Wildlife to Watch Out for This Summer

Lara Miller, Natural Resource Agent    
Michael Barr, Brooker Creek Preserve Intern  

For many people the scorching hot days of late July in Florida means beach getaways, barbequing, and watching baseball. Along with these fun summer activities, it is also a fantastic time for observing exciting wildlife activity.

If you do find yourself heading for the beach, watch your step as you may come across sea turtle nests and baby turtles as they begin to hatch in August!

July also marks the beginning of baby animal season. Young raccoons, foxes, armadillos, possums, and bobcats will begin to leave their dens for the first time and may be spotted following their parents. Keep your eye out for young alligators too! They are just beginning to hatch or already have.

If you are heading to a local park or preserve to observe these wildlife happenings, remember to bring insect repellent. Mosquitoes and chiggers are abundant this time of year. 

Florida is truly an amazing place rich in biodiversity and nature to explore. The summer months are filled with a lot exciting wildlife activity, so it’s a perfect opportunity to go out and experience some of the natural beauty that Florida has to offer.

July’s fun fact: On July 22, 1982 the first Florida bog frog was discovered in a panhandle wetland.

Sustainable Floridians Master Volunteer Program

What is sustainability and why is it important? The University of Florida has a new training program to help citizens and local government staff learn about sustainability and connect with others who are already interested in local, sustainable community projects. Sustainable Floridians is a 7-week course that provides a forum for education and action to address Florida concerns about water, transportation, energy, and land use. The program uses instructor led sessions and participant discussion to create a lively classroom learning experience. Participants receive valuable sustainable living items like rain barrels and energy saving devices to promote behavior change. There are also opportunities for ongoing learning through the UF Extension network and monthly meetings and field trips for Sustainable Floridian graduates. This program is offered to residents of Pasco and Hillsborough counties also.

In order to be considered for the program, participants must submit an application to the program coordinator (rmadhosingh-hector@pinellascounty.org). Applications are due September 7, 2012.

The next training program will be offered at Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center in Tarpon Springs. Orientation (open to anyone interested) is September 6, 2012 from 10 am to 12 noon at Brooker Creek Preserve.

Dates for Program: September 13 – October 25, 2012. Classes meet every Thursday during the 7 weeks from 9 am to 1 pm. Participants must complete the training and required volunteer hours to be considered a certified Sustainable Floridian graduate. Participants meet the 30 hour volunteer requirement and 15 hour ongoing training requirement by completing Extension approved projects. These may include working at community outreach events, writing articles, and working with schools to educate youth about sustainability. Since the launch of the program in 2011, Pinellas County has trained 47 volunteers who contributed more than 700 hours to extend the mission of Extension. Join us for this exciting program and become a part of the Sustainable Floridian network of graduates!

My Summer Internship at Pinellas County Extension

Rebecca Herrin 
2012 UF/IFAS Intern 

An internship is a great way to get a hands-on taste of what a certain company or agency has to offer. While some internships provide a spectators view with busy work, there are others that immerse you in the field. My internship at Pinellas County Extension was the latter.

I am currently a senior at the University of Florida, studying Sustainability and the Built Environment and Political Science. This summer I was the Sustainable Living Intern for Pinellas County Extension and I spent a majority of my time working with Libby Carnahan, the Sea Grant Extension Agent, at Weedon Island Preserve. Working with the Sea Grant Extension Agent has been a rewarding experience, as I have been able to develop an understanding of coastal resilience. Although I am a native of Pinellas County (born and raised in Largo), I never really appreciated (or understood) the concept of coastal sustainability!

I spent roughly eight weeks with Extension and I experienced a little of everything from sitting at the Lawn and Garden desk conversing with the Master Gardener Volunteers to canoeing the mangrove tunnels of Weedon Island. I dug up sweet potatoes at the 4H garden, helped host a hurricane preparedness workshop, and attended a nutrition class geared towards a group of adults getting their lives on the right track. The public certainly appreciated the classes, events, information and resources provided by Extension. At a rain barrel workshop, the ecstatic attitudes were demonstrated in more people showing up than we had barrels. Other participants were excited to meet like-minded people. One attendee said she was so happy to see so many people excited about water conservation. 

The University of Florida is a land-grant university that has been in existence since Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act 150 years ago! Land grant universities educate the public and provide research on agricultural and mechanical processes and improvements. Although very little agriculture remains in Pinellas County, the extension services thrive by adapting to the varying needs of its constituents and its purpose has expanded to involve solutions for every aspect of urban life. 

My internship allowed me to experience all aspects of extension and allowed me to see the value of every department. Every day was a different day at Extension, but the variety only drew me closer to the idea of Extension after graduation. Each agent I worked with had a passion for his or her field and a plethora of knowledge. Extension fosters that creativity and enthusiasm, making this internship a rewarding experience and possible career choice after college.

Florida Style Gardening Workshop

July 21, 2012
8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Tarpon Springs City Hall
324 E. Pine Street, Tarpon Springs 34689

Join Florida-Friendly Landscaping TM specialists to learn the basics about how to create and maintain an attractive, Florida-Friendly landscape that saves water, time, and sweat!

Workshops are FREE 
Pre-Registration is suggested as seating is limited!

Call 727-893-2500 x1086
Or email bryantro@pcsb.org
Please provide name, phone number, and number of attendees. 

Home Improvement

Ramona Madhosingh-Hector
Urban Sustainability Agent

Homeowners will admit that no matter what season of the year there’s always a project to be done around the house. Some examples of projects include organizing closets, redecorating rooms, painting and appliance upgrades. The consumer market is full of greener choices for all of your home projects and the Tampa Bay Home Show will provide a great opportunity for you to explore new ideas and innovations for your home.

One of the easiest home improvement projects that you can do in your home is to update lighting fixtures. New lighting fixtures can add dimension while increasing functionality and style in any room. The type of bulb you choose for this lighting fixture can also save you money over the lifetime of the fixture. New lighting choices now include energy saving incandescent bulbs per the 2012 lighting standards, compact florescent lamps and light emitting diodes. When compared to a traditional incandescent bulb, there are significant savings potential as you move up the lighting spectrum –

• Energy saving incandescent – 25% more efficient and can last up to 3x longer 
• CFL (compact florescent lamp) – 75% more efficient and can last up to 10x longer 
• LED (light emitting diode) – 75% to 80% more efficient and can last up to 25x longer 

Check out the videos at these links that explain the differences between the new lighting technologies and use the information to shop for the light you need by using lumens instead of watts. http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=11975 
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=11976 

For the past three years, the Pinellas Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP) has focused on energy conservation and behavioral strategies that you can adopt to save money in your home. PEEP has distributed compact florescent lamps as well as light emitting diodes. Check out the PEEP booth at the Tampa Bay Home Show this weekend to receive a manual powered LED flashlight – a must have for hurricane season.

Resources:
Energy Efficient Homes: Easy Steps to Improving Your Home’s Energy Efficiency
Avoiding Fraud and Deception
Design Strategies for a Sustainable Home Landscape
Green Guard

Are you Prepared for Hurricane Season?

Libby Carnahan, Pinellas County Sea Grant Agent

Where will you go?  What should you pack?  Is your home secure?  Are You Really Prepared?  Join Pinellas County Extension and other county partners for a FREE Hurricane Preparedness Workshop for local residents at Weedon Island Preserve on Saturday, June 16^th at 9am.

Tom Iovino, Pinellas County Emergency Management spokesman, will deliver the Keynote address.  He will present the history of hurricanes in Tampa Bay and discuss the potential threat from a storm this season.  Experts from the University of Florida and Pinellas County Animal Services will deliver sound advice on preparing your home, family, finances, pets, and waterfront in the event of a storm.

Each participant will walk away with a reusable insulated tote back full of informative resources including a manual LED Flashlight.  Refreshments will be provided. 

Door prizes include a complete set of Tires donated by TiresPlus and an Energy Efficiency kit provided by the Pinellas Energy Efficiency Project, all valued at more than $500!

Registration is limited, reserve your seat by going online to http://hurricanepreparedness.eventbrite.com/.  Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center is located at 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33702. For questions, call (727) 453-6522.



Does Money Grow on Trees?

Lara Miller
Natural Resource Agent 


Money can grow on trees! The ability to compare the value of natural lands to developed lands was historically difficult until the concept of "environmental services" was developed. Environmental services include things such as: clean air, clean water, aesthetics, and non-timber forest products. Complex models have been created to estimate the monetary value of these products and services. Another way to look at it is: how much would it cost technology to replicate the services that trees provide naturally?

By placing a monetary value on environmental services, different land uses can be compared apples to apples. For example, a 2007 study determined that Tampa’s urban forests removed approximately 1,360 tons of air pollution with an estimated value of $6.4 million.

Casey Trees and Davey Tree Expert Co. developed The National Tree Benefit Calculator to help determine the monetary value of the very trees that exist in our backyard. Using this calculator, the overall benefits of a 36 inch (diameter) live oak tree in a single-family residential neighborhood of Clearwater, FL was determined to be worth $303 every year. Benefits are broken down into different categories including: stormwater, property value, energy, air quality, and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Human development can increase impervious surfaces such as concrete and asphalt that do not allow water to seep through the surface. Instead, these surfaces force water to “runoff” until it reaches soils where it can percolate into the groundwater or enter into streams, wetlands, rivers or oceans. Trees help increase the infiltration rate and storage of rainwater through the tree’s root system. Using the same 36 inch diameter live oak, approximately 28,552 gallons of stormwater runoff would be intercepted by this tree every year.

Trees can also help increase property value. Research shows that home buyers are willing to pay higher prices for properties with more trees compared to properties with few to none. The live oak from our example, if located in the front of a single family home, was estimated to increase property value by $173.

Shade of trees can save money too. Trees that shade the east and west walls of a building in the summer help to keep the building cooler. Also, by leaving the southern side of a building exposed during the winter months it can help warm interior spaces. Our 36 inch diameter live oak would conserve 246 kilowatt hours of electricity per year for cooling, which equals $15.44 (based on 6.28 cents per Kilowatt hour).

Improved air quality can be another benefit of trees and shrubs by absorbing pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Our sample tree is capable of reducing atmospheric carbon by 2,276 pounds. To put this into perspective, a flight from New York to Los Angeles adds 1,400 pounds of CO2 per passenger.

In summary, urban trees are beneficial in a variety of ways. Try calculating some of the trees in your yard using the online calculator. If you want to learn how to identify some of the trees in your yard, register for the upcoming Adult Ecology: Plant ID Series offered at Brooker Creek Preserve. Follow what’s going on with natural resources around Pinellas County on Twitter and/or Facebook
Additional sources of related information can be found below.

Sources:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr266 
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1050
http://treebenefits.com/calculator/index.cfm