E-news

I hope to see you all at Walk on Winn Dixie this Friday, March 6^th from 7-9pm. You can see original art by FAVOR’s own Linda Rubino and I can tell you all about my adventures on Capitol Hill in DC.

Myself and Nicole Malo were two of over 300 volunteers representing over 200 Friends groups visiting our regional Senators and Representatives on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge System. While I was there I also got to spread the word about Florida’s large and looming Python Expansion that we’ve been fighting locally. It’s not time yet, but please stay tuned for ways that you can help not only stop the Burmese Python problem from getting worse, but also help keep inappropriate “pets” from ever being released.

On Your Mark, Set, Go! FAVOR’s annual fundraiser, the Earth Day 5K Run/Walk is coming up quickly. Whether you are a walker, a runner or a volunteer, please set your calendars for April 11^th at Indigenous Park in Key West. To get more involved, please contact Tony Harlacher at 305-872-0644.

As part of the suggested partnership activities that came from the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit Predator Management Plan, outreach and education was key. Besides the "No Pets Left Behind" effort described in last months eNewsletter, a couple of partners have started brainstorming on ways to keep our native wildlife away from people who might just be killing them with kindness.

This first sketch of the “Don’t Feed the Animals” logo was prepared by Nancy Chatelaine from Racoon Rescue. It incorporates multiple animals that do better without the food that humans may purposely, or in the case of unsecured trash cans, unwittingly provide. It is hoped that multiple environmental/wildlife organizations and agencies can get behind a singular message/logo so that we can all have a better Keyswide reach (and change in behaviors) with our message. If you are interested in using any of the logos or helping guide our efforts, please let me know: Ahiggins@tnc.org.

Cleanup News: TeamOCEAN's volunteers assembled at Hurricane Hole Marina for a Kayak Cleanup. Fourteen volunteers had fun cleaning 743 pounds of marine debris from the shorelines along Cow Key on Saturday Feb 23rd. For information on future shoreline cleanups contact: Robert.Keeley@Noaa.Gov

Kayaks Donated by Sanctuary Friends (left) and National Wildlife Refuge (right) are used by volunteers for shoreline cleanups ! I did not notice until I was reviewing the photos of the cleanup that this picture had both donated kayaks identified. The one on the left has "Donated by Sanctuary Friends" in black vinyl letters (Scrambler single seat) and the two seater kayak on the right, donated by the refuge, sports the USFW logo (the Malibu Two ) ..

Crocodile Lake volunteers play a big part in the Key Largo woodrat recovery program. Local volunteers Clay and Ralph DeGayner have worked for years to identify and provide nests for the endangered rodents. The nests have proved successful (see Clay's video of a mother woodrat protecting her young when a snake enters on of the nests: http://homepage.mac.com/cdegayner/iMovieTheater12.html.) The brothers recently led a team of volunteers into the hardwood hammock to build 15 more nests.

Left to right - Clark Boggs, John Harrelson, and Ralph DeGayner complete the nest; Ralph DeGayner prepares a breezeblock and metal base for a wooodrat nest

Ralph and Clay prepared the sites by bringing in concrete blocks, sheets of metal, and piles of coral rock. The ten volunteers built the nests to provide safe places for woodrats to breed in their natural habitat. Woodrats are also being bred in captivity at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa and Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando.

The nests were built at two historic sites within the Refuge: The Nike Hercules missile site (which was a launch and radar site the 1960's and during the Cuban Missile Crisis); and the site of an (illegal) cockfighting arena which was complete with a restaurant and bar in the 1980's.

Keys Kids in Nature, an environmental education program sponsored by the National Key Deer Refuge and FAVOR, is coming to Sugarloaf School fourth graders again this year. One of the highlights of the program is the half day field trip to the Refuge property at the end of Crane Boulevard. This activity builds on what the students have already learned in the classroom and it starts with a walk during which native plants and their habitats are identified. After a lunch break, the students play a game, take some quiet time to write in their journals, and participate in a scavenger hunt.

Volunteers are needed to lead small groups, usually only five to seven children. The teacher and other adults also come along. The instructor shows the students the habitats and plants and assists with the scavenger hunt. Volunteers don't need previous experience: training is provided, veteran leaders are always nearby, and new recruits are welcome to accompany another instructor.

This is a fun way to spend some time in the woods and learn about our natural environment. This year's field trips are scheduled for the first week in May. For more information or to volunteer, contact Jim Bell at 872-0774.

Secretary Kempthorne Expands National Wildlife Refuge System By Nearly 60 Percent;
Assigns U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Jurisdiction over New National Marine Monuments

Washington, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today expanded the National Wildlife Refuge System by 54 million acres, or 58 percent, by assigning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the responsibility for overall management of the three new marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean designated by President Bush earlier this month.

“The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s largest and most professionally managed system of lands dedicated to wildlife conservation,” Kempthorne said. “I can think of no organization more qualified to oversee these pristine areas and their diverse wildlife than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

When President Bush designated the new monuments – the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, and Marianas Trench National Monument – he delegated the decision on how the areas would be managed to the Secretary of the Interior.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has extensive experience in the Pacific Ocean. The refuge system already includes a number of refuges in the ocean, including Howland Island, Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuges. These refuges are included in the area designated by the president.

"We welcome these new lands and waters into the National Wildlife Refuge System," said Rowan Gould, Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director. "These unique coral reef ecosystems and active undersea volcanoes, along with the deepest area on Earth -- the Mariana Trench -- well deserve the protections the refuge system will provide."

Some portions of the new monuments will be managed in part by the Commerce Department’s National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and in part by Fish and Wildlife Service. These areas will not be part of the Refuge System.

The president’s designation of the three monuments prohibits destruction or extraction of protected resources within their boundaries as well as commercial fishing in the coral reef ecosystem areas of the monuments. Scientific and recreational activities, including recreational fishing, may be permitted consistent with the care and management of the protected resources of these monuments.

In 2007, President Bush designated the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, encompassing 140,000 square miles, the largest single protected marine area in the world, eclipsing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The four monuments combined are larger than the combined size of the National Park System and the National Wildlife Refuge System as it was prior to the Secretary's decision today.

The three monuments designated by the president earlier this month include many rare or unique features. For example, the Mariana Trench includes many unique features, including the only place on Earth with huge active mud volcanoes that release hydrogen. The Champagne vent, located at the Eifuku submarine volcano, produces almost pure liquid carbon dioxide, a phenomenon observed only at one other site in the world.

The molten Sulfur Cauldron found at the Daikoku submarine volcano is unique on Earth; the only other known location of molten sulfur is on Io, a moon of Jupiter. And Maug Crater represents one of only a handful of places on Earth where photosynthesis and chemosynthetic communities of life are known to come together in the same place.

Howland, Baker and Jarvis Islands are unique places for climate change and other research at the Equator. They have deep corals, coral reefs and precious corals in near-pristine condition, with predator dominated marine ecosystems where the biomass of top predators exceeds that of the Great Barrier Reef.

Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll have undisturbed coral reefs, with the highest levels of coral diversity in the central Pacific. Kingman Reef has the greatest known fish biomass and proportion of apex predators of any coral reef ecosystem that has been scientifically studied in the world.

Johnston Atoll’s coral reefs are the origin source for much of the larvae for the Hawaiian Islands for corals, invertebrates and other reef fauna. They have the deepest reef building corals on record. Meanwhile, Wake Island is perhaps the oldest living coral atoll in the world, and has healthy and abundant coral and fish populations.

From the Chair:

Secretary Kempthorne Expands National Wildlife Refuge System By Nearly 60 Percent; Assigns U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Jurisdiction over New National Marine Monuments

Secretary Kempthorne Expands National Wildlife Refuge System By Nearly 60 Percent;
Assigns U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Jurisdiction over New National Marine Monuments