Online Virtual Program – 1st Presentation Sept. 22

To all Peace River Audubon Society members, family and friends, because of the Covid 19 pandemic, we are switching our usual onsite speaker presentations over to a virtual presentation for health reasons. We are very fortunate in being able to partner with Venice Audubon to share resources for the upcoming year. Jack Foard, VAS President, has put together a list of speakers via ZOOM or through a webinar presentation. Most of these you will have to sign up for prior to the presentation.

The first presentation is a live webinar sponsored by Florida Audubon with Dr. Doug Tallamy, “A Guide to Restore the Little Things That Run the World” on 9/22/20 at 6 PM.  He will stress the importance of native plants in sustaining our Florida wildlife. You will need to register for a ZOOM presentation, and will receive confirmation via email. To register, go to Facebook/ Florida Audubon and click on events – Sept. 22, ‘Birds and Native Plants, a Virtual Presentation’.

A list of the speakers and webinars will be available on our website and Facebook page. You also will receive an email for all upcoming presentations via our blast list if we have your email address. If not, please let us know and we’ll get you on the list. The webinars will be on Tuesday evenings, so set that time aside for some exciting presentations. We will send more specific info re time and background via our ‘blast’ emails prior to each presentation.

Be safe and practice good health precautions,

Mike Krzyzkowski Program Chair, Peace River Audubon Society

Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Letter

Photo courtesy of: NPS / Lori Oberhofer

Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Conservation involves an ecological management plan that coincides with Everglades restoration. Peace River Audubon signed the attached letter to SFWMD in support of the sparrow.

Moving water south from Lake Okeechobee to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay is a key priority of the SFWMD governing board, and the Center for Biodiversity shares a commitment to that Everglades restoration goal. The attached letter provides information about how this goal intersects with the conservation of the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow.

While some members of the public have pointed to the sparrow as a primary obstacle to moving water south, a fact-based analysis of the issue shows this is simply not the case: There is no so-called “single-species management”. The Cape Sable seaside sparrow stands as a beneficiary of Everglades restoration — not an impediment to it.

Instead of placing blame on the sparrow, stakeholders and decision makers alike should do all they can to secure substantially greater water storage, treatment, and conveyance throughout the Everglades Agricultural Area to realize the shared vision of a fully restored Everglades, with sufficient flow to support a healthy Florida Bay and free of damaging discharges of polluted water to our northern estuaries.

Seaside Sparrow Letter – September 2020

Online Membership Renewal

PRAS Membership Dues can now be paid online! Join PRAS or renew your membership by visiting our “Become A Member” page.