Refuge receives $75K for invasive plant management
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently awarded the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge $75,000 on behalf of the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The Sanibel refuge will use the monies for invasive plant management at the upland portion of the new 68-acre Lee Anne Tauck Conservation Tract.
In partnership with Lee County Conservation 20/20, the DDWS worked to raise $9.5 million to acquire the tract — the largest remaining Sanibel parcel of undeveloped land on Sanibel — in 2019. It had been deeded for up to 29 luxury homes. As an important corridor between the refuge and Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation lands, the property originally known as Wulfert Bayous was deemed critical to the refuge’s conservation mission. The refuge now manages the acres as part of the Sanibel complex.
Last year, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation awarded $5,309,000 to the refuge to further plans for restoring the tract’s wetlands. The DDWS partnered on the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund grant application, aimed at restoring bird populations affected by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
“This new funding will apply to the tract’s acreage not considered wetlands,” DDWS Executive Director Birgie Miller said. “Whereas the BP grant will help rehabilitate habitat for refuge shorebirds, the FWC funding will help the refuge protect gopher tortoises, bobcats and other upland species.”
The DDWS previously had applied unsuccessfully for the funding, but with the assistance of Cathy Olson with Pennoni Associates Inc., the application resubmission was successful. She is helping refuge staff with the requirement to complete the invasive species removal project within one year’s time as required by the FWC. Currently, the team is seeking bids for the work.
“A huge thank you to Cathy for her help with this crucial project in ridding the Lee Anne Tauck Conservation Tract of nonnative vegetation that hinders the survival of native species,” Miller said. “We rely on partners in the public and private sector to fulfill the refuge conservation mission, and this is one more example of how beneficial collaboration can be.”