FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 28, 2015
CONTACT: Patrician
Price, 904-823-4506
GTM RESEARCH RESERVE FRIENDS DONATES $60,000 FOR
PRINCESS PLACE COTTAGES
~Eco-friendly cabins coming to Princess Place Preserve~
 Three platforms used for vegetation analysis near the sediment elevation table.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH -
The Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve is receiving $60,000 from the Friends of the GTM Reserve as part of a local match to federal grant funding to the GTM Research Reserve.
This funding will be used to enhance the reserve's education and research
programs. In addition to upgrading the Environmental Education Center in Ponte
Vedra Beach, these monies will be used to construct three cabins located
at Princess Place Preserve.
"These environmentally friendly cabins will encourage the
additional research and education needed to monitor and protect the habitats of
the Pellicer Creek Aquatic Preserve," said Michael Shirley, director
of the GTM Research Reserve. "GTM Research Reserve's visiting scientists
and educators will be able to book these fully furnished, air conditioned
and Wi-Fi enabled cottages at an affordable rate."
The GTM Research Reserve received this federal grant from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration. Flagler County is also providing $220,000
in services to support the cabin design and construction.
These eco-friendly cottages will be designed to conserve water, energy and other natural resources. The cabins will have a
small footprint and be constructed in a manner that is protective of Princess Place Preserve and Pellicer
Creek.
The GTM Research
Reserve is also funding the construction of flow-through outdoor holding tanks
that can be used for experiments that mimic natural saltmarsh conditions. The
cabins will allow scientists to have immediate access to the saltmarshes of
lower Pellicer Creek, with the tanks serving as an important research
tool.
The proposed plans for overnight-stay facilities for those conducting
research at this remote location generated letters of support from
researchers at several universities and the Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center.
The cabins will also be offered to the general public
through Flagler County. For more information about this project,
please call 904-823-4500.
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