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June-July 2014                                                                                                     www.tbep.org     
                                                                                                                            
 

Tampa Bay Estuary Program

  

The Art of Being Floridian  

Painted Flamingo Flock Hits The Road
"Ramblin' Rosie" by artist  
Cathie Carol Zurich-Wus
Look for our wild and whimsical artist-painted plastic yard flamingos on exhibit at museums, art centers and government buildings beginning in July. 
 
Their first stop will be at the Safety Harbor Library, 101 2nd Street North, for the month of July. Click here for library hours. 

The 24 flamingos, painted by 20 artists from New Port Richey to Avon Park, are colorful ambassa-birds for our Be Floridian fertilizer campaign. Be Floridian encourages homeowners to skip lawn fertilizing in the summer to prevent pollution of the waterways that make living here so much fun.

Connect with us via the Be Floridian
Facebook page or website to find out where the flock will touch down over the next year. They will be in each of their temporary homes at least a month.

TBEP extends a heartfelt thank you to the following talented and generous artists who painted our flamingos: 

Renee Berger
Adria Bernstein
Lisa Burns
Samantha Churchill
John Costin
Holly Dodson
Nettle Greenman
Charlene Solomon Jones
Kiaralinda
Terry Klaaren
Shawna Laufer
Pete Lawson
Anita Long
Cari Majors
Alba Mas
Veronica Perkins
Diana Rast
Stacy Roth
Maria Weed
Cathie Carol Zurich-Wus

"Fanny" by Diana Rast (left) and "Floramingo" by Alba Mas in their planter habitat

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New on Our Website

 

Check out the new live feed from our Facebook page on the TBEP website at
www.tbep.org. 

Other new or updated features on the website include:
  • A downloadable version of our new "Gulf Coast Community Handbook," featuring case studies in incorporating resiliency to climate change in habitat restoration projects from Florida to Texas.   
  • Our downloadable "Tampa Bay Ethical Angler Wallet Card" with bag limits for the most popular sportfish targeted by anglers in Tampa Bay.        
  • Fact Sheets illustrating how TBEP assists the cities and counties that comprise our partnership.        

  • Cool places in the watershed to explore in Estuary Explorations. Learn about fly fishing in Tampa Bay, dog-friendly beaches, Indian Mounds and other fun things to see and do.   

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TBEP Staff on the Go  

 

ed skydiving
Ed Sherwood, left,  gets a birds-eye view of the Tampa Bay watershed 

TBEP Senior Scientist Ed Sherwood enjoyed his first sky-dive in early April. He jumped from an altitude of 18,000 feet in eastern Hillsborough County, where he had a unique view of the Tampa Bay watershed as he came down for a landing. 

 

Project Manager Misty Cladas and husband Ron recently moved into a new residence -- a  townhome in Clearwater. Misty reports that they do not miss having to do yard work!    

                                                             Program Administrator Ron Hosler, a true farmer at heart, reported a bumper crop of fruits and veggies from his urban backyard garden in St. Petersburg. The bounty included grapes and blueberries, at least those he was able to keep the mockingbirds and blue jays from stealing! 

  

Lindsay Cross, our Environmental Science and Policy Manager, is facilitating a group of local business, government and environmental leaders tasked with ranking potential Pinellas County projects for RESTORE Act funding. Projects will benefit the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem as a result of impacts created by the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Group participants include Ocean Conservancy, USF-St. Pete, Tampa Bay Watch, Audubon, Baystar Restaurants and Gulf Restoration Network, among others.

Public Outreach Coordinator
Nanette O'Hara,
an avid shutterbug, has enjoyed chronicling the life cycle of the many butterflies that visit her certified Florida-Friendly Landscape -- including the alien creature on the left that transformed into the beautiful zebra longwing butterfly below.  The zebra longwing is Florida's official state butterfly, and lays its eggs on passionvines, especially the native corky stem passionvine.


Quick Links

 

  
TBERF group
Recipients,  sponsors and local officials celebrated the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund at Clam Bayou.
 
  Grant Fund Recipients, Sponsors Honored

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program held a special celebration recently of a grant partnership that has provided more than $1.5 million in grants since 2013 for important restoration, applied research and education projects in the Tampa Bay watershed.

 

Sponsors and recipients of the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund were recognized in a special ceremony held last week at Clam Bayou Nature Preserve in St. Petersburg. 

    
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The grant program is being jointly managed by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and
Restore America's Estuaries. 

In 2013, nine agencies and organizations received $900,000 in grants for projects that restored more than 1,000 acres of coastal habitats, created 2,900 feet of oyster reefs and treated 500 acres of urban runoff.  

Nearly $625,000 in grants is being awarded this year to nine recipients. 

 

Sponsors of the 2013 Tampa Bay Environmental Fund included the Southwest Florida Water Management District, The Mosaic Company Foundation, Hillsborough County and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

 

"We all have a responsibility, as companies and citizens, to be part of this," said Bo Davis, Vice President of Phosphate Operations for The Mosaic Company.

The grant program was renewed in 2014 as the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund and financed with anchor contributions from SWFWMD and The Mosaic Company Foundation through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Other contributors are Manatee County; Pinellas County; Tampa Electric Company; the Florida Department of Transportation and Port Tampa Bay. 

     
The nine projects awarded grants for 2014 are:   

Colonial Waterbird Management in the Tampa Bay Watershed ($36,000) 
Audubon's Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuary staff will manage and track population trends and threats in nationally significant waterbird nesting colonies supporting 50,000 pairs of 31 bird species annually.

Safety Harbor Waterfront Park Habitat Restoration ($70,000)
The City of Safety Harbor will remove invasive plants from a planned passive-use public park and replant with native species to restore 6 acres of marsh/mangrove wetlands.

Mapping of Hard Bottom Habitat in Tampa Bay ($150,000) SWFWMD will inventory and assess the quality of hard bottom reefs, oyster beds and tidal flats to determine historic extent and develop restoration/protection targets for these important habitats. 
 

Coastal Blue Carbon Assessment ($100,000)

Restore America's Estuaries will assess the climate mitigation benefits associated with restoring salt marshes, mangroves and seagrass beds in the Tampa Bay ecosystem. These three habitat types are collectively called "coastal blue carbon habitats" for their ability to sequester carbon that contributes to climate change.  

  

Rock Ponds Coastal Ecosystem Restoration ($60,000)

Tampa Bay Watch will plant marsh grasses utilizing community volunteers to enhance or restore 20 acres of tidal wetland habitat over a 2-year period as part of the comprehensive restoration of former shell mining pits on Tampa Bay's southeast shore.

  

Oyster Bar Restoration at Robinson Preserve ($53,000)

Manatee County will install 7,500 square feet of oyster beds as part of the comprehensive restoration of a 651-acre county preserve. 

 

Duette Preserve Hydrologic Restoration ($87,260)

Manatee County will restore forested and non-forested freshwater wetlands by removing manmade ditches to recreate natural hydrologic flows in the eastern Manatee River watershed. 

 

Bay Soundings Environmental Journal ($25,000)

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council will produce, print and distribute one year (four issues) of this popular environmental journal informing citizens about bay management trends, issues and accomplishments. 

  

MacDill Air Force Base Living Shoreline ($41,000)

Tampa Bay Watch will place 137 tons of oyster reefs and plant 1,000 linear feet of salt marsh grass using community volunteers as part of a large restoration along the southeastern shoreline of MacDill AFB.

 

TBEP Executive Director Holly Greening and TBEP Policy Board Chair and St. Petersburg City Councilman Steve Kornell with a map showing the location of all the grant projects around the
bay watershed

    

  TBEP IN THE COMMUNITY 

Perico Preserve Give A Day

Felicia and Doug Burks with Peyton and Shelby
In April, Manatee County's Perico Preserve was the site of the final Give A Day for the Bay volunteer workday for the 2013-2014 season. Some 100 volunteers recruited by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program and Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department planted nearly 12,000 plugs of salt marsh grass at this new preserve!  Among the volunteers were Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and 4-H Club members. Our liaison from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region IV office in Atlanta, Felicia Burks, volunteered with her husband Doug and children Peyton and Shelby (photo above).


TBEP Bay Mini-Grant Helps Give Neglected Spring New Life

 
TBEP Project Manager Misty Cladas, left, is shown here at the final shoreline planting at Ulele Spring, a small, almost-forgotten spring on the Hillsborough River that was filled and replaced with a pipe a century ago.

Ecosphere Restoration Institute led a comprehensive effort to restore the spring and streambed habitat, create a quiet pool as a haven for manatees, and install a living  shoreline along the river where the spring enters. Partners included the City of Tampa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,  Southwest Florida Water Management District, NOAA and others. A $10,000 TBEP Bay Mini-Grant helped fund habitat creation, including two planting workdays at the spring using community volunteers.

On the far right of the photo is Jennette Seachrist, head of SWFWMD's Surface Water and Improvement (SWIM) program. 

The spring is adjacent to the new Water Works Park created by the City of Tampa. Project observers report that manatees already are finding their way back into the quiet spring pool! 
    
License Plate Fees Drop:
Why Wait Any Longer? Reel In Your
Tampa Bay Estuary Tag Now!

tarpon tag
 
The Florida Legislature has rolled back license tag fees by an average of $25 per vehicle. This brings the fees back to 2009 levels. No excuses now -- show your support for Florida's largest  open-water estuary by buying a Tampa Bay Estuary license plate (also known as the "Tarpon Tag" ) for your car, truck, boat trailer or RV.

Revenues from the Tampa Bay Estuary plate, also known as the "Tarpon Tag," support TBEP grants to community organizations for projects that directly benefit Tampa Bay. More than $1.5 million has been provided for bay restoration and education initiatives since 2001. Support the only specialty tag whose revenues stay solely within our community and our bay!   

About the Tampa Bay Estuary Program

 

 The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is an intergovernmental partnership dedicated to restoring and protecting Tampa Bay, Florida's largest open-water estuary. TBEP is one of 28 "Estuaries of National Significance" designated by Congress.

 

Our Policy Board is comprised of representatives from Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties; the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater; the Southwest Florida Water Management District; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.