Job opening --

Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Scientist

Salary Range:

$ 20.26 - 32.99 hourly Exempt

Job Description:

The Program Scientist is an interdisciplinary specialist who works as part of a team to implement the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) and annual workplan. The position is primarily responsible for staffing the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and managing and implementing CHNEP's research, restoration, monitoring, and data management activities. The Program Scientist reports to the CHNEP Director.

Principle Duties:

Develops, refines, and implements CCMP activities related to research, restoration, monitoring, and data management. Coordinates with CHNEP partners so that the study area has consistent and comparable data.
Manages CHNEP's technical projects including developing and refining projects through the Management Conference, advertising scopes of work, and managing projects.
Manages the inter-agency Coastal Charlotte Harbor Monitoring Network, including performing annual field audits.
Organizes technical workshops and conferences. Ensures that proceedings are published.
Serves as staff to the CHNEP Technical Advisory Committee, including developing agenda packets, minutes, and coordinating with TAC Chairs. Aids with the Management and Policy Committees as needed.
Researches, compiles, analyze and display data for problem solving and publication.
Presents information in various forums and formats.
Attends and participates in various meetings related to research, restoration, monitoring, and data management throughout the watershed and elsewhere.
Works cooperatively and positively with a variety of disciplines including elected officials, scientists, and citizens, including presenting scientific information in meaningful ways.
Contributes to public outreach materials such as writing articles for the program newsletter and website, providing technical reviews of materials that are produced for the public, and responding to inquiries from the public.
Contributes to grant and funding applications.
Performs related work as required.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Environmental Sciences, Marine/Freshwater Sciences, Biological Sciences Natural Resource Management, natural science and/or a closely related field, or an equivalent combination of education plus five (5) years experience that provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities. Proficient in Microsoft Office programs. Prefer proficiency in statistics, graphic representation, and Geographic Information Systems. A valid Florida Driver's License is required.

The Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council is an equal opportunity employer and drug free workplace. Please submit resumes to the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council's Human Services Department by fax at (239)338-2561 or email at ndoyle@swfrpc.org. Questions, please call (239)338-2550 ext. 233 or email Nancy Doyle at ndoyle@swfrpc.org. Resumes and letters of interest must be received no later than 5:00 P.M. on May 9, 2008.

A selection committee will review applications. The successful applicant will be an employee of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. Health/Dental/Life/Disability Insurance and paid Leave are administered through the Council. The Council participates in the State Retirement System of Florida.

For additional information about the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, please visit www.CHNEP.org. For information about the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, visit www.SWFRPC.org.

__________________________________________________
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Fwd: 4/11-4/13 FWC Chinsegut Bird & Wildlife Festival (near Brooksville)

http://myfwc.com/chinsegut/Docs/BirdandWildlifeFest2008.pdf for event schedule

http://myfwc.com/whatsnew/08/southwest/News_08_SW_ChinsegutBird.htm for press release with general information (copied below)

News Release

Chinsegut birding and wildlife festival is unique among spring celebrations

March 17, 2008
CONTACT: Kristin Wood 352-754-6722

Bat and owl prowls, live birds-of-prey demonstrations, a dung 'n' doodle (insect) walk and off-site field trips to view burrowing owls and migrating warblers are some of the unique and exciting events featured at the Chinsegut Birding and Wildlife Festival, April 11 and 12.

The free extravaganza in Brooksville kicks off at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Chinsegut Nature Center at 6:45 p.m. with a talk on the Green Key Funnel, a local spring bird migration phenomenon. Friday night events conclude with a bat and owl prowl at 8 p.m.

Saturday morning, motivated birders are invited to get up at 6:45 a.m. with the birds for an off-site field trip to view the warbler migration at Green Key.

Also on Saturday morning, events at the nature center take flight at 7:30 a.m. with live bird banding, followed by a bird walk at 8:30 a.m. and birds-of-prey programs at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Continuing throughout the day will be programs featuring Florida bats, basic birding, native plant landscaping, bird-box building, wildlife photography, plus butterfly and wildflower walks led by experts Marc Minno and Don Stillwaugh. Florida Natural Areas Inventory entomologist David Almquist will lead festival goers on a hunt for dung beetles and 'doodle bugs," also known as ant lions.

For the adventuresome, there are several off-site field trips to look for burrowing owls, red-headed woodpeckers, butterflies and wildflowers on some rarely-visited public lands. For the kids, there are wildlife games and activities from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The grand finale caps off the festivities with participants showing off their skills in the annual bird-calling contest. Scheduled activities conclude at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

"Healthy Habitat, Abundant Wildlife" is the theme of this year's festival. Vendor and exhibitor booths open at 9 a.m. with refreshments, nature-related books and native plants available for purchase.

Off-site field trip space is limited. To reserve a spot on an off-site trip, call Chinsegut Nature Center at 352-754-6722. For those traveling from out of town, a block of rooms has been reserved at the Best Western, 352-796-9481, and the Hampton Inn, 352-796-1000, at a discounted rate under "Chinsegut Birding and Wildlife Festival."

Chinsegut Nature Center is just north of Brooksville off U.S. 41. From I-75, take State Road 50 west to Brooksville, go north on U.S. 41 7 miles to County Road 476, and go west 1 mile to the entrance gate on the left. Admission is free.

Space for additional vendors is still available. Anyone interested in exhibiting items based on the festival's nature-based theme may call 352-754-6722 or visit MyFWC.com/Chinsegut for information.

__________________________________________________
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Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Job Announcement--Gainesville, FL

"Parks, Geoffrey R." <parksgr@CITYOFGAINESVILLE.ORG> wrote:

Please circulate this to anyone who may be interested:

The City of Gainesville's Nature Operations Division is currently seeking a Habitat Naturalist. This is a full time regular position involved in all aspects of natural resource management in more than 20 natural areas in and around Gainesville, FL. Duties include planning and implementing invasive plant control, vegetation and wildlife monitoring, prescribed fire, GIS mapping, ecological restoration, planning trails and other facilities, overseeing grants and contracts, and writing natural area management plans. This position is being re-advertised; previous applicants will be considered and need not re-apply. More information can be found at http://agency.governmentjobs.com/gainesville/default.cfm

Geoffrey R. Parks

Habitat Naturalist

Nature Operations Division

Station 66, Box 490

Gainesville, FL 32602

Office: (352) 334-2227; Cell: (352) 316-4992

Going Green Tampa Bay EXPO this Saturday - April 12

What Going Green Tampa Bay Expo

When Saturday, April 12, 2008 10:00am to 4:00pm

Where USF SunDome – Fowler Avenue, Tampa

Attendees This event is free and open to the public.

The

Planning Commission is a sponsor of the Going Green Tampa Bay Expo which will feature workshops, discussions, films, displays and vendors, as well as special exhibits and activities for children.

Nationally recognized speaker Samuel Nutter from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative will present "Communities for High Performance Schools"; workshops range from making Bio-Fuels with Mike Lokey, to Compost Happens and Making Rain Barrels with IFAS. Several vehicles will be on display including Lokey's bio-fuel race car, HART hybrid bus and even a Hi-Performance Electric Vehicle. Green Building Techniques will be presented; exhibitors include eco-friendly vendors, the Clean Energy Research Center, CUTR and other USF departments featuring information on Green Jobs, Engineering Without Borders along with Hillsborough County departments who will have conservation ideas for your home & yard.

For more information visit www.GoingGreenTampaBay.com or call USF at 813.974-6893

media release- Camp Bayou Open House 4/19, 8am-2pm

Media contact: Dolly Cummings

phone: 813-363-5438

Camp Bayou Open House Highlights Activities

The Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center in Ruskin will host their semi-annual Open House on Saturday, April 19 from 8am -2pm. A variety of family-friendly activities will be offered throughout the day.

8 am: Great American Cleanup begins. Volunteers help cleanup the preserve. Contact Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful to register: 813-960-5121.

9 am: Family Naturalist Program with Dolly Cummings. Today's theme: What is a Watershed? (Part of ongoing Family Naturalist Program which is a weekly watershed education and stewardship series for ages 4 through adult. conducted each Saturday from 9a.m.–10a.m., April 5–June 28, and funded by a Community Education Grant from the Alafia River Basin Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.)

10 am: Native Plants with Florida Master Naturalist Becki Stafford. Learn about native plants for the home landscape, visit the plant nursery and learn how to grow your own.

11 am: Butterfly Bing-OH with Armin Furrer. Visit the members of the Eagle Audubon Society of Sun City Center in their "Butterfly Habitat" gazebo to learn about the local butterflies and the plants they love.

11 am: Nature Writers Workshop with Diane Alvarez, PhD. Bring a poem, reflection, or story you have written about nature plus copies of your work to share or plan to read aloud. For info, contact beautyberry@tampabay.rr.com .

Noon: Spring BBQ with Pit master Frank Cummings. BBQ fundraiser- $10/person., Vegetarian items available.

1 pm: Wetland Walk-n-Wade with Camp Bayou volunteer. Take a walk through the wetlands to the river to see what critters we can net. Your feet WILL get wet!

Ongoing activities throughout the day include:

- Fossil Museum and fossil pit (dig for small fee) with Paleo volunteers.

- Nature Center open- check out the exhibits and free resources.

- Nature Arts in Classroom with Jeri Hundertmark.

- 3 trails through varied habitats, guided walks every hour on the half hour.

- Friends of Ucita- Learn about Florida's Native People with Florida Master Naturalist Fred Jacobson.

- Native People's Camp- created by Eagle Scouts from Troop #11.

- Archaeologist for a Day with Mark Dunn (simulated dig, small fee).

- Native plants for sale.

Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin. Camp Bayou is a partnership between the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. For general information and directions visit http://www.campbayou.org/ or call 813-641-8545.

Don't forget, you can find out what's new at Camp Bayou by going to www.campbayou.blogspot.com - "Camp Bayou Nature Notes". You can also access this blog and others from Camp Bayou's home page: www.campbayou.org .

###

Pictured: George Shambaugh hunts critters in the river with a group during last year's Open House.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Clean Cars coalition sign-on letter

From: "Holly Binns" <holly@environmentflorida.org>

Dear Colleagues,

Right now, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is developing a rule to implement the Clean Cars Program in Florida. The Clean Cars program would significantly reduce tailpipe emissions of global warming and other harmful air pollutants from cars and trucks, and is an important component of Governor Crist's goal of making Florida a leader in reducing global warming pollution. An Environment Florida analysis found that implementing the Clean Cars program in Florida will reduce global warming emissions by an amount equal to removing 13.8 million of today's cars from the road for a year, and save consumers over $4 billion at the gas pump when it is fully implemented in 2020.

Unfortunately, the auto industry is lobbying hard to convince Governor Crist and the DEP to back off of their commitment to join twelve other states in implementing the Clean Cars program here in Florida. That's why we need your help. Pasted below is a sign-on letter to DEP Secretary Sole, encouraging the DEP to move forward with adopting the Clean Cars program. Our plan is to submit this letter to the DEP as part of the official public comment record in order to demonstrate the broad support for Clean Cars from environmental, public health and consumer groups.

Please take a moment to read the letter, and email me at holly@environmentflorida.org to sign onto the letter with your name, title and the name of your organization. I would like to have all signers on the letter by Friday, April 18^th. For more information on the Clean Cars program, visit our website at http://www.environmentflorida.org/issues/global-warming/cleaner-cars-for-florida or the DEP website at http://www.floridadep.org/air/rules/ghg/california.htm.

Thanks for your consideration.

Holly Binns

*******************************************
Holly Binns
Environment Florida, Field Director
Holly@EnvironmentFlorida.org
850-224-5944 Office
850-322-7845 Cell
www.EnvironmentFlorida.org
********************************************

March 28, 2008

To: Secretary Mike Sole, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Official Public Comments Regarding:
Rule Title: Adoption of California Motor Vehicle Standards
Rule #: 62-285.400
__________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Secretary Sole,

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly support the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's proposal to adopt the California Motor Vehicles Standards, also known as the Clean Cars program.

Scientists have said we need to reduce the pollution that causes global warming by 80% over the next 50 years. Governor Crist has taken a bold first step by laying out a plan that makes Florida a leader in that effort. One of the most important parts of that plan is the adoption of the Clean Cars Program, which sets limits on global warming pollution from cars, light trucks and SUVs. In adopting the Clean Cars Program, Florida will join 12 other states—California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Transportation is Florida's second largest source of carbon dioxide pollution—responsible for more than 42% of the state's emissions in 2004.^{^[1]} And because there are more cars on the road and people are driving more, the problem is only getting worse. In Florida, the Clean Cars program would cut global warming pollution 54.4 million metric tons by 2020—the equivalent of removing 13.8 million of today's cars from the road for a year.^{^[2]}

In addition, vehicle exhaust creates ground-level ozone, an air pollutant that impacts public health conditions like asthma and lung disease. Nationally, cars, pick-up trucks, vans and SUVs are responsible for nearly one-half of all smog emissions, exposure to which has been linked to increased hospital emergency room visits, asthma attacks and perhaps to the onset of asthma itself.^{^[3]} The Clean Cars program is not only an effective tool to curb global warming pollution, but will also reduce harmful air pollution, particularly in congested urban areas.^{^[4]}

On behalf of our members and supporters, we thank you and Governor Crist for your leadership in addressing this issue.

Sincerely,

Name: ______________________________________________________________________________
Title: ______________________________________________________________________________
Organization: __________________________________________________________________

^{^[1]} "The Carbon Boom: State and National Trends in Carbon Dioxide Emissions Since 1990," Environment Florida Research & Policy Center, April 2007.
^{^[2]} Calculated assuming 19.654 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gasoline, per U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program, Fuel and Energy Source Codes and Emission Coefficients, downloaded from www.eia.gov/oaif/1605/coefficients.html, 10 January 2006.
^{^[3]} U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act", downloaded from http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/peg/carstrucks.html, 25 March 2008.
^{^[4]} "Adoption of California Motor Vehicle Emissions Standards"; presentation by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air at the public workshop on Adoption of California Motor Vehicle Standards, Rule #: 62-285.400, 23 August 2007.

Volunteers needed for upcoming TBEP workdays

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is seeking volunteers for three workdays in April and May as part of its ongoing "Give A Day For The Bay" program.
The workday schedule is as follows:
Saturday, April 26 from 8:30 a.m.- 1 p.m. Taylor Park in Largo.
For this workday, we need 30-35 volunteers to help plant native wetland plants in and around the lake in the park. This will be wet, muddy and potentially hot work. Bring trowels or small shovels, please. Kids 14 and older are welcome, but must be accompanied by a parent.
Co-sponsored by the Pinellas County Parks & Recreation Department
Saturday, May 10 from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.Ruskin Commongood ParkSoutheast Hillsborough County.
We need 35 volunteers to plant about 2,000 mangroves, leather ferns, needlerush, and other marsh plants along a large drainage ditch that is part of a county-owned environmental lands parcel a few blocks from US 41 South in Ruskin. Kids 14 and older are welcome, but must be accompanied by a parent. Volunteers need to bring small spades, shovels or trowels and expect to get muddy.
Co-sponsored by the Hillsborough County Invasive Species Task Force.
Saturday, May 31 from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.War Veterans Memorial Park in St. Petersburg
We need 25-30 volunteers to plant coastal plants such as red cedars, sweet acacia, sea grapes and saw palmettos along the shoreline. These are larger plants that will take some "muscle power" to get in the ground. Kids 12 and older are welcome, but must be accompanied by a parent.
Co-sponsored by the Pinellas County Parks & Recreation Department
All Give A Day For The Bay volunteers will receive a free lunch and t-shirt for helping to restore a part of the Tampa Bay watershed. Volunteers are also asked to bring gloves, closed-toed shoes, water bottles, sunscreen and bug spray.
Pre-registration is required. To sign up for any of the workdays, e-mail nanette@tbep.org or call Nanette at (727) 893-2765.

Monday, April 7, 2008

ELAPP/Pat Bean editorials

Hillsborough administrator wrong on land-buying program

Published Friday, April 4, 2008 - St. Petersburg Times

Whether it's the company she keeps, or the job she wants to, Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean has a dizzying capacity to tailor her judgment to what she presumes is the prevailing political wind of the moment. The latest example is Bean's dismissal of the county's environmental land-buying program. The Tampa Tribune quoted Bean as saying the program had served its purpose. "At a time when people are struggling to put food on their tables," Bean said, "do we ask them for more money to keep buying land?"

Well, asking them would be a start. Yet that's not even a step Bean would consider. The other day, she canceled a meeting of a citizens advisory committee, whose purpose was to organize a public poll on whether to extend the land-buying program.

The Environmental Land Acquisition and Protection Program, or ELAPP, dates to 1987. It sets aside a portion of property tax revenue to buy environmentally sensitive land. Since the tax was reauthorized in 1990, the program has acquired nearly 44,000 acres of land — along creeks and rivers, in lowlands and woods that development would irreversibly spoil. The program is one of the county's real success stories. It has helped preserve riverfronts, parkland and shorelines, and rural lifestyles in the fourth-largest community in the nation's fourth-largest state.

But Bean questioned whether voters would support reauthorizing the program, which ends in 2011, in the current, antitax climate. She also diminished the ecological value of land still available, saying "it's land that's been disturbed in some way." Bean should check her notes. The antitax scare is an old canard; skeptics made the same argument in 1990, before the referendum passed with 73 percent of the vote. Her idea that ELAPP served its purpose also doesn't square. The county noted in February, in a memo, that it was "pursuing properties that could exhaust nearly all (the) currently available funding." And looking ahead, the memo states: "ELAPP could use between $200- and $450-million" — a sum requiring reauthorization. Bean also ignores that about 40 percent of the $187-million the county has spent on preservation has come from outside, matching funds.

There should be no question about extending ELAPP. It also makes sense to rebuild the program during this depressed real estate market, when private land owners might be willing to sell worthy properties at better prices. The only debate should be about when to go to the voters, and how ambitious the financing plan should be. Bean undermines that effort by raining on ELAPP. She should stop trying to create wiggle room for her elected commission bosses to backtrack from this commitment.

____________________________

Hillsborough Needs Administrator To Push Hard For ELAPP

The Tampa Tribune - Published: April 5, 2008

Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean insists she supports continuing the county's program to buy environmentally valuable lands.

But she's been strangely reluctant to take the steps necessary to keep the conservation effort going after it sunsets in January 2011.

Supporters would like to hold a voter referendum on extending the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program - or ELAPP - in August, but Bean put a stop to a poll that would have gauged public support.

"We've bought over 48,000 acres," Bean told the Tribune's Mike Salinero. "At a time when people are struggling to put food on their tables, struggling to pay their property taxes, do we ask them for more money to keep buying land?"

That doesn't sound like someone who's enthusiastic about keeping more woodlands, shorelines and river corridors in their natural state.

The poll might have told Bean that the public is more enlightened about the value of land conservation than she thinks. Without question, Hillsborough residents are frustrated with sprawling development, traffic and water shortage problems.

No one is suggesting an increase in the slight levy that funds land preservation. The goal is to get voter approval to extend the program another 10 years. If levied at the full quarter-mill, the program costs about $50 a year for a $225,000 house with a homestead exemption. Since it's levied at .2219 mills now, the figure is only $44.

That's a pittance to pay for preserving the area's rapidly disappearing natural lands and avoiding the high costs - traffic, water shortages, crime, pollution - that taxpayers bear when these tracts are paved over.

Bean also frets that with the county focused on spending more than $500 million on transportation projects, streamlining the budget and other issues, her staff doesn't have time to create a campaign.

"We've got time ... what's the necessity of doing this in August?" she asks. She would prefer to hold the vote in 2010. "We don't want to move too fast. We don't have a team put together. We don't have a strategy."

But why wait for the program to reach its final months before re-upping it? Doesn't good planning require knowledge about future resources?

A team and strategy could be developed if ELAPP were a priority. Citizens groups led prior campaigns. And they didn't face a hard sell, either. Voters have overwhelmingly supported the program in two prior votes.

ELAPP has been a smart deal for taxpayers. It allows the county to maximize its purchasing power by partnering with a state and even a federal program. Over 20 years, the program has spent about $187 million on 43,600 acres in the county, but $76 million - or 40 percent - came from other sources.

Citizens essentially run the program. A committee of volunteers oversees its policies. A group with environmental knowledge helps select sites and a group with real estate expertise helps oversee the negotiations. Public hearings are held throughout what's been a scandal-free process.

The program even helps developers, increasing the value of surrounding lands.

Despite its success, many significant wilderness tracts in Hillsborough remain threatened. The citizens' group has identified another 44,000 acres that should be protected.

Bean seems to want to minimize the need to save these lands by characterizing them as "disturbed." Portions of some have been farmed or ranched. But if being "disturbed" by humans disqualifies a wilderness for preservation, then little of Florida's natural lands, including most of its state parks and the Everglades, would have been saved.

Perhaps Bean is right that with the economy in trouble, now is not the best time for the vote. But the poll she squashed would have made that clear.

No poll is necessary to realize that rapidly urbanizing Hillsborough badly needs a land preservation program - and a county administrator committed to its preservation.

Hillsborough County Chapter- FMNP Blog

Friday, April 11, 2008

No Child Left Inside Congressional Field Hearing on April 22nd!

Job opening -- Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Scientist