Stormwater Treatment Area 1, northwest of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Photo courtesy of Julie Hill-Gabriel.

In March, federal judge Federico Moreno tentatively ordered the SFWMD to construct a project known as the A-1 Reservoir, a 16,000 acre deep storage reservoir located at the south end of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). The Miccosukee Tribe and others wanted the reservoir completed because of its purported benefits to water quality.  Expert witnesses from the Everglades Foundation, testifying on behalf of Florida Audubon, as well as state and federal agencies explained that much better water quality improvements would be achieved through re-evaluating the project on this land as a STA because of its opportune proximity to existing STAs and location within the EAA.

Special Master John Barkett was asked to review this issue by Judge Moreno to determine whether changed circumstances continue to justify reservoir construction.  After a lengthy hearing in which Florida Audubon was represented by attorney Tom Rumberger, Special Master Barkett recognized how the purchase of U.S. Sugar lands and new science demonstrate better options for ensuing clean water flows to the Everglades. Florida Audubon’s witnesses, a hydrologist and water quality scientist employed by the Everglades Foundation, provided a compelling scientific basis to reassess restoration plans and assumptions for the Reservoir now that land from U.S. Sugar is available.

Audubon commends the Special Master’s recommendations, which must be approved by the Judge before becoming final.  By ensuring the needed expansion of STAs in the most effective locations and the use of other tools, such as strengthening Best Management Practices (BMPs) for EAA farmers, Florida Audubon believes the 10 ppb phosphorus level can be achieved.

Improving water quality to consistently meet the 10 ppb phosphorus limits for water entering the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park is critical to prevent further ecological deterioration.  The pollution emerging from sugar cane, other cropland, and urban runoff in and around the EAA is causing healthy Everglades sawgrass marshes and sloughs to convert into cattail-choked wasteland at a rate of between 2 and 9 acres per day.

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In a unanimous vote, the Board agreed to readjust its land purchase  in light of the current economic climate and move to acquire almost 27,000 acres of land and the option to purchase an additional 153,200 acres over the next ten years.

The land will be used to increase the effectiveness of existing Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) and to create new ones to remove even more nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, from freshwater destined for the Everglades. The Everglades is naturally a low-nutrient ecosystem, and the natural balance of native plant communities and wildlife are seriously impacted by phosphorus-laden water.

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Stormwater Treatment Area 1, northwest of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Photo courtesy of Julie Hill-Gabriel.

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has revised its proposal to purchase U.S. Sugar Corporation (U.S. Sugar) lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) to two parcels that will provide early opportunities to improve water quality.

Join Everglades advocates to support the refocused U.S. Sugar land acquisition as a smart restoration milestone that will benefit the public and the health of the Everglades ecosystem.

Attend the Public Meeting and Voice Your Support: The proposed purchase must be approved at the next SFWMD Governing Board meeting at 11 a.m., Thursday, August 12 at the District Headquarters, B-1 Auditorium, 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33406.

The plan proposes the purchase of approximately 26,800 acres, 17,900 of which are citrus groves in Hendry County and 8,900 of which produce sugarcane in Palm Beach County. If the deal is approved, the land will be utilized to create new Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) or to improve the function of existing STAs.  For the next ten years, the SFWMD will have the option to purchase an additional 153,200 acres. While U.S. Sugar will lease back this land until it is needed for water quality projects, thereby substantially defraying the costs of maintenance, there are no long-term lease requirements and the SFWMD can use the land to store and treat water as soon as projects are ready.  The purchase will utilize funding already available, thereby preventing delays while financing is secured.

Read the Audubon fact sheet for more details on the benefits of this revised proposal and download the map of the parcels proposed for purchase.

Join us Thursday, August 12, to help advance water quality improvements in the Everglades.

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Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Senator Bill Nelson, of Florida, asked the committee to put Everglades National Park back on the list. We commend these leaders for their efforts to restore international attention to the “serious and continuing degradation of its aquatic ecosystem.”

The 21-nation World Heritage Committee oversees the list of World Heritage Sites that are of significant cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Sites that are deemed to be in jeopardy are placed on the danger list. The list focuses the attention and resources of the international community on these sites, and encourages action to address those threats.

Due to urban and agricultural development in the Everglades, water flow has decreased by 60 percent. Nutrient pollution has increased to the point where the ecosystem is showing significant signs of eutrophication, loss of marine life, and a decline in marine species.

This is the second time the Everglades has been included on this list. The Everglades was first listed in 1993, due to damages from Hurricane Andrew and the deterioration of water quality and flows from agricultural and urban development. In 2007, UNESCO removed the Everglades from the Danger list. Everglades champions and policy makers, led by Senator Nelson, called the de-listing flawed because it ignored recommendations of the scientific community, and did not reflect funding challenges for restoration.

Being restored to the list will make it easier to get preservation money both from the United Nations and local governments.

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Audubon supported the ban and thanks all advocates who helped call on the County to freeze new mining permits.  The third and final vote needed to make this decision final will be at the end of August and as that time nears, Audubon will provide more details and information on how to help.

Read about the decision here.

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If approved, the moratorium will allow time for the BOCC to consider changing the way mining applications are approved- a process the County is in the midst of reviewing that could give them greater discretion to consider the impacts of new mines.  Audubon and conservation partners support changes requiring a land use change to the County’s Comprehensive Plan and reviewing the cumulative impacts of such mining on Everglades restoration and other environmental issues.

More than 20,000 acres of new rock mines have been approved in the past few years.  This temporary freeze on mining applications should allow the BOCC to develop new rules to address ongoing debates and recognize changed circumstances, including the importance of maintaining lands for sustainable agriculture and Everglades restoration in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

The BOCC has already taken the first step toward putting this moratorium in place, but Thursday’s vote is critical to moving it forward.  If you live in Palm Beach County, please write your Commissioner and ask that he or she approve the mining moratorium.  To find your Commissioner, click here.

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Jones was the individual most responsible for the successful campaign to restore the Kissimmee River in Central Florida. As a youth, Jones had spent much of his free time hunting and fishing in the Kissimmee River and watched as the Corps of Engineers destroyed the river through channelization. He vowed to reverse the process and convinced the conservation community, including Audubon, to make Kissimmee restoration a major priority.

Jones transformed the Florida Wildlife Federation from a group of local hunting clubs into a powerful statewide conservation organization. Under his leadership, the Florida Wildlife Federation became a major actor in the successful effort to stop the construction of the Everglades Jetport, and the lobbying effort to convince Congress to pass legislation authorizing and funding the acquisition of the Big Cypress National Preserve.

In addition to restoration of the Kissimmee River, Jones will be remembered for his tireless efforts to obtain state support for Florida’s first major land acquisition programs, “Lands for You” the “Environmentally Endangered Lands” program, and the “Conservation and Recreation Lands” program. One of the most significant purchases ever was Jones’  special crusade to preserve the 60,000-acre Three Lakes Ranch wildlife management area in Osceola County.

With the passing of Johnny Jones, the conservation movement in Florida mourns the loss of one of its most important, dynamic, and powerful leaders. Read about it here.

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Dr. Paul Gray, Audubon of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee expert, (center) with SFWMD Governing Board Chair Eric Buermann (L) and Governing Board Member Kevin Powers

Audubon’s Lake Okeechobee expert, Dr. Paul Gray, attended the groundbreaking today, June 18, 2010, for the Lakeside Ranch Stormwater Treatment Area (STA), located on the northeast shore of Lake Okeechobee.

Hosted by the South Florida Water Management District, the groundbreaking launches a project that is part of the Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan. The STA is designed to clean water before it flows into the Lake.  When completed, this $70 million project will be a 2,000-acre (about three square miles) artificial wetland, projected to be able to remove around 19 tons of phosphorus per year, along with excess nitrogen and other pollutants. Once it is functioning, the STA will be essential to restoring Lake Okeechobee.  Audubon applauds the cooperative work of state and federal agencies to complete it, even in these difficult budget times.

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For Immediate Release

Contacts: Dr. Shawn Liston, sliston@audubon.org, 239-354-4469

Megan Tinsley, mtinsley@audubon.org, 786-295-4954

June 10, 2010, New York, NY—Audubon of Florida experts will bring the Everglades alive for children and families at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Sunday June 13 with interactive presentations about one of America’s most unique ecosystems.

Shawn Liston, Ph.D., Florida Audubon’s Research Manager for the Southwest Region, and Megan Tinsley, Audubon’s Everglades Policy Associate, will be featured in the Museum’s Milstein Science Sundays: Restoring the Everglades.  The program will be held between 12 noon and 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 13th in the Museum’s Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024. (Visit amnh.org for directions and additional information). Shawn and Megan will be accompanied by Dr. William Loftus, an ecologist who has worked in the Everglades for more than 30 years, and Jarod Miller, a zoologist and television personality.

Children will learn about the Everglades through the story of two raindrops as they travel southward through the Everglades, along the way learning about this unique natural system and the birds and other wildlife that depend on a healthy ecosystem to survive.  Many important plant and animal species will be introduced throughout this journey, including Everglades Snail Kites in the Lake Okeechobee watershed, wading birds, such as the White Ibis, and alligators in the River of Grass, the Florida panther and Wood Stork in the Big Cypress Swamp, and the charismatic Roseate Spoonbill in Florida Bay.

As the raindrops travel through the Everglades, the audience will see some of the current threats to this fragile ecosystem, including increased development and human demand for water and flood protection, poor water quality, spread of non-native species, and climate change.  They’ll learn about the incredible efforts being made to protect this invaluable environmental resource and how they can help to make a difference.

Hands-on activities will allow children to make frogs from recycled corks, color images of various Everglades animals and habitats, and ‘forage’ like wading birds to learn the importance of concentrated prey.  Young people will also meet several live animals found in the Everglades, including an alligator, a Burmese python and a young Florida panther, and see aquariums of native and non-native Everglades fish.

–30–

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Tamiami Trail Photo Courtesy of the US Army Corps of Engineers

preferred alternative of 5.5 miles of additional bridging for Tamiami Trail.

The announcement came during America’s Everglades Summit when the National Park Service released its draft report for additional bridging over Tamiami Trail.  The preferred alternative  goes above and beyond the one-mile bridge currently under construction as part of the Modified Water Deliveries Project.  Audubon and partner Everglades advocates have long urged that enough Tamiami Trail bridging be built to reconnect the vital sheetflow to Everglades National Park (ENP) that provides habitat for many of the Everglades’ endangered and threatened species.  This preferred alternative will finally provide the needed ecological connectivity that enabled the once abundant populations of wildlife to thrive in the Everglades.

This alternative was selected because scientific analyses concluded that it provided the greatest ecological benefits, based on marsh connectivity, flow velocity, reconnection of ridge and slough habitat, and wetland loss.  The plan would increase ecological connectivity between ENP and Water Conservation Areas north of Tamiami Trail by 500 percent, providing great benefits for endangered bird species such as the snail kite and wood stork.  Audubon applauds the National Park Service for recognizing the importance and necessity of additional bridging, and looks forward to working with partner agencies and organizations to ensure that the preferred alternative is fully implemented.

Read Audubon’s view on raising the trail in the Miami Herald.

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NOAA Cumulative Oil Trajectory Map

Step Lightly on Florida Beaches

Well-motivated but not well informed volunteers sent out to clean debris from beaches may be disturbing nesting and other shorebirds.  Volunteers eager to move beach litter above the high water line to make it easier to clean up oil that may come ashore are putting beach and marsh nesting birds at risk.

Some people are moving beach debris such as driftwood from the beach onto high-water areas.  This is harmful as beach wildlife use naturally occurring beach debris near the water line and may be harmed when debris is piled in upland areas on or near their well camouflaged nests.  Traffic in dune areas can also harm vegetation.

Safe Tips for Cleaning Litter off Beaches:

For those who want to clean litter from the beaches in anticipation of oil coming ashore, Audubon recommends the following:

• Use approved access points and avoid walking or hiking through marshes or seagrass beds.

• Stay below the tidal line.

• Leave natural debris in place because it provides nesting benefits to shorebirds and other wildlife.

• Only remove man-made litter.

• Do not place litter in the dunes or above the high water line.

• Don’t use equipment such as rakes, shovels or tractors.

• Do not bring ATVs or other motorized vehicles onto the beach.

• Do not bring dogs onto the beach (dogs are a primary sources of beach bird disturbance and mortality.)

• Respect posted areas and leave signs, posts and twine in place to protect beach nesting bird colonies.

You can take action in many ways:

1. Volunteer to rescue injured birds and to clean oil off Florida’s beaches and other coastal areas.
2. Sign the petition opposing state and federal plans to expand oil drilling in Florida’s water.
3. Contribute to our special fund to rescue birds injured by the oil spill and underwrite advocacy so this never happens again.
4. Recruit your friends and family to join Audubon’s response efforts.

Red Knot courtesy of Rod Wiley

Send us your photos and video of local habitats and wildlife

Audubon of Florida is urging everyone to step lightly on our beaches and follow safety tips if you are engaged in beach clean up activities.

You can also help by taking pictures and videos of the habitats and wildlife in your local communities. This local knowledge could become very useful as the oil spill evolves.
Follow these guidelines when documenting your coastal areas and wildlife and to send images to Audubon of Florida:

When photographing or filming

• Follow all Audubon safe tips for beach cleaning.
• Keep your distance from nesting grounds, marked areas, and resting birds. Do not flush birds.
• Use long range zooms to capture close up images.

Send your images, video or a notification of their availability to flconservation@audubon.org.

• Identify the time, day, date and location that the image was taken, and use GPS coordinates if possible.

• Identify and clearly spell the name of the photographer/videographer and provide contact information, email, telephone and address.

• Clearly state whether Audubon may have the rights to reprint, publish in print and electronic vehicles, and share your images, providing proper credit.

• For large photo or video files, notify us at flconservation@audubon.org that images are available and we will contact you with instructions for uploading them.

Note that Florida Audubon does not have a budget to pay for images but provides photo credit to the photographer/videographer.

Additional Resources

Click Here for Florida updates from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Click Here for the most updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maps on the oil spill’s trajectory.

Click Here to visit the Deepwater Horizon central command.

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From the Sun Sentinel:

Audubon of Florida picked a political fight with Big Sugar on Thursday, calling for tougher water pollution rules for agriculture to try to jumpstart Everglades restoration.

The push for tougher water quality requirements comes after a federal judge’s blistering ruling Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Florida left Everglades restoration “rudderless” by failing to enforce the Clean Water Act.

Audubon contends that the most immediate way to respond to the judge’s call for action is to toughen the water quality requirements for runoff from sugar cane fields and other farms in 700,000-acre Everglades Agricultural Area, south of Lake Okeechobee.

The environmental advocacy group wants the South Florida Water Management District to update pollution cleanup rules in place since 1992 on growers in the vast agricultural area.

That could mean requiring farmers to store more stormwater on their properties and to more frequently clean up polluted muck from the drainage canals that deliver water that ends up in the Everglades.

“There are some distinct opportunities . that could leverage tremendous amounts of improvements,” said Charles Lee, Audubon director of advocacy. “It’s probably the most practical and immediate movement you can make.”

Agricultural representatives on Thursday countered that growers already have changed their practices to improve water quality. They blame urban stormwater runoff and polluted water from Lake Okeechobee for South Florida
failing to meet water quality standards set for the Everglades.

“It’s not the farm water that’s the issue,” said Judy Sanchez, U.S. Sugar Corp. spokeswoman. “Tweaking the [cleanup rules] is just going to cost the farmers more money and it won’t give you any cleaner water.”

The South Florida Water Management District plans to wade into the politically divisive water quality issue in the next few months. That could include updating the “best management practices” required of farmers to lessen agricultural pollution.

The concern is the amount of phosphorus that ends up in the Everglades.

Phosphorus comes from fertilizer as well as the natural decay of soil on agricultural fields. Stormwater that drains off farmland, as well as urban areas, carries phosphorus to the Everglades and fuels the growth of cattails that squeeze out sawgrass and other native habitat.

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Write to your legislators, urging them to provide bridge funding for Florida Forever and Everglades Restoration in this year’s budget. Tell them why wildlands and local parks are important to you and their constituents. Encourage them to attend Florida Forever Day at the Capitol’s Waller Park tomorrow at 11:30.

In recent years, Florida Forever has been appropriated $300 million annually for conservation and recreation land acquisitions, and Everglades Restoration has received annual appropriations of as much as $200 million.

Due to the economy and declines in documentary stamp revenues, last year’s funding for Everglades Restoration was much reduced, and Florida Forever received no appropriation. With the State of Florida currently strapped for cash and struggling with limited bonding capacity, we recognize a return to full funding for these programs is unlikely this year. Nevertheless, it is crucial that these keystone conservation programs receive some bridge funding.

DEP Division of State Lands Director Deborah Poppell reported earlier this Session before the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee that many previously unwilling sellers have approached the Division in the last year, now willing to sell their environmentally sensitive lands at bargain prices. Continuation funding this year is an important signal to landowners that the state remains committed to working with willing sellers to protect Florida’s remaining special places.

Currently, the Senate budget includes $15 million in cash for Florida Forever and $10 million in cash for the Everglades; the companion House budget appropriates no funding for either of these programs.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 7, is Florida Forever Day at the Capitol. We need your voice now, more than ever.

1) Be inspired by Carlton Ward’s breathtaking photos of Florida’s top ten proposed Florida Forever acquisitions in a countdown to Florida Forever Day tomorrow.

2) Write to your legislators, urging them to provide bridge funding for Florida Forever and Everglades Restoration in this year’s budget. Tell them why wildlands and local parks are important to you and their constituents. Encourage them to attend Florida Forever Day at the Capitol’s Waller Park tomorrow at 11:30.

3) Attend Florida Forever Day: Join us at the Capitol Wednesday to show your support for Florida Forever. Email us if you’d like help scheduling an appointment with your senator and representative, or just join us for the rally at 11:30 (to be followed by an ice cream social). Events will be located in Waller Park (the steps, fountain and plaza on the West side of the Capitol building).

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Until large projects to store, treat and convey freshwater from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades come on line, water management policy and tools to determine freshwater releases must balance the necessities of the natural ecosystem and wildlife that depend on healthy habitats with demands of water users for urban and agriculture uses.

Audubon is working with state and federal water managers to develop an important water management tool, called Adaptive Protocols for Lake Okeechobee Operations, that outlines when to hold or release water in Lake Okeechobee.

At issue is some agricultural sector demands to curtail small, beneficial water releases from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee Estuary during the dry season, even before they would be rationed. Audubon recommends that all interests must share the adversity of water rationing during the dry season as the only means of balancing competing demands and necessities.

The Caloosahatchee Estuary needs fresh water flows during the dry season to sustain its vital brackish water zone, which is an important nursery for fish, crabs, oysters, and other marine organisms for the Gulf Coast region.  Lake Okeechobee often is the only source for these flows and an entire month of healthy flows only lowers the lake about one inch.

Yet, the SFMWD has proposed that if there is only a 30 percent chance that the lake could drop close to the water rationing line—before rationing is even triggered—that beneficial flows to the Caloosahatchee could be cut to zero.  Thus, when farmers are having all their supplies met and have a cushion of water remaining, the estuary’s ecological health could be destroyed.

Audubon maintains that water flows during the dry season must be balanced to all interests, including the Caloosahatchee Estuary, and will remain vigilant to ensure that water management tools, including the Adaptive Protocols, fairly allocate freshwater between water supply and environmental needs.

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Florida Audubon’s Julie Hill-Gabriel, Everglades Policy Associate, was elected the national co-chair of the Everglades Coalition during its annual meeting on Friday, March 26, 2010. Mark Perry, Executive Director of the Florida Oceanographic Society, was reelected as the state co-chair and president of the board for 2010.

The coalition of 53 national, state and local organizations is one of the largest and most effective environmental coalitions in the nation. Each year, it organizes the Everglades Coalition Conference, bringing together decision makers from federal, state, local and tribal governments, agency representatives, stakeholders and a vast array of public and private interests including scientists, educators, contractors, conservationists, the media, students and the general public. The conference is the largest annual forum for debate of Everglades conservation and restoration. The 2011 Everglades conference will be held in January in Weston, Florida.

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