EVERGLADE KITE NEWSLETTER OF THE
AUDUBON SOCIETY OF THE EVERGLADES
Serving Palm Beach County, Florida
Volume 48, Number 10
August 2008
President’s Perspective
CALENDAR
Linda Humphries
This year’s field trip season has
concluded; look for next year’s Greetings from Michigan! I am visiting my family for the month
calendar in our September of July. I am sure you are aware that Michigan is the home of the
issue! Kirtland’s Warbler. I have not had a chance to see it this year, but my
Tuesday, August 4, 7:30 p.m., Dad’s yard is full of birds. I love waking up to the sounds of their
Howard Park, West Palm beautiful songs. I miss their singing when I am home in Florida. I
Beach. General Meeting: would like to thank Cynthia Plockelman for filling in for me while I
Members’ Photo Night and Ice am away.
Cream Social. We have been very fortunate to appoint several new board members.
As we go to press, the dates Janet Schreiber was appointed our new treasurer. She will be learning
for our annual excursions to our system from Paton White over the next couple of months.
the flooded fields of Duda Janet has been in the banking business for many years. Marta Rue
have not yet been determined. Isaacson has been appointed our new Public Relations chair. She is
Water levels are quite high, and very enthusiastic and has lots of good ideas. Clive Pinnock, Manager
shorebird concentrations are of Okeeheelee Nature Center, is Board Member at large. His bird
lower than usual for this time expertise and new ideas are a welcome addition. He will be leading
of year. For more info on these two bird walks for children 7 and over in our newly created children’s
trips, come to our August 4th program. Judy Hill has taken over as Hospitality chair, and is doing a
general meeting, where we’ll great job. I would like to thank Sheila Reiss (Hospitality) for all of the
announce dates and times. hard work she did in the past and all the delicious treats she provided.
As usual, these trips are by I would also like to thank the board for their past support and I am
special permission of the looking forward to our continued team effort in creating an exciting
management of the farms; Audubon future.
please DO NOT CONTACT
We have lots of exciting things ahead. The August general meeting is
DUDA about them. Conditions
going to be an ice cream social and photo sharing night. It will start
are very hot; bring lunch, water,
off with an update of the two injured Eagles at Folke Peterson. Bring
suncreeen, etc.
your pictures and join in the fun!
www.auduboneverglades.org
We’ve completely redesigned our online Our general meetings will be moving to Pine Jog Environmental
community at www.auduboneverglades. Center’s new building on October 7, 2008. Pine Jog is located at 6301
org. Get up-to-the minute news about Summit Blvd, West Palm Beach. There will be more information in
conservation issues in PB Co.; information
about upcoming field trips, meetings, and the September Kite. Our September meeting will remain at Howard
events. Please send feedback to Ben at Park.
[email protected] or 561-367-7689.
Please continue thinking of new ideas for our Chapter. I value your
Membership/Mailing Problems?
Address correspondence regarding Audubon
opinions, ideas, and support.
magazine subscriptions and/or National Tomorrow….
Audubon Society Membership, to PO
Box 52504, Boulder, Co. 80322. Or call As you find your way
800-274-4201; or email Remember your binoculars
[email protected] And all the birds today
The Everglade Kite ASE Scholarship Winner
is the newsletter of the Audubon Did you know Erwinia is a rod-shaped bacteria with peritrichous
Society of the Everglades, published flagella and enzymatic activity?
11 times a year.
Karen Dubbin does. Karen was awarded the Ruth and Seymour Miller
President
Linda Humphries 742-7791 Audubon Society of the Everglades $2500 scholarship at the Palm
1st Vice President Beach and Martin County Pathfinder Scholarship Awards in May.
Cynthia Plockelman 585-1278 Karen was able to study these bacteria at Florida State University’s
2nd Vice President Young Scholar’s Program where she was chosen best Biochem
Paton White 818-7574 student. These bacteria could be causing the dark lesions and tissue
Secretary
damage found on south Florida spiny lobsters. She performed lengthy
Marcella Munson 367-7689
Treasurer
biochemical procedures on the bacteria. These bacteria, which cause
Janet Schreiber 689-2530 soft rot in vegetables, have possibly mutated and might be a cause
Field Trips of the lesions and damage on lobster. She presented the findings at a
Ben Kolstad 367-7689 University of Florida Science Symposium.
[email protected]
Bird ID, Library Karen also studied Research Techniques in Biotechnology at a Brown
Gloria Hunter 585-7714 University summer program. Co-Salutatorian, Captain of the Speech
Conservation and Debate Team at Spanish River High School, active in the Drama
Rosa (Cissie) Durando 965-2420 Club, and National Honor and French Honor Societies, Karen has
Education
Susan Snyder 627-7829
been an outstanding student.
[email protected] Headed to MIT, Karen hopes to become a research scientist. ASE
Membership wishes her the best!
Debbie Smith 967-4879
Publicity
Marta Isaacson 496-7520 Birds of Prey Program
Sales Doris Mager held students and teachers spellbound when she presented
Stella Rossi 732-4786 the Birds of Prey program. Over 1000 students had an opportunity
Hospitality to learn more about these important birds. E. T., Extra Terrific the
Judy Hill 585-1344
Great Horned Owl, and Cara, the Crested Caracara, are always the
Kite Editor
Ben Kolstad [email protected]
crowd favorite as they fly from the back of the auditorium to the
ASE on the Internet front. ASE has underwritten Doris’ program for many years. Letters
http://www.auduboneverglades.org received from students attest to the impact of seeing live animals
Audubon Society of the Everglades, incorpo-
has on children. One student wrote “One day I might want to work
rated in 1966, serves communities in Palm for Audubon Society because it sure would be interesting.” Another
Beach County. Our purpose is to promote the
conservation of wildlife and the natural envi-
wrote “I learned these birds are not just killing machines, but majestic
ronment and to advance human understand- animals and friends to our ecosystem. I never thought birds could
ing of our place in the total ecological system.
help our ecosystem. All birds do……so if they can help, you can
THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS! too.” Schools participating this year were: Greenacres, Palmetto, and
The following members accompanied Timber Trace Elementary; Polo Park and Watson B. Duncan Middle
Doris Mager on school visits: School; and G-Star School of the Arts and Jupiter High School.
Judy Hill
John Johnson At right, Cara the
Evelyn MacQueen caracara wows the kids
Alan Parmalee on one of Doris’s recent
Jeri VanTaube visits. let’s all hope that,
Marion Wells thanks to educational
activities like this one, the
These members assisted with
sign in the background
accommodations:
Pat Althouse (“History”) never has to
Nelson and Mae Schad apply to this beautiful
species.
Governor Crist’s Proposed Buy-Out of U.S. Sugar
Now that the news has had a chance to settle in, and we’ve SFWMD would want to do. The Army Corps and other federal
had editorials from all the area’s newspapers (Palm Beach agencies will have to step up if we are to continue with the
Post, Sun-Sentinel), the Saint Petersburg Times, the New York comprehensive Everglades restoration plan (CERP). And CERP
Times, and more, here are some thoughts about Governor itself will have to implement one of its “softer” strategies—
Crist’s proposal for a buyout of U.S. Sugar’s land around Lake adaptive management—to accommodate this previously
Okeechobee. unimagined opportunity.
In the first place, buy-out had better not mean bail-out. Are we With a six-year timeline and many hurdles to overcome (clean-
sure that we’re getting fair value for our money? (We should be up, engineering, financing, land swaps, “imagineering”) we
able to offset some of the costs by considering the benefits of can be cautiously optimistic about the future, but we will have
not having to do the really bleeding-edge restoration work like to understand the details before we can celebrate. If this is
ASR wells and other science fiction engineering projects.) nothing more than a bailout for Mr. Coker and company, with
What is the state going to do with a sugar mill? environmental benefits to be killed by litigation and infighting,
where will we look next?
Will the Fanjuls agree to the necessary land swaps to make
this really work? The SFWMD has a lot of work to do between now and
November. The town of Clewiston has to figure out how to
In a larger sense, this land purchase only makes sense if it transform itself from a farming town to an ecotourism town,
kick-starts the long-promised and never-received federal as Byron Stout of the Fort Myers News-Press wrote in a recent
participation in Everglades restoration. With a price tag near editorial in that paper.
$2 billion, I can’t imagine a budget for anything else that the
Audubon of Florida Approves of Army
Corps’ Lake Okeechobee Water Schedule
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), after more than of releases as before, but the new schedule is designed
two years of efforts, and thousands of public comments, to deliver more frequent and smaller releases to help
has recently adopted a new water level management plan reduce the number of massive, estuary-killing releases.
for Lake Okeechobee. The new schedule was urgently The Caloosahatchee estuary is projected to receive more
needed because recent studies have concluded that the periods of optimal release volumes, but about the same
70-year old Herbert Hoover Dike is no longer safe at number of extremely large releases. The Caloosahatchee
deep lake levels. Hurricanes in recent years caused Lake will fare better during dry periods because the Corps has
Okeechobee to become perilously deep. In the wake elected to tailor releases to maintain acceptable salinity
of the New Orleans tragedy, the Corps has adopted this zones.
schedule to keep lake levels lower until re-enforcements Water Release Decisions to Consider Environmental
of the dike are complete. Conditions
Lake Okeechobee is designated critical habitat for AoF supports the new schedule because it provides
Snail Kites by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, but appropriate safety for south Florida and is more pro-
uncontrolled, widely fluctuating water levels in the Lake active in water release decisions in that it allows the
have prevented successful breeding in every year but agencies more flexibility. In the recent past, release
one, since 1995. decisions were made solely by following an instruction
Unfortunately, the new schedule cannot significantly manual, regardless of environmental conditions. The
increase environmental benefits in the watershed. Until new schedule allows the agencies more flexibility to
Lake Okeechobee's severely over-drained watershed is incorporate environmental conditions to guide water
retrofitted with about a million acre-feet of additional release decisions. Such a management framework has
water storage capacity (equal to about two feet of lake been tested in the past few years and has worked very
depth), managers will not be able to give the lake more well. For example, when oysters were spawning and their
naturally fluctuating water levels, or protect the estuaries larvae were vulnerable to freshwater flows, the agencies
from harmful releases. Drainage in the watershed makes postponed lake releases until the larvae were older and
the lake fill too rapidly and deeply during wet periods stronger.
and makes it dry down too rapidly during dry periods. We are encouraged that managers are making
Additional storage capacity can reverse these patterns unprecedented efforts to manage water in the system,
by preventing the rapid rises during wet periods, and whenever possible, for environmental benefits. The
providing stored water to prevent excessive drops during "million acre-feet" of storage needed to better manage
dry periods. Lake water levels is a staggering amount and efforts such
The Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries as the Governor's bold announcement to acquire 300
The new schedule keeps the lake levels lower than optimal, square miles of US Sugar's land, are the types of efforts
which is slightly better than the former schedule which needed to restore reasonable control of Okeechobee and
usually kept the lake too deep. The Caloosahatchee and St. estuary water management. Audubon will continue to
Lucie estuaries will be impacted by the schedule change work diligently on advocating for increased water storage
as well. The St. Lucie will get roughly the same volumes and treatment in the Lake Okeechobee watershed.
Audubon Society of the Everglades
Nonprofit Org
PO Box 16914 U.S. Postage Paid
West Palm Beach, FL Permit 46
33416-6914 West Palm Beach, Florida
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The Everglade Kite is a monthly publication of the Audubon Society of the Everglades, P.O. Box 16914,
West Palm Beach, Florida, 33416-6914. Also available on the web: www.auduboneverglades.org.
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MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE OF FLORIDA.
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The Audubon Society of the Everglades General Meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month
at 7:30 p.m. at Howard Park Community Center in West Palm Beach. The phone number for the Community
Center is (561) 835-7055. The public is welcome to attend.
