Monthly Archives: February 2014

Nathaniel Reed, Nature’s God, and the Indian River Lagoon

Nathaniel Reed, in a moment of refection, Rivers Coalition meeting 2-27-14.

Mr Nathaniel Reed is one of those people I have always admired and who has always been “bigger than life,” in my life. http://www.aapra.org/Pugsley/ReedNathaniel.html

His name came before me like sunshine throughout my youth, as someone from little Martin County, who was fighting against the “big guy,” big development, destruction of Florida’s paradise, on a local, state and national level. Someone helping our Indian River Lagoon and St Lucie River.

On the other hand, his family developed Jupiter Island so there was a balance or an irony to the big picture. Such is life.

Over time, words like these, written by Mr Reed, in his early career, formed the basis of my world view:

“I suggest to you that the American dream, based as it is on the concept of unlimited space and resources, has run aground on the natural limits of the earth. It has foundered on the shoals of the steadily emerging environmental crisis, a crisis broadly defined to include not only physical and biological factors, but the social consequences that flow from them. The American dream, so long an energizing force in our society, is withering as growing social and ecological costs generated by decades of relative neglect, overtake the economic and technological gains generated by ‘rugged individualism’. The earth as a place to live has a limited amount of air, water, soil, minerals, space and other natural resources, and today we are pressing hard on our resource base. Man, rich or poor, is utterly dependent on his global life-support system.”

Yesterday, at a Rivers Coalition meeting, Mr Reed said he had failed in two things in his long successful environmental career. He said he has failed to limit phosphorus going into Lake Okeechobee, and that he had failed to convince others of the importance of getting the water going south, the basic principal of restoring the estuaries and the Everglades.

He then relayed to a crowd over two hundred that the flow-way south to the the Everglades, Plan 6, was unfeasible because the sugar industry is the richest industry in the U.S. and they would block anything put before Congress to do such and the costs of the project is too much. He recommended working on a plan that would move the water southeast, through canals, into an enormous reservoir, and letting is seep southward…

I adore Mr Reed, and he will always be a hero of mine. He looked down yesterday, and confided, that he is in “the final inning “of his life and wants to resolve this water issue before they take him out “fighting..”

Mr Reed is exhausted; he wants success in his lifetime. Of course he does.

But personally, I think to go “around the sugar industry” is perhaps not the answer as the sugar industry has a moral obligation to help with this whole debacle.

Although I respect Mr Reed’s recommendation, as Americans we must remember that sometimes it becomes necessary to “dissolve the political bands which have connected one to another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, that which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle us…”

The Indian River Lagoon, an Overview Effect

This past Tuesday, my father invited me to Kiwanis to listen to a very special speaker, Captain Edgar Mitchell, astronaut, Apollo 14, who is now 83. http://www.noetic.org/directory/person/edgar-mitchell/

The room at Manero’s in Palm City was packed and right off the bat, Captain Mitchell spoke on his experience in space referred to as the “overview effect.” The overview effect is defined as a cognitive shift in awareness often experienced by astronauts while in space. Mitchell spoke about an experience on the “ride home” as he looked at the floating earth and moon, where an understanding of life’s broader consciousness “hit him.”

“Seeing the earth in space as a tiny, fragile, ball of life…a pale beautiful blue dot,” changed him forever.

Mitchell returned home, retired from NASA and within one year founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences to study the science of “consciousness.” http://www.noetic.org

Mitchell was not alone in his experience as many astronauts described a similar feeling. They went on as changed men, as men who went back to the world with a message, a message that in our language and culture is restricted to being called a “spiritual message.”

Captain Mitchell’s message in the crowded room of Manero’s in Palm City, Florida was that we as a species have to change our ways, and how we treat nature, or we will destroy all we have, including ourselves. He said we have have to start “saving the plant instead of consuming it.”

The crowd was slightly amazed, and seemed more interested in the safety of questions about what it was like to set foot on the moon, physically. Nonetheless, I believe the crowd left changed as well.

On my way home, I drove over the Palm City Bridge and nodded to the great St Lucie River, part of our Indian River Lagoon. “The time is coming.” I said to the river.

It is time, and it has been time, to save it.

St Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon-We’ve Really Mucked it Up…

Muck from the St Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon 2006. (Photo credit, Bob Voisenet,Rivers Coalition) — Muck from the St Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon. (Photo credit, Bob Voisinet, Rivers Coalition, 2006)

It has been described as “black mayonnaise,” and if you’ve ever stepped into parts of the St Lucie River or Indian River Lagoon it may have sucked you down, like quicksand. Muck is as deep as 12 feet or more in some areas and is one of the primary reasons that the St Lucie River, part of the Indian River Lagoon, was declared “impaired” by the state of Florida in the early 2000s.

According to the the Department of Environmental Protection, due to the area’s development, agricultural industry and the building and discharge from canals and Lake Okeechobee, muck sediments into the the St Lucie River have increased causing thick deposits to accumulate.

These muck sediments are contaminated with pesticides, and metals that “may be toxic to indigenous species.” The turbidity and algal blooms the muck sediments support have contributed to the near elimination of once abundant seagrasses, decimation of oysters and outbreaks in fish abnormalities. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/SLE_Impairment_Narrative_ver_3.7.pdf

In 2004, with the help of then Senate President, Ken Pruitt, Kevin Henderson of the St Lucie River Initiative, published a study for the SFWMD entitled “Final Report: Characterization, Sources, Beneficial Re-Use, and Removal of Marine Muck Sediments in the St Lucie Estuary.”

This extensive and excellent report concluded that there really are no “beneficial uses” for muck. Because of its high salt content it cannot be used as fertilizer and the cost of transporting it is often “cost prohibitive.” Nonetheless, based of this study the county and district were able to coordinate the plans or execution of muck removal from area creeks, such as Poppleton, Kruegar, Frazier and Haney.

For those of you really into this, it is worth noting that slow moving government policies such as SWIM, Surface Water and Improvement Management, CERP, Central Everglades Restoration Project as well as the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, also deal with muck sediment removal.

There is hope, manatees came back to Kruegar Creek once it was cleaned and the muck sediments of some of the creeks went to build brims at Witham Airfield and “lined” the land fill. Mr Henderson’s report is a reference for all of us and the basis for future improvements.

Also, right now, in the central lagoon they are very close to getting monies from the state for muck removal in their area due to their area senator, Thad Altman’s involvement on Senator Joe Negron’s “Subcommittee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee.”

As depressing as the river situation is, in the 1970s laws were created to halt destruction of submerged and coastal lands, like here in Sewall’s Point where once developers and the local government could just decide to “create a marina or make subdivisions out of mangrove filled spoil islands. It is a slow go, but in some ways we have been, and we are making progress.

I’m about mucked out, but in case you’d like to learn more about muck, this Saturday at 10am in Sewall’s Point, the River Kidz are tie-dying t-shirts with river muck and colors. They named their project: “Get the Muck Out!” Scientists will be speaking; we will be teaching; and we will be screaming GET THE MUCK OUT! Please join us.

Black Bears of Hutchinson Island, Our Wild Past

Mr Reginald Waters with black bears killed on Hutchinson Island, around 1930. (Photo credit Sandra Thurlow, Sewall's Point," A History of a Peninsular Community on Florida's Treasure Coast"/Reginald Waters Rice) — Mr Reginald Waters with black bears killed on Hutchinson Island, around 1930. (Photo credit Sandra Thurlow, Sewall’s Point,” A History of a Peninsular Community on Florida’s Treasure Coast”/Reginald Waters Rice)

When I was a kid, I had a favorite stuffed animal; he was orange bear with blue eyes and his name was “Beary Bear.” I carried him around until his eyes fell off and my mother sewed new ones back on. Over the years, all of his fur came off so he was bald.

There wasn’t a whole lot “to do” growing up in Stuart in the 1960s and 70s so a kid had to rely on the freedom of empty lots, friends, and his or her imagination to have any fun.

Before dinner, I used to climb to the top of a giant cedar tree in our back yard and look at the ocean and Indian River Lagoon from our house in St Lucie Estates, in Stuart. I carried Beary Bear up about forty feet with me and we talked about the black bears out there on Hutchinson Island and how there were just a few secret ones left, a few Mr Walters and the other pioneers couldn’t catch, and didn’t kill. That was fantasy.

According to historian Alice Luckhart, the black bear population on Hutchinson Island was completely wiped out by about 1930. (http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/feb/03/historical-vignettes-when-bears-roamed-hutchinson-/)

Before modern man came and planted bean fields and produced honey, the bears ate turtle eggs, palmetto berries and the riches of the Indian River Lagoon and St Lucie River. But they they became a problem, so we “wiped them out.”

Isn’t it amazing to think of where we really live? A land where not too long ago a panther may have swum across the St Lucie Sound; or a black bear happily frolicked along the Indian River Lagoon? Where fish were so plentiful they kept you awake at night. What I don’t understand is why we “wiped them out.” I guess times were harder then and the mentality was 100% “man over nature” but it’s fun to imagine what it would be like if we hadn’t killed them all, or somehow, we brought them back.

Well, Beary Bear is long gone, and the bean farms have been replaced with million dollar homes and unimaginative condominiums. But I still have my imagination and somewhere out there, there’s a bear; I’m sure of it.

Beach Re-nourishment vs. Mother Nature

Homes and Condos at Sailfish Point compromised by beach erosion-with newly constructed seawall, 2-12-14 — Homes and Condos at Sailfish Point compromised by beach erosion-with newly constructed seawall and birm, 2-22-14. (Photo JTL)

The trucks come in about once a year and dump millions of dollars worth of tax payer sand on Martin County beaches and other’s throughout our state. Then winter’s storms arrive and wash it back into the ocean, covering and damaging our nearshore reefs. But at least the turtles have a place to lay their eggs…?

Erosion is a natural part of all coastal barrier islands, in fact, time lapse photography would show these islands moving, like giant sea slugs, changing shape, due to erosion and accretion, over time.

However, it is mostly the man made inlets that change the erosion pattern along our beaches and cause the issues we have today. http://martincountycoastal.org/program_projects.html

Before modern man settled this area, inlets along the Indian River Lagoon came and went with the whims of Mother Nature. Looking at old maps, one sees documentation of changing natural inlets over time. Jupiter and Indian River Inlet north of Ft Pierce were the only long standing opening to the sea in our area most recently. Over thousands of years, others came and went, all along the lagoon. Peck’s Lake in Martin County broke through as recently as 1960 and was quickly “closed…”

In 1892 in today’s Martin County, then Dade, Captain Henry Sewall’s inspired local men to dig a permanent inlet, by hand. My historian mother has told me stories of other inlet attempts as well. According to her, one time, the men fell asleep after the exhausting dig, only to awake and find the tide coming in, filling in their work! One local’s pet raccoon was tied to a tree and taken away by the strong waters. Even today, Mother Nature want’s to fill back in the St Lucie Inlet, but we continue to resist her.

Very interesting is that “old maps” also show Jupiter Island on equal “terms” with Sailfish Point. But today Jupiter Island is much “further back” as she has eroded over time and been slowly swept into the sea. This remains an problem of enormous proportions today that is on the verge of law suit. Last year, the Army Corp of Engineers informed Martin County they wish to take the lovely textured, offshore sands of Stuart, to re-nourish, Dade and Broward Counties beaches. Unbelievable…

The inlets give us access to the ocean, they raise the value of our property, they were and could be again national defense. Most timely for today, in the case of the St Lucie Inlet, it allows the putrid waters slugging forth during rainy season from C-23; C-24 ; C-44; and worst of all from Lake Okeechobee, to go to sea.

There are those who believe we should let the inlet close up; and there are many who believe we should fill in the canals; there are those who believe the inlet is what defines Martin County and we should do everything to keep her open. Hmm…

One thing for sure, fighting Mother Nature is a full time job.

Remembering Mangroves, the Walking Tree to Wetlands

Evie Flaugh balances her way through a mangrove forest, 2012. Martin County. (Photo credit Jenny Flaugh) — Young Evie Flaugh, walks through a mangrove forest, 2012, Near Hole in the Wall, Martin County. (Photo credit Jenny Flaugh)

One of the first things I learned about the Indian River Lagoon and St Lucie River as a kid at the Environmental Studies Center and later at Florida Oceanographic was mangroves. Red mangroves had cool arch like roots; white mangrove had a notch on the leaf and a salty back; and black mangrove had weird breathing sucker roots coming out of the ground around the tree and were sometimes very large. http://www.floridaocean.org/uploads/docs/blocks/22/irl-mangroves.pdf

I also remember walking with my parents along the beach of Jupiter Island and there were gigantic halloween like remnants of a black mangrove forest coming out of the eroding sands. I also remember the closed off mosquito impoundments around today’s Marriott, Indian River Plantation, and A1A, along the ocean, drowning the mangroves, many white, and black, that looked like giant dead sentinels, somehow still alive, watching us over-kill our environment and all the little misquitoes.

And today, yes, it seems the red mangrove, more than the others, flourishes. Interestingly enough, before the St Lucie Inlet was opened by hand in 1892, there were not many mangroves along the St Lucie River as it was fresh. But close to the ocean, along parts of the Indian River Lagoon, there was brackish water and there were mangroves.

My historian mother recently told me she attended a lecture of fish scientist, Dr. Grant Gilmore, and he was of the opinion we needed to create, restore more wetlands and fewer mangroves (as they were destroyed by mosquito impoundments) as the wading birds and many fish rely on this habitat, not just mangrove habitat.

His 2012 key note presentation at Harbor Branch Oceanograpic Institute Symposium is summarized here: http://indianriverlagoon.org/pdf/IRLS%202012%20Abstracts%20of%20Presentations.pdf

In closing this short reminiscent piece, one other thing I remember about being a kid growing up in Martin County is the mosquitos! They were brutal at certain times of the year. We would run in place at the bus stop so they couldn’t get us, and my little legs were always full of bites and scars. I also remember riding our bikes behind the mosquito fogger truck for entertainment…(so that’s what happened!)

Remembering it all, I can empathize why we went to war with the mosquitos, but if we went too far, let’s take a clear-headed walk through the mangroves, and see what we can do…

Sewall’s Point, Tomorrow’s Oceanfront Property?

Aerial of Sewall's Point, C.B. Arbogast Brochure. Photo Clyde Coutant 1946-1949. — Aerial of Sewall’s Point, C.B. Arbogast Brochure. Photo Clyde Coutant 1946-1949.(Photo courtesy of S.H. Thurlow)

If you have driven through the Town of Sewall’s Point lately you may have noticed houses being raised. Within a short time, a total of twelve homes will have had millions of dollars invested from the US Federal Government as part of a FEMA flood mediation program. Just over 40 percent of Sewall’s Points’ homes are in a flood zone, and many had “repetitive losses,” during hurricanes Jeanne and Francis in 2004.

“FEMA” is a controversial program. Why is the Federal Government giving people in one of the “wealthiest” areas of Martin County money, so much money, to raise their homes? Well, at the end of the day, it is a business decision for an almost insolvent FEMA. They figure they will save money in the long run by “lifting” homes that historically they have paid so much money “out to.” This is not just happening in Sewall’s Point, it is happening in coastal communities all over the country. In fact the entire state and county flood maps are changing right now: (http://geoweb.martin.fl.us/flood/ or go to http://www.martin.fl.us –then tab Maps/FEMA Flood Maps)

In 2009, Mark Perry, of Florida Oceanographic, shared a paper with me he had written in 1982, the year I graduated from high school: “Coastal Zone Study of Hutchinson Island and Martin County,” which included substantial information on the geological formation of Sewall’s Point. I was struck by his writing:

“Just before the most recent Ice Age, the Wisconsin, which lasted from 100,000 to 11,000 years before present, the sea level was approximately 25-35 feet above the present mean sea level…at that time the sea was covering most of Martin County except for the Orlando Ridge, Green Ridge, and Atlantic Ridge…” Sewall’s Point is part of that “Atlantic Ridge, so at least its west side was above sea level. Other known areas today that would have been islands in the ancient sea, are parts of Jensen Beach around the Skyline Drive, Jonathan Dickinson Park, and a large area inland adjacent to the Allapattah Flats.

My mother wrote the book on Sewall’s Point, “The History of a Peninsular Community on the Florida’s Treasure Coast” and I certainly learned, at a young age, that history repeats itself.

Waters rise and fall; civilizations are built and crumble; powerful multibillion dollar corporations become obsolete…

I suppose we can look on the bright side, the good news is that if you live in Sewall’s Point between the Indian River Lagoon and St Lucie Rivers, you may one day be able to deed your great grandchildren ocean front property.

Why “River Kidz” is Different, and Making a Difference

River Kidz-St Lucie County member, Adian Lewy, 10, speaks at the Clean Water Rally in Tallahassee 2-18-14 as Indian Riverkeeper, Marty Baum, proudly looks on…

River Kidz, a program that was started by two Sewall’s Point fifth grade girls in 2011, now has hundreds of members, has a workbook, is taught in many private and public schools, and has divisions in St Lucie and Lee counties. Kids have been taught about the environment for years, so why is River Kidz different?

River Kidz is different because it teaches kids how to advocate. River Kidz’ mission is to “speak out, get involved and raise awareness because we believe kids should have a voice in the future of our rivers.”

All the River Kidz do includes “art, action, and advocacy.” Kids create art in the classroom and in public about the Indian River Lagoon, St Lucie River, focusing on its animals, seagrasses, as well as the damaging discharges from the canals and especially releases from Lake Okeechobee. This artwork is compiled by teachers and parents along with letters the children write and sent, or personally given, to local commissioners, mayors, policy makers, congressmen and women, state representatives, senators and even the president of the United States.

Kidz learn to speak in public. Last summer in 2013, 11 year old Veronica Dalton, ask if she could speak at the River Rally at the St Lucie Locks. She delivered her own speech in front of 5000 people.

When I was a kid they taught us about sea grasses and seahorses and it was fun; I learned to love the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon but today’s children, if they are going to have the river for their children, have to learn early about its wonders and its issues, environmental and political, so they are prepared to protect and creatively save it in the future.

As a former teacher I know, a child likes nothing more than to have a purpose, responsibility, to be trusted. These kids are rising to the occasion and learning at a young age, to write letters to politicians, to speak out in public, “to do” by deploying oysters and reef balls and to create art to get their message across. If this is what they are accomplishing at ten, what will they do in the future?

River Kidz is my best hope for the future.

River Kidz is a division of the Rivers Coalition: http://www.riverscoalition.org and RIVER KIDZ Facebook.

Fishing-line, Transparent Death

Banded Brown Pelican, Bird Island, died struggling to escape fishing line 2/14 — Banded Brown Pelican, Bird Island, died struggling to escape fishing line in the Indian River Lagoon. 2/16/14

Not a fun photo to see, but one that needs to be seen. This brown pelican was found at Bird Island, or MC-2, a well known bird rookery, just 100 feet off of Sewall’s Point. The bird, like many others, had become entangled in transparent fishing line, and in its struggle actually pulled its foot off trying to escape. Unfortunately, the line was caught around the metal band as well.

In 2012, when I was mayor of Sewall’s Point, I worked closely with The Florida Wildlife Commission and Martin County as they built a break wall to stabilize the erosion on the north end of Bird Island. During this time, they were required to monitor the island. On average, there were one to two birds per week found tangled in fishing line during this time. Many were euthanized as they were emaciated and weakened; a few recovered for a second chance, at the Treasure Coast Wildlife Center, http://www.tcwild.org. This was an eye opening experience for me. What of all the birds that are never reported or found when they are not monitoring? Transparent death…

Personally, I don’t see how these magnificent water birds can keep their population numbers up with such terrible odds.

Let’s help them out and be sure to safely throw away our fishing line.

If you find an entangled bird call the Sheriff’s Department, Animal Control at 772-220-7170.

The above pelican was found by Sunshine Wildlife Tours operator, Captain Nancy Beaver, she states:

“This is why I don’t like metal banding of birds! I have seen many lose a foot or die

because they don’t release. This poor bird was alive when I found him and he had ripped his foot off attempting to free himself.” http://www.sunshinewildlifetours.com

http://www.tolford.com/birdband/history.htm

“Crediting Cris Costello, the Wizard of Clean Water”

The Florida Clean Water Campaign, Tallahassee 2-18-14 — The Florida Clean Water Rally and the Clean Water Declaration, Tallahassee, Fl.
2-18-14

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5215/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16024

People who really change the world are often not seen as much as some others. They orchestrate their goals like the Wizard of Oz, behind a curtain. So today, I wish to pull the curtain aside and credit Cris Costello of the the Florida West Coast Sierra Club, who is changing our world in the state of Florida in a big way.

I first met Cris in 2009, when the I was trying to usher through a strong fertilizer ordinance for the Town of Sewall’s Point ; it was only my second year as a commissioner, and I needed lots of help. And suddenly she appeared, like “Glenda the Good.”She contacted me, introducing herself, commending me on my efforts and forwarding me helpful information, ammunition, and contacts, to help me achieve me goal. Then she was gone but she came back to congratulate me when the town’s strong fertilizer ordinance passed in 2010, the first on Florida’s east coast!

Through out the years there have been other experiences with her like this, at the Florida League of Cities, at the Sugarland Rally in Clewiston, fighting the Florida Legislature each year as some there try to take away our Home Rule to have strong fertilizer ordinances and other water protections, and most recently the Clean Water Summit (CWS) in Orlando.

Cris helped organize people and press from all over our great state, as people all over our great state have water issues: overdrawn aquifers, algae filled springs, creeks filled with agricultural and residential fertilizer runoff, the dying Everglades, and especially “us,” the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, with our filthy canals and releases from Lake Okeechobee killing “one of the most bio-diverse estuaries in North America.”

I believe Cris saw the amazing citizen river/lagoon protests that occurred in Martin and St Lucie Counties last summer, and brought the movement state wide. The opening comments of the Clean Water Summit of which hundreds attended were: “The Indian River crisis spurred this movement. It is our responsibility to embrace this movement and embodied it now as a state.”

Today Cris and others organized the Tallahassee Clean Water Rally and thousands of citizens are signing the Clean Water Declaration, see link above. Hundreds of people will be descending upon the steps of the state capitol today, to say to our legislature: “Clean Water IS business in Florida; it’s our business!”

Kudos to Cris and those who are changing our world fighting for clean water in Florida. Let’s give her and her team a loud round of applause!

“Golden Handcuffs, our Federal/State Partnership”

C-44 STA Groundbreaking 2011, a Federal/State partnership — C-44 STA Groundbreaking 2011, a CERP project

In 2000, after many years of compromise and work, the stakeholders of WRAC, or the Water Resource Advisory Committee, of the SFWMD, “agreed” on a monumental Everglades restoration project called CERP, or the Central Everglades Restoration Project. This accomplishment, and that it was, was approved and celebrated through the WRDA bill signed by our federal government, with the State of Florida, giddy, cheering on. Unfortunately, only one of the 60 projects of CERP, Spreader Canal 111, has been completed in fourteen years. Moving forward with projects is torturously slow. Time goes on, people, positions, the economy, and politicians change; and we forget…http://www.evergladesplan.org/about/rest_plan_pt_01.aspx

To overcome this molasses like state/federal partnership, in 2011, the SFWMD and the ACOE came up with CEPP, fast tracking of some of the components of CERP, “to move more water south…” The goal was to complete the study and recommend to Congress in 18 months. http://www.evergladesplan.org/docs/fs_cepp_jan_2013.pdf This goal was accomplished but another Federal WRDA bill and a final OK, presently “await.”

Absolutely, Florida’s government has its problems, but in essence, the fast tracking stopped as soon as CEPP got to the Federal Government causing the people of Florida to wonder what is happening and continue fighting at home. Recently, our state government complained that “the feds” have not come forward with their promised share, and “being credited” it is an issue. Also, you hear about “cost sharing,” a complicated arrangement where the state cannot outspend the feds or visa versa. So if the feds don’t move forward after the state has spent money, the State has to just wait, and wait, and wait…

On its most basic level, the state and federal arrangement is a relationship of sorts. CERP/WRDA is a contract, kind of like a marriage or business document. In the end, if both parties don’t contribute, things go sour. The biggest problem for us in this relationship is that we are so dependent on the Federal Government and their money, ironically, just like the Sugar Farmers are dependent for their price limits through the US Farm Bill. And just like the Farm Bill, WRDA is so intertwined other other things/dependencies that have nothing to do with the original contract, that we can’t pull away, we can’t let go. We are handcuffed waiting for the money…

So the years go by, and a child grows up and votes and serves our county and has children before another Everglades CERP project is built. I say our best chance of throwing off the golden handcuffs and saving the Everglades and our dying estuary, the St Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon, is truly educating our youth on the faults and dreams of our system. They certainly can come up with something better.

“The Seminole Spirit of the Indian River Lagoon”

Coacoochee or Wildcat, by James Hutchinson 1976 — Coacoochee or Wildcat, by James Hutchinson, 1976

Their stern faces stared at me for three years on the office walls of Stuart Middle School, and from the conservative backdrop of First National Bank and Trust Company of Stuart. My mom and dad told me stories at the dinner table about neighbor and artist James Hutchinson and his wife, Joan, living and painting these serious and beautiful people on their reservation, not too far from where we lived. I drove on the school bus and graduated with Kevin Hutchinson, James and Joan’s son; I saw Kevin’s younger brother learn to ride a tricycle. The faces of the Seminole warriors and the faces of the Hutchinsons were an integral part of my childhood and we remain friends today.

The portrait above is of Coacoochee, or Wildcat. Coacoochee was possibly the greatest of Seminole warriors; he was not a formal chief. He rose up as a leader in a time of need during the Second Seminole War. His people loved him; to them, it is said, he had a great sense of humor, of all things–during the worst of times for his people, and yet he taught them how to fight back; how to survive.

Somewhere, I learned that in early times, the Seminoles used to camp and hunt along the North Fork of the St Lucie River making their way south across the Indian River Lagoon to Hutchinson Island to hunt black bears. And once my mother, on the way to Ft Pierce, pulled over the car, and showed me how to find Native Indian pottery artifacts, right along the side of the road, close to the mound by the railroad track.

Often, today, when I drive over the bridges, or along Indian River Drive, I imagine the Seminoles; I imagine that I can see them right there, fishing, cooking, and hunting or even their Ais ancestors. Perhaps a difficult life, but one in harmony with nature, unlike my own people…

Today, I have all four of Mr Hutchinson’s Seminole prints in my office staring at me from all walls. And for me, their spirt is certainly alive.

“How to Rescue a Shorebird”

February 14, 2014Uncategorizedanimal control, Atlantic Ocean, bush wildlife sanctuary, gannet, indian river lagoon, rescue shore birds, safety, st lucie river, treasure coast wildlife centerJacqui Thurlow-Lippisch

Northern Gannet rescued at Bathtub Beach 2-12-14

I believe the first shorebird I “rescued” was a blue heron, along the St Lucie River. I was in middle school and my friends found the magnificent, four foot tall creature, caught in fishing line in Rio, in the mangroves by their home. If I remember correctly, I was the one who held the beak and body while my friends cut away the fishing line. I never let go, and my best friend, Vicki Whipkey, had an older sister Beth, who drove us to a Veterinarian, Dr Hooks. This was about 1976. I felt oddly important; I had a purpose, to help…

I have always felt a responsibility to assist animals in distress, but one must be careful. How I learned this stuff, I’ll never know. I think it was just part of growing up in Stuart when it was small and we as we were always outdoors. And my parents always had some animal for my brother and sister and I to raise: a raccoon, a robin, a opossum, a black snake….

With birds, the most important thing is to be very careful of the beak. Almost any shorebird, can take out an eye very quickly. Of course the bird is scared and thinks you are a predator when you try to rescue it, so if you are not comfortable, just call the authorities.

If you feel inclined, have a towel or shirt in one hand and ideally someone else with you; don’t hesitate, grab the beak and close it, not covering the nostrils; be gentle with the head and neck but be firm, you must be in control; move the head inward, in the direction of the neck’s natural curve, close to bird’s body; now use your other hand to scoop its body up and into your arms; keep the head away from your face. You’re almost done!

Now to get the bird some help. I have driven pelicans to the Treasure Coast Wildlife Center while holding them in my lap, probably not a good idea. Ideally, you have a large container and gently put them into it, covering it so they calm down. You can now deliver the bird or call the authorities to come pick it up.

The Treasure Coast Wildlife Center is located at 8626 SW Citrus Blvd. Palm City, Florida 34990, 772-286-6200. Animal Control’s number is 772-220-7170, through the Sheriff’s non emergency number.

Most recently with the Gannet, it was after 5PM so I had to call Animal Control. The control officer’s name was Michele Thonney. She was terrific: prompt, knowledgeable, and compassionate. I am planning on writing Sheriff Snyder a note expressing my gratitude for his professional staff. She even sent me a link to a video on Gannets (below), amazing dive bomb birds that hunt fish from fantastic heights and can swim/dive 40 plus feet deep; they live at sea and migrate thousands of miles, if “from around here,” probably to Nova Scotia. Their airodynamic bodies have been used in the design of missiles. It is rare to find a Gannet along our Martin County beaches: I feel lucky to have helped one. Good luck to you, should you decide to as well! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwPrXOtBoVg

“FWC: Forgot What Counts”

2013 IRL Florida Marine Mammal Pathology Photo

“Why did we learn that almost 40 manatees had died in the north/central IRL from a Tampa reporter and not FWC?” was the pointed question of Marty Baum, the Indian Riverkeeper, during the Harbor Branch Symposium last week. The speaker was clearly uncomfortable as she presented onward, “Investigations into Multi Species Mortality Events In the Indian River Lagoon.”

The Florida Wildlife Commission’s website states: “More than 575 species of Wildllife; More than 200 native species of fresh water fish; More than 500 native species of saltwater fish…..balancing these species’ need with the needs of nearly 19 million residents and the millions of visitors who share the land and water with Florida’s wildlife…”

Hmm? Balancing? Just two days ago Palm City resident, Annie Potts, called FWC to report a dead pelican. FWC told her “they do not monitor any animal mortalities except manatees.” She asked what she should do with the carcass. They replied: “she could throw it in the trash.”

Is there a disconnect here? In the northern and central lagoon, since January 2013, there are now two UMEs, or Unexplained Mortality Events: including over 132 in northern/central IRL (250 for entire lagoon)of manatee deaths, 92 dolphins and 350 pelicans. 40% of the the IRL’s seagrass has died since 2009.

Mind you most of these deaths have been in the north and central lagoon, but wouldn’t it make sense to follow death patterns in along the entire 156 mile lagoon? And apparently when they “were” following them, in the northern/central lagoon, FWC did not share with the public the horrific tragedy that was occurring. A Tampa reporter had to write a story before the public found out on the east coast.

Perhaps this data would have interfered with the “millions of visitors who share the land and the water with Florida’s wildlife?” Perhaps it would have tainted the state’s proud statistics that tourism in Florida is increasing in spite of its dry aquifers, algae filled weak-watered springs, toxic algae blooms and UMEs in the IRL?

Martine de Wit, of the FWC, St Petersburg, told Marty Baum that the information was on their website, but they did not know why the manatees died, so there was no urgency for the report. FWC and other state agencies continue say they do not know why the manatee’s died. And the dead seagrass, oh, they don’t why that died either. Not really.

At this point, the people of Stuart continue to report to FWC, but they are also posting and sharing on Facebook what dead sea and river animals they find along our shores and in our waters.

The Governor appoints the FWC commissioners for a five year term. Like the SFWMD most of these people are “businessmen and women.” I still don’t get it, don’t they know that in Florida, clean water is business? FWC and many other state agencies have forgotten what counts.

The River Warrior Plane

On any given day around Stuart, you may hear the buzz of the engine overhead, or see the unmistakeable bright yellow plane fly past; many know the plane as the “River Warrior.”

This plane is one I never thought I would fly in, as I do not like to fly. In fact, when up in personal aircraft, belonging to my my husband, I am usually saying the Lord’s Prayer and preparing for my death as he rolls his eyes at me. But last summer, the day came when I knew I did not have a choice, that fear had to take a back seat. I knew in an instant that I had to overcome my insecurities, for the benefit of the river.

Then from May, through October 2013 , Ed and I started going up every Saturday, rain or shine and taking photos of the destruction of the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, due to the Lake Okeechobee releases and C-23, C-24 and C-25 as well. These photos have been shared on Facebook, gone to many state agencies and politicians, have been shared with children in classrooms, and more.

Ed and his friend Scott Kuhns have also photographed “The River Beach Protest,” “Hands Across the Lagoon,” “Blessing of the Fleet and River,” and other river events. If you would like your pro-river event photographed just email jthurlow@me.com. Today, Ed and I still go up after big rains or just for fun to spot migrating sharks, turtles, manatees, schools of fish, birds, and dolphins.

I do believe the photos of the river’s destruction, and the ones we will take in the future, made, and will make, a huge difference, in educating, and showing the river’s health, destruction and importance in our lives.

I wouldn’t say I have overcome my fears, and every time we are up there, I am praying that if something happens we live; but I am grateful to the little yellow plane for giving me wings to see and to share. Next time you see it from afar, please wave and say to yourself, the little yellow “River Warrior….” and if you don’t mind, go ahead, just in case, and say a prayer for me…

The Only Constant is Change…

Map of Seat of War, 1839, East of Lake Okeechobee — Change on the Map “Seat of War, 1839,” East of Lake Okeechobee

I use my mother a lot when I speak about myself because she has had such a profound impact on me. She and my father taught me to like maps, to like history, to like the stories of the people of today and of those that were pioneers, in our once great wilderness. And my mother, unlike me, is much more accepting of our area’s change. “It’s history,” she says….

I look at this 1839 map excerpt, I see so many changes, and I wonder if the history we are creating is going awry. This 1839 map was a war map because we were at war with the Seminoles pushing them further into the interior of the Everglades. They never surrendered….but we took most of the lands they lived on and changed them.

In 1892 we dug, by hand, the St Lucie Inlet, once Gilbert’s Bar, that had closed up since this map was drawn, creating the most bio diverse estuary in North America, as salt water and fresh water of the ocean, and St Lucie River/ Indian River Lagoon, mixed; in 1923 we dug the C-44 canal from Lake Okeechobee to the St Lucie River as an outlet for a “diked” lake that had been created for agriculture south of the lake, the first and “most important” industry in our state; in the 1930s and 40s we built C-23 and C-24 to drain the “useless” Alpatiokee Swamp meandering through “Martin and St Lucie Counties,” once known as “Mosquito County;” we “moved” the Indian River Inlet, creating the Ft Pierce Inlet; we built bridges, houses, roads, schools, churches and other places of worship, and finally we built shopping malls. We fought wars, had children, we had grandchildren, farmed, started businesses, went through desegregation and women’s rights. And along the way we loved and cherished what we had created, although it was hard: “a human paradise,” a veritable Garden of Eden.

And what do we have today? For me, it is still paradise, with a couple of caveats, a dying river, children who can’t swim or catch fish with out the possibility of a tumor or lesion, a lot of people on the road…. Can we turn back? Or is this change going to be constant? I think even my mother would say: “the river’s history, is a history to change.”

“Fish Tumors/Lesions, Visual Common Sense for SLR/IRL”

Sheepshead with tumor from North Fork of St Lucie River found 2-8-14 — Sheepshead with tumor from North Fork of St Lucie River caught 2-8-14 by Dave Smith

This photo showed up on the Rivers Coalition facebook page yesterday. The fisherman reported catching the sheepshead near the mouth of Bessey Creek, close to the hugely polluting C-23 canal. Within minutes, the photo had been shared 30 times and numerous comments ensued.

Unfortunately, tumors and lesions are not new or unique to our time. In fact, the Rivers Coalition formed in 1998 when the locks were opened from Lake Okeechobee to a level rarely experienced. So many fish had lesions that the cover of the Rivers Coalition handout included the photos below.

As usual the government did a “study” to determine the “possible” causes: SLR/IRL fish lesion studies and the study did state “water quality” was the cause—polluted water from Lake Okeechobee; C-23; C-24 and others local runoff. Years of destruction to fish habitat.

Today,we seem to be making progress as people, as voters, but policy makers and politicians continue to ask for more studies, more science. I completely respect science, and yes, science changes over time, however; you don’t have to be a scientist to “know/see” there is a problem and have the common sense just to fix it.

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Love Your Lagoon? I Think We Better Save It.

S. Indian River Lagoon Dolphin with skin disorder due to impaired immune system from polluted-water discharges (photo Dr Gregory Bossert)

Tonight I am chairing “Love Your Lagoon,” a fundraiser of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation. http://www.indianriverlagoon.org. Funds will support and benefit the HBOI Symposium, that occurred yesterday and will again next year. Over 300 scientists and students from across the state collaborated giving presentations on “bio-diversity,” within the 156 miles lagoon and it’s changes. It was an inspiring and depressing day.

I first became became intrigued with Harbor Branch four years ago when I read the research of Dr. Gregory Bossert and lobo mycosis numbers in southern IRL/SLR dolphins.

His research documents that the southern IRL dolphins are “sicker” that their lagoon comrades north of them. Dolphins are site specific and have strong family and territorial bonds. Their ranges generally are limited to one “area” of the lagoon. So even when water quality is awful from discharges, they stay, as we would to protect our homes after a hurricane.

Dr Bossert’s work states the polluted discharges from local canals and Lake Okeechobee are the reason southern IRL dolphins are even “sicker” with lobo mycosis. Since his research came out in the mid 2000s, starting in 2013, a “UME” Unexplained Mortality Event has taken the life of 92 northern lagoon dolphins, 132 manatees, 350 pelicans and 40 percent of the seagrasses have died since a “super-bloom”/brown tide in the northern/central lagoon that started in 2011.

Love Your Lagoon? South, north or central, I think we better save it.

EAA Fills Up STAs so the Water Can’t Flow South

2005 Satellite Map showing Water Location. Notice EAA South of Lake is Dry.

This 2005 map from the water districts shows where the water is located. Although it is now 2014, a map of today would show a similar situation, a feat of American engineering that unfortunately is to the detriment of the St Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries.

The Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee is allowed by law to pump the water off their lands into the STAs (Storm Water Treatment Areas) south of the lake. They do this so as not to flood their crops. Once these STAs are full, there is no way to send the overflow water in Lake Okeechobee through the STAs to be cleaned before it goes to the Everglades.

The real pinch here is that mostly public tax dollars and yes, some monies from the EAA paid for the STAs. So why do “they” get 100% of the storage in rainy times and why do we get 100% of the discharges reeking havoc on our economy and our bio-divese/dying treasure, the St Lucie River /Indian River Lagoon?

The government, the ACOE and the SFWMD and even local entities don’t often point this out; they simply say “there is no place for the water to go but through the estuaries.”

This model may have worked in the 1960s but it is not working today. Especially since much of the EAA is subsidized through our Federal Government. “Feed the world” or not, this is government sponsored ecological destruction in an era where we need to rethink the model not embrace it.

The ACOE may need to start dumping 1170 cubic feet per second into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon starting tomorrow as “there is no where for the water to go but through the estuaries….”

“An Estuary’s Story,” a Student Video

An Estuary’s Story

One of the greatest things about the river movement that started in the summer of 2013 is that young people are involved. This video entitled “Estuary’s Story” is by local and FIT student, Allison Randolph. She aims to educate and inspire. This video will complete nationally for young directors. Kudos to Allison and all the young people who are speaking out for their and the river’s future. Please click on link: “An Estuary’s Story” above.

Progress by 1970s Standards vs Today

: St Lucie River Photos display Local runoff from C-24, C-23, C-44 basin and Willoughby Creek in St Lucie and Martin Counties. All runoff flows to the St Lucie River/IRL (Photos by Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch and Ed Lippisch, 2-2-14)

Our beautiful St Lucie River on a gorgeous winter day, a week or so after extremely heavy rains that flooded parts of Port Saint Lucie and Martin County. An eighty foot section of Indian River Drive collapsed. It rained 6-11 inches, I have read. All that rain has to go somewhere since manmade canals don’t allow it to stay on the land as nature planned.

Viewing a map of Florida from the 1800s one sees that Port St Lucie and parts of western Martin County were in a swamp, Alpatiokee, that stretched from about the mid eastern inland coast of Lake Okeechobee to north of Ft Pierce.

Most of these wetlands, like the Everglades, were drained for agriculture and development in the 30s and 40s. Most of us live on “these lands.” The C-23, C-24 and C-25 are not connected to Lake Okeechobee but they too destroy the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. There is no turning back but there must be room for improvement.

When I was a kid growing up here in the early 1970s, I was never taught about the canals really. I remember driving in the family Pontiac “Catalina “around Ft Pierce and my mother would point out a rolling dry lands and say: “This all used to be swampland; a layer of water used to flow across these lands to the river during rainy season, but now they are drained.” “What about all the animals?” I would ask. “Jacqui, it’s progress.” Mom then turned looking straight ahead and kept on driving.

It’s been 40 years since those days. I’ve kept my mouth shut for a long time. But today I speak out. For me it won’t be progress until we re-look at the destruction we have caused and really improve the situation. Mom, I love you, but times have changed and progress is never progress if you are soiling your own nest.

Willoughby Creek/Canal Runoff, Stuart

February 2, 2014UncategorizedC-23, C-24, C-44, indian river lagoon, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Lake Okeechobee, st lucie river, Willoughby CreekJacqui Thurlow-Lippisch

Warner Creek and surrounding runoff into the St Lucie River Indian River Lagoon 2-2-14 — Willoughby Creek’s surrounding runoff into St Lucie River/ Indian River Lagoon 2-2-14

Dark waters stained from deteriorating vegetation and full of sediment, phosphorus, fertilizer, pesticides, pet waste and other pollutants seep out into the the St Lucie River from Willoughby Creek in Stuart near St Lucie Boulvard and Indian Street. After hard rains last week the runoff makes its way to the Indian River Lagoon and St Lucie River. Dirty waters are also rounding the corner here at Hell’s Gate, shown in this photo, from “up stream” at C-44, C-23 and C-24 canals. This is basin water runoff, not from Lake Okeechobee. One notices the runoff more as one approaches the St Lucie Inlet, as the incoming ocean waters are bluer and cleaner. During this photo, it was an incoming tide. Lake Okeechobee is not being released into the C-44 canal/SLR at this time. As you can see, even without Lake Okeechobee we are killing the river all by ourselves. Nonetheless, the last thing we need is releases from Lake Okeechobee during the summer rainy season. Please be vocal to our local state and US delegation in letting them know “clean water is business” in Florida. We expect them to vote for policies in favor of the SLR/IRL. As for ourselves, let’s start doing our own part by slowly removing turf grass in our yards and replacing it with native and Florida Friendly plantings and thus stop throwing pollutants on our lawns as in the end, all water runs to the river…

Willoughby Creek runoff 2-2-14. Hell’s Gate and Sewall’s Point in view, Hutchinson Island and Ernie Lyon’s Bridge in the distance.

Taylor Creek’s Ft Pierce Filth

February 1, 2014UncategorizedC-25, indian river lagoon, Stormwater runoff, Taylor CreekJacqui Thurlow-Lippisch

The Indian River Lagoon is damaged by more than releases from Lake Okeechobee. After days of a hard rain, like today, February 1st 2014, local canals not attached to the lake dump tremendous filth into our river as well. Right now, not during the summer “rainy season,” Canal-25 in Ft Pierce is dumping agricultural and residential runoff into a once beautiful Taylor Creek, that in turn, runs into the Indian River Lagoon. This is not just water staining from vegetation, it is fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, sediments and other pollutants. Fortunately, the Ft Pierce Inlet is close by so this runoff goes into the ocean quickly, but of course this is not good for the ocean either. Please fight for source control and stricter laws in favor of our river. (Photo taken 2-1-14 by Ed Lippisch)