned Vista buildings:  the caretakers' double wide, the grill shed, and the barn.  The intent is for the Friends to work with private parties to salvage and sell what can be sold and then take the rest and scrap it.  Any proceeds will go back into the Vista project.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services will be conducting a feral swine removal project on the Refuge (and all over Florida). They apparently received significant Congressional appropriations to do so with the intent to both remove this invasive species and collect blood samples to check for diseases such as African Swine Fever.  This will be an ongoing project using traps, guns, and aerial shooting.  Specifics have not been finalized.