Guest Blogger--Ed Pritchard

To keep you all updated on the Summer Intern Program, we have asked the interns to serve as guest bloggers from time to time. Here is a rundown of recent events from Ed Pritchard:

Over the past couple of weeks, my fellow interns and I have traversed the state, discovering, examining, and studying two of the most important parts of the Everglades; The Kissimmee River and the chain of lakes that feed into Lake Okeechobee at the northern end of the system and Everglades National Park and the extensive mangrove and seagrass communities along Florida Bay that comprise the southern end.
In Key Largo, we met with a variety of mentors including author and ecologist Stuart Pimm, who shared with us his extensive knowledge and research on the endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow. We also got the opportunity to do a study on Florida seagrasses off of Key Largo with Dr. Tom Frankovich, a research biologist at Florida International University. Dr. Frankovitch emphasized the effects of long-term nutrient loading on the seagrass communities and the importance of water quality entering Florida Bay through the Taylor and Shark Sloughs. We wrapped up the trip with a visit to Everglades National Park where we examined some of the most recent restoration projects taking place within the park. We also had a chance run-in with newly appointed U.S. Army Corps Chief Engineer General Van Antwerp at the Anhinga Trail, which has been immortalized by the photo depicting the general wearing Dr. Tom’s signature beanie.

Our second trip started with a visit to the south shore of Lake Okeechobee, where we met with Mayor J.P. Sasser of Pahokee. In our discussion with him we covered the issue of U.S. Sugar and the role it plays in the town of Pahokee and other southern shore communities. The mayor was in favor of creating a flow-way from the lake to the rest of the Everglades ecosystem, somewhat because of its ecological benefits, but mostly because of the local jobs that would be created as a result.

Water levels and water management on the lake were also reccurring themes with Paul Gray of the Audubon Society of Florida and Don Fox from Florida Fish & Wildlife, who took us on an airboat tour of the littoral marshes on the northwest side of the lake. They seem to agree that lake levels should be kept at a range between 12-14 ft and that adaptive management practices need to be used in order to protect the ecosystems that exist on the lake. Loisa Kerwin of the SFWMD, discussed the challenges and successes associated with the restoration of the Kissimmee River. There was ample evidence of rapid re-colonization of native plants and animals associated with the recovered wetland function. The Kissimmee River Restoration is a true Florida environmental success story and is a great testament to the benefits and values that can be attained with a restored system.

The majority of our second trip was spent at the Archbold Biological Station. The Station fosters long-term ecological research on native plants and animals of central Florida and also provides environmental education for children of all ages. We toured the MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center at Buck Island Ranch. This operation is dedicated to long-term ecological research, education, and environmental stewardship on a large-scale working cattle ranch. Another topic of discussion was the Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project (FRESP), which uses public funds to buy land to build large regional treatment and storage areas, capture rainwater and build deep storage wells.
All of the information we’ve gathered and the lessons we’ve learned over the past couple of weeks have been especially helpful to us as we continue to work on our project for the upcoming Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) conference. Our challenge is to come up with values for the ecosystem services provided by the restoration of the River of Grass, which we believe is necessary to aid in the best environmental decision-making. The opinions we’ve gathered from our various mentors are important to consider when we look at the River of Grass configurations and assess economic values and ecosystem services. Wish us luck as we take our conclusions on the road and present it to the participators of GEER and the general public.