by Carrie Stevenson | Feb 5, 2016
On “project day” students share their knowledge with the class. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
The Florida Master Naturalist Program is a 40-hour experiential learning course offered by UF IFAS Extension. While we spend time in class with presentations, by far everyone’s favorite aspects of the course are field trips and “project day.” As part of the course, each participant produces an educational tool—a display, presentation, skit, or lesson—that delves deeper into a topic of interest. The students and instructors are able to use these tools again and again to teach others.
Master Naturalist students walk “The Way” boardwalk in Perdido Key. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
One example of a multi-year student project is “The Way” nature trail, located at Perdido Bay United Methodist Church. Master Naturalist Jerry Patee worked with volunteers from his church and community to design and permit a boardwalk and nature trail leading to Bayou Garcon. The unique trail is less than a mile, but traverses upland, freshwater wetland, and coastal habitats, making it a perfect ecological teaching tool. The trail is open to the public and maintained as a place of quiet contemplation. The project is ongoing, with educational signage planned, but it is an excellent new resource for the community.
“The Way” is just one of many positive contributions made by Master Naturalist students over the years. To enroll in a Florida Master Naturalist course near you, visit the FMNP page or talk with an instructor at your local county Extension office.
by Rick O'Connor | Feb 5, 2016
Fishermen fish the marshes of Weeks Bay while a pelican looks on. Photo: WeeksBay.org
Mobile Bay?… part of the Florida panhandle?… Really?…
Well… yes… during the colonial period “West Florida” extended west to the Biloxi area and besides, all western panhandlers know we are really “lower Alabama”; we hear it a million times a year… so YES, it’s part of the Florida panhandle! We’ll go with it.
The shallow, muddy, and productive waters of Mobile Bay as they pass the port city of Mobile AL.
Photo: Auburn University
Approximately 35 miles long and 10 miles wide, Mobile Bay is one of the largest estuaries on the Gulf coast; draining close to 1/5th of the eastern United States. This wide, shallow, and muddy bay supports a variety of fresh and brackish water ecosystems. Wildlife from the Mississippi delta, the red hills of the Piedmont region, and the Florida panhandle all converge here making this one of the more biologically diverse areas in the country. It was home to both Dr. E.O. Wilson and Dr. Archie Carr who deeply loved the area and it has been a hub for estuarine research for decades. The rich abundance of wildlife supports commercial and recreational fishing and hunting as well as a growing ecotourism industry. Though the shallow bay must be dredged to support it, the Port of Mobile in one of the busiest in the Gulf region.
Weeks Bay is a small tributary to this bay system. Fed by the Fish and Magnolia Rivers on the southeastern shore of Mobile Bay, Weeks Bay discharges into Bon Secour, which supports a commercial fishing business. Lined with salt marshes, cypress swamps, and bogs, this area is great for wildlife viewing and fishing. It is also the area of Mobile Bay that experiences the famous crab jubilees; where levels of low dissolved oxygen on the bottom of the bay force benthic animals – such as crabs and flounder – to shallow water seeking oxygen. About 6,000 acres of this estuarine habitat is now part of NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve system. At the reserve there are interactive exhibits, trails, and pontoon boat rides to explore and appreciate this special place.
Crab jubilees occur along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay during very warm summer evenings.
Photo: NOAA
What better place to learn about the estuaries of the Gulf coast! The Panhandle Outdoor LIVE program will conduct one of our four 2016 watershed schools at this reserve. We will have lectures on estuarine ecology, the seafood industry in Mobile Bay – highlighting oyster farming, and on the mission of the Research Reserve itself. We will also have a local outfitter lead a kayak/canoe trip through the estuary as well an interpretive nature hike at the reserve’s visitor center. It will be set up as an overnight trip for those traveling and we will be staying at Camp Beckwith, which on Weeks Bay. Registration for this trip will open at the end of February. If you have questions about this watershed school you can contact Carrie Stevenson or Rick O’Connor at (850) 475-5230; or Chris Verlinde at (850) 623-3868.
A relaxing spot at Camp Beckwith on Weeks Bay.
Photo: Camp Beckwith
by | Jan 25, 2016
It’s a calm clear weekday in January. There’s a single buzzard soaring above, two squirrels scurrying in the trees and a pileated woodpecker calling in the distance. It’s hard to imagine this site was the capital of civilization in North Florida some 1200 or more years ago. The visible exception is the weathered remnant of “The Great Mound”, a massive earthen mound forty-six feet high and over 300 feet wide at its base. This is the largest Native American ceremonial mound in Florida, containing millions of twenty pound baskets of earth. Archeological sampling shows the builders mixed different types of earth to create a more stable structure. The mound’s persistence confirms the builders’ wisdom.
Twelve hundred years of erosion and overgrowth contrast with this Park depiction of the Great Mound in it’s heyday
Photo: Jed Dillard
Artifacts show the site was occupied up to 12, 000 years ago, long before the mound was built. The mound’s builders are believed to have been members of the late Swift Creek (200-450 A.D.) and early to middle Weeden Island cultures, a group of Native Americans who lived in North Florida between 450 and 900 A.D. Other authorities have suggested the mound was more of the style of later cultures, for example the Mississippians. Either way, these were relative new comers compared to the Paleoindians. Paleoindian tool marks were found on a mastodon tusk from the Aucilla River bottom and a stone point was found in the skull of a Bison antiquus raised from the Wacissa River bottom. Bison antiquus is believed to have disappeared around 10,000 years ago and the mastodon tusk was carbon dated as 12,000 years old.
The Letchworth-Love Mounds archeological site in western Jefferson County preserves Mound 1, as it’s called in documents. Discovered in 1932, but officially unrecorded until 1975, the mound is surrounded by over twenty mounds outside the park in the area on the shore of Lake Miccosukee. The Lake Jackson Mounds Archeological State Park north of Tallahassee is believed to be a later, separate settlement.
At the height of its functions, the immediate Great Mound complex had 10 smaller mounds and two plazas. The Mound itself had two side platforms, an earthen ramp and a peak styled similar to Meso-American structures. The main village was to the south of the complex near Lloyd Creek. Other high ground near water in the county hold evidence of at least temporary camps and towns.
Now the capital of Florida civilization is 30 miles west in another skyscraper, and the chiefs are debating ownership of the artifacts from the oldest capital. Wouldn’t this be a good time to learn more about our history?
The park is located on South Sun Ray Road off US 90 and is open from sunrise to sunset. Don’t expect a crowd.
by Sheila Dunning | Jan 23, 2016
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is for Arbor Day. Florida recognizes the event on the third Friday in January, but planting any time before spring will establish a tree quickly.
Arbor Day is an annual observance that celebrates the role of trees in our lives and promotes tree planting and care. As a formal holiday, it was first observed on April 10, 1872 in the state of Nebraska. Today, every state and many countries join in the recognition of trees impact on people and the environment.
Trees are the longest living organisms on the planet and one of the earth’s greatest natural resources. They keep our air supply clean, reduce noise pollution, improve water quality, help prevent erosion, provide food and building materials, create shade, and help make our landscapes look beautiful. A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can 
supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four.
The idea for Arbor Day in the U.S. began with Julius Sterling Morton. In 1854 he moved from Detroit to the area that is now the state of Nebraska. J. Sterling Morton was a journalist and nature lover who noticed that there were virtually no trees in Nebraska. He wrote and spoke about environmental stewardship and encouraged everyone to plant trees. Morton emphasized that trees were needed to act as windbreaks, to stabilize the soil, to provide shade, as well as, fuel and building materials for the early pioneers to prosper in the developing state.
In 1872, The State Board of Agriculture accepted a resolution by J. Sterling Morton “to set aside one day to plant trees, both forest and fruit.” On April 10, 1872 one million trees were planted in Nebraska in honor of the first Arbor Day. Shortly after the 1872 observance, several other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. By 1920, 45 states and territories celebrated Arbor Day. Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day during his presidency in 1970.
Today, all 50 states in the U.S. have official Arbor Day, usually at a time of year that has the correct climatological conditions for planting trees. For Florida, the ideal tree planting time is January, so Florida’s Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday of the month. Similar events are observed throughout the world. In Israel it is the Tu B Shevat (New Year for Trees). Germany has Tag des Baumes . Japan and Korea celebrate an entire week in April. Even, Iceland one of the treeless countries in the world observes Student’s Afforestation Day.
The trees planted on Arbor Day show a concern for future generations. The simple act of planting a tree represents a belief that the tree will grow and some day provide wood products, wildlife habitat erosion control, shelter from wind and sun, beauty, and inspiration for ourselves and our children.
“It is well that you should celebrate your Arbor Day thoughtfully, for within your lifetime the nation’s need of trees will become serious. We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted.”
~Theodore Roosevelt, 1907 Arbor Day Message
by Will Sheftall | Jan 19, 2016
The Florida Legislature has just convened for the 2016 session, and news from the capitol is already announcing a sweeping water bill on the fast-track to passage. Supporters are quoted as saying it would provide increased protection for certain key water resources in the State such as springs and the Everglades; opponents are quoted as saying that while it doesn’t undo current protections, neither does it go far enough to assure sustainable protection of water resources for Florida’s future.
Thus it seems our legislators and lobbyists are celebrating something that’s a little better than what we’ve got now, but isn’t good enough to get the job done. That doesn’t sound very reassuring. We need a realistic blueprint for how Florida’s ever-expanding population and robust agricultural industry that produces our food can continue to use Florida’s water resources without using them up. The only way that’s going to happen is for citizens concerned about their grandchildren’s future in Florida to become the voices that legislators ignore at the peril of their political future.
So how do you know what to think, and what to say, about the state of water resources where you live – in the Panhandle? Do you understand their current status and vulnerabilities? Threats to their near-term viability? Prospects for their long-term sustainability, complicated as they are by projections of amplified climate variability?
“Panhandle Outdoors LIVE!” is stepping it up a notch for 2016, to help you get a handle on these “need to know” issues that affect future sustainability. University of Florida Extension’s acclaimed “Panhandle Outdoors LIVE!” mode of exploring signature water resources with knowledgeable guides is not going away; it’s being expanded into “water school” events in 2016. We are adding expert presentations and discussion to the on-water, on-trail immersion learning adventures you’ve come to love.
Daily river cruises on the Wakulla River are a great way to see manatees and other unique wildlife.
Photo: L. Scott Jackson
This year we’ll study four Panhandle water resources of regional significance – the Wakulla Springshed, St. Joe Bay, the Econfina Watershed, and Weeks Bay. Two are freshwater streams and their watersheds; two are bays. Two are in the eastern Panhandle; two are in the west (one even in Alabama). Two are being offered in the spring, the other two in the fall.
First up is the Panhandle Outdoors LIVE! – Wakulla Springshed School on March 1-2. It will base out of the magnificent “Old Florida” Wakulla Springs Lodge south of Tallahassee, and feature field trips to Leon Sinks Geological Area, Cherokee Sink and the Wakulla River – concluding with an optional paddle downriver from Wakulla Springs through a transition of ecosystems to historic Fort San Marcos de Apalachee, where the Wakulla joins the St. Marks River.
Next up, on April 4-5, is Panhandle Outdoors LIVE! – Weeks Bay Watershed School that will base out of the Episcopal Beckwith Camp and Retreat Center on Weeks Bay in Fairhope (Baldwin County) Alabama. This second watershed school will focus on the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and feature a demonstration of oyster farming and a kayak paddle trip.
For more detailed information, and to register, for the Wakulla Springshed School visit – http://pol-2016-wakulla-springshed.eventbrite.com
For more information on the April overnight school to Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve contact Rick O’Connor at roc1@ufl.edu
For more information on the August day school on the Ecofina River contact Laura Tiu at lgtiu@ufl.edu
For more information on the September overnight school to St. Joe Bay contact Erik Lovestrand at elovestrand@ufl.edu
by Chris Verlinde | Jan 19, 2016
The mission of the Florida Master Naturalist program (FMNP) is to promote awareness, understanding and respect of Florida’s natural environment. FMNP graduates, Paul Bennett and Charlie Lurton have both worked diligently through the permitting process to place living shorelines consisting of oyster shell bags and marsh plants along their coastal properties.
Living Shorelines incorporate a range of natural structures to protect coastal shorelines from erosion and enhance habitat for wildlife. Oyster shell bags, biologs, plants and sand fill may be used or a combination of natural materials may be used in a living shoreline project. These projects provide “soft” shoreline protection that offers economic and ecological benefits to the property owner. They are recommended for use in low wave and erosional settings.
In higher wave energy areas, seawalls and bulkheads may be required for shoreline protection. These types of projects “harden” the shoreline, and do not allow for intertidal habitat and eliminate the natural slope of the shoreline. Hard structure projects can have a detrimental effect on nearby properties as wave energy is deflected from the structure and can increase erosion nearby, alter sand movement and decrease intertidal habitat.
Both Mr. Bennet and Mr. Lurton realized the importance and benefits of shoreline protection using natural materials, both men attributed this knowledge to their experiences in the FMNP. The FMNP graduates worked with the local branch of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Florida Coastal Office, Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserves, to obtain funding and permits for the projects. DEP’s Florida Coastal Office has worked with the US Fish and Wildlife Services’ Coastal Program to promote and support living shoreline projects across the Panhandle.
Oyster reef breakwater along the Shoreline of Bayou Grande, Charlie Lurton’s project. Photo credit: Zachary Shang
Installing the oyster reef breakwater along the shoreline of Paul Bennett in East Bay, Santa Rosa County, FL. Photo Credit: Beth Fugate
Mr. Lurton worked with seven of his neighbors to create 1,200 linear feet of shoreline. This project on Bayou Grande in Escambia County incorporated 39 oyster reefs, each built of 200 bags of recycled oyster shells. Each bag of recycled oyster shell weighs approximately twenty pounds for a total of 78 tons of shell! 11,300 native grasses and salt tolerant plants will be installed along the shoreline this year.
Mr. Bennet’s project along East Bay in Santa Rosa County consists of 5 reefs built along the mouth of a freshwater marsh located on his property for a total of 10 tons of shell. DEP’s Florida Coastal Office will determine if native grasses and plants are needed for the project in the future.
“The conversation for both of these projects started years before we were able install any materials so it’s rewarding to see them take hold,” said Zachary Schang, environmental specialist with the Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserves. “It was in large part due to the persistence of the property owners who wanted to deal with a natural problem using a natural solution.”
These types of habitat restoration projects allow for ecological and economic benefits for the property owners. The Fl. Master Naturalist Program promotes understanding and awareness of natural resources, these two graduates have demonstrated what it means to be a FMN.
Watch this newsletter for more about the FMNP and FMNP graduates. For more information about the FMNP and classes being offered in your area, check out http://www.masternaturalist.ifas.ufl.edu/.
