Live News Updates from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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More than 60 leatherback turtles have laid nests on Treasure Coast beaches

With a slow progressive shove of muscular flippers, the annual sea turtle beach nesting season has begun on the Treasure Coast.

Since March 14, more than 60 leatherback turtles have already crawled up onto the beaches and laid nests, according to private and public survey companies checking the beaches.

But it is too early to tell if nesting will be up or down this year, or if the January cold wave — that cold-stunned several hundred sea turtles along the Treasure Coast — will have any affect.

The nests are the first of an annual months-long onslaught, by a variety of sea turtles, that last year resulted in the laying of 16,060 nests in the three counties: 7,985 in Martin, 4,383 in St. Lucie and 3,692 in Indian River, state records show.

Click here to read the full story.

St. Lucie Nuclear Plant hosting rescued sea turtles

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Florida Power and Light officials have teamed up with wildlife agencies who are trying to spare sea turtles from cold temperatures, they said.

The company’s nuclear power plant on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County is playing host Tuesday to 80 turtles from across the Treasure Coast. That number includes 30 turtles transferred from the Environmental Learning Center in Wabasso. The turtles are being held either in small tanks or in a heated trailer on the FPL property, officials said.

At least one other turtle was rescued from the Indian River Lagoon and turned into the ELC Tuesday morning, officials there said.

Click here for the story online.

St. Lucie nuclear plant hosting 120 sea turtles rescued from cold

More than 250 sea turtles were in rehabilitation from the cold temperatures Tuesday, officials from various agencies across the Treasure Coast said.

Florida Power and Light officials teamed up with wildlife agencies who are trying to spare sea turtles from the chilly conditions, they said. The company’s nuclear power plant on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County was playing host to 120 turtles. The turtles are being held either in small tanks or in a heated trailer on the FPL property, officials said.

The agencies are rescuing the turtles because the cold water leaves them stunned and unable to search for food, said Tom Longo, communications manager for the Loggerhead Marine Life Center in Jupiter, which had 33 turtles.

At least 100 more rescued turtles from the Indian River Lagoon were turned into the Environmental Learning Center in Wabasso Tuesday by the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, officials said.

Click here for photos, video and to read the rest of the story.

Cold-stunned turtles rescued today are accumulating at local nature centers

SEBASTIAN — More than 75 cold-stunned sea turtles have been rescued from the chilly Indian River Lagoon on Monday in the Sebastian Inlet area, and more are coming in, a federal official said as of 3:30 p.m.

About 21 were being temporarily housed at the Environmental Learning Center, at Wabasso, and 24 are at the Brevard County Barrier Island Center north of the Sebastian Inlet.

Also a University of Central Florida research boat picked up 30, said Joanna Webb, an offical with the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge near Sebastian.

“They are coming in left and right,” said Webb.

Most are green sea turtles that are more sensitive to the cold than loggerheads.

Click here for photos and to read the rest of the story.

Carl Safina: Sea turtles drowning at alarming rate

Sea turtles soon will start crawling ashore to nest on Florida’s shores in a ritual that’s millions of years old. But unless we make changes, fewer turtles will reach the beaches.

Serious trouble is brewing offshore. Sea turtles are getting snagged on commercial fishing lines that stretch for miles. Turtles grab the bait, get caught, and then drown before fishermen retrieve the lines. Statewide, the number of loggerhead sea turtle nests plummeted by 40 percent in the past decade.

The evidence that we need quick action is compelling: In 2005, the National Marine Fisheries Service ruled that up to 113 “hard-shell” sea turtles (several species except leatherbacks) could be caught by long-line fishing boats during a three-year period without jeopardizing the turtles’ survival. But the Fisheries Service found later that far more turtles were snagged than that: Almost 1,000 turtles were caught by long lines between July 2006 and December 2008, and many of them drowned. That’s eight times the limit.

This slaughter could have been avoided if officials monitored the fishing better, and released fisheries data quickly so swift measures could be taken.

Click here to read the full story.

New refuge manager tackles job with vigor

At the Pelican Island Festival on March 14, Charlie Pelizza of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spent his first day on the job getting to know the community that is home to the nation's first national Wildlife Refuge.

Pelizza replaced Paul Tritaik, who is now a refuge manager at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel.

Pelizza, who is classified as a GS-12 employee for the Department of the Interior, will be paid $83,387 as the newest refuge manager of the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Pelizza was formerly a refugee conservation planner for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii, and has worked at various locations throughout the United States including Virginia, Delaware, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Southern California.

Click here to read the full story.

Pelican Island Wildlife Festival flies into Sebastian

SEBASTIAN — A sudden downpour during the opening ceremonies of the 17th annual Pelican Island Wildlife Festival on Saturday couldn’t damper the enthusiasm of thousands who came to Sebastian’s Riverview Park to celebrate nature.

Former Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge manager and festival co-founder Paul Tritaik used the opportunity to introduce his successor — Charles Pelizza, a refuge conservation planner for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii. Pelizza was spending his first day on the job as manager for the country’s first national wildlife refuge.

“Some of you were here with me when first started this festival in 1993,” said Tritaik, who is now a refuge manager at J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel Island. “It has grown to be a tremendous event and we’re very proud of the work that the Pelican Island Preservation Society has done over the years to make it so successful.”

The refuge was created by President Theodore Roosevelt on March 14, 1903, when a small mangrove island across from Sebastian became the nation’s first wildlife refuge. As part of this year’s festival, actor Joe Wiegand reprised the role of Roosevelt, telling stories throughout the day dressed as the nation’s 26th president.

Click here to read the full story.

NWRA Applauds Nearly $29 million Increase for Refuge System Funding & Priority Programs to Increase Habitat Connectivity

Washington, DC - The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) applauds Congress and the Administration for including a nearly $29 million increase for the National Wildlife Refuge System budget for Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) which ends September 30, 2009. The much-needed increase brings the operating budget for the Refuge System to $462.8 million, roughly $3.08 per acre for the now 150 million-acre System.

"Added to recently approved stimulus dollars for green jobs on refuges, this increase helps put the Refuge System on course to meet its fundamental wildlife conservation and public outreach objectives by the end of President Obama's first term," said Evan Hirsche, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. "Congress and the Obama administration have demonstrated a clear commitment to supporting our premier wildlife conservation lands and waters."

The funding level for FY09 makes national wildlife refuges a leading conservation priority and builds upon the significant $39 million increase Congress approved for FY08. Another NWRA priority, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) that supports refuge habitat acquisition and conservation, was increased to $42.45 m, including $1.5 million for the Crystal River NWR in Florida, $3.8 million for New Engand's Silvio Conte NWR, and $1 million for Blackwater NWR, MD, all NWRA "Beyond the Boundaries" priority areas. In addition, Congress continued funding the successful NWRA-initiated Volunteer Invasives Program by allocating $1 million, bringing the program total to $5.5 million since the program's inception in FY03.

The Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), chaired by the NWRA, and nearly 190 NWRA refuge "Friends" Affiliate organizations, requested $514 million for Refuge System operations and maintenance in FY09, and will request the same again in FY10. Prior to the recent increases, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service was forced to implement downsizing plans at refuges, calling for a 20% reduction of the workforce nationwide that equated to 565 jobs. The Refuge System needs at least an additional $15 million annually to keep up with the rising costs of inflation, and without it refuges were forced to close, while visitor services were sharply reduced. CARE estimates the NWRS would need at least $765 annually to meet fundamental wildlife conservation and public use mandates.

For more information about NWRA priorities funded in the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Act, please visit: www.refugeassociation.org/New-issues/FY09_FundingPriorities.html.

Barbara's Bakery "Families Gone Wild" Sweepstakes

Barbara's Bakery, long-time supporter of the NWRA and the Refuge System, today launched a contest geared toward getting people on refuges to discover and experience the remarkable diversity of wildlife and habitats that they protect. The contest celebrates the new NWRA association with Barbara's Shredded cereal line, one of their most popular.

The "Families Gone Wild" sweepstakes encourages people to submit photos and videos from refuges, along with a brief write-up on their experience. The winners, which will be drawn on or about September 18, 2009, will receive an all-expense paid trip to Alaska, where they will visit the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Please visit the following link to see a press release from Barbara's: www.refugeassociation.org/new-pdf-files/Press%20Releases/Shredded_Alaska_Sweeps.pdf.

To enter the contest, please visit: www.barbarasbakery.us/alaska.

An Unsung Florida Getaway

Vero Beach has empty sand, manatees and Gloria Estefan's new resort

Singer Gloria Estefan made her first foray into Florida hotels in 1992, when she bought the landmark Cardozo on sizzling South Beach's Ocean Drive. She's opened her latest resort on an Ocean Drive as well -- in an unlikely outpost about 150 miles north: sleepy Vero Beach, with little sizzle but plenty of old-style Florida charm.

Far from the bustle of overbuilt South Florida, Vero Beach lies on a stretch of Atlantic turf aptly dubbed the Treasure Coast, in a transitional climate zone where oak trees and pine forests thrive alongside the palms and colorful tropical flora of balmier points south. Indian River Lagoon divides the city into sections on the mainland and a barrier island. It all makes for spectacular fishing, kayaking, bird-watching and boating, as well as miles of white sand beaches where you can walk for a long time and encounter no one.

...By far the best way to spend time in Vero is in and around the water, plying your way through the islands and bird refuges of the lagoon, which is part of the Intracoastal Waterway and is described by the oceanographic institute at Florida Atlantic University as the most biologically diverse estuary in North America. You can rent canoes, kayaks or paddle boards to stand on. But it's worth spending a little extra to go out solo or in a group with a knowledgeable guide like Kayaks Etc.'s Kristen Beck, a naturalist with a degree in marine science.

Click here to read the full article.

Pelican Island: No longer invisible

Throughout much of its history, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge was almost unknown, a speck in the Indian River Lagoon, nestled against Orchid Island and practically invisible to outsiders.

Today, the preserve encompasses more than 5,400 acres at the northern end of the barrier island – almost 1,000 percent larger than the initial acreage protected by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903.Preparing to mark its 106th anniversary as the first federal wildlife refuge in the United States, the preserve is featured in countless birding guides and tourism brochures. Pelican Island, in short, is no longer invisible.

As the March anniversary nears, Pelican Island is readying for the arrival of a new refuge manager and the construction of a viewing platform that will expand public access to the refuge. But Pelican Island, like the rest of the National Wildlife Refuge System, faces challenges brought on by man, money and nature.

“That one island was the beginning of a huge National Wildlife refuge system,” said Walt Stieglitz, treasurer of the Pelican Island Preservation Society, a volunteer group that advocates on behalf of the sanctuary.

To read the full story, please visit the Vero Beach 32963 website.

Holiday Book Review: "Wildlands Philanthropy: The Great American Tradition"

SAN RAFAEL, California, December 15, 2008 (ENS) - A sturdy coffee-table is a must for exploring the glorious new in-depth book of essays and photos on America's wonderful places preserved in their natural state by dedicated philanthropists.

"Wildlands Philanthropy: The Great American Tradition," features essays by Tom Butler with photos by Antonio Vizcaino in a large format coffee-table book with an accompanying DVD that tell the stories of generous people who have given of their wealth and energy to save wild places.

In his Forward, broadcaster Tom Brokaw says, "In this book you will come to know the priceless gifts of the visionaries who came before and showed the way with land-based philanthropy. We honor them by recognizing their selfless contributions and, most of all, by continuing their honorable ways."

To read the full review and for more information on the book, click here.

Long-Term Monitoring Program Reveals a Continuing Loggerhead Decline, Increases in Green Turtle and Leatherback Nesting

Analysis reveals a significant decline in loggerhead nesting numbers around the state.

An updated analysis of Florida’s long-term loggerhead sea turtle nesting data, carried out as part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Index Nesting Beach Survey, reveals a continuing decline in loggerhead nest numbers around the state. Nest counts have decreased nearly 50 percent from 1998 to 2007. In contrast, nest counts for green turtles and leatherbacks are increasing. A record number of nests of these two species were recorded during the 2007 season.

Click here to read the full FWC story.

Get an in-depth look at ospreys

Bob Montanaro says he thinks ospreys are more majestic than bald eagles. But he may be biased, because he spent more than 100 days each year in 2006 and 2007 closely tracking a pair of osprey at the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, on the Atlantic Coast near Vero Beach.

He says he learned that ospreys seem to have an individual emotional presence. Ospreys, he said, have to catch the fish they eat — unlike bald eagles, which can eat dead animals or steal from ospreys in addition to catching their own fish.

"They are incredible birds," he said of ospreys, though not wanting to pick a fight with eagle lovers. "I found taking the program around (that) people are fascinated by them."

Montanaro will share his observations on ospreys at the Apalachee Audubon annual dinner today.

Click here to read the full story.

Pedaling for the Planet

Whether he’s traveling by bike, boat, or boots, this teenager’s yearlong, 12,000-mile birding adventure clears a clean path toward an inspiring personal record.

Malkolm Boothroyd is wedged into the stern of a 32-foot sailing sloop heeling at a 20-degree angle six miles out from Monterey, California. Oblivious to the six-foot swells, he keeps his binoculars focused on a small dark bird arcing over the waves.

Suddenly the boat erupts in triumphant shouts: “Ashy storm-petrel! Ashy storm-petrel!” Malkolm remains silent, intent on catching every last second of this seabird. When he finally lowers the binoculars, his face is flushed, his wide blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

Malkolm, a lanky 16-year-old..., has identified more than 500 different bird species—an impressive feat for someone his age....

He is as ambitious as any bird-obsessed zealot to add new species to his life list. The North American big year record is 745 birds, but Malkolm has not taken a year off from high school in Whitehorse, Yukon, just to play a numbers game. He has a higher mission: His "Bird Year" is fossil-fuel-free. With his parents, Wendy Boothroyd, a family doctor, and Ken Madsen, a writer and photographer, Malkolm is chasing after every bird he can spot on his 12,000-mile transnational odyssey by bicycle, boat, and boots. Along with listing species, his aim is to increase attention to the dangers facing birds.

Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels are clearly affecting the earth in unforeseen ways, generating early spring insect hatches that throw migrating birds off the carefully synchronized timing evolved over millennia. Sea ice is melting, washing out the rocky beaches and mudflats used by shore nesters, including some Arctic terns. “Climate change is already affecting birds,” he says. “If my parents’ generation destroys all this critical habitat, when I’m 50, kids like me will have no place to go to see birds—and many of these species will be gone.”

Malkolm and his family were in Sebastian for the 16th Annual Pelican Island Wildlife Festival in 2008 and even gave a special presentation for attendees! If you were not able to meet them or see their presentation, you may be interested in this Audubon Magazine article about their "Bird Year" adventures. Click here to read the full Audubon article, or you can visit Malkolm's Bird Year website to read about his family's adventures and travel blog.

Bird-count numbers increase across the Treasure Coast

Bird counters spot more than 150 species

SEBASTIAN — The silhouettes of two pelicans cut across the round orange fire of the sun setting over a special island in the Indian River Lagoon.

The birds have indeed returned to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge for the winter after a mysterious two-year disappearance, and they provided one of the highlights of a Treasure Coast Christmas Bird Count that noted more than 150 different species and almost 70,000 individual birds across four counties.

"That's really good to see," said Refuge Manager Paul Tritaik, peeking through binoculars at the gaggle of squawking birds on the island south of the Sebastian Inlet. "There's a great blue heron that mouthed off to a pelican, 'You're too close to my nest, get away!' "

Once protected from poachers by a determined naturalist and Audubon game warden with a gun in the late 1800s, the birds on the island may have been scared off by the 2004 hurricanes or recent human efforts to restore the island in the county's first official wildlife refuge.

Click here to read the full story.

Archie Carr: The Man Who Saved Sea Turtles

Saving sea turtles from extinction is now a global campaign, rooted in Florida and the legacy of Archie Carr. An FSU historian tells how this came to be, and what it means for saving what’s left of the animal planet.

"Dey nevah finish, Don Archie. De tel-tel (turtle) nevah finish.”

With a bellyful of fresh-fried turtle meat and homemade turtle soup, Archie Carr got a lecture from his cook, a slight mulatto woman standing in her kitchen on the ebony beaches of Turtle Bogue.

It was Carr’s first visit to this dark, remote strip of Costa Rican beach. Tales of Turtle Bogue’s famous connection with sea turtles had finally drawn the distinguished, 43-year-old biologist from his academic home in Florida. It was the summer of 1952.

How long will the turtles last? Carr wanted to know. Since his arrival, he had witnessed the daily slaughter on the beaches of females lumbering ashore to lay their eggs; the frantic hunt by natives and feral dogs for the few eggs the turtles managed to bury before being captured or killed. To a seasoned scientist and woodsman with sensibilities honed since childhood about the fragility of nature, Carr chilled at what he foresaw for the docile sea creatures—a familiar equation of doom.

Sibella was glad to feed a hungry Carr who had shown up unannounced in her doorway. But she’d have none of her friendly guest’s strange talk of the end of turtles. Turtles had been coming to her black beaches forever, and they always would. For her faith in the turtle’s future, Sibella evoked the great, trackless expanse of the sea.

Nearly 30 summers later, Carr learned that the largest horde of nesting turtles seen in two decades had landed at Turtle Bogue (“Tortuguero” in Spanish). He recalled Sibella’s simple admonition—de turtles nevah finish—and was happy beyond words.

Click on the image of the magazine cover above, to read the full article.

Study: Wildlife refuges make up tax costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — National wildlife refuges more than make up for their cost to taxpayers by returning about $4 in economic activity for every $1 the government spends, according to a federal study released Tuesday.

Overall, the refuges drew some 35 million hunters, anglers, birders and other visitors in 2006, supporting about 27,000 jobs, the study found.

Advocates of the system pounced on the results as evidence that budget cuts under President Bush have been ill-advised.

"Refuges are economic engines in local communities. There's no doubt about it," said Desiree Sorenson-Groves, vice president for government affairs at the National Wildlife Refuge Association. "The budget cuts have an impact .... You have people who are going to refuges and there's no staff, or a wildlife drive is closed because it can't be maintained."

Under an ongoing restructuring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to cut 565 jobs from refuges by 2009 — a 20% reduction. The plan would leave more than 200 refuges unstaffed.

Click here to read the full story.

Climate Change Brings Risk of More Extinctions

BLACKWATER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Md. -- Third in a monthly series

What has gone missing here is almost as spectacular as the 8,000 acres of swampy wilderness that remain. And that makes it Chesapeake Bay's best place to watch climate change in action.

Visitors can see ospreys gliding overhead, egrets wading in the channels and Delmarva fox squirrels making their unhurried commutes between pine trees.

But then the road turns a corner, and Blackwater's marsh yields to a vast expanse of open water. This is what's missing: There used to be thousands more acres of wetland here, providing crucial habitat for creatures including blue crabs and blue herons. But, thanks in part to rising sea levels, it has drowned and become a large, salty lake. "If people want to see the effects" of Earth's increasing temperature, refuge biologist Roger Stone said, "it's happening here first."

Click here to read the full story.

Volunteers Donate More Than 1 Million Hours

Nearly 38,000 volunteers donated more than 1.4 million hours to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service efforts during fiscal year 2005. This represents the equivalent of more than $25 million in work on behalf of wildlife and wildlife conservation across the country, according to the recently issued "Friends and Volunteers Annual Report."

The report notes that volunteers have included Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Student Conservation Association volunteers and those who participate in the Take Pride in America programs and National Public Lands Day. Their efforts can range from routinely supporting refuge staff on a regular basis to assisting with one-day events. Volunteers also include the 200-plus nonprofit Refuge System Friends organizations across the country. Nine new Friends groups were established last year.

The number of volunteers has grown steadily during the past 23 years. In 1982, 4,251 volunteers donated 128,440 hours, valued at more than $1.1 million. A decade later, the number of volunteers had more than quadrupled to 18,103 people who donated work worth more than $11.7 million.

"Americans value their public lands, and they are happy to donate their time and effort to make sure these lands are handed down to another generation in better shape," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall.

The largest number of volunteer hours - more than 584,000 - were donated to wildlife and habitat work. A prime example is the annual Rio Reforestation Day, when hundreds of volunteers join Fish and Wildlife Service staff to plant seedlings that will provide food, habitat and cover for birds, butterflies and other wildlife at the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Since 1994, volunteers have planted nearly 132,000 native seedlings across 552 acres on the national wildlife refuge.

Click here to read the full News Release.

150 trees get a reprieve

Palms, oaks moved from construction site, replanted

NEAR PELICAN ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - These trees are leaving -- and living -- to see another day.

Usually, developers and trees don't mix. But about 150 palms and oaks, lucky enough to sprout beside the nation's first wildlife refuge, got a second lease on life and a chance to put down roots elsewhere.

They didn't have to go far.

A builder developing the land they grow on agreed to let Pelican Island National Wildlife transplant more than 150 of the trees from his property, rather than cut them down to make room for 10 planned luxury homes.

Click here to read the full story.

Oak trees find sanctuary from luxury homes at Pelican Island

Tuesday, 10 live oaks were dug up and relocated about 30 yards west to the refuge from a 3.7-acre parcel being developed for a subdivision of 10 luxury single- family homes. The trees' new home and their former spot on the subdivision parcel are west of State Road A1A and just south of Jungle Trail's north entrance off A1A.

The oaks joined 143 palms that were moved last month, also from the subdivision site. The trees stand on about two acres of the refuge's Michael Tract, named after the family that once used the land for part of its citrus groves.

The oaks and palms came from the site of The Reserve subdivision, which is being developed by Clarksville, Md.-based developer Paskor LLC. Instead of cutting down the trees for the subdivision, the developer agreed the refuge could take them, Refuge Ranger Joanna Taylor said.

Click here to read the full story.

Pelican Island students stroll through nature game

SEBASTIAN — Pelican Island Elementary student Tyler Carley learned Thursday about bird migration by pretending to be a bald eagle. Tyler, 10, and his classmates played the Great Migration Game at the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge Centennial Trail to learn the tribulations birds experience while migrating.

Each student wore a tag around his neck to indicate a particular bird. Various "spaces" on the game were marked by signs placed on trees. Students rolled dice to make their way along the trail to the Pelican Island viewing area. At each space, students learned whether they survived migration, flew into a glass window or became entangled in pollution.

"They're learning about the hazards of birds who migrate," said Diane Digiacomo, the school's environmental educator, a part-time position funded by a grant the school got last year from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Click here to read the full story.

Study shows winds create wave damage to Pelican Island

SEBASTIAN INLET — A recent study on wave action at Pelican Island appears to back up claims by some boaters that wake from their vessels are not the main culprits causing erosion to that historic island. Rather the study suggests the primary cause of the erosion is coming from waves created by winds.

On March 14, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order designating Pelican Island as a federal bird reservation and the first of what was to become the National Wildlife Refuge System. Over the next 100 years, however, the 5.5-acre island shrunk to almost half its size. Refuge officials have been working over the past few years to protect the island from further erosion and restore it to its earlier size as much as possible.

The recent study was done in conjunction with a proposed shoal the Sebastian Inlet District is planning to construct northwest of the island.

Click here to read the full story.