Wildlife Refuge and the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge. The Sanctuary’s focus is its’ zoning and boundary plan which includes areas such the Ecological Preserves and Sanctuary Preservation Areas but the public can make recommendations on other issues related to it management and regulation.This is your opportunity to have a say in the future management and regulation of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the backcountry management of the Florida Keys by the USFWS. Public comments are being accepted Through June 29, 2012. Comments may be submitted electronically and via mail, and during five public meetings.
photo:NOAA
Reef Relief has been invited to participate in the 2012 Green Awards. We need 10 positive reviews (4 or 5 stars) by April 30, 2012, to get added to GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Green Nonprofits List. Please submit your story about Reef Relief. Your stories will help us promote our program to over 2 million donors on GreatNonprofits.org, and syndicated to GuideStar, CharityNavigator,GlobalGiving, and JustGive.
Do it now at http://www.greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write/reef-relief-inc/green-2012/
MEET THE LOCALS!
8 Q’s & A’s for South Florida
MEET THE LOCALS introduces us to the local, dedicated & inspiring people out there working in some capacity for the Environment. Each month South Florida Green News will feature a different person -usually a local. We will ask each interviewee the same set of five questions, plus three more that they chose from a list we provide! In January it is Mill McCleary
Mill is the Executive Program Director at Reef Relief in Key West. Reef Relief got to work in the Keys protecting reef in 1987 and their history is impressive and their outreach is far and wide. Any friend of the reef is a friend worth having! Here is a mini interview with Mill.
PLEASE ANSWER THESE FIVE QUESTIONS…
1) What is your website or is there one you would like to recommend? www.reefrelief.org
2) What environmental policies would you like to see Florida adapt tomorrow? Stronger water quality standards, shutting down ocean sewage outfalls, expanded storm water treatments, permanent protection from offshore oil and gas drilling
3) What green policy have you seen adapted in a place outside of Florida that you liked? Permanent protection from offshore and inshore oil drilling in Chesapeake Bay
4) Favorite beach or outdoor spot in Florida? Florida Keys Barrier Reef
5) Please finish the following sentence, I Love the Ocean because…. it supports all life on Earth.
6) Biggest change you have made in your life to lessen your carbon footprint? Riding my bike or walking everyday
7) Book or Film you like to recommend? The Cove
8) Favorite local place to revive yourself and charge your batteries? Fort Zachary Taylor State Park
Read more green news at http://southfloridagreennews.com/
By KEVIN WADLOW. kwadlow@keynoter.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 06:00 AM EDT
By KEVIN WADLOW A hogfish swims by a healthy brain coral on a Florida Keys patch reef. A new study says brain, boulder star, massive starlet and mustard corals were decimated by the cold snap of January 2010.
Florida Keys corals that took centuries to grow died within days during the frigid January 2010 cold snap, says a newly published scientific study.
“Some monumental corals that were 200 or 300 years old perished in a span of five days,” said Rob Ruzicka, a co-author with Michael Colella of the patch-reef study published in the February edition of Coral Reefs, the journal of the International Society for Reef Studies.
Colella and Ruzicka work for the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and have been involved with the 17-year history of the institute’s Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project.
The published cold-water study focuses on patch reefs, generally found in depths of 12 to 20 feet in Hawk Channel, inside the main Florida Keys coral reef, that did not suffer damage as severe. Read the full article at http://www.keysnet.com/2012/03/28/434024/new-study-2010-cold-snap-massacred.html
Author, India Evans’ Reef Rescue Tells the story of 13-year-old eco-warrior Julie Leeds and her futuristic car Jett as they race to the Florida Keys to help save the endangered coral reefs. While spending the summer in Key West, also known as the Island of Bones, Julie and Jett discover why the coral reefs are dying. But not everyone wants the reefs to be saved, and Julie soon faces a series of threats, a spy ring, high-speed chases, and deep-sea kidnap attempts. From close encounters with deadly sharks, shipwrecks, and buried treasure, to menacing messages and ruthless treasure hunters, Julie s summer is a harrowing thrill ride that leads her to an infamous fort, where she learns of her own family s connection to a long-forgotten secret.
India Evans has generously donated copies of this book for sale by Reef Relief. When you buy a copy Reef Rescue from the Reef Relief Store in Key West or on our online store 100% of the profits benefit Reef Relief.
Note: If this item is not yet on the Reef Relief store site sent you can email us at reefrelief@gmail.com to place your order.
From article by Rudy Bonn in Solares Hill
On the 1st of April Key West’s Reef Relief will celebrate its 25th year of work for the improvement and protection of the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. An anniversary celebration is being held March 31st from 6pm-10pm at Salute! On the Beach with special guests Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band.
In 1987, Key West residents Craig and DeeVon Quirolo began observing a disturbing amount of physical damage to corals in the Florida Keys from vessels dropping anchors on the reef among other degradation — destroying corals that were perhaps hundreds or thousands of years old. They founded the non-profit organization Reef Relief to take action and started to install mooring buoy fields, using a variety of designs for both large and small vessels along the reef tract.
The organization sought to communicate that coral reef ecosystems are not just corals but are actually a system of interdependent and delicately balanced connections between the water and land. They communicated that coral reefs are the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth and their conservation must become a global priority. This was expanded to Monroe County schools through a variety of educational programs and the creation of a Coral Reef Teacher’s Guide. In addition, the education and outreach programs were incorporated into the effort to reach out to charter boat captains, commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, divers, and local businesses involved in water sport activities to emphasize the importance of conserving and protecting the coral reef ecosystem.
Later, a Clean Water Campaign was launched to identify problems with sewage, agricultural runoff, cruise ships waste, boating impacts, and other sources of pollution that affected the water quality at coral reefs in South Florida and around the globe. Reef Relief effectively organized campaigns with other sister organizations, government agencies, the business community, and citizens. In 25 years Reef Relief’s achievements include advanced wastewater treatment for the City of Key West, establishment of a boater No Discharge Zone for sewage in the Florida Keys, passage of a phosphate ban for laundry detergents, approval of bans on offshore oil drilling and exploration in South Florida, increased state standards for shallow injection wells, and a host of other actions. Reef Relief has, also, helped to established coral reef conservation programs in Jamaica, Honduras, Mexico, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Cuba.
Today, Reef Relief continues to educate residents and visitors and to reach out to young people through its Key West based Environmental center, a summer Coral Camp for Kids youth program and its Discover Coral Reefs Schools Program. Last summer, Coral Camp was nationally recognized by the Marine Educators Association. Reef Relief continues to be a lead advocate for state and federal clean water policy. State Program Director Jeff Starkey and Capitol Alliance Group keeps Reef Relief on the front line of state water policy issues in Tallahassee.
This year Reef Relief took over management of the Key West Marine Park which they helped to create in 2001 with the City of Key West. The marine park will be used as an education and outreach tool in Reef Relief’s work for coral reef conservation.
Reef Relief invites the community to help celebrate 25 years of work for our coral reefs on Saturday, March 31st, at Salute on Higgs Beach from 6 to 10 p.m. Food will be provided by Salute!, a cash bar will be available and Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 will be performing. Tickets are $15 before the event and $20 at the door. For more information on the party or to purchase tickets to the event visit http://reefrelief.org and click on the 25th Anniversary button.
Reef Relief’s Coral Camp 2012 will have 9 week long sessions. Sessions runs Monday- Friday from 8:30 am -4:30pm. Each session is $215 or $370 for two sessions. Scholarships are available based on need and availability.
Call Reef Relief at 305-294-3100 for more information or to register now.
2012 Available sessions:
Week 1 June 11 – 15
Week 2 June 18 – 22
Week 3 June 25 – 29
Week 4 July 9 – 13
Week 5 July 16 – 20
Week 6 July 23 – 27
Week 7 July 30 – August 3
Week 8 August 6 – August 10
Week 9 August 13 – 17
ENN: Environmental News Network — Know Your Environment
Published March 16, 2012 01:24 AM
SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service Thursday for failing to develop a recovery plan for two species of coral, elkhorn and staghorn, that live off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean. Although these corals have been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 2006, the Fisheries Service still has not yet developed a crucial, and legally required, recovery plan to avoid extinction and secure their future survival.
“These elegant corals are heading toward an ugly end if we don’t act soon,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center. “We need to start with halting their decline — only then will corals have a chance.”
Following a petition from the Center, elkhorn and staghorn corals in 2006 became the first species to be protected under the Endangered Species Act due to the threat of global warming and ocean acidification.
Reefs in Florida and the Caribbean were once dominated by the beautiful, branching staghorn and elkhorn corals. In a few short decades, these corals have declined by more than 95 percent. Unusually warm waters have caused bleaching and mass mortality of elkhorn and staghorn; pressures from disease, fishing and pollution also have led to coral decline. And Caribbean waters are rapidly turning more corrosive because of ocean acidification.
“If we want to bring our oceans’ rich coral reefs back to life, we’ll need to take really decisive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Otherwise that pollution will wipe out the reefs by mid-century,” said Sakashita.
Recovery plans are the main tool for identifying actions necessary to save endangered species from extinction and eventually be able to remove their protection under the Endangered Species Act. Species that have had dedicated recovery plans for two or more years are far more likely to be improving than those without recovery plans. The timely development and implementation of a plan is critical to saving elkhorn and staghorn corals because it will specifically identify what’s necessary to save them, such as research and habitat restoration and protection.
Thursday’s 60-day notice of intent to sue is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 350,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Contact Info: Miyoko Sakashita, (415) 632-5308, miyoko@biologicaldiversity.org
Website : Center for Biological Diversity
