We hope this message finds all our FWC volunteers and families healthy. In this newsletter, we share some of the exciting ways our volunteers have served the FWC since the start of the new year. Each of you has so much skill, talent and heart. We appreciate, admire and thank you for your dedication to conservation!

— the FWC's Volunteer Program Team

Volunteers and interns participate in a variety of species and habitat programs throughout the state of Florida. Manatee rescue (first photo second row) activities were conducted under United States Fish and Wildlife Service permit #MA770191. 

Ridge Ranger Debris Cleanup at Carter Creek Tract

Before the Carter Creek tract on the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife and Environmental Area was fenced, illegal dumping was a pervasive problem. In January and February, Ridge Rangers removed large appliances and other furnishings that were uncovered during a prescribed burn on the area.

Removing these items not only restores the natural beauty of the area but also protects wildlife and people from hazards such as leaking fluids, glass and rusty metal. In total, 2,600 lbs. of debris was removed from the site. Way to go, Ridge Rangers!

Ridge Rangers work to break down an abandoned trampoline left on site. Photo by FWC staff.

The inner contents of the back end of a television. Four televisions were found at the site. Photo by FWC staff.

This discarded toilet was full of cracked and whole hickory nuts and acorns, evidence that an animal, possibly a squirrel or a bird, had been using it to cache food. Photo by FWC staff.

Everything including a kitchen sink! Discarded items at the site included a washer and dryer, a refrigerator, lawnmower, stove, four televisions, a bicycle, numerous water tanks and two toilets, among other items. Photo by FWC staff.

Community Leap Day Beach Cleanup

To make the most of their extra day this Leap Year, almost 200 volunteers participated in a community beach cleanup in Panama City Beach to ready the beaches for beach-nesting birds, sea turtles, and human visitors alike. The FWC joined Keep PCB Beautiful, Audubon Florida, PCB Turtle Watch, SpringHill Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites and Bikini Beach Resort to host a cleanup along a four mile stretch of beach. Almost 2,000 pounds of trash was collected, and volunteers were able to learn about the imperiled species that utilize our beaches to mate, nest and raise their young!

Volunteers collect trash along Panama City Beach. Photo by Life’s a Vacation Photography.

Audubon Florida and Panama City Beach Turtle Watch volunteers teach cleanup participants about beach-nesting birds and sea turtles. Photo courtesy of Keep PCB Beautiful.

Wetland Restoration

In February, 24 volunteers joined forces with the FWC, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Eglin Air Force Base and Jackson Guard to restore a large area of wetland habitat in Okaloosa County. Volunteers, including several from Gulf Power, helped remove overstory vegetation that was shading out the wetland habitat. Thank you, volunteers, for your 120 hours of very hard work!

Volunteers and staff from the FWC, Eglin Air Force Base, Jackson Guard and AmeriCorps take a break for a quick photo. Photo by FWC staff.

Volunteers help remove trees from the area during the habitat restoration workday. Photo by FWC staff.

Lake Okeechobee Pondweed Plantings

This winter, volunteers and staff spent two mornings planting pondweed on the south end of Lake Okeechobee. Pondweed, also called peppergrass, is a common native submersed plant that benefits the ecosystem in a variety of ways. Pondweed provides habitat for small insects and fish as well as food for larger fish and other wildlife. It also helps improve water quality and clarity. After many years of high water and Hurricane Irma in 2017, Okeechobee had lost most of its submersed plants. While many species of submersed plants have started to come back due to lower water levels since spring 2019, pondweed has struggled to return on its own.

A total of eleven volunteers and five staff planted approximately 850 pondweed plants. Plants were taken from a donor site in Hendry County. After the plantings staff went back on-site and were happy to see that some plants have made it through the first month, which is usually the hardest part of the transition! Soon we should see these pondweed plants stabilized and hopefully expanding.

Volunteers and staff harvesting pondweed from a pond in Hendry County. Harvesting Florida pondweed requires a permit from FDACS as well as the owner’s permission. Photo by FWC staff.

It is important to avoid stepping on the recently planted pondweed. Volunteers used poles to mark the start of a planting transect and walked backwards until all of the pondweed had been planted. Photo by FWC staff.

Volunteers are happy to get involved with the FWC’s habitat management actions. Photo by FWC staff.

Parasitic Love Vine Removal

During a windy and rainy morning in February, staff and volunteers from FWC and Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management (PBC ERM) joined forces to remove love vine from Hypoluxo Scrub Natural Area. Love vine is a parasitic vine that, if left unchecked, can take over and kill their host plant. It can also grow and extend rapidly over the open sandy patches of the scrub which provides habitat for the state-Threatened gopher tortoises and endemic Florida scrub lizards present at Hypoluxo Scrub Natural Area. Thanks to this collaboration and all the volunteers’ efforts, we were able to remove 400 pounds of love vine in less than three hours!

Volunteers and staff working happy under the rain. Photo by PBC ERM.

Four hundred pounds of parasitic love vine removed! Photo by FWC staff.

What a difference of before and after the volunteer workday! Photo by FWC and PBC ERM.

For the Birds

New Nesting Materials for Pelicans

Just prior to the start of the brown pelican breeding season, volunteers came together to help ensure that the birds would have another successful season in Bay County. Brown pelicans love to nest on Audubon Island, a small spoil island in St. Andrews Bay. However, there are no materials on the island to build their nests with. Volunteers spent a chilly morning in February helping to shuttle over and spread two truckloads of sticks (donated by Gulf Coast Tree Specialists, Inc.) onto the otherwise bare island. Last year there were over 140 nests on the island – hopefully this season is just as successful! 

Volunteers help spread the nesting materials across the small island. Photo by FWC staff.

Amelia Island State Park – Shorebird Posting

Critical Wildlife Areas (CWAs) are established by the FWC to provide needed conservation at locations that support significant concentrations of wildlife. CWAs are discrete sites where species gather daily or seasonally for essential activities, such as breeding, feeding or resting. We would like to give special thanks to a group of students from Michigan State University who volunteered to help prepare for shorebird nesting season at a CWA in Amelia Island State Park. These volunteers posted signage and put up symbolic barriers of flagging around the CWA where shorebirds nest and removed trash from inside it. FWC and Florida Park Service staff were onsite to provide directions and answer questions. This activity was a great experience for the volunteers to learn about coastal wildlife and provide a much-needed service. Thank you to these amazing MSU students! 

Michigan State University students helping to post signage around a shorebird nesting area at Amelia Island State Park. Photos courtesy of FWC staff.

City of Ocala Kestrel Nest Boxes

The City of Ocala’s Department of Recreation and Parks is partnering with Audubon Florida and the FWC to install several new southeastern American kestrel nest boxes throughout their city parks. Marion County, known for its abundance of horse farms and rolling pastures, is a hotspot for this state-Threatened falcon. The city is installing these nest boxes in parks with suitable habitat with the hope of boosting southeastern American kestrel numbers. Once the nest boxes are installed, the signs pictured below will be posted nearby to help passersby understand their importance. The boxes will be monitored for breeding activity for years to come.   

Recognition

Marie Selby Botanical Garden Educator Named Project WILD Facilitator of the Year

Tracy Calla was awarded the title of 2019 Project WILD Facilitator of the Year on Saturday December 7, 2019 at the FWC Ocala Conservation Camp. Florida’s Project WILD program, sponsored by the FWC, relies on the expertise and commitment of workshop instructors. Project WILD facilitators are highly trained, talented and motivated. Tracy Calla was selected as the 2019 Project WILD facilitator of the Year because she has been a successful and extremely popular workshop leader, facilitating a variety of workshops including Growing Up WILD professional development at Selby Botanical Gardens for early childhood educators. Tracy is recognized as an excellent co-facilitator and has helped others become workshop leaders. “Working with Tracy in any way is always a pleasure!” said Sabrina Cummings, Environmental Programs Coordinator for the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. “Tracy is funny, quirky, and you can tell that she really cares not only about the environment…she really embodies the nature of Project WILD. She’s creative, always has something constructive to say, great with everyone who crosses her path… she works hard, but makes it look effortless.” Thank you, Tracy! Find out more about Project WILD. 

Photo courtesy of FWC staff.

Volunteer to Career

Hannah O’Malley

After volunteering with FWC for almost a year, Hannah O’Malley was hired as a biologist with the Florida Scrub-Jay Project and is currently assisting with translocations of scrub-jays throughout the state. A native Floridian, Hannah moved back to Gainesville after seven years of living in Chicago where she worked as a Wildlife Specialist for the USDA Wildlife Services. Thank you, Hannah, for your time and dedication to conserving Florida’s wildlife! 

Hannah assisting with Florida scrub-jay translocation efforts. Photo by FWC staff. 

Becca Hatchell

Becca Hatchell was an intern with the FWC’s Legacy program in 2015 and soon afterwards began volunteering for the “Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration in St. Andrews Bay, FL” project, funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. She has been volunteering as often as she is able since the project began in 2015. In the spring of 2019, after completing her bachelor’s degree in marine biology, Becca was hired as a Seasonal Biologist to assist on the project and since December 2019 she has been the Lead Biologist! 

Becca is all smiles as the Lead Biologist during surveys for Phase IV of the “Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration in St. Andrews Bay, FL” project in 2020. Photo courtesy of FWC staff.

Outreach

Florida State Fair

Largemouth bass and snapping alligator turtle. Photos courtesy of FWC staff.

Chinsegut Wildlife Day

Each year the Chinsegut Conservation Center in Brooksville hosts a variety of public programs. The topics and themes may vary, but one thing remains the same, these events would not be possible without volunteer support. Before dawn on March 7, a group of sleepy-eyed, but cheerful volunteers congregated to help raise tents, move tables and direct exhibitors to their locations. An hour before opening, additional volunteers performed radio and public address system checks then prepared with orange vests to direct traffic for parking. Many of the volunteers were seasoned veterans of the annual Wildlife Day Event, which draws hundreds of local residents. This year volunteers also hailed from local high schools and other businesses. While the event is hosted annually, Wildlife Day 2020 stood out because not only did volunteers staff the event, they planned, coordinated and organized it from start to finish. "So many people give their time to support many FWC programs across the state, but the Chinsegut volunteers are truly something special," said Gina Long, the Center's Director for the past five years. Gina is moving on to become the FWC’s Project Wild Coordinator within the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network. Congratulations, Gina! 

Chinsegut Conservation Center. Photo by FWC staff.

Regional Connection

Regional Volunteer Program Biologists are specialists who bring their biological and citizen science expertise to recruit, train and manage volunteers for research, habitat enhancement and stewardship projects throughout Florida. Click here to locate your region to identify your regional program biologist.

Brendan O'Connor - Southwest Region Volunteer Program Biologist

• Brendan.Oconnor@MyFWC.com
• 863-648-3829

Andrea Pereyra - South Region Volunteer Program Biologist

• Andrea.Pereyra@MyFWC.com
• 561-882-5716

Simon Fitzwilliam - Northeast Region Volunteer Program Biologist

• Simon.Fitzwilliam@MyFWC.com
• 352-620-7345

Emily Hardin - Northwest Region Volunteer Program Biologist

• Emily.Hardin@MyFWC.com
• 850-767-3620

Support

In addition to your generously donated time and talent, we welcome tax-deductible monetary contributions to the FWC Volunteer Program. Visit the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida to make a donation. Your support will help us expand volunteer opportunities as we work to foster a statewide network of conservation volunteers. Thank you for supporting Florida's fish and wildlife resources!