| Latest News |
 Sept 1, 2008. September edition of eSkimmer is online.
Check it out here.
|
Sept 1, 2008. Photographer Lee Dunkel.
Ormond
Beach photographer Lee Dunkel has been exploring environmental scenes
and landscapes since the early 1980’s according to an article in the
Sunday 31 August edition of the News-Journal.
Her latest exhibition is called “Florida Wetlands” and will be from 6
September to 20 November at the Southeast Museum of Photography at
Daytona State College (formerly DBCC) in Daytona Beach. See the
complete review at the museum’s website.
Admission and parking are free. |
Sept 1, 2008. Restoration and the City Council.
The
Friday, 29 August edition of the Hometown News carried a story about
the Edgewater City Council’s vote to advance the Restoration project
and our objections to it. The article quotes a lot of Kathy’s
presentation. Check it out here. |
Aug 22, 2008. Dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park.
Today's issue of the Hometown News carries a story about the new Friends of
Smyrna Dunes Park . It talks about the group educating visitors to the park
about dog etiquette and new rules governing the times when dogs are allowed
on the boardwalk. The city council is expected to vote on it during the Aug
26 meeting. There is no mention of the dissent from the Audubon Society.
Here is a link to the article. |
Aug 22, 2008. Edgewater city council approves Restoration.
As noted in the Aug 20 article
of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, the Edgewater city council
unanimously voted to start the process of permitting the Restoration
development. Most people who spoke supported the development for
its ability to energize the city and about its new vision.
Kathy and I presented against the development but we were outnumbered.
Kathy focused on the fact that the wetlands altered by silviculture are
already in use by animals such as bears, deer and bobcats by the tracks
they saw. She also reiterated our request that the conservation
village be deleted or sent to phase III. I focused on the impacts of
the development on the current citizens of Edgewater.
Note how the title of the article calls it a "Green Project"! |
Aug 12, 2008. Dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park update.
The committee that formed after the 2007 decision to close the boardwalk to dogs finished its work and produced it's final report
to the city. It was supposed to be brought up by the mayor in her
Mayor's Report at the city commission meeting tonight. However,
because of information received from Audubon, it has been deferred tot
he Aug 26 meeting. It seems that the city and County attorneys
need to get together before they proceed. Check out our email to them here, and the presentation I would have given it it were discussed is here.
Audubon of Florida also weighed in with this letter. |
August 9, 2008. Conservation Village in Restoration.
One of the 'features' of Restoration is that
there will be a 'Conservation Village' in the western portion of the
development which will be in closest proximity to the major wildlife,
like bears. The developers promise a program to educate
potential residents about living with bears and how to keep their homes
bear safe. Kathy sent a letter to the developers and to the City
of Edgewater expressing our concern about the Conservation Village in
Phase I and asked that it be removed totally, or at least moved to
phase III. The August 9, 2008 edition of the Daytona News-Journal
carries an article about,
and picture of a black bear at a deer feeder near I-95 and State Rd
442. So yo don't have to go too far into the woods to find
bears. See our letter here. |
August 9, 2008. War brewing between Enviros and Common Man.
A Rant in the Edgewater Hometown News last
week talked about a war brewing between the environmentalists and the
'Common Man.' The writer talked about environmentalists as being
obstructionists in the fight to control gas prices and save the economy
as if we did not understand the pain the 'common man' was feeling at
the pump and in the grocery store. I responded and so did Ken and our
rants should appear in the August 15th edition. This link is to
the original rant, my response and Ken's all in the same page. I
encourage you to read the whole page and shout back against these
folks. You don't have to be an environmentalist to see that
offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR only serve the politicians and
the oil companies. |
August 9, 2008. Update: Edgewater Scrub Jay Habitat at YMCA.
The city of Edgewater promised a controlled burn of about one acre on
Sunday, August 2. There was no fire. Nor was there an
reason given. |
August 9, 2008. Volusia County Public Lands.
Remember Volusia Forever, the program where Volusia County buys lands
to keep in trust for us, like LongLeaf Pine Preserve? Well they
really want us to take advantage of them and they are providing guided
programs again. Bonnie Carey, enviromentalist with the County
Land Acquisition and Management division sent us an email with the list
for August and September.
There was also a nice article about Bonnie in a recent issue of the Orlando Sentinel. |
August 9, 2008. Great News about the Commercial Launch Facility.
All the press reports indicate that our
protests were heard. Kennedy Space Center is in talks with the US
Air Force's Canaveral Air Force Station to use their unused sites for
the Commercial Launch Vehicle Facility instead of the two
environmentally sensitive tracts of land on the Kennedy Space
Center. Congratulations to all who partcipated with their letters
and emails as well as their presence at the two "workshops". |
July 22, 2008. SEVAS publishes policy statement on Restoration.
As everyone knows by now, there is a big (with a capital B) development
in the works West of I-95 and North of US 442 in Edgewater called
“Restoration”. It will be on a four mile by five mile
tract of land and will contain homes for 15-18000 new residents of
Edgewater, doubling its current population in just one
development. The policy statement
acknowledges the progress made towards making the development
"environmentally friendly" but expresses reservations about the impact
of such a development on the current population of Edgewater and New
Smyrna Beach as well as the loss of habitat and wetlands that will
ensue. |
July 22, 2008. New Issues and Projects pages.
Check out the new Issues and Projects
pages (links at left). They provide an executive summary of our
projects and issues and provide links to more information. |
June 6, 2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve update.
Ken sent the report of the final survey for the season and Fern Murphy sent the previous one. They final report is avaiable here. The final count was 61 species. It gives us a good start for the next season. Thanks to all who participated. |
June 6, 2008. Scrub Jay habitat update.
Kathy has updated status on the prescribed burn and other maintenance
actions on the habitat behind the YMCA. Follow the link on the
new Issues page. She
and her volunteers have also conducted two environmental education
sessions at the habitat, one with a second grade group and one with a
scout group. I will post more details subsequently. |
May 4, 2008. Swallow-tailed kite survey reminder.
Help join in the continuing Swallow-Tailed Kite nesting surveys at Restoration DRI !!
When we last visited Restoration about 3 weeks ago, we identified an
active nest & sited many other birds. We anticipate that it
is likely a majority of nests may have completed incubation, making it
easier to find the nesting areas. We will be breaking up into
teams so as to cause less stress & noise to STK neighborhoods when
we find them. We are pleased to once again have the assistance of
Breedlove, Dennis & Associates for mapping, guidance &
transportation.
We will meet on Monday, May 12th at 8am just west of the I-95 Edgewater Exit (please BE PROMPT)
We will then continue to Restoration gate & park the cars inside gate.
Bring water, binoculars and be aware that you may be walking in water or thick brush so dress accordingly.
PLEASE RSVP to me if you're coming at this email address.
Please call us if you're running late that morning or change your mind
about coming -- my CELL# is 386-956-1097. Email is
karyn_hoffman@ml.com .
All nesting information & coordinates will be passed along to Dr. Ken Meyer at the Avian Research Conservation Institute.
This is a great opportunity to observe & learn about STKs as well
as contributing to research about these amazing birds. Hope to
see you there! |
April 11, 2008. Requiescant in Pace, Donnadine Miller.
Dear Friends & Family,
Donnadine passed from this plane into the light at 11:50 Monday morning, April 7.
She was totally at peace. I was holding her hand. Her breathing became
shallow and finally she gave up her body and let her soul be taken into
the light. I could feel the presence of the angel in the room...it was
viable and real.
Her job here is finished and she now has the peace she truly deserves.
I'm sure she will hover nearby until my time has come. Since I'm
receptive to such things, I will continue to feel her soul's influence.
Lord knows I'll need it.
Donnadine is dead. Long live Donnadine!
Today, to me, April 7, 2008 will be the anniversary of Donnadine's birth.
We will celebrate her life with a service in New Smyrna Beach ( at The
Night Swan) and a Requiem Mass in Baltimore at St. Mark's Evangelical
Lutheran Church (we were married there).
Everyone will be informed as to the details when plans are finalized.
We thank you all for your kind prayers, thoughts, and attention to us
in this very trying journey. You have made this almost unbearable
odyssey, bearable.
Let the blessings flow,
Gil Miller
Editor's Note: Donnadine's spirit lives on in the hearts of the people she touched. Long live Donnadine! |
April 10, 2008. Pulling water from the St. John's River.
The plan is to pump as much as 262 million gallons of surface water out
of the St. Johns River a day during peak flow. The St. Johns River
Water Management District claims that it is safe to remove that much
water from the river and its tributary, the Ocklawaha River. To
read the full editorial from the Daytona Beach News-Journal, click here. If you are appalled, go to http://savefloridawater.org and sign their petition. I did.
|
April 3, 2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve update.
Because we don't have anyone available to coordinate the planned April
trips, they are cancelled. The next scheduled trip will be May
9th. |
April 2, 2008. SEVAS election of officers.
The officers were elected for the next year.
President: Don Picard, VP: none, Treasurer: Bill Cox,
Secretary: Jean McNeil, Conservation: Kathy Booth, Publicity: Marsha
Cox, Programs: Ken Gunn, Field Trips: Gail Domroski, Membership: Dick Domroski, Newsletter Editor: Gil Miller. |
April 2, 2008. April eSkimmer is online.
The April eSkimmer is now online. Get the PDF version here. |
March 27, 2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve Survey conducted.
On March 27, nine club members assembled at the
K-Mart lot on SR44 in New Smyrna Beach at 8:00 A.M. and traveled to the
west parking area of the preserve. There they met Richard Harris,
Volusia County Environmental Specialist, who opened the access gates to
allow vehicle entry to drop off and pick up the birders. Only the
west side of the preserve was worked, partly because of a shortage of
people. Their sightings are incorporated into our summary. The
adventure ended about 11:30 A.M
Twenty seven species were identified during this morning and are incorporated in the report.
Six more species were added. The “best” new sightings
were the overflight of two Swallow-tailed kites and an Anhinga.
|
March 24, 2008. Volusia County wants to manage spoil islands.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Volusia County
has surveyed over 200 islands in the Halifax River and Mosquito
Lagoon. You can find the articles from the Dayton Beach
News-Journal here and here.
Now they are wondering what to do with them and how to manage
them. It reminds me of the city councilman from Edgewater who
wanted to get the spoil islands across from Kennedy Park in Edgewater
and put them into the city’s control so they could become part of
the city parks system. According to the councilman, the islands
were "mostly uninhabited, save for the occasional camper or sea-bird."
In my response which appeared in the Jan 10, 2005 edition of the
News-Journal I said that this is a bad idea which will cost the city a
lot of money, and not give a return. People who want to use these
islands already do, and the city has no responsibility for them. Let's
keep the islands pristine for the "occasional camper or seabird."
To see the full text of my response, click here. |
March 20, 2008. Swallow-tailed Kite survey at Restoration DRI.
Karyn Hoffman from West Volusia Audubon is announcing a survey at the
DRI on Monday, April 14th at 8:30am (usually lasts til about noon when
kite activity dies down). She asks you to RSVP to
karyn_hoffman@ml.com so they know you'll be joining them. Please
be PROMPT in your arrival.
We meet just off the Edgewater exit on I-95 (CR 442). Go west and you'll see our cars on the side of the road.
For more info and to see her entire email, click here. |
March 18, 2008. Low Impact Development Workshop.
Kathy has been working with the West Volusia Audubon as they sponsor a
Low Imapct Development (LID) workshop for developers and city planners.
LID is a method of platting developments which demonstrates sensitivity
to the environment. Kathy has invited our elected officials to attend
the workshop in Ormond Beach on Monday, March 31st, 8-noon at the
Performing Arts Center Blue Room, Second Floor, 399 N. US Highway 1. It
would be good for SEVAS members to attend so that we have a good
showing of support for our County and City officials who do attend.
Send registration of $15, which includes continental breakfast, to
Citizens for Ormond Beach, P.O. Box 31, Ormond Beach, FL 32175.
For more information, check out the flyer here. |
March 18, 2008. KSC-CVLC update.
Kathy offers this letter
to her congressmen regarding the Kennedy Space Center Commercial
Vertical Launch Facility. She also offers other thoughts which
occurred after writing the letter. |
March 17, 2008. Bird inventory of Longleaf Pine Preserve.
County naturalist, Bonnie Cary, asked us if the club would be
interested in helping to inventory the bird life at the park. We
agreed that it would be a good idea if we could get sufficient
volunteers. The county has bought thousands of acres of lands to keep
them in preserves. It is useful to use them as natural areas and
show our appreciation to the county for the purchases and management of
them. Six of us participated in the first survey on March 14th.
We, and the West Volusia folks who were conducting a birding tour on
the same day, found 45 species. More surveys are scheduled.
Check out the plan for details and the March 14 report and checklist for results. |
March 16, 2008. Myrtle Park butterfly garden.
On Tuesday, 22 Jan 08, several of us met with members of the NSB
Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and Lindley’s Nursery at
the park at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Canal Street. The
purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm ideas for developing some type
of ecological area at the park. The city is rebuilding Canal
Street on the West side of U.S. 1 to the intersection of Myrtle
Avenue. The CRA members wanted to include the park in the
rebuilding scheme. We agreed to spearhead the project and get
other groups involved. We have had several meetings since
then. So far, the NSB Middle School science club is eager to
participate and we have leads to FFA groups, scouts and others.
This will involve planning this spring with planting and long
term maintenance starting in the Fall. Contact Don or Ken if you
are interested in helping. |
March 15, 2008. Scrub Jay habitat school tours.
Kathy is heading a group of volunteer members to survey the Scrub Jay
habitat behind the Edgewater YMCA for use as a field trip opportunity
for local schools. They identified and tagged trees and plants
and discussed best ways for presenting the information to elementary
and middle school students. This is a first step in what we hope
will become a valuable resource for schools in environmental education.
Perhaps the City of Edgewater will be encouraged to restore the scrub
jay habitat. If you are interested in helping, please contact
Kathy. |
March
11, 2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve.
We had a great time at the Longleaf Pine Preserve. In case you did not
see it, there was a fine article about the preserve in the Daytona
News-Journal. See it at
www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/
newWEST01ENV030908.htm
The naturalist, Bonnie Cary, asked us if the club would be interested
in helping to inventory the bird life at the park. We agreed
that
it would be a good idea if we could get sufficient volunteers. The
county has bought thousands of acres of lands to keep them in
preserves. It is useful to use them as natural areas and show
our
appreciation to the county for the purchases and management of them.
Ken has signed up about a dozen people to count birds at the
preserve. He also returned to the site and developed a plan
for
the counts. The plan mirrors our Christmas Bird Count. Check out the
plan and map here.
Our first count is scheduled for Friday, March 14th. If you
are interested, please contact me at sevas@cfl.rr.com. |
March
10, 2008. KSC Launch Facility Update.
I urge everyone to write the NASA/KSC about this proposal. Click here to see my
email to them. |
March
5, 2008. Change in March Field Trip.
The march field trip (Sat Mar 8) to Blue Heron water treatment plant is
cancelled. Dick and Gail went there earlier this week and
found
that the area is overgrown and there are few birds. Instead, we will go
on a trip to the Longleaf Pine Preserve, one of the Volusia Forever
acquisitions on Friday the 7th. Meet at the Kmart parking lot
on
Rte 44 in NSB at 8:00 a.m. The preserve is just west of
Deland on
Rte 44. The trail is 11 miles long but we will use the
eco-buggy. Bring snacks, water and insect repellent. |
March 3, 2008. KSC
Launch facility update.
On Thursday, Feb 28, KSC conducted scoping meetings for the proposed
Commercial Vertical Launch sites. Several of us attended
either
the morning or afternoon meetings at the NSB library. Check
out
my update here. |
March 3, 2008. New
website on saving Florida's water supplies.
There is a new website on the important
issue of
saving Florida's water. It has a lot of up-to-date
information on
water usage, links to newspaper articles on the subject and ideas for
getting involved. It also has the links and addresses to
contact
local and state government officials to let them know how you feel.
Check it out here or through the
link at the bottom of the left column. |
| February
29, 2008. The March eSkimmer is now on-line.
Click here for the pdf version. |
February
23, 2008. Public
Notice
Future Plans by NASA for New Launch Facility
Could Close Portions of Merritt Island National Wildlife
Refuge
NASA is proposing a new Commercial Launch
Facility on 200 acres of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge which
could have significant environmental and visitor impacts.
Merritt
Island NWR is an overlay of the Kennedy Space Center and the Refuge
manages NASA lands through an agreement. The agreement allows
NASA to withdraw lands for space facilities. The new facility
would result in loss of scrub habitat, loss of wetlands, impact sea
turtle nesting due to lighting issues, result in loss of habitat for
several endangered or threatened species, and eliminate use of most
visitor facilities and programs.
NASA has selected two potential sites for the commercial launch
facility. Site 1 is located within the existing restricted
area
of Kennedy Space Center, but Site 2 is located in an area currently
open to the public. Either site will have significant
environmental impacts; however, Site 2 has the potential to close all
areas south of Haulover Canal to the public.
Go to the NASA website
http://environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/projects/ksc-cvlc.htm
Public comment meetings will be held at the NSB library on Feb 28, 2008
at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. |
February
22, 2008. Scrub Habitat education training.
Today, Kathy headed a group of volunteer members to survey the Scrub
Jay habitat behind the Edgewater YMCA for use as a field trip
opportunity for local schools. They identified and tagged
trees
and plants and discussed best ways for presenting the information to
elementary and middle school students. This is a first step
in
what we hope will become a valuable resource for schools in
environmental education. If you are interested in helping,
please
contact Kathy. |
February
21, 2008. March Field Trip announced.
Southeast Volusia Audubon will conduct a field trip March 8th to the
Blue Heron Wetlands Treatment System. This site is West of Titusville
and just South of Hwy 50. The treatment system was designed as a
flow-through system that uses aquatic plants to remove nutrients from
the effluent. The wetland is divided into seven cells separated by
derivable earthen dikes similar to Viera. We should see the common
wetland species and hope to see Purple Gallinule. From there
we
can stop by Merritt Island for lunch then look for shore birds, or walk
the new Pine Flatwoods trail and look for Scrub Jays. All welcome
Bring lunch, snacks, water etc. & bug spray. |
February
17, 2008. March Speaker announced.
Kevin Schweizer of the firm Schweizer-Waldroff Architects, Inc of New
Smyrna Beach. Using the Snowden residence in New Smyrna Beach which he
designed, Kevin will demonstrate energy production and conservation as
well as water reuse and preservation. He will also discuss availability
of state and federal assistance for solar power. Click here for his bio.
The presentation will be given in the DeBarry Room on the third
floor of the Utilities Commission Building, 200 Canal Street in New
Smyrna Beach. |
January
23, 2008. February Speaker
Our February speaker will be Karen Stauderman the newly appointed
Volusia County Urban Horticulture Extension Agent. Karen will
speak to us on the wise usage of water in the Florida home landscape.
Karen was originally scheduled to be our speaker but due to a
mis-communication about the timing of the event, Linda Evans was
substituted.
Karen was awarded two Bachelor of Science degrees from Oregon State
University, one in Horticulture and one in Plant
Pathology.
Since moving to Florida, she has worked as a Biological Scientist for
the University of Florida, Plant Pathology Department, for 11
½
years, stationed at Sanford and at the Apopka Research
Station.
She has since spent five years as a science teacher in the Eustis High
School.
The event will still be at the NSB Utilities Commission building. |
January
21, 2008. Dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park
Many of you have noticed in the newspapers that Volusia County decided
to remove dogs from the boardwalks of Smyrna Dunes Park and require
that they and their owners walk on the trail adjacent to the
boardwalk. This decision was made after reports of dogs off
leash
and several incidents of dogs on or off leash that nipped or bit other
users of the park.
At a recent NSB city council meeting, County Councilman Jack Hayman
presented the decision to the city. Several dog owners made
presentations against the county decision and made several compelling
points. The NSB deputy mayor, Randy Richenberg decided to
establish a committee of interested citizens to brainstorm the problem
and potential solutions in the hopes of revising the county
decision. Since we have a vested interest in the birds
nesting
and resting in NS Dunes Park, Nancy White volunteered to be our
representative on the committee. Kathy Booth will back her up
as
necessary. If you have any input or suggestion we encourage
you
to contact them. If you go to the park, bring a camera to
document any infractions against the bird nesting areas including dogs
off leash.
January 21, 2008. |
|
January
15, 2008. Identity Crisis –Or, Were we even
there?
Well, that's three in a row in just a couple
of weeks. Two articles on the Christmas Bird Count (one in the Daytona
News-Journal and one in the Observer) and the article in the Orlando
Sentinel on our honoring the Bidgood?s with a tree planting ceremony.
It can be seen at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/
volusia/orl-enviroside1308jan13,0,1032815.story
You would think that would be good publicity
for our organization. Except for one critical part. The Southeast
Volusia Audubon Society, which organized and conducted the events, was
not even mentioned by name in the articles. In the Bidgood article,
Mayor McKay was cited, and so was David Hargrove as President of the
Halifax River Audubon. But no mention of us.
Now, I really like and respect David
Hartgrove. He is a hard working environmentalist and frankly I don't
know how he has time to do all of the great things he does for the
effort. But he does not represent the Southeast Volusia Audubon Society.
I guess the implication is clear. The
reporters don't know who we are. So if you have an opportunity to
interact with reporters, please ask them to include the name of our
organization in their article or report.
|
January 12, 2008. Tag sale results.
The tag sale netted $331.90. We appreciate all the folks who donated
items, came out to help, and bought items. Many items not sold are
being donated to the Greyhound Pets of America through Donnadine. |
|
December
18, 2007. Announcing the January
Speaker.
Gil and Donnadine Miller will present a
slide show of their summer trip to the Galapagos and Amazon. As all our
membership is aware, Gil is a dedicated and excellent photographer. His
pictures and their commentary will be of interest to all.
|
|
December
17, 2007. Club sets date for Tag Sale
Fund Raiser.
A fund raising yard sale will be held
Saturday January 12th at the Oak Hill Flea Market. Lee and Catherine
Bidgood donated a number of items when they moved to Gainesville and
other SEVAS members have been collecting items for several months.
If you have any items to donate or can spare
a couple of hours on Saturday, please call Dick Domroski @ 428-0447 to
arrange pick-up of items and scheduling of workers. Five members have
already volunteered to help but we could use a couple more. (NO
CLOTHING OR LARGE FURNITUES ITEMS PLEASE).
Please tag/price your donated items with a
suggested selling price. We can always adjust at time of sale but
pre-tagging will reduce volunteer preparation times. |
| December
15, 2007. Announcing the Northeast
Florida Scrub-jay Education and Outreach Workshop
The Northeast Florida Scrub Working Group is
looking for enthusiastic individuals willing to participate in
scrub-jay conservation and outreach. You are invited to attend a
workshop on Saturday, January 19, 2008 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the
Harris M Saxon Community Center, 2329 California Street, Deltona. The
workshop aims to increase awareness and knowledge while promoting
conservation of the Florida scrub-jay and its habitat. Please bring a
bagged lunch (due to time constraints) and your own coffee cup (for
environmental reasons). This workshop is coordinated by the North East
Florida Scrub Working Group Education Sub-committee. The sub-committee
has members from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida State Parks, the
Florida Scrub-Jay Consortium, Inc., and Volusia County Environmental
Management. The sub-committee has three objectives: to provide
educational outreach for the Florida Scrub-jay; promote conservation of
the Florida Scrub-jay and scrub habitat; and to cultivate a regional
Florida Scrub-Jay Festival. To get a copy of the proposed agenda, click here.
RSVP by Friday, January 11, 2008 to
Karen.macdonald@dep.state.fl.us |
|
December
14, 2007. County meeting on dogs at
Smyrna Dunes Park.
The County will hold a meeting of interested
parties at the Smyrna Dunes Park on December 17th at 8:00 am regarding
the rules allowing dogs at the park. It is the only part of the beach
where dogs are allowed, and the only part of the beach where Piping
Plovers rest and Wilson's Plovers nest. Allowing dogs to disturb these
birds has been one of our concerns for a long time. If you can, please
get out there and tell County officials to keep dogs off the beach. An
alternative would be to allow dogs on other parts of the beach where
driving is allowed.
|
|
December
8, 2997. Bidgoods feted at tree
planting ceremony.
In the presence of over 25 friends and
long-time associates, Lee and Catherine Bidgood were honored at a
tree-planting ceremony in their honor at Riverside Park in New Smyrna
Beach on December 6th, 2007.
"It is fitting that we should honor the
Bidgoods with this ceremony and a tree that will be a lasting
testimonial to their efforts to make SE Volusia an environmentally safe
place in which to live and raise a family," said President Don Picard.
Don went on to highlight some of Lee's most important work including
convincing the Volusia County School Commission to choose Integrated
Pest Management instead of the indiscriminate use of herbicides and
pesticides that they were previously using in our school yards. The
Bidgoods were among the first to install solar photovoltaic panels on
their roof top as part of a program launched by the Utilities
Commission of NSB. Don also noted the contributions to the club by
Catherine who was Secreatry, Membership Chair, and Skimmer editor
before computers.
Mayor Sally McKay remarked that she had
known the Bidgoods for many years and was among the people to whom Lee
showed their solar panels and Ms. McKay had them installed on her new
home.
Also present was James Hathaway, city
commissioner for zone 3.
Afterwards, guests enjoyed a reception at
the Night Swan B&B.
|
|
December
4, 2007. Christmas Bird Count Press
Release.
As part of the National Audubon Society's
108th Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the Southeast Volusia Audubon Society
will conduct its count on the 29th of December 2007. Participants will
meet at the Brannon Center (on Riverside Drive in NSB, just south of
Canal Street) at 7:00 a.m. to start the count, and again at 5:30 p.m.
at the Main Street Grill for dinner and tally the results. Dick and
Gail Domroski are coordinating the event this year so contact them at
428-0447 if you are interested in participating.
To read the full press release as well as
important information from National Audubon about the CBC, click here. |
|
November
29, 2007. December speakers announced.
Our speaker for the December meeting will be
Linda Evans of the University of Florida Extension Services located at
the Volusia County Fairgrounds office on State Road 44. This office is
dedicated to Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences and is there to
help US - the taxpayers of Volusia County. Linda's formal education is
in the field of Chemistry and she is a trained Clinical Chemistry
Specialist. She ran her own business for ten years before starting with
the University of Florida, Volusia County Extension in 1998 as a
Program Assistant in their "Yards and Neighborhoods" program. Since
2000 her title has been Management Specialist which covers a wide range
of topics and responsibilities including giving presentations to groups
such as ours.
Linda's topic will be "What's Bugging You?"
She will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of the insects which we
encounter in our yards, gardens and travels. Linda is the producer of a
really neat display on the subject which you may have seen in their
office over the last several months.
We will also have a brief presentation by a
representative from the "Florida Hometown Democracy" initiative
explaining the reason for their action and the current status of their
petition. PLEASE BRING YOUR SIGNING PENS!
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November
16, 2007. December Field Trip Schedule
Change.
The December field trip will be to Hawks
Preserve in Edgewater on December 8th.. It is behind the YMCA on Turgot
Ave. Here is a chance to learn about a Scrub Jay habitat in our own
back yard. The Florida Scrub Jay is listed as a threatened species
under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act. Volunteers will talk
about the scrub habitat, the plants and other animals that live there,
the special requirements needed for Scrub Jays to live there and why
they are no longer there.
For the last year we have been working with the city Director of Parks
and Recreation, Jack Corder, to get the city to fulfill its
responsibilities to preserve the small Scrub Jay habitat there. They
agreed to preserve it as part of a mitigation agreement when the YMCA
was built but they failed to live up to the agreement. Their neglect
and the failure of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to enforce the
terms of the federal mandate resulted in the deterioration of the
habitat and the loss of the Scrub Jays that once lived there.
We will see other birds and animals there.
Meet at the Market Square parking lot in Edgewater, Ridgewood and US
442 between Dunkin Donuts and Chik-fil-A. Trip leaves at 8:00 a.m.
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November
8, 2007. Thank You! Thank You! Thank
You!
At the November 7th meeting, Jean McNeil
volunteered to be the club's Secretary. We really appreciate your
volunteering for this important position.
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October
21, 2007. Speaker announced for November 7th meeting.
The guest speaker will be Adam Kent who is
employed as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC)'s Scrub-Jay Conservation Coordinator. Adam's interest in nature
started when he was a small child. A love of
sharing his passion about the natural world led him to travel and lead
nature
tours across the hemisphere from Alaska to southern South America. He
has
written a guide to the shorebirds of Baja California, co-authored a
paper
about birds of the Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia, and made recordings
in
southern Mexico that led to the description of a new species of bird,
the
Nava's Wren.
While with the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC),
Adam developed Bird Detective, a bird-identification activity guide for
Florida that was later adopted by Seattle Audubon. Also with the FWC,
Adam
worked on the Great Florida Birding Trail and made bird lists for many
of the
state's Wildlife Management Areas.
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August
31, 2007. Speaker announced for October 3d meeting.
The guest speaker at the October 3d meeting
will be Mr. Eric West,
who will speak on the unreasonable development in East Central Florida.
Eric is an environmental advocate who is well known for studying the
issues, proposing alternative solutions and rebutting developers'
arguments with a passion. His views regularly run counter to the claims
and desires of Volusia County Council, Saint Johns River Water
Management District, and other local governments, not to mention
Florida's land developers.
Click Here to read his bio as well as a letter he wrote in
response to "The Final Report of the Committee for a Sustainable
Treasure Coast." This was distributed to several members of the media,
Volusia County Council members and other local leaders. Mr. West will
speak on the subjects of widespread development, our finite water
resources and the need for awareness on all our parts. He will then
open the floor for a question and answer session.
Come and bring a friend(s). |
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August
25, 2007. Central Florida is gearing
up to withdraw millions of gallons of water from the St. Johns River.
Click
Here to see important information about Florida's (and
Volusia County's) future water supply. It is reproduced from an email
by LegalSandy@aol.com.
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August
16, 2007. Good News! Florida Stops a
Polluter!
Florida's top environmental regulator has
upheld a ruling that makes International Paper stop polluting Perdido
Bay near Pensacola. Maybe under Gov. Crist, the Department of
Environmental Protection actually will protect the environment. This
news was published in an editorial in the Palm Beach Post and announced
to us by Linda Young, Director of the Clean Water Network of Florida. Click here to read Linda's
announcement and see how you can thank the DEP administrator Michael
Sole. You can also read the full editorial. |
| June 2007: What
good is email if they don't answer? President Don Picard
sent an email to the Edgewater City Council and Mayor in April asking
serious questions about the city's future. The answers impact all
citizens of the city, but he has received no response
as of the middle of June.
Check out his email and ask yourself why they did not
respond and why you don't email them to seek answers. |
| April 2007: It
is with mixed emotions of sadness and joy that we say goodbye to Lee
and Catherine Bidgood; sadness because they have been such
stalwarts in our club and in the environmental movement in general and
joy because they are embarking on another stage in their lives, one
which they have been planning for some time. More.. |
February 2007:
Volusia Audubon groups sponsor Tomoka Science Fair.
For the
fifth year in a row the three Audubon groups in Volusia County
partnered to provide judges and prizes for the Tomoka Regional Science
Fair. It was held at the Advanced Technology Center in Daytona Beach on
the 20th of January, 2007. More.. |
January 2007:
Christmas Bird Count results announced.
President Don Picard
thanked all who participated in the 107th Annual Christmas Bird Count.
The weather conditions were not the best, however, the overall result
was phenomenal. More... |
