Join us on December 10 - 12 at Camp Chowenwaw in Green Cove Springs for our 70th paddling event since March 2008. We are working with Clay County to stage the Black Creek Paddling Festival at this former Girl Scout camp. Included in this issue is a story about the controversy surrounding the 'extinction' of the mysterious Ivory-billed Woodpecker; a piece about the shrinking of the world's coral reefs; and the heartbreaking story of our beloved Manatees, and their record number of deaths due to polluted water killing the sea grasses on which these gentle giants feed. Along with the tragedy of our native sea cows starving, Florida faces a myriad of critical environmental issues. Red tide has continued to bespoil our gulf coast. Our springs are at a critical stage, and predicted water shortages and salt-water intrusion continue to plague the Sunshine State (maybe we should stop polluting the planet). Be sure to have a look at Ryan Smart's special column on water issues and how the legislature may address them in the upcoming legislative session.

A few months ago it looked like Florida paddlers were in for a treat. For the first time in a decade, the governing board of the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) directed staff not to roll back the property tax rate charged to fund the District's core operations. This decision would mean millions of additional dollars would be available next year to protect and restore our ailing waters.

At a July 13th, 2021, public meeting to propose the District’s 2021-2022 ad valorem tax rate and budget, current SJRWMD Vice-Chairmen and former State Senator Rob Bradley applauded the decision to maintain the current tax rate. “This is a big moment and I’m glad that we’re moving in this direction,” Mr. Bradley said. 

By the time the next Governing Board meeting rolled around on August 10th, the expected treat had turned into a trick. After “talking with his friends in Tallahassee,” Vice-Chairman Bradley recommended that the District forfeit much needed funding by once again adopting a reduced roll-back tax rate, a decision that would strip millions from the District’s budget. 

Bradley suggested that the additional tax revenue was unnecessary because the District may receive more money than expected from federal funds passed down by the Florida Legislature. This reasoning fails to account for the enormous shortfall in funding for springs restoration projects. [Read more…]

Florida fishing guide and environmental activist Paul Fafeita says a highlight for his charter customers is spotting the manatees that forage for seagrass in shallow waters. It’s not so thrilling when they come across the emaciated carcass of a manatee that starved to death.

“It’s not good when you’ve got clients on the boat and all of a sudden there’s a dead manatee,” Fafeita, president of the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County, said during a recent excursion in the Indian River Lagoon, a favorite hangout for the marine mammals along Florida’s east coast. “They’re wanting to see them. They don’t want to see them dead.”

Florida is experiencing an unprecedented die-off of manatees this year, with 959 documented deaths as of Oct. 1. That’s already more than any full year on record, and colder weather soon to come could bring another wave of deaths in a population that numbers between 7,500 and 10,200 along both Florida coasts, according to state estimates. [Read more…]

Photo credit: AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Scientists have long known that reefs are in peril, but a new study published today in the journal One Earth quantifies coral losses around the world. The in-depth analysis reveals half of coral reefs have been lost since the 1950s. Scientists say climate change, overfishing and pollution are decimating these fragile ecosystems and putting communities and livelihoods in jeopardy. Their study, which is among the most comprehensive assessment of reefs and their associated biodiversity to date, underscores the rapid pace of global coral collapse.

“Coral reefs have been in decline worldwide—I think that's pretty commonly accepted,” says Tyler Eddy, a research scientist at Memorial University of Newfoundland who co-authored the study. “We didn't necessarily know the magnitude of how much, when we looked on a global scale, that reefs had declined.”

Coral reefs are biodiversity hotspots that provide habitat for fishes, protection for coastal communities and generate billions of dollars for fisheries and tourism. Part of the reason corals are dying is that they’re ultra-sensitive to changes in water temperature and acidity, says biologist Mary Hagedorn, who wasn’t involved in the study. [Read more…]

Photo credit: Jim Maragos, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

One felt “blindsided.” Another said he was “pretty disappointed.” And a third called it “absurd.”

Those were a few reactions to last week’s announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it is proposing to delist the Ivory-billed Woodpecker from Endangered Species Act protection “due to extinction.” The retorts came from birders and others who say they have seen or heard the bird in the American South in the years since the much-publicized encounters reported in Arkansas in 2004 and Florida in 2005.

Some of these Ivory-bill searchers claim to have encountered the “Lord God bird” in just the last couple of years. And while no one has a clear photo that a magazine like ours would put on the cover, many of them are convinced the bird still exists in southern swamplands and say it would be a big mistake to delist the species.

As part of the delisting process, FWS opened a 60-day public comment period for “information and comments from the public regarding this proposed rule.” At least a few of the searchers BirdWatching interviewed say they’ll submit comments before the November 29 deadline to argue against delisting, and they encourage other birders to do the same. [Read more…]

Photo credit: J.J. Audubon

How To: Essential Paddling Gear

This video presents a simple mental checklist that every experienced kayaker should run through regarding gear to bring and things to do every time they go paddling.

Click here for video.