Environmental Intersection by George Lindemann

Black skimmers gather on the sand's edge on Lanark Reef this week. The mostly submerged island is a haven for nesting sea and shore birds, as well as migratory and wintering species. / Jennifer Portman/Democrat

 LANARK REEF — After decades of worry by conservationists about the future of one of Florida’s most important destinations for nesting and migrating sea and shorebirds, this fragile strip of sand flats and sea oats is now entirely in safe hands.

Audubon Florida announced this week it has purchased the last privately held parcel on the low-lying reef located in the Gulf of Mexico less than a mile south of Lanark Village.

Lanark Reef is an avian hotspot. It is home to the largest of the Panhandles’ four brown pelican rookeries, and supports large numbers of nesting shorebirds, including black skimmers, willets and the American Oystercatcher, which is a threatened species in Florida. The reef is considered an “Important Bird Area” by Audubon, and is designed a critical habitat for the Piping Plover by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 250 species of birds use the reef for spring and summer nesting and as a stopping point for winter migration.

“Lanark Reef is one of the most important breeding, wintering and migratory sites for coastal birds in the state of Florida,” Julie Wraithmell, Audubon Florida’s Director of Wildlife Conservation told the Tallahassee Democrat on a trip to the reef this week. “It’s a bird factory.”

The purchase was completed quietly last month, when the nonprofit paid $33,000 to Premier Bank, which acquired the property in 2011 from Tallahassee developer Hurley Booth. Though large areas of the six-mile long reef are submerged at high tide, the state in the 1950s conveyed parts of the island that mostly remain dry into private ownership. Booth had the title to the remaining 1.7-acre parcel for about a decade and five years ago sought to build home sites on the narrow swath of sand. The submerged lands of the reef are owned by the state.

The scant dry land, however, is not zoned for development of any kind and is not part of Franklin County’s land use map, said director of Administrative Services Alan Pierce. While permits for several septic tanks were granted by a county department in 2007, Pierce said the county turned down Hurley’s request to build seven homes on the reef.

“We said no, it’s not land that can be suited for development,” Pierce said. “It’s just a sandbar as far as we are concerned.”

Audubon Florida purchased the land from the bank with money provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation from the sale of recovered oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Private donations from around the nation also contributed toward the purchase and ongoing management of the reef.

“There is something fitting about using that money,” Wraithmell said of the recovered oil funding.

John Himes, northwest regional biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said he is glad the reef now will be protected. Not only does it provide nursery and resting grounds for threatened and endangered sea and shore birds, it is also home to the diamond back terrapin, a rare salt marsh turtle.

“It is a really important area,” he said, pointing out its obvious shortcomings for residential development as it is frequently washed over during storms. “It’s not like we are taking anything away from anyone.”

As ill-suited as the reef is for human habitation, it is ideal for the many bird species that flock there. In the spring and summer, thousands of birds crowd its uplands free from the threat of mammal predators such as racoons and coyotes. Its relative remoteness discourages harmful disturbances by people and pets.

“Our coasts are home to species of birds that live their entire lives in this dramatic landscape of sand and wind and salt,” Wraithmell said. “Even though you think they’d be really tough, in fact they are very vulnerable.”

The nests and eggs of many nesting shorebirds are camouflaged and easily destroyed by even the most well-meaning human contact. While the reef is safely viewed up close from a boat, people are encouraged to not walk on the islands. Stepping on the island causes birds to leave their nests, leaving their young vulnerable to predatory birds or the hot sun.

“People don’t know the harm they can cause,” Wraithmell said. “There is this tendency to say, ‘It’s just this once,’ but once is enough to do damage.”

Himes said looking at the birds is fine “as long as you keep your distance.” The place is a bird sanctuary.

Though the notion of houses on the small spits of sand seems improbable, Wraithmell said private ownership was still a risk.

“Unfortunately, in the current times, I’m not sure what I would put off the table,” she said.

Wraithmell said acquiring the land is just the beginning of protecting it for the future. Audubon Florida plans to work with the state to develop a management plan for the entire reef.

“Everyone has to take responsibility for keeping this place as special as it is,” she said. “Wildlife brings so much to our quality of life. It’s a big part of what Florida is. We’ve got a chance up here to hold on to it. There is no time to lose.”

Gail Phillips, an Audubon volunteer and nearby Gulf Terrace resident whose home looks out on the reef, is pleased it will now be protected and managed in a consistent way.

“I am absolutely thrilled,” Phillips said. “It’s a hidden jewel.”

-By Jennifer Portman

STUART — Several Martin County commissioners and residents Tuesday blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision to release polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Estuary.

Releases of polluted water from the lake have historically harmed fish, sea grasses and other wildlife and made it hazardous for people to swim in the estuary.

"I suspect it's going to get worse before it gets better," said Commissioner Sarah Heard. "They need to see what the consequences of those actions are. It's an unhappy, unenviable, unfair consequence."

The commissioners voted unanimously to ask the South Florida Water Management District, which helps the Army Corps manage the lake, to provide information needed to discuss the discharges with Army Corps officials.

The commissioners also agreed to invite Col. Alan M. Dodd, the commander of the Army Corps district that includes Florida, to visit Stuart to see the problems caused by the lake discharges.

In addition, the commissioners agreed to send news articles, photos and other information about the releases to federal lawmakers to show them the need for funding for the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area, the Herbert Hoover Dike Rehabilitation and other related projects.

"It continues to rain, the forecast continues to be wet and we do have the releases going on now," said Deborah Drum, the county's manager of Ecosystem Restoration and Management.

The Army Corps began releasing water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers on Sept. 19 as part of its efforts to manage the rising lake level so the dike is not compromised.

Commissioner Doug Smith expressed sentiments similar to Heard's.

"I've been here for five colonels now. They all seem to tend to think as they go into their new position that they've got everything under control," Smith said. "They need to come and see and understand what it really means to us locally because it does change their perspective instantly when they see it."

Jacqueline Trancynger, a civic activist from Jensen Beach, said she thinks the lake releases are the result of the South Florida sugar industry's extraordinary political power. Massive sugar cane fields are located south of the lake.

Some observers think the sugar industry uses its wealth and political influence to block efforts to restore the historic flow of water from Lake Okeechobee south to the Everglades.

"It is certainly not a lack of the understanding of environmental facts that is causing the Army Corps to release water from the lake, so that if it continues (it) will kill our rivers and our lagoon forever," Trancynger said. "Think Big Sugar and all of their money, much of which is earned by subsidies from my tax money in the first place."

-TCPalm

Despite Hurricane Debby’s severe impact on coastal wildlife on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the state’s royal tern population has increased thanks to a successful breeding season at Huguenot Memorial Park.

“Huguenot is a truly unique habitat. Dozens of species of birds have relied on this one beach for survival for generations,” said Monique Borboen, an Audubon Florida policy associate.

Borboen said, thanks to a dedicated park naturalist assisted by volunteer bird stewards, progress is being made in protecting this special place.

“Residents of northeast Florida are fortunate to have such an important and beautiful bird habitat so close to home,” she said.

Huguenot Memorial Park is the only breeding colony of royal terns on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. This year, the colony fledged more than 2,000 royal tern chicks. These young birds will go a long way in helping statewide populations recover from the rain, wind and storm surge caused from a devastating Hurricane Debby in June. The storm made landfall at the height of Florida’s beach-bird nesting season, destroying the eggs and chicks of many beach-nesting birds on the Gulf Coast.

“Huguenot is a perfect example of why multiple breeding sites are the best defense for beach birds against natural or manmade disasters,” said Borboen. “Hurricanes are a common and natural occurrence in Florida, that’s why nature doesn’t like to put all her ‘eggs in one basket.’ One strong storm has the potential to devastate miles of shoreline habitat and cause the destruction of multiple breeding bird colonies.”

Huguenot Memorial Park is considered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as the most important seabird breeding colony site on Florida’s east coast. Located at the mouth of the St. Johns River, this coastal habitat hosts a wealth of declining species, providing vital stopover habitat for imperiled red knots, federally designated critical wintering habitat for threatened piping plovers, a state-designated critical wildlife area for one of Florida’s few laughing gulls and royal tern colonies, nesting habitat for marine turtles as well as historic nesting habitat for declining American oystercatchers, gull-billed terns, least terns, black skimmers and Wilson’s plovers.

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in 1964 famously wrote of pornography, "I know it when I see it."

His statement exemplified the difficulty of defining pornography, much less regulating it against constitutional protections for free speech.

A similar question of definition is slowly unfolding in Florida as a result of growth management law changes approved by the Legislature in 2011.
HB 7207 reduced the state's role in overseeing local government growth policies and future land-use map changes. But the bill also called on state government to continue "protecting the functions of important state resources and facilities."

While environmentalists said the law would unleash urban sprawl and threaten natural resources, supporters said the state would focus its reviews on natural areas deserving of state protection.

Now a Brevard County proposal to revise its wetlands protection policies has begun to reveal how the state will define those important natural resources worthy of state protection.

Planners last year were left asking what areas the state would protect in addition to obvious environmental areas, such as The Everglades.

"(HB 7207) did not give a definition of what it (important state resources) was," said Merle Bishop, immediate past president of the Florida chapter of the American Planning Association and senior planner with Kimley-Horn Associates in Lakeland. "It was kind of like, 'We'll know when we see it.'"

Brevard County now has perhaps the most stringent wetland protection ordinances in the state, said Ernest Brown, director of the Brevard County Natural Resources Management Office.

The Brevard County Commission directed its staff to develop comprehensive plan language that brings the county to a "level playing field" with surrounding counties, Brown said. The proposed changes, he said, would allow development in wetlands along certain roadways for commercial and industrial properties and in some areas with agricultural zoning.

In reviewing the proposals, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection identified important state resources as federal national wildlife refuges, state aquatic preserves, the Indian River and portions of the upper St. Johns River Basin that have been identified as "Outstanding Florida Waters" requiring protection under state law.

DEP asked the county to either not adopt the changes or to provide maps to identify areas that could be affected and demonstrate that resulting changes would be minimal. The St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also filed comments.

Charles Pattison, executive director of the 1000 Friends of Florida environmental group, said the state for the first time is identifying areas where development deserves comment, but he also wondered whether the state will object if the county moves forward to approve

"Now the question is are they going to do enough to say, 'It's an important state resource, are you (Brevard County) doing enough to protect it?' And are we OK with it?'" he said.

There remain questions about which less obvious state resources deserve protection and how the state defines those, said Bishop, who was the American Planning Association chapter president until this past week.

"Is it things that impact the Peace River? Probably," Bishop said. "But what about somebody's little stream or small wetland in their backyard?"

Brevard County has revised the proposal to include maps showing specific areas along roadways where protection policies will be relaxed and other areas where higher quality wetlands will remain protected, Brown said. The Brevard County Planning Commission will consider the revised proposal on Monday and the Brevard County Commission will consider final adoption on Oct. 9.

1000 Friends of Florida was still reviewing the revised proposal on Friday, Pattison said. Mary Sphar, a Sierra Club member from Cocoa, said she thinks the revised proposal is worse than the earlier proposal because it allows higher-quality wetlands to be developed if a project is found to be in the public interest for economic reasons.

Brown said Brevard County is attempting to promote "flexible and balanced stewardship" of its resources. He said he agrees the case is important in defining what important resources are protected by the state.

"I think we have achieved a pretty decent middle ground," he said. "I think it was healthy the state weighed in. They helped us further refine the proposed outcome."

-Bruce Ritchie