WIXLIB

EvergladesState of theSpring 2022

Common Gallinule. Photo: David KorteMomentum is finally flowing into the River ofGrass. The federal government has dedicatedmore than one billion dollars to Evergladesrestoration, a historic level. Major projectshave been completed or broken ground (pg8), the last piece of the Cape Sable restorationpuzzle has finally been funded (pg 3), andnew federal legislation could continue theresearch and monitoring South Floridadesperately needs (pg 2). And yet we mustremain vigilant. During the 2022 legislativesession, a bill was rushed through the processthat would have had devastating impactsnot only on Everglades water projects, butland conservation in Florida as a whole.You made your voice heard, writing to yourelected officials as SB 2508 moved throughthe legislature. As a result, its most harmfulprovisions were improved, though notcompletely fixed. Thank you for supportingour work and defending the Everglades.Sincerely,Kelly Cox, Director of Everglades Policykelly.cox@audubon.orgGreat Egret sporting its breeding plumage. Photo:Frances Gaines/Audubon Photography AwardsNew Federal Bill Would ReauthorizeResearch and Monitoring Program forSouth FloridaIn March, Senator Marco Rubio and Representative CarlosGimenez introduced the South Florida Ecosystem EnhancementAct to reauthorize the South Florida Geographic Program(SFGP), an EPA-run program advancing ecological research,monitoring, and education throughout South Florida.This legislation would benefit South Florida’s beaches, coralreefs, bays, and estuaries with an expanded scope to include theIndian River Lagoon National Estuary Program and the Coastaland Heartland National Estuary Partnership. Over the next fiveyears, the bill calls for providing 50 million annually to theSFGP, which has historically received 3 to 10 million per year.Cover: Great Egret fledglings clamor for foodfrom their parent. Photo: Charlie Causey2 Audubon Florida“This is a historic investment in the South Florida GeographicProgram,” said Audubon Florida’s Executive Director JulieWraithmell. “We applaud Senator Rubio and RepresentativeGimenez for their commitment to reauthorizing this importantconservation investment across the South Florida footprint.”

Cape Sable’s canals have driven harmfulerosion of interior marshes and sedimentationof Florida Bay. Finally, Audubon’s plan forrestoration is coming to fruition.Photo: Alex Blochel/Audubon FloridaCape Sable Canal Dam Restoration Finally FundedAfter decades of overdrainage, or shunting water tothe coast instead of letting it flow naturally through theEverglades, the final piece of the Cape Sable restorationpuzzle has been funded by the National Coastal WetlandConservation Grant Program under the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service. Audubon’s long history of research onFlorida Bay and Cape Sable first called attention to theseaccelerating problems and has been steadily prescribingrestoration and enlisting support for it — with steadyprogress — for more than a decade.Located at the southwestern tip of the Florida peninsulaand within Everglades National Park, Cape Sable hasbeen drained by canals since the 1930s. The 15-footwide canals were dug through wetlands to make way foragricultural land and development, but later abandoned.After Cape Sable became part of Everglades NationalPark in 1947, staff plugged the canals with earthendams in an effort to keep more freshwater on the land.Unfortunately, over the next several decades persistentanglers illegally digging through the dams as well ashurricane overwash repeatedly breached the plugs.Without the dams firmly in place, the canals grew insize with each tidal cycle. They expanded up to fivetimes their original width and deepened as more waterrushed through — from a mere one to two feet to 11 or12 feet. This enabled salt water to penetrate freshwatermarshes, converting wetlands to open marshes, erodingthe peat soil, and allowing mud flats to now partially fillthe largest lake in the area, Lake Ingraham. The resultingfragile ecosystem thus became particularly vulnerable toclimate change and rising seas. In fact, sea levels in thearea have increased an alarming five inches since 2000alone, harming the coasts and freshwater wetlands.In 2012, the National Park Service installed dams madeof metal, concrete, stone, and earth on the two largestcanals. Five years later, when Hurricane Irma hit thepeninsula, scientists at Audubon’s Everglades ScienceCenter assessed the impact that the storm had onrestored wetlands and compared with other areasstill unrestored. Their observations revealed a markeddifference, with restored wetlands exhibiting enhancedresilience and less damage. The resulting evidenceconfirms that these restoration efforts not only restorewildlife habitat, but also offer protection against coastalstorm damage.Another canal, named for the Raulerson Brothers whoonce attempted to farm there, also breached. Thoughtemporarily plugged with sandbags on numerousoccasions, these efforts ultimately failed and severeerosion continued. Measurements in December 2021showed that the canal increased to more than 70 feetwide and 11 feet deep. Now, a collaborative effort led byAudubon Florida’s Everglades Science Center, NationalAudubon Society, the National Park Service, andDucks Unlimited, with the involvement of federal andstate wildlife agencies and past involvement from theEverglades Foundation, will finally plug the RaulersonBrothers canal.Achieving this milestone will protect against hurricanesby restoring critical marshes and the natural flow ofwater in the area. Without the completion of remainingrestoration efforts like this one, unrestrained tidalexchange will continue to cause erosion and salinizationof freshwater wetlands, adversely impacting wildlife andsubmerged aquatic vegetation in many ways.Audubon Florida has provided scientific data andmonitoring to support this project, while DucksUnlimited is managing the project construction. Theproject is estimated to cost between 5 and 7 millionand is scheduled to begin in the winter of 2022. After adecade of Audubon science and advocacy on this issue,we look forward to finally celebrating the benefits tohabitat and wildlife that will result from its completion.Audubon Florida 3

An aerial view from May 2021shows mulching in progress(brown completed, green tobe done) in the North Marsh atCorkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.The same area as the previousphoto in September 2021, aftercompletion of mulching andrehydration by the summer rains.Restoration Progress at Corkscrew SwampSanctuary Ebbs and Flows with Water LevelsAudubon has an ambitious goal to restore 1,000 acres of marsh andwet prairie habitat at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary by 2023, and we’realready seeing extraordinary results from our efforts.The mosaic of upland and wetlands habitats found in the Sanctuarywas once common throughout Southwest Florida, but has been lost todevelopment in many places since the 1950s. What remains, in placeslike Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, is further threatened by degradation,resulting from ditching and draining of the larger watershed.One mechanism of wetland decline at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuaryhas been the invasion of opportunistic native woody shrubs and treeslike Carolina willow that have taken advantage of drier conditions.In turn, these willow thickets are resistant to prescribed fire, whichcan accelerate conversion of the marsh. The resulting habitat loss isharmful to everything from plant diversity to foraging Wood Storks.Sanctuary staff are hard at work transforming these shrub-dominatedlandscapes back into highly productive and biologically diversewetlands. The three-step restoration process includes mechanicalshredding of woody shrubs and trees; follow-up treatments withherbicide to encourage the reestablishment of desirable species; andfinally, prescribed fire. Drone imagery is improving accuracy as wemeasure the project’s progress and provides a more comprehensiveview of the results. We anticipate that this initiative will serve as amodel for other land management programs across Florida, includingareas with similar infestations in the Corkscrew Regional EcosystemWatershed (CREW).4 Audubon FloridaThe return of species like WoodStorks to this habitat soon afterrestoration are a measure of itssuccess. Photo: Jacob Zetzer/Audubon FloridaTo date, the team has completed Phase 1mulching, and Phase 2 spot treatment isunderway on more than 850 acres, whichincludes 70 acres that are now underprescribed fire management (Phase 3). InMarch, Sanctuary staff began preparingfor mulching 200 acres this season.In addition to improving wildlifehabitat, restoring these wetlands willreduce wetland water loss and therisk of catastrophic wildfire, providingtremendous benefit to local communities.Because wetlands sequester nutrientsthat can degrade water quality andprovide natural water storage to reduceflooding, the project is a real step torecharge the natural systems fundamentalto water quality in Southwest Florida.We look forward to managing CorkscrewSwamp Sanctuary so that our wetlandscontinue to meet the needs of wildlife andresidents, while providing a recreationaland spirit-nurturing resource for our100,000 visitors each year.

Infrastructure Investmentand Jobs Act of 2021 andthe EAA ReservoirIn November 2021, President Biden signedthe bipartisan, 1.2 trillion InfrastructureInvestment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law.The IIJA includes funding for transportation,environmental infrastructure, disasterresponse, and more. In January of this year,the White House announced that 1.1 billionof these funds would go to the Army Corps ofEngineers (Corps) in Jacksonville to supporttheir South Florida Ecosystem RestorationProgram — the program responsible forimplementation and oversight of Evergladesrestoration in cooperation with the SouthFlorida Water Management District.Audubon and many others were thrilled tolearn of this historic investment in Evergladesrestoration. Audubon, in cooperationwith partners and Florida’s Congressionaldelegation, advocates for increased fundingfor Everglades restoration to supportongoing projects throughout the GreaterEverglades ecosystem. Funding allocated tothe Corps’ already planned projects underthe Comprehensive Everglades RestorationPlan will hasten the completion of EvergladesSnail Kite. Photo: Nancy Elwood/Audubon Photography Awardsrestoration. These projects, like the Indian River Lagoon C23/24Reservoir and the Biscayne Bay Southeastern EcosystemRestoration project, will improve the hydrology of the region,safeguard drinking water supplies for South Florida, improve waterquality, and increase resilience.The federal funding was certainly a welcomed win. However,several important restoration projects did not receive support,including the Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir project. TheEAA reservoir is the single most important project for benefitingmultiple parts of the Everglades. When complete, the reservoir willenable clean water to be sent south from Lake Okeechobee to theEverglades, reducing harmful discharges to estuaries in the eastand west. Audubon called for additional investment in the EAAreservoir under the general appropriations process.Double-crested Cormorant. Photo: DiegoRamirez/Audubon Photography AwardsIn March 2022, the Biden Administration announced anotherrecord-breaking number for Everglades restoration in thepresident’s budget: 407 million. If approved by Congress, thisfunding would primarily support the EAA reservoir. There has beenhistoric bipartisan support of Everglades restoration and we arehopeful that, with the Florida delegation’s continued leadership,Congress will meet the call and provide an additional surge offunding for the Everglades.Audubon Florida 5