Winter 1997
Editors: Bill Belleville and John Parker
* Nov. 1 - Saturday. Bike trip trip through Winter Garden via Orange County's new West Trail. If you prefer to run or hike, that's okay, too. Bike rent- all available at the rental shop on the far west start of the trail. Call the shop for information at 656-2509. We'll meet there at 9.
* Dec. 7 - Sunday. Canoe trip from Rock Springs Run. This nine-mile adventure will take approximately 4 to 5 hours. We'll finish up at the Wekiva Marina where we'll have lunch at Alexander's. Katie's Landing will shuttle canoes and partici- pants to King's Landing where we'll launch. Call 628-1482 to make reservations at least 3 days in advance. $10 each.
* Jan. 17. Saturday. Canoe trip to end all canoe trips- from the Little Wekiva to the big one. Experienced paddlers only. We'll meet at 9 a.m. at the Moncrief's house, where we'll be shuttled to our SR 436 put-in. Bring a brown bag for lunch at the Moncrief's. Drinks & Dessert on us. Call 628-1482. *********************************************************************
For me, part of the great thing about living in a place like Florida is there are always little discoveries to be made-small enchantments to remind us that nature still has a chance.
We saw one of those small enchantments the other day when Craig Doyle gave board members, family and friends a hiking tour through Seminole Springs ranch. Craig, whose family has owned the tract of land since the early 1950's, was gracious enough to open the gates of the heavily wooded pine and oak forest and pasture land and give us a special glimpse of a rare place.
The 6,000 acre tract is pockmarked with pristine artesian springs, all of which bubble up from rock and earth, tree roots and ferns at the bottom of steep, grotto-like ravines. Craig, who used to play in the springs as a boy, said there are five springs and at least 50 smaller "boils" along the spring run, which discharge groundwater. One has been tested for purity and was found to be potable enough to be bottled directly from the spring itself.
To see the little springs in this natural condition is to get an idea of how all of the springs of the Wekiva Basin must have once appeared-before they were bulkheaded or surrounded with development.
The run-offs from the little springs conflux with each other to create a single creek which flows for two or three miles to the Blackwater Creek. Together, they pump out from 20 to 24 million gallons a day, depending on the season. Blackwater, also fueled by rainfall, is a major tributary of the Wekiva, and flows into the larger river on its western shore, just south of the St. Johns.
The tract, which appeared on the state's CARL list for public acquisition, has been recently removed on the request of the owners. Craig said since family members all have business or employment beyond the ranch, they aren't pressured to sell it commercially. Except for cowboys managing the cattle and hunters here on a game lease, outsiders seldom step foot on the land. White-tailed deer, wild hogs and black bear make their home here, as do a variety of song birds and gopher tortoises. When Craig was younger, he said, panthers were seen on the land.
Although the FOWR favors preservation of land in the basin, that doesn't always mean public "management" is the only way. Indeed, private owners can also be good stewards of the environment. Seminole Springs is likely in better condition today than if it were bulkheaded and boardwalked and over-run with tubers and outdoor party-goers with no connection to the environment. Thanks to Craig Doyle for giving us the tour, and for caring for his natural legacy. ******************************************************************
Despite a former president's promise of "no net loss of wetlands", the state with the lion's share of marshes and swamps continues to lose them at an alarming rate.
Florida has 11 million acres of wetlands left-some 17,189 square miles. Yet, it has also lost 13,00 acres a year between 1984 and 1990, says a recent survey by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
And, according to Jeremy Craft, the former director of the DEP's wetlands program, "DEP spends as much money on computers each year as it does on its wetlands program."
The failure of the wetlands program rest on the shoulders of DEP head Virginia Wetherell, who is known to be more favorable to land developers and real estate interests than she is to the environment.
To wit: * A recent review by the Orlando Sentinel showed that all penalties for illegally destroying wetlands were the same as the cost of a permit in the Central Florida office.
* DEP staff assigned to wetlands protection has diminished every year for four years; last year, seven of 19 enforcement attorneys were eliminated.
* DEP can't even come up with an estimate of wetlands destroyed or restored in Florida because it stopped counting in 1993. Nonetheless, the number of permits issued for wetland destruction continues to rise, with some 90 percent of all requests to destroy wetlands being approved. **********************************************************************
A informative talk by John Fillyaw, the new manager of the Wekiva Geopark, reveals that the entire tract of public land-including state park and forest in the river basin-is underfunded.
As a result, there are only seven rangers and two biologists to help manage a tract of land about 65.6 square miles in area. This includes the Wekiva River and Rock Springs Run. The coverage works out to about one ranger per ten square miles of land.
Currently, the motor for the sole vessel used for enforcement on the river itself is disabled, and some 400-500 acres of public land near Markam Woods are closed because of lack of managed access.
Fillyaw, who was the keynote speaker at recent FOWR program, stressed he is open to ideas from the Friends and from the community about using volunteers to help with educational outreach, and to perform less technical duties in order to free rangers for field work.
Elsewhere in Florida, communities have "adopted" parks by forming auxiliary groups of volunteers, and perhaps that might be a way of helping take up the slack. ****************************************************************
Cedar waxwings are flying south for the winter; look for them flitting in the canopies of trees along the river. Be on the look for other migratory song birds, as well as for ducks and other waterfowl. Deer are rutting in November, and are most active then. Look for their distinctive hoof tracks in the soft sand. Great horned and barred owls are courting; listen for their calls in the woods. Look for striped and sunshine bass underwater, for they will be leaving the thermal refugees of the springs for the St. Johns. Don't forget the Christmas Bird Count for the Audubon Society. Sign up by mid-month with the local chapters if you want your record to be part of the state-wide inventory.
Put Down That Clicker and Hike a Trail Through the Wekiva Basin Did you know there are nearly 50 miles of trails within the Wekiva Geopark-which includes Rock Springs Run, Wekiwa Springs State Park, Seminole Forest and the Lower Wekiva River Preserve ? You can think of them as portals to the real Florida, one that exists outside the interstates and shopping malls. You can set up your own hike, based on your experience and physical condition. A good easy trail is the one-mile loop inside the Lower Wekiva River Preserve; while some a bit more difficult are found in the Park. The Forest is the least interpreted and least marked of them all, and offers the most challenge for adventurers.
"The limpkin is one of my favorite wading birds because of its tameness and entertaining habits. It is a medium-sized dark brown bird, spattered with white spots. It rarely occurs outside of Florida, but does live in the Neotropics.
Frequently seen along the weed-lined shores of blackwater rivers and spring runs, the limpkin uses its long decurved bill to probe among aquatic vegetation for invertebrates, especially apple snails. Limpkins are unrelated to typical wading birds like egrets and herons, or even ibis, which they somewhat resemble; rather they are more closely related to rails and cranes.
Where they are not persecuted, limpkins are tame and engaging. At Wekiwa Springs, Kathy and I one sat in a canoe for over an hour watching a male limpkin feeding its mate a seemingly endless supply of golf-ball sized apple snails.
Limpkins have a distinctive call or cry, which the noted ornithologist Alexander Sprunt, Jr. describes as a "loud mournful wail suggesting the cry of a child. '" - Ron Larson, writing in "Swamp Song." University Presses of Florida. 1995.
As the recruiting posters used to say: "We Need You!" In this case, the FOWR needs you if we are to be successful now as we have been in the past in protecting the ecosystem of the Wekiva River.
Some people think the battle to save the Wekiva has been won. Yet, there is still much to be done: In the next 16 years, the river will be facing increased pressure from development, road construction, poor water quality, and lack of funding for proper management of the land within the basin.
To provide proper oversight and monitoring, we must increase our member's involvement. Here are some upcoming iss- ues we face in this never-ending struggle to save the river:
* Increased monitoring of county commission and planning and zoning meetings on proposals that may impact the river. Work done to save the riv- er a decade ago can be easily undone. * A need for a water-quality-based River Watch program. * Increased monitoring of proposed dredge & fill permits, stormwater treatment facilities, and consumptive water use permits. * Long-term restoration of the Little Wekiva. * We need a continued presence in the Wekiva River Working Group. All these issues require countless volunteer hours. Call me at 407-323-5678 and tell me how you can help ! ******************************************************
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