The Wildlife Foundation of Florida reports $596,000 in funding will come from the Conserve Wildlife license program and $42,000 in funding will come from the Protect Florida Springs vehicle license plate funds.
Most of the wildlife projects are for other areas, but a regional program to address wildlife problems and wildlife health concerns is statewide. FWC Region Offices will receive $97,500.
The goal is to implement an effective technical assistance program based in the FWC regional offices. The program will meet the need of the public and support FWC activities. This is accomplished through technical advisory assistance to constituents, businesses and FWC staff and to develop public outreach information.
Protect Florida Springs funds are for springs monitoring and research, springs education and support of springs volunteer groups and their efforts.
These are:
Springs Protection Stakeholder Research Phase, $5,000 grant.
Santa Fe Springs, Alachua County, Florida
The final deliverable will be a campaign that has been pilot tested and evaluated that can be funded and implemented by any interested agencies and/or groups. Even though demographics vary among regions of the state, it is likely that what we learn here in Alachua County will translate to other regions. The campaign will be applicable to similar target audience segments around the state. A secondary goal of the research is to increase participation in the Santa Fe River Basin Springs Working Group.
Ichetucknee SPRINGSWATCH, $5,000 grant.
Lower Ichetucknee River
This project will provide both significant data important for management and restoration decisions concerning the spring-fed Ichetucknee River, while educating and engaging a core group of advocates for Springs Protection. Working with multiple partners will also help to strengthen a coalition of organizations working on springs issues.
Watermelon Spring Run Restoration and Water Conservation and Springs Friendly Landscaping Outreach, $4,500 grant.
Poe Springs and Watermelon Spring Run, Alachua County,
The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department will conduct a public workshop on outdoor water conservation and springs friendly landscaping practices at Poe Springs County Park. Following the workshop, participants will remove exotic plants from Watermelon Spring Run and replant the area with native species; plant a water conservation friendly landscape at the Poe Springs Park gatehouse, make and install a rain barrel, install a rain garden and plant longleaf pine seedlings. This is to provide participants with hands-on learning that can be applied to their own homes and yards.
Long-Term Turtle Study, $ 4,965 grant.
Wekiwa Springs State Park
This on-going project is a long-term mark-recapture study on turtle species that are native to these sites. Turtles are captured by a variety of methods, including hand capture while snorkeling, dip netting, and live-trapping using a variety of turtle traps. Turtles are measured, weighed, sexed, observed (for physical damage, parasites, etc.), marked, and released. Data collected are incorporated into the long-term data set for analyses. Results of the population study will be compared to physical/environmental data (temperature, rainfall, stream flow) to detect patterns that could indicate effects, climate change, or habitat degradation.
The Addition of Water Quality Monitoring to Long-term Cave Fauna Surveys of Wes Skiles Peacock Springs and Ichetucknee State Parks, $5,000 grant.
Peacock Springs and Ichetucknee Springs State Parks.
This grant will purchase equipment in support of ongoing water quality monitoring as a new addition to on-going cave fauna research at Peacock Speings and Ichetucknee Springs state parks. The requested equipment, an “In Situ Troll 9500 Professional ” Logging Water Quality Instrument is an example of a portable submersible water quality monitoring sonde that is capable of measuring dissolved oxygen in real-time, the data of which is later downloaded to a computer for analysis.
Santa Fe Springs Restoration Action Plan, $5,000 grant.
Santa Fe River Springs
The objective of this project is to produce a restoration action plan document for the Santa Fe River Springs, a collection of over 35 named spring vents that extend from a 1,100 square mile springshed located in Alachua, Bradford, Union, Columbia and Gilchrist counties. These springs are being impacted by reduced flows and rising nitrate nitrogen concentrations. This project will prepare a document (Santa Fe Springs Restoration Action Plan [RAP]) that summarizes these issues in clear and understandable language and imagery and recommends specific actions needed to reverse these trends.
Monitoring Environmental Changes in Deleon, Salt, and Silver Glen Springs in Central Florida, $5,000 grant.
Deleon, Salt, and Silver Glen Springs.
Salt Spring, Silver Glen Spring, and Deleon Spring are smaller, human-utilized springs within central Florida that provide fishing and recreational uses for humans along with seasonal manatee use during the winter. The Sea to Shore Alliance has collected environmental data at these sites for the past three years during the winter while documenting individual manatee use. STSA proposes to continue collecting environmental data to during 2012-2013 during all seasons of the year for comparison and incorporation with St. Johns Water Management District and Department of Environmental Protection water quality and vegetation database.
Glen Spring Restoration Action Plan, $2,500 grant,
Glen Spring, N.W.123rd Avenue, Gainesville.
The objective of this project is to prepare a restoration action plan (RAP) document and Power Point presentation for Glen Spring, a small fourth-magnitude spring located behind the Elks Lodge on NW 23rd Ave. in Gainesville, FL. The water from the spring pool flows out of the concrete pool enclosure and into Glen Spring Run which eventually flows into Hogtown Creek.
What is the impact of Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus feces on Volusia Blue Spring nutrient dynamics? $5,000 grant.
Blue Spring, Volusia County.
For more information, visits these Websites:
http://thewildnews.wordpress.com/projects-underway/protect-florida-springs/
http://thewildnews.wordpress.com/projects-underway/conserve-wildlife/