GENERAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR CONTENT AREAS: Friends of the Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges

From Ms. Thompson

Friends of the Savannah

Coastal Wildlife Refuges

March 6, 2013

Friends:
Spring is rapidly approaching, time to stir from winter doldrums and head outside. What better way to enjoy the outdoors than to volunteer on your favorite refuge! Interested? Contact us at webmaster@coastalrefuges.org.

Errata: Last issue stated that the upcoming membership meeting is our 4th. In fact, it is number five.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friends 5th Annual General Membership Meeting

Dana Beach

Your Friends group will hold our 5th Annual General Membership Meeting on Saturday, April 6th, 2013 at the Savannah NWR Visitor Center from 1-4:30 PM.

       Our featured speaker is Dana Beach, founder and Executive Director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League. Dana has been active in local environmental issues since 1989, and will deliver a talk entitled "Dredging the Savannah River: The Last Nail in the Coffin?" If you are concerned bout the environmental and economic costs of the Savannah Harbor Deepening Project, you don't want to miss his talk.

   Other speakers will be Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex Project Leader Jane Griess giving her annual State of the Refuges update, and Friends group President Rick Shields giving his annual report on Friends group activities.
Also during the meeting we will vote to fill vacancies on our Board of Directors. There are five positions coming open on the Board as current director's two-year terms expire.  Dot Bambach, John Crawford, and Rick Shields have indicated that they will seek reelection.  Tim Kilty, our current Treasurer, and Dave Chafin have decided not to run again. So far Connie Terrell and George Cathcart have volunteered to be considered for the open seats. If you are interested in being considered for a position on the Board, or want to nominate someone else, please send a brief bio including pertinent experience and why you want to join the Board to the address below. The deadline for nominations is March 10, 2013.
     We also have some great door prizes, refreshments, and after the meeting, a guided hay ride through the refuge. The meeting is open to all, but only members in good standing may vote, win a door prize, or join the hay ride. Nonmembers may join and current members may renew memberships at the door.

                                                                                                               webmaster@coastalrefuges.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proposed Bylaws Changes

The Friends group Board of Directors has approved some minor changes in our Bylaws. The changes will be presented at the Annual Meeting on April 6th, 2013 to be voted on by the members in attendance.

Please review the changes and let us know if you have any questions or comments. The changes are in Article III and in Article V Section 7.

In addition, the report form our recent Strategic Planning Retreat will be presented to the membership.

Proposed Bylaws Amendments

Your questions and/or comments

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natural Resources Discovery Day at Savannah NWR

Come join the Friends and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for some free, family fun at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on Saturday, March 9, 2013 from 10am-4pm. Partnering with the Savannah Chapter of the National Wildlife Turkey Federation (NWTF) and University of Georgia -Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, this year's event will be loaded with fun, wildlife-related educational activities for all ages.

Have you ever wondered what a biologist, a wildland firefighter, a refuge ranger or a refuge manager does on a national wildlife refuge? Well, this is your chance to learn! See how birds are banded (even band yourself!); learn about wildland fire with hands-on activities involving real fire equipment; try your luck at target shooting with a gun or bow, while learning about the refuge hunt program; gain a better understanding of the Fish and Wildlife Service's role in protecting endangered species; learn why water management matters to wildlife on Savannah NWR, and much more. For more information on this rain or shine event, call 843-784-2468.

FLYER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinckney Island Treasure Discovered
Byline: Connie Terrell

No, this has nothing to do with buried pirate doubloons! Friends group volunteers and FWS staff discovered something even more precious recently...a living treasure-trove of Pinckney Island history. Her name is Alice Boyd, and she lives in Hardeeville, SC.

     Alice grew up on Pinckney Island, the daughter of Bill and June Smith, the managers of the island for the last private owners when the island was managed as a game and hunting preserve before being donated to FWS in 1975. During her 20 years on the island, she amassed a wealth of memories about the farming and hunting that were the island's main uses, and also about the people who visited during those years.

     She has already shared with us many great stories of her life on Pinckney and has agreed to help in any way she can to preserve the island and its history for future generations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring is Near - So Much to Do!

More and more activities are being scheduled for the outdoor enthusiast. We are trying to keep track of events that might interest Friends, and are listing events on our web site as we find them. Click on the link below to see what's coming up. If you know of an event that Friends might want to know about, send it to us.

Coming Events

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friends Group Receives Grant

Your Friends group has been awarded a $3270 grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation to develop three portable displays to be used at events both on and off the refuge (i.e. Earth Day). This is the first competitive grant we have won. The displays will make it much easier to make an impact when we meet the public. The displays will be stored at Savannah, Pinckney Island, and Harris Neck NWRs and consist of a portable table, a table cover, and an upright display. We are working

with long-time Friends group supporter Fran Tuttle at Grafix, Inc, to design the displays.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get to Know the Staff of Savannah Coastal Refuges

Jane Griess

The staff of the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex are the dedicated federal employees of the US Fish and Wildlife Service who work every day to fulfill the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Now you will have the opportunity to get to know the staff better through interviews and photos. This month we start at the top with an interview with Jane Griess, the Project Leader of the complex.
Click on the link below to read the interview.

Griess Interview.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

News from Georgia DNR

Georgia DNR, in honor of The Year of the Snake, is sponsoring a "Snake of the Week" feature on its Facebook page. Read more DNR news in their monthly newsletter.

February Newsletter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Science Corner - Harris Neck NWR Wood Stork Update
Byline - Dot Bambach

Wood stork

     Wood storks (Mycteria americana) started showing up in Woody Pond at Harris Neck NWR a bit earlier than usual this spring, back from their winter holiday in southern Florida. Pairs are forming right now and nest building has begun. Last week, refuge volunteer Mary Ellen Urbanski spotted a banded stork known to be at least 18 years old. This veteran was bringing in sticks to build a nest very close to where he nested last spring.      The storks always nest at the very tops of the refuges cypress trees, while the great egrets set up house on the next level down. Some of the egrets have already laid their beautiful turquoise blue eggs, which will hatch in about 3 1/2 weeks. Later this season, smaller wading birds such as snowy egrets and tri-colored herons will nest in the trees' lowest level.
     Harris Neck NWR hosts one of the largest and most successful wood stork colonies in the United States, thanks to several factors:
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife constructed islands in Woody Pond and planted them with cypress trees, thus offering the storks their preferred nesting habitat.
-A fresh water well at the refuge ensures that the water level in the pond is kept at a suitable depth, even in times of drought. When there's enough water, there are alligators present, which in turn dissuade marauding raccoons from swimming out to the nest trees and preying on eggs and chicks.
-Nearby salt marsh creeks and tidal pools offer good foraging for food to feed the hungry chicks.

     Since wood storks are an endangered species , a team of dedicated volunteers monitors the nest colony each year to determine how many chicks a nesting pair fledges and what that implies for recovery of the population as a whole. The good news is that the species has done quite well and is now a candidate for a change in its listing status from "endangered" to "threatened."

The nesting colony at Harris Neck will be in full swing by mid April. It's well worth a visit to see thousands of wading birds all crowded together in the cypress trees as they work on feeding their chicks.

FWS Species Profile