Notes from Pinellas FNPS
Feb. 19, 2010
In spring, timing is everything. A flock of birds migrating north before the last winter storm may have to put up quite a struggle just to survive; seedlings coming up before the first frost have to be very hardy to withstand the harsh conditions. Most animals and plants have an internal sense that tells them when it's safe to venture forth and pursue spring activities.  —Carol L. McClelland in The Seasons of Change

Next Membership Meeting:  Wed., Mar. 3rd, 7-9 pm. Craig Huegel: "The Unique Flora of Torreya State Park & Surrounding Lands." Pinellas County Extension, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo.

Next Field Trip: Fri. Mar. 19–Mon. Mar. 22, Torreya State Park & Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravine Preserve. Trip is FULL. To get on the waiting list, contact Alexa Wilcox-Huegel.

Next Board Meeting: Wed., Feb. 24th Contact any board member for time & location.

Next Plant Sale: April 17, 2009 at Wilcox Nursery. Watch our website for details.

Landscaping & Gardening with Native Plants Seminar in Dunedin Mar. 13

Pinellas FNPS vice president Jim McGinity will be the featured speaker at the City of Dunedin's next "Sustainability Seminar". The seminar is free but space is limited, so sign up today by calling 727-298-3215 x24. The seminar will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Elliott Room in Dunedin Community Center, 1920 Pinehurst Road. Tell your friends and neighbors... Here's a flyer to distribute!

Who should attend?
• Anyone interested in learning how to incorporate native plants in their landscape.

What will you learn?
• The difference between native and exotic plants
• Differences between natural and conventional landscaping
• Examples of effective natural landscape design.

Camping with Us Next Month? Please Register Online

If you signed up to go on the March field trip to Torreya State Park and Apalachicola Bluffs & Ravines Preserve near Tallahassee, we'd appreciate it if you'd visit our website and RSVP for the trip online. The RSVP form will ask you for information about your car pool preferences, contact information, and itinerary, which will help us with the logistics of getting a large group organized!

Here's a nice article about Apalachicola Bluffs & Ravines Preserve to get you psyched!

First  "Clam Bayou Trash Bash" Event Tomorrow

Keep Pinellas Beautiful is hosting a series of "Clam Bayou Trash Bash" events to clean up the preserve. The first of these will be from 9am to noon tomorrow, Feb. 20th, at 25th Avenue and 42nd Street South in St. Petersburg. Needed are 40-50 land-based volunteer ages 16-50. For water clean-up 2 canoes or 3 kayaks are needed. Please wear long sleeve shirts, long pants & closed toed shoes. Boots/gloves will be available if needed.

Directions: 22nd Ave S. to 42nd St S., turn south, go though gate and immediately turn left. Proceed to parking area.

Future "Bashes" will be held on successive Saturdays: Feb. 27, Mar. 6, and Mar. 13th. After the March 13th event, volunteers will be treated to a Grand Finale party with door prizes, hot dogs and BBQ, live music and t-shirts. For more information, visit Keep Pinellas Beautiful's website.

Your Input Needed on Pinellas County Budget

Please plan to attend one of these meetings and put a good word in for Parks, Environmental Management, and County Extension. These departments always seem to be first on the chopping block and Commissioners need to know how highly we value them.

Pinellas County wants to hear from you! Parks, social services, roads … with $60 million of reductions needed to balance the next county budget, Pinellas County commissioners are looking for citizen feedback on which services and programs are essential and which can be reduced or eliminated.

Four public meetings will give you an opportunity to share your ideas with county commissioners. Please plan on attending. Tell your friends about it. You are an important part of the budget process.

  • Wed., March 3, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Palm Harbor University High School, 1900 Omaha St., Palm Harbor
  • Thurs., March 11, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Osceola High School, 9751 98th St. N., Seminole
  • Thurs., March 18, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Gibbs High School, 850 34th St. S., St. Petersburg
  • eTownHall—Mon., March 15, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.—online and on PCC-TV (Bright House 622, Knology 18 and Verizon 44). The online meeting will enable the public to send questions from their computers via a blog. The blog will open at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, March 14, for citizens to send questions in advance of the meeting and will continue to be open until the end of the event, at 8:00 p.m. on Monday. A live broadcast of the eTownHall meeting will be shown on the eTownHall web page.

Look for links to the eTownHall meeting, to sign up for Twitter and YouTube, and for general budget information at www.pinellascounty.org or call (727) 464-3000.

TBEP Seeking Proposals for Fertilizer Education Marketing Plan

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is initiating a comprehensive, 3-county effort to educate homeowners, lawn care companies and retail outlets about proper use of lawn and landscape fertilizers to reduce nitrogen runoff and protect water quality. This campaign will follow guidelines for fertilizer use contained in the "Model Ordinance Regulating Non-Agricultural Use for the Tampa Bay Region," adopted by TBEP's Policy Board in Nov. 2008.

TBEP is soliciting proposals from qualified marketing and advertising agencies for development of a strategic marketing campaign promoting fertilizer use consistent with the TBEP Model Ordinance. Key components of this ordinance include a summertime ban on use of lawn/landscape fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorous, and a corresponding ban on retail sales of such fertilizers. To obtain a copy of the full proposal contact , ron@tbep.org

The deadline for proposal submission is Friday, Mar. 12 at 4 pm.

Model Ordinance Regulating Non-Agricultural Use for the Tampa Bay Region (PDF)

New Invasive Mangrove Found in Miami

From the FLEPPC listserv:

On page 6 of the most recent (Winter 2009) issue of Wildland Weeds there is description of a "new" Florida invasive mangrove that was recently documented in Miami: Lumnitzera racemosa. If you are interested to see multiple photos of this species and an additional invasive mangrove (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), that was also recently discovered in Miami, please follow this link:
http://www.fiu.edu/~seagrass/exoticmangroves.html

This webpage was created by Dr. James Fourqurean, the first author of a recent Biological Invasions paper about both of these species. The webpage also includes an abstract from this study by Fourqurean et al., titled "Are mangroves in the tropical Atlantic ripe for invasion? Exotic mangrove trees in the forests of south Florida"

Let Your Legislators Know How Much You Care!

The Legislature will be meeting soon, and they need to know that their constituents care about Florida's environment and its protection. You'll find contact information for Pinellas County legislators on the Advocacy page of our website. Please take a few minutes and send them an email supporting Florida Forever funding, funding for environmental management activities in our state lands, and urging them to take a hard stand against oil drilling off our beaches. They do respond to public input... and the more they get, the better.