Loxahatchee Group Florida Chapter
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Turtle Tracks Newsletter of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group Volume 26, No. 3 | June/July 2002 Table of Contents Pond Cypress Natural Area Upcoming Meetings From the Easy Chair Where's the Water Going? Boynton Beach Greenways Landscaping Tour Lox. Group Slide Show Public Meetings to Attend Sheriff Buys Hybrid Cars Jonathan Dickinson State Park Summer Camp! Photo Workshop Outing Earth Day Events Successful Forum Outings

Back Issues April/May 2002 February/March 2002 August/September 2001 June/July 2001 April/May 2001 October/November 2000 August/September 2000 Newsletter Editor Marcia Karasoff mkarasoff@adelphia.net

Inform Yourself: Major Issue in Your Backyard

Citizens overwhelmingly approved $150 million in bonds to purchase and
preserve environmentally sensitive land in Palm Beach County referendum votes in '91 and '99).  With that money, the County purchased the Pond Cypress Natural Area (PCNA), next to Grassy Waters Natural Area, Okeechobee and SR 7.  It's pristine, high quality environmentally sensitive land. The County now wants to build a 4-6 lane road through it  to relieve traffic congestion in the Acreage. Voters see a stark contrast between the intended use of our taxes -- preservation and protection of environmentally sensitive lands -- and the county's proposal  -- build a road through protected land.

Consider this:

1. Improper use of voters¹ tax dollars.
Voters chose to pay extra taxes for the explicit purpose of purchasing
environmentally sensitive lands, preventing their loss to development.  The intent of the referendum was unambiguous, yet that intent is not reflected in a proposed road.

2.  Highest quality environmental value ranking.
The PCNA is classified as class "A", meaning it is "highest preservation
quality."  It is almost entirely undisturbed and highly varied, containing
rich wetlands, wide expanses of scrub area, as well as pine forests, rich in plant and animal life.

3.  County considered no alternatives that avoided PCNA.
The County evaluated 28 alternative alignments for a road.  Every one was taken through the PCNA. Why did the county not even consider any alternatives that bypassed the PCNA?

4. Disturbing precedent
The PCNA is a rare parcel of natural, undisturbed land --  a diverse
combination of ecosystems, plants, and animals.  If citizens¹ wishes are so easily set aside for road construction in this case, why would one believe similar encroachments on other publicly owned land would be different?

The future of PCNA has been reduced to a perceived easy way out for a
traffic problem, resulting from years of poor planning. It is a violation of
voters¹ wishes to now consider a road running through it.

What can you do? Write to the county commissioners -- the background is contained right here. Watch the papers.  Write a letter to the editor.
Commit yourself to remain informed.

- Nada MacKinney

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Upcoming Meetings

Next Excom Meeting will be at the Gates house at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, June 10. Call John and Kay for directions if you plan to attend.

Conservation Committee Meeting is on the 4th Tuesday of the month. Pleasecontact JoAnn Miner for location information (561) 686-6088.

Loxahatchee Group Newsletter Folding Party -  July 28, 2002, please join your fellow Sierrans for an hour or two sticking labels on our group
newsletter,Turtle Tracks. Come join the fun and help with this important
volunteer effort. Call Maryvonne at (561) 369-3462 for directions (west
Boynton). Everyone is welcome.

The General Meetings are on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM at Boynton Beach Fire station No. 3. Located the S.W. corner of Congress Ave. and Minor Rd. Just north of Gateway Blvd.  Hope to see you all there.

At our June 18th General Meeting we are pleased to have Chris Lockhart of Habitat Specialists lead us through the maze of exotic plants that are
invading our natural preserves. Chris will bring samples, and slides of many invasive plants, so we will be able to readily identify them, when we see them. Since Palm Beach County is currently writing legislation for the removal of many invasive exotic plants this is very timely to give us a better understanding of the serious threat these plants have to our
environment. Chris is active with the Florida Native Plant Society, the Exotic Pest Council, Florida Association of Environmental Professionals, and is member of the Palm Beach County Conservation  Lands Acquisition Selection Committee.

There will be no meetings scheduled for July, and August.  Plans are in
motion for a pot luck picnic in August to be held in the northern area of
our region.  Specifics will be announced in August/September edition of
Turtle Tracks.  Suggestions are welcome.  If you would like to help plan
contact Barbara C. at legalbarb@aol.com; or Linda R. at larickson@aol.com.

- John Gates, Program Chair

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From the Easy Chair . . . . . .

I am sad to report our brown thrasher hatchlings did not fare well.
Grackles hassled them out of their nest too early.  Such are the workings of nature.  We are, however, enjoying the antics of three successful juvenile green herons on our lake.  And babies abound at Wakodahatchee!  The photo Safari there was great fun (see Photo Workshop Outing).

The Loxahatchee River canoe trip was cancelled due to low water levels.
(Help our group demand more fresh water be allocated to this river by the SFWMD!  See John Koch¹s report.)  The Boca to Delray bike outing along A1A, one of the few areas with a continuous path not in the street, was neat. But attendance was poor.  Where are our fun-loving-outdoors Sierrans?  The Outings Committee is searching for suggestions on places and events of interest to members.  Share your ideas with Charles, 561-967-4770 or sierra@smartsolutions.com.

Volunteer activists are still in high demand.  See the Public Meetings to Attend box and Issue Contact People list.  Two new opportunities are open. We need Sierra representatives to the Loxahatchee Natural History
Association (LNHA), a friends group for the A. R. Marshall Loxahatchee
National Wildlife Refuge; and to a newly forming (or reactivated)
Environmental Coalition group.  If you have one day or evening a month to devote to the environment, please get in touch ­ 561-742-9219 or
johnkay@mindspring.com.

- Kay Gates

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Where's the Water Going?

It has taken me 4 days to figure out how to do a report on the South Florida Water Management District meetings of May 8 and 9 that would be intelligible to those who did not read Palm Beach Post's Robert P King's long detailed excellent day-by-day accounts and not totally boring to those who did. So, by topics:

1. LOXAHATCHEE RIVER MINIMUM FLOWS. PB Post and Sun-Sentinel stories alerted people in Jupiter that the District was proposing to cut the minimum flow from 70 cfm to 35 cfm (cubic feet per minute).  A new organization formed in Jupiter, meetings were held, people mobilized. The issue: the river's watershed has shrunk due to development and road building, and less water flow has allowed salt water to move upstream from the Jupiter inlet, causing cypress trees to die and mangroves to move in.  The SFWMD Board did a canoe trip on the Loxahatchee Wednesday morning.  In the afternoon District staff
presented a chart showing that the flow during several dry seasons had
fallen to ZERO, and that 35 cfm (if maintained) would stop the saltwater a mile or so below Trapper Nelson's.  There was a huge crowd there, and 30 of us got up and spoke saying one way or another "we want more water in that river".  The Board did not vote on this on Thursday.  (I expect it to come up in June or July).

2.  The Water Management Board adopted the NORTH PALM BEACH COUNTY EVERGLADES RESTORATION PLAN.  This series of 6 projects with a 2014 completion target is intended to increase water supplies to Grassy Waters (WPB water catchment area) and Loxahatchee Slough (that feeds the river) by capturing and storing excess flows now going into the Lake Worth Lagoon, which would also be restored. (If you want details I have a 70 page book of them.)  I could find no fault with this so I did not speak on it, nor did anyone from any other environmental organization.

3.  POND CYPRESS PRESERVE PERMIT. A permit was granted to Palm Beach County to build an outfall structure for Pond Cypress area, aka Fox Property.  As we know drainage to the South was cut off by Okeechobee Road and the high school and the Pond Cypress overflows into the La Mancha subdivision.  The permit calls for a pump at the northeast corner of Pond Cypress which will put water into the M canal, from where it can go to either east to Grassy Waters and the Loxahatchee Slough or west to a north-south canal thru the Acreage and Royal Palm Beach to the C-51 along Southern Blvd and then out to
the Lake Worth Lagoon.  The district has future plans to backpump the C-51 to supply the filter marshes feeding the Wildlife Refuge or all the way to Lake Okeechobee if that is appropriate.  I could see no problems with this and did not speak on it.  One of the arguments for the Acreage Reliever Road has been that it could serve as a levee to protect La Mancha from flooding, and this plan gets rid of that argument.

- John Koch

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Boynton Beach Greenways

Years of effort by Sierran Mike Fitzpatrick are showing incremental
progress.  The City of Boynton Beach has appropriated funding and is in the process of choosing a company to study the feasibility of a Greenways system.  Mike is on the selection committee. Years ago, some of you participated in community planning session that
mapped out what this city¹s Greenway could look like.  A new city manager and new commission means you have to start over but this time around they've decided to spend money on the project, a good sign.  Sierra Club continued interest and involvement is important.  You can get in touch with Mike at mike.fitzpatrick@juno.com or better yet, his wife, Lisa at lisa.hanley@juno.com.  Mike is still busy building their house.

- Lisa Hanley

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Landscaping Tour

On Sunday, April 14 the Lox group was treated to an urban landscaping tour. Fortunately, there was a break in the all-day drizzle and we were able to visit two yards.  While there was a stark contrast between the two yards, both were environmentally friendly to native plants, animals, and people.

Gary and Margi Lehnertz¹s yard is an excellent example of low maintenance, native plant habitat welcoming to birds, butterflies and small critters. Steven and Anna Bell¹s yard was more exotic, combining tropical plants with the native species. Keep in mind here that Steve is a landscaper by profession. Gary and Steve imparted seeds of green thumb magic, practical suggestions and samples.  We thank them for their gracious sharing. And, I¹m told, they are willing to repeat this fascinating tour if demand is made.  Let Charles know if you are interested. 561-967-4770 or profit@smartsolutions.com.

- Kay Gates

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Loxahatchee Group Slide Show

Loxahatchee Group has aquired a Kodak slide projector. We'd like to develop a slide program that demonstrates the variety of activities in which the Loxahatchee group is involved . We sometimes get asked to explain "who we are and what we do." This would be a nice way to answer that! We need slides that you have of Sierra outings/events,  shots of wildlife, whatever you have to share. We are also looking for volunteers to help put a program together, present it. Anybody interested contact John Gates, johnkay@mindspring.com,  (561) 742-9219

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Public Meetings to Attend

CLASC -  Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Committee Meets on the 1st Monday of each month at 1:30 p.m. ERM Building #509 off Belvedere Rd, West Palm Beach. (561) 233-2400.

ERM - Environmental Resource Management Constituency Meeting Meets on last Wednesday of every 2 month at 1:30 p.m. ERM Building #502 off Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach.  (561) 233-2400.

NAMAC - Natural Area Management Advisory Committee to Board of County Commissioners.  Meets on 3rd Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m.  ERM Building  #509 off Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach. (561) 355-3229.

CTF -  Citizen Task Force Meeting date varies.  Meets at Planning and Zoning (on 4th floor) at I-95 and Southern Blvd. (561) 233-5000.

SFWMD - South Florida Water Management District Governing Board: Workshop 2nd Wednesday 9AM, business 2nd Thursday 8:30AM, at 3301 Gun Club Rd. WPB. Call John Koch re. parking, etc. Workshops occasionally move out of town. (561) 686-8800.

WRAC Water Resources Advisory Commission:  Advisory body to SFWMD.  Usually 1st Thursday 8:30 AM at SFWMD, but dates and locations occasionally change. (561) 686-8800.

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COMMITTEE - A group of environmentalists meeting informally, usually at a SFWMD conference room usually during 1st week of the month.  Contact John Marshall at the Marshall Foundation,  (561) 805-TREE (8733).  Not a government meeting, but good for learning issues.

PALM BEACH COUNTY COMMISSION - First and Third Tuesdays, 9:30 AM.  Televised on Cable TV Ch. 20.  We really need someone to monitor the PB County Commissioners, either on TV or in person.  For information, visit http://www.pbcgov.com/Agenda, or call (561) 355-3229.

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Martin County Sheriff's Office Purchases Eleven Toyota Prius Hybrid Autos!

Martin County Sheriff Bob Crowder feels that he has a responsibility to his County and his Country to conserve as much fuel, money, and pollutant emission as possible.  At a MacArthur State Park Earth Day celebration last year Sheriff Crowder saw Honda¹s hybrid, the Insight, which offers a fuel efficiency of 60 miles per gallon.  After this exposure to the hybrid automobile technology, Crowder investigated other hybrid autos on the market and discovered the Toyota Prius.  The Prius offers five-person capacity,  a large trunk, minimum pollutant emissions, and fuel efficiency of approximately 47 MPG.

Environmentally-conscious Sheriff:
Martin County Sheriff Crowder and the
new Toyota Prius hybrid autos.

The Sheriff¹s Department was so impressed with the demo Prius loaned by a Toyota dealership that they ordered eleven of the vehicles and took delivery December 2001.  The Martin County Sheriff¹s Department has experienced only one minor repair to date. The Department reports good service from the Toyota dealership, and Department staff agree that the car is fun to drive. Sheriff Crowder reports that hybrid cars can be used by the Sheriff¹s Department for everything except intercept cars, where high speed and power are paramount.

On Department road trips to Tallahasee and back, the Prius uses only 20 gallons of gasoline versus 50 to 60 gallons of gasoline used by a typical gasoline engine car.  Over the last six months the Sheriff¹s Department has realized a 60% reduction in fuel use, and minimized pollutant emissions.

The Sheriff has just purchased a Honda Civic Hybrid and is waiting for the release of a hybrid SUV so he can expand his use of these economical cars.

Congratulations Sheriff Crowder for your forward thinking, and actions.
Sheriff Crowder and Toyota invited Darden Rice, Global Warming and Energy Staffer, to participate in the press conference in which the Martin County Sheriff's Department unveiled the new hybrid fleet.  Rice, who organizes the Sierra Club's statewide Green Fleets campaign, refers to Sheriff Crowder as a leader who should be lauded for his positive policies which show responsibility to the environment as well as to taxpayer pocketbooks.

Sierra Club continues to work with local governments and agencies across the state to follow Crowder¹s lead.  If you are interested in getting involved with Green Fleets, contact Darden at the Sierra Club Florida office in St. Petersburg at 727-824-8813.

- John Gates

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Jonathan Dickinson State Park

The Florida State Cabinet met on April 8th and, after much debate and grave reservations on the parts of Attorney General Butterworth and Insurance Commissioner Gallagher, voted to approve the Jonathan Dickinson State Park/Martin County land swap.  Those two were not happy setting a precedent allowing public lands to be used to remedy poor development choices.

Technically, this is not a precedent because JD Park has already given away land for a fire station and land for a military tracking station.  The
Sierra Club wonders just when is this going to end. The current land swap allows the development of a storm water treatment area on park property to relieve flooding in a development adjacent to the park.  Another bonus is the run off from the development will have time to
settle out before it goes into the Lox River.

The Sierra Club believes the development should be responsible for taking care of its own run off, on site.  The swap is also supposed to clear the way for Martin County to abandon right of ways within the park (something they could have done without the swap) and more importantly, to purchase in holdings that the park says they aren't able to purchase because the land owners want more money than the state will authorize.

The original request for land was 33 acres, most of that being Class A
scrub.  The compromise (thanks in part to Sierra Club - that's YOU -
protests) is 13 acres, most of which is a barren ditch. This deal was vigorously supported by park personnel because they said that
with clear park boundaries they will be able to do controlled burns, keep
out ATV traffic and curb illegal dumping.  Martin County has promised to move as much endangered scrub flora as they can.

We need to stay vigilant and be sure that Martin County and the Park live up to their promises to mitigate the lost scrub and improve the existing habitat.

- Lisa Hanley

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Summer Camp!

The summer is coming and kids will soon be off from school...Some will go to fancy summer camps, some will cripple their minds and spirits in front of the television.  Last year, the Lox group sponsored 7 children to
Environmental Summer camps, and this year we were busy to place more children...so after many phone calls, faxes, letters, and so on we are pleased to inform you with the results.

We are sponsoring 3 children at the SANDOWAY NATURE CENTER in Delray Beach, 6 children at the EVERGLADES YOUTH CONSERVATION CAMP, in West Palm Beach Corbett area, and 2 children at the PINE JOG ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER, in W.P.B.

Thanks to Sheila Calderon, Norma Pinder, Matt Reid, Mr. Jenson, Joan
Hourican, and Mike Yustin for being involved with teachers and families in the selection process.  The quality of the environmental education provided in these centers as well as the committment of the staff working with the children will create a great learning experience for the children we are sponsoring.

Anyone wanting to get involved next year, please contact us.

- Maryvonne Devensky

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Photo Workshop Outing

On May 4th several of us met at Wakodahatchee Wetlands to go on a Photo Safari.  Our Safari leader was Amy Koontz Knippel who photographs for the Stuart News along with owning her own photography business where she does everything from nature safaris to portraits and weddings.  She was a delightful leader and with her help we were able to zero our cameras in on our subjects with a whole new eye for lighting,  composition and photo angle. Though on our safari we did not see any lions or tigers or bears,  we did see and took pictures of many of our feathered friends and even the turtles were posing for us.

Perfect photo opportunity:
A  turtle mugs for our cameras at
Wakodahatchee Wetlands photo safari.

It was a great morning and afterwards we shared our experience over snacks before heading on home.  To make it even more special, our fee for the Safari was donated to our Elaine Usherson Scholarship Fund.

- Sheila Calderon

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Earth Day Events Successful

Lox Sierra Group participated in three events this year.  On Saturday, April 20 we took part in "Naturescaping" at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park. Then on Sunday another group of volunteers took the Sierra message t-shirts, posters, literature, etc. to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Both were great festivals with booths, music, and demonstrations all geared towards the environment, thanks to the many Sierrans that represented us at these events.

Last, but not least, on Monday, April 22 John  Koch, Alaine Ginocchio, and Zaeem Khan represented Lox Sierra at Florida Atlantic University. Mary MacDonald, director of Environmentally Conscious Organization of Students (ECOS) shared these thoughts:

A great big THANK YOU! to everyone who participated in Earth Day.  It was a huge success. We had alot of fun planting trees (thanks Dr. Ivy!), modeling hemp wear, playing games, eating fresh organic fruit and granola, and most importantly learning about current environmental issues and what we can do about them.

The winner of the the raffle was a sweet lady named Francis, who is very excited about her new mountain bike. Thanks for everyone¹s contribution to the raffle, the money will be used for memberships in Sierra Club, Ocean Watch and Oceana. We are trying to keep ECOS together for the summer, so if you would like to be involved please email me soon.  A few water-oriented trips are in the works and there will definitely be a beach cleanup or two. If not, be sure to keep in touch and have a great, safe and Environmentally Conscious Summer!

Thank you for everyone who has helped ECOS become a wonderful and active new addition to Florida Atlantic University's student organizations. We can make a difference! It is up to us to make the changes towards environmental sustainability. That is how a Democracy works! If you want to get in touch with Mary and ECOS: fau_ecos@hotmail.com.

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Join Our E-Mail Forum

Get involved in our very own Loxahatchee E-mail Forum.  It¹s the best way to get environmental alerts, meeting, party and outing reminders, and other good stuff from your fellow Loxahatchee Group members.  You can sign on or off at any time.  If you are interested, e-mail me at: rhaines999@aol.com.

- Ron Haines

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For Outings and Other Activities, Please Visit Events

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Turtle Tracks is published bi-monthly by Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group, 619 SW 2nd Avenue, Boynton Beach, FL 33426. The purpose of this newsletter is to inform members about environmental issues and events. Members subscribe through their annual dues. Nonmember subscriptions are available for $12 per year.

Newsletter submissions are welcome. The deadline is the third Tuesday of each month. Email articles to Marcia Karasoff at mkarasoff@adelphia.net (phone 561/278-5240), or deliver Macintosh format 3.5" disc or Zip disc copy to general membership meeting. (Typed hardcopies are also acceptable, but not preferred).