Loxahatchee Group Florida Chapter
.

Turtle Tracks Newsletter of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group Volume 28, No. 1 | February/March 2004 Table of Contents Holiday party report Everglades Day March appeal From the easy chair General meetings Outings Learn to build green Excom meetings Environmental education update Public meetings Newsletter party Other happenings Know your Sierra Club candidates Political committee needs interviewers Archbold Biological Station trip report Lox. group nmeets with Scripps Scrub jay followup Email forum

Back Issues December 2003/January 2004 October/November 2003 August/September 2003 June/July 2003 April/May 2003 January 2003 November/December 2002 August/September 2002 June/July 2002 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 561/968-4058 karasoffm@bellsouth.net

And the winning bidder is . . . .
- Sheila Calderon

I am happy to report that in spite of the horrendous rain, we had a
successful Holiday Picnic and Auction at Okeeheelee Park.  Lisa Hanley did an absolutely fantastic job on organizing our party and providing all kinds of fun games for our entertainment.  ³Bidding on the auction items was lively, the food was delicious and conversations animated as we huddled together for warmth and shelter from the driving rain.  Yes, folks, the weather was miserable but the company was good", said Lisa.

The Holiday Picnic Committee thanks everyone who braved the weather, came to our holiday party, and bid on all the great contributions from donors mentioned below. A very special "Thank You" goes to Sierrans, Craig Melby and Gary and Margi Lehnertz for their major contributions of a week in a 6-bedroom vacation home and a weekend catamaran cruise. To the winning bidders of these two fabulous vacations, we know you are going to have a wonderful time and hope
that you will share your adventures with us on your return.

To our many volunteers who made the event possible, a great big THANK YOU! It¹s our volunteer help that makes a Sierra event successful. We are happy to report that all our efforts netted $1,900 to be used for our Inner City Outings Program, the Elaine Usherson Scholarship Fund, and to support local conservation initiatives.
A special thanks goes to the following organizations, businesses and Sierra Club members and their friends who supported us with their contributions to our Auction:

Atlantis Theatre, Dreher Park Palm Beach Zoo, Coconut Creek's famous Butterfly World, Carrabas Grill, FAU Arts & Sciences, E.R. Bradley's, Grassy Waters Preserve, Okeeheelee Golf, Don Carter's Bowling Lanes, Canoe Outfitters, South Florida Science Museum & Planetarium, Howard Broad, Ballet Florida, Brewzzi's City Place, Florence Mandel, City Cellar Restaurant, Susan Korzenewski, Lindberger's Restaurant, Fisheating Creek Outfitters, Duffy's Sports Grill,  Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Lion Country Safari, Stuart B. McGiver,  Radio Controlled Plane, Pine Jog Environmental
Education Center Camp Out, Norma & Murray Cossey.

---

We Love Everglades Day
- Kay Gates

Our favorite environmental festival is upon us again.  February 14 is the
date, so of course the theme is "Love Your Everglades."  The Lox Sierra Club Group has an ongoing affair with this event.  In the past, we've planted trees in the Refuge and had an exhibit table.  The tree planting will not take place at the Refuge this year, but we will be there meeting and greeting the festival-goers, and carrying the Sierra Club message.

Would you like to volunteer to do this for a couple of hours?  Contact John & Kay to sign up,  johnkay@mindspring.com, (561) 742-9219.  Also, the Marshall Foundation will hold a dedication ceremony at 11 A M of a new Cypress Trail Overlook where you can view the historic reforestation of 10,000 Cypress trees planted by volunteers in February 2001.  Lox Sierra was part of that monumental effort.  Come have at look at what you helped start. Stop by the Marshall Foundation table to get the details and sign up for this year's tree planting.  The first planting will be February 28 at Grassy Waters, with a BBQ.  Then there will be a series of tree plantings in March and April on Torry Island in Lake O.  www.ArtMarshall.org   (561) 805-8733.

---

Do you know?  Really know?
- Nada Mackinney

Do you know what the March Appeal letter is?  Ok, Ok,it arrives in March. But what's it for?  How is it different from national solicitations?  Don't membership fees provide adequate funds?  I'm happy to answer some questions. Many people believe that several familiar Sierra funding sources are allocated to the Loxahatchee Group.  National Sierra Club may contact you periodically for contributions to specific national causes.  When you respond, your money is put to good work!  But, it doesn't reach your local community (served by the Lox Group).  Similarly, by being Sierra Club members, you paid dues.  But only a fraction of these dues is allocated to our Group.  This fraction pays only for the printing and mailing of this newsletter, Turtle Tracks.  Everything else the Group does must be paid for by monies raised in other ways.

The March Appeal is the primary funding source that enables your Group to continue advocating for the wild places of Florida.
Last year, you generously gave $5,500 that was shared between the Lox Group and the Florida Chapter!  We are sincerely grateful for every gift, whether $5 or $500.   As March 2004 nears, be looking for this year's Appeal letter. It will explain the causes financed by last year's donations and highlight plans for this year.  Won't you help?

---

From the easy chair . . . . .
- Kay Gates, Chairperson

Congratulations to new Excom members Maryvonne Devensky, Louise Austin, and Richard Sorrento who will join re-elected Nada MacKinney as well as John Koch, JoAnn Miner, and Kay on the 2004 Executive Committee. A special thanks to Barbara Curtis, Alan Parmalee and Mike Yustin for their faithful years on Excom.  They promise to remain active and involved with the group.  The Sierra Club as a grassroots, volunteer organization would cease to exist without those of you who took the time to send in your ballots.  I, for one, am glad you kept us democratically elected.

National Sierra Club elections will be coming up in April.  Please check
your Sierra magazine and the website (see Know Your Candidates on page 5) for up-to-date information.  Make yourself aware of the national members who contribute to the club.  Prepare to vote for candidates whose environmental philosophy is in tune with your own.  This voting is a big responsibility we should not take lightly.

Aside from the political scene, the Outings have been fun.  It was nice to
see new faces on outings and at the General Meeting. Several of us have been discussing a ³Writing Letters to the Editor party.²   Some of you have told me you¹d like to get more involved but don¹t like to venture out at night. So we¹d like to do this on a weekday during the day.  We could talk about some local issues, pick one and have some fun writing those letters together.  If  you  think this is something you¹d like to try, get in touch with Kay (561) 742-9219 or Louise (561) 626-3346.

Hope to see you at Everglades Day at the ARM Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (see details in article) and/or at the February general meeting, where I hear there will be some great tree posters given free, and as information on the best plants to plant in your yard.

---

General Meetings
- John Gates Program Chair

The speaker for the February 17th meeting is L. Thomas Chancey ASLA, Landscape Architect, Consulting Arborist & Tree Preservationist.  Mr. Chancey is a consultant for Broward County and Municipalities.  He will tell us how to select the proper trees, where and how to place them and the best way of trimming them.  He will also discuss the detrimental effects of the common practice of topping trees and urban tree canopies.  Come to this meeting and find out all you want to know about trees!

The March 16th meeting will focus on the effective use of alternative energy in a private home with our own Debbie Evans, Sierra Club Chapter Energy Co-Chair, and Pam & Yelda Miedema.  Pam & Yelda¹s home in Ontario Canada is fully independent of the power grid.  They will talk about how they achieved the design and its benefits to them and the community. This will be a fun session.

Our meetings start at 7:00 PM for socializing; the meeting opens at 7:20 PM. We look forward to seeing you!

---

Outings

Please visit Events.

---

Learn to Build Green (Pine Jog News Release)

Learn how you can save energy and water costs, make your home healthier, and live lighter on the Earth.  Tiles made of recycled glass bottles, carpets made of recycled plastic bottles, cork flooring made from sustainable sources, high energy-rated appliances, energy-efficient windows, special paints that don't give off toxic gases, hi-tech insulation techniques, and xeriscape yards all are being used today by environmentally-aware home builders.

This free presentation will be of special interest to people shopping for a
new home or thinking of retrofitting their current home.  The next Living
Green & Lightly presentation will be on February 19 at 7pm in Pine Jog's Auditorium.  Dr. Joel Howard, Sr., Natural Resource Manager for WCI Communities will be presenting new techniques, materials, and technologies for green building.  These methods can save resources and money on heating and cooling, protect your family's health by using non-toxic paints, carpets and other materials, and be earth friendly, such as using sustainable bamboo products for flooring and wall coverings.  Call Jenny for information, 686-6600.

---

Next EXCOM meetings will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Gates¹ house on February 9, and on March 8.   Call John & Kay for directions if you plan to attend.

---

Environmental Education Committee Update

We had two meetings and are beginning the process of sponsoring children through the Elaine Usherson Education scholarship program for the summer 2004.  Anyone interested in donating time, energy or money for this project, and/or attending our meetings (in West Boynton) please contact Maryvonne Devensky at 561-369-3462.

---

Public Meetings to Attend

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

ERM - Environmental Resource Management Constituency meets on last Wednesday of every 2nd month,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, 3rd Thursday of the month, 1:30 p.m. ERM Building  #509 off Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach. (561) 355-3229.

CTF -  Citizen Task Force meeting date varies, 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. (561) 686-8800.

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

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COMMITTEE - A group of environmentalists meeting informally, usually at a SFWMD conference room on the last Friday 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 need someone to monitor the PB County Commissioners, either on TV or in person.  For information, visit http://www.pbcgov.com/PubInf/Agenda/index.htm, or call (561) 355-3229.

---

Lox Group Newsletter Labeling Party

The April/May Turtle Tracks newsletter labeling party will be held Sunday, March 28th at 4 p.m. at the Carle's house in west Boynton. Everyone is welcome. Help is appreciated. Free cookies! Call Sabrina at (561) 732-4486 if you need directions.

---

Other Happenings

Audubon Meetings:  First Tuesday of the month, 7:30 p.m. at Howard Park Community Center, West Palm Beach (corner of Parker & Okeechobee). Call Claudine Laabs (561) 655-9779.

PB Pack & Paddle Club,  Second Monday of the month, 7:00 p.m. at Okeeheelee Nature Center, WPB.

PBCEC - PBC Environmental Coalition Conferences  Third Monday of the month at Pegasus Restaurant. 301 N. Dixie Hwy., Lake Worth, 7:00 p.m.  Contact Steve Bell  (561) 632-7737,  livingscape@ cs.com.

Pine Jog Environmental Education Center Mar. 6, Family Canoe Day, 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.; Night Hike & Evening Programs starting with marshmallow roast over open campfire, Saturdays 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Mar. 20, April 3, May 15. For more information, visit www.pinejog.org/WebPages/SpecialEvents.htm, or contact Rachel Cavanaugh (561) 686-6600, pinejog@fau.edu.

League of Environmental Educators in Florida (LEEF), a non profit org. whose mission is to develop and support environmental education and educators by promoting community-based support will organize field trips and environmental workshops. Check their website at
http://leeflet.brinkster.net, or call Jenny Cohen at (561) 640-615.

Second Loxahatchee River Watershed Symposium, February 24-25 at the Jupiter Community Center; visit http://www.dep.state.
fl.us/southeast/hottopics/Lox/Lox/lox.htm.  Free Lunch on the 24th; Register by February 1, 2004.

Indian Riverkeeper. The organization in Stuart is looking for more
volunteers to keep an eye on the Indian River Lagoon and report pollution. They also need a grant writer. If interested, contact them at (772)283-8747.

(These activities are not sponsored nor administered by the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club has no information about the planning of these activities and makes no representations of warranties about the quality, safety, supervision or management of such activities.)

---

Know Your Sierra Candidates
- Ron Haines

This is to alert everyone that elections to the Sierra Club¹s National Board of Directors will be held in the Spring. Sierra Club members in good standing are invited to join the National Board of Directors Candidates open forum to ask questions of candidates for the national board of directors. To gain access to the forum, have your membership number handy and go to: http://whistler.sierraclub.org/listsub/?listname=BOD-CANDIDATES-OPEN-FORUM&.

Another resource is the Council of Club Leaders email discussion list. To
subscribe, have your membership number handy and go to:
http://whistler.sierraclub.org/listsub/?listname=CCL-Discussion.

Another email list of interest to those wanting more information about the National Sierra candidates is http://whistler.sierraclub.org/listsub/
?listname=BOD-CANDIDATES-FORUM.  This is a weekly posting of candidates¹ responses to questions posed at the beginning of each week.  The responses are posted by a list owner and there is no open discussion.   Subscribe with your member number.

---

Get Involved in Endorsing the Good Guys for Public Office
- John Koch

Our Group¹s Political Committee¹s job is to identify 2004 local, state and
national political candidates worthy of our endorsement.  To that end, I¹m recruiting volunteers to interview the candidates using a list of questions supplied by the Florida Chapter.  If you volunteer, you¹ll  be expected to interview all the willing candidates for a particular seat and will be free to choose which ones you want to interview.  I hope we can get enough interviewers so that no one will have to interview candidates in more than one or two races.  Committee meetings will be at a minimum since most of our business will be done by e-mail and telephone.  As a Political Committee member you will vote on which candidates will be recommended to our EXCOM and the Chapter Political Committee for endorsement.  If you would like to
join the Political Committee please contact me, banyanjohn@earthlink.net or phone 963-5574.

---

Ladies Escape to Archbold Biological Station
- Maryvonne Devensky

January 24/25, four of us female Sierra Club members spent a very relaxing weekend at the Archbold Biological Station, www.archbold-station.org, in Highlands County, off Highway 27 about 25 miles south of Sebring. This outing was easy on the body and good for the soul. We had a guided tour of the station on Saturday morning and saw a 20-minute video "Islands in Time" which explained how the scrub habitat was formed, its unique wildlife and plants, and how the Archbold foundation is working on preserving this scrub landscape when citrus growers are settling all around that area.

Our guide, Nancy Deyrup, took us through the library and various labs.  We met her husband, Dr. Mark Deyrup, who was busy drawing plates of ants for his next book.  Both of them then took us on a hike in the flatland prairie and scrub where we watched a flock of sandhill cranes take off.  We learned about the scrub mint plant whose chemical repells insects and is part of a research project to promote "natural" insect repellant.  The Deyrups are part of a staff of 50 who manage the research center which attracts students and scientists from all over the world.  We shared meals with a group of students from Indiana. In the afternoon we walked along the nature trail.  We saw a gopher tortoise, a barred owl, some scrub jays, woodpeckers, and many tracks of deer, raccoons and rabbits.  Our best scrub jay sighting was early Sunday
morning.

Later on Sunday morning we went to Highland Hammocks Park and
hiked the wonderful trails there.  A late lunch in old historical downtown
officially closed our outing. It was great to enjoy the company of Ann, a new member to our group, and Carol, a Broward Sierran, and our own Barbara Curtis.  We shared plenty of conversation and memories as we had our simple and healthy meals prepared for us at the Archbold Station.

We need more of these "hikes/food/conversation" outings. Anyone interested?

---

Sierrans/Environmentalists Meet with Scripps Representative
- Joanne Miner

Scripps/Florida has trumped even the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) on the environmental radar.  The Mecca Farms has long been in the CERP plan for water storage, and for getting fresh water to the Loxahatchee River.    Will Scripps provide 50,000 new jobs for Florida? Will it turn our beautiful Loxahatchee River into the ³Bush/Scripps Wild and Scenic Drainage Ditch?²

On Tuesday, January 20th, several members of the Lox Sierra Conservation Committee attended a meeting with Commissioner Karen Marcus and Bevin Beaudet, Scripps Program Manager for Palm Beach County to discuss the impacts of the Scripps/Florida development site on the natural environment; especially the Loxahatchee River.  Joanne Davis of 1000 Friends of Florida organized the meeting.

There seems to have been some wishful thinking amongst the developers that we environmentalists were not concerned about Scripps/Florida. The meeting proved otherwise.  It was well attended by representatives of various governmental agencies as well as many familiar faces from the environmental community.

Both Commissioner Marcus and Mr. Beaudet seemed genuinely concerned and committed to achieving a high quality environment for the development while improving the water supply for the River.  They see this as an opportunity to acquire land for development and for the environment at the same time. It is an opportunity to make a world-class biotech development and get more water storage for the same buck.  I see an opportunity for us to work with them.

Resistance from the Business Development Board, developers, State Senator Ron Klein (D ­ Boca Raton) and even the SFWMD seems likely.  Gregory Fagan, an engineering consultant on the BDB was quoted as saying ³Taxpayers are putting up $500 million to build an economic development project and a biotech nucleus and not Water World (Sun-Sentinel, January 14, 2004).²

What do you say?  Send a letter to Bevin Beaudet, Scripps Program Manager, 301 N. Olive Avenue, Suite 1101.11, West Palm Beach, FL, 33401. Please send him your support for an environmentally friendly future in Palm Beach County.

---

Scrub Jay Follow-Up
- Lisa Hanley

On September 20th, Sabrina Carle and I, accompanied by junior naturalists, Melanie Carle and Martin Fitzpatrick, participated in the Florida North American Migration Count.  Our job was to count the Scrub Jays in the Overlook Natural Area.  When counting birds, one has to be careful to only consider the greatest number of a particular species seen at any one time in order to avoid duplicate counting.  For example, if you see two birds together and then two individually, you can only say you saw two, not four, because they might have split up.  Some of the Scrub Jays in the Overlook have been banded, which made our counting much easier.  Scrub Jays are territorial and live in family groups and we were very pleased to find one family of three and one family of four jays.  The larger group had an unbanded juvenile!

Four of the birds were banded and one of the adults was missing a foot, but seemed to be getting around ok.  The fact that the birds are reproducing underscores the need for diligence in preserving and
managing the other scrub natural sites in PBC; scrub jays need a lot of
territory.  The next time you see smoke billowing out of a scrub natural
area, know that it's part of the management plan to create/maintain Scrub Jay habitat.  Our count and documentation of the banded birds was sent to Dr. Grace Iverson who will use the information to update her database concerning the remaining Scrub Jays in southern PBC.  If you are interested in learning more about the coastal scrub ecosystem, join me on one of my upcoming outings.

---

Join Our Email Forum
- Ron Haines

Get on board with the Loxahatchee Group's  very own e-mail forum.  This is a general e-mail discussion and announcement list for members of the Loxahatchee Group of the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club.  Our forum is a strong network for communications, announcements, action alerts and just plain fun for members of the Loxahatchee Group.   To sign onto the list, have your Membership Number handy and fill out the form on one of the following websites: http://www.sierraclub.org/memberlists or
http://www.sierraclub.org/memberlists?listname=FL-LOXAHATCHEE-FORUM

---

Turtle Tracks is published bi-monthly by the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group, P.O. Box 6271, Lake Worth, FL 33462-6271.  Non-profit postage paid at West Palm Beach, FL.  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/year. Send address changes to: Sierra Club Member Services, Box 52968, Boulder, CO 80322

Newsletter submissions are welcome. The deadline is the third Tuesday of each month. Email articles to Marcia Karasoff at  karasoffm@bellsouth.net (phone 561/968-4058), or deliver Macintosh format 3.5" disc or Zip disc copy to general membership meeting. (Typed hardcopies are also acceptable, but not preferred).