Local Places, Local Faces

Friends of the Crystal River Refuge Meeting

January 28, 2014 by KTgreen

I first moved to Florida in 1982. Since that time, I’ve lived many places and traveled the country. At one point Terry and I were on a mission to find the perfect place to retire and checked on real estate in Houston, Estes Park, Knoxville, and many areas of Florida. We ended up in a house on a canal in Old Homosassa.

For me, its always been about the water but I didn’t want to live in a condo on a beach or even on a busy river. We choose a quiet house across from the Chassahowitzka Nature Preserve with very little boat traffic but daily views of sawgrass, native birds, otters, and the occasional visit from a manatee, alligator or dolphin. My camera with zoom lens attached always sets on my kitchen table, ready to catch those special moments.

Now that Terry is finally retired we will be spending more time exploring the Nature Coast and all the wonders it has to offer. This year we have already visited Bluebird Springs and Three Sisters Springs, both for the first time, and will continue these ventures by land and from the water.

On Sunday, Terry and I attended the annual meeting of the Friends of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. I knew little about the organization. We met a volunteer during our visit to Three Sisters Springs who invited us to the meeting and we thought “why not?”

Ross Knudsen, president, opened the business part of the meeting. John Moran, nature photographer, was the guest speaker. Along with his slide show of the decay of the springs which he has been photographing since the 70s, he was an interesting and motivating speaker. State Senator Charlie Dean, Chair of the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation, attended the meeting in order to meet Moran. Senator Dean said that saving our water is top on his agenda for his remaining three years in office. He suggested that the attendees become involved by writing their legislators plus attending local meetings of the water board. In our case that would be Southwest Florida Water Management District, SWFWMD. John Moran said that he was a lobbyist — representing the future and asked Dean to join him in the State Clean Water Rally on February 18.

Ross Knudsen and John Moran — Ross Knudsen, president of the Friends of the Crystal River, and John Moran, photographer.

I am aware of the decline of our water systems and have despaired that the situation could only get worse. But after the meeting I could see a slight glimmer of hope. Perhaps some of the damage could be reversed if more of us become involved, so we’ll be sending our membership fee in to join the group and looking at volunteer opportunities in the future.

And some of my photos of our waterways….

Manatee Mania

January 22, 2014January 21, 2014 by KTgreen

Here on the Nature Coast, we take our manatees pretty seriously….

Manatee art — We all have lots of manatee art

Park entrance — We use them for directions

Manatee Board — We bring them to weddings

mailboxmanatee — We ask them to protect our mail

Manatee Festival — And we actually attend even though we know 10,000 people will be there

Manatee mother and child

So why can’t we save them?

According to the most recent report that I could find for 2013, as of Dec. 13, 2013, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute shows we lost 803 manatees. 16 percent of the state’s population. The most since the state started keeping records in the 70’s.

But according to the same source, the good news was that only 71 were killed by boats. Well below the record of 95 in 2012.

So sad.

Three Sisters Springs

January 20, 2014 by KTgreen

Last year Terry and I attempted to ride our bikes the entire length of the Withlacoochee State Trail. Oh yeah, it wasn’t that big of a deal, we did several rides–manageable sections of about 10-mile round trips. We made it through most of it, learned a little about the town at each trail head, and finished by participating in the annual Rails-to-Trails ride.

This year I’d like to get to know more about the waterways in our county. Yeah, I’ve wrote about Homosassa Springs and the River numerous times. Can’t help it. I love it here! This year I’m sure I’ll revisit those two and write about them a whole bunch more. But we’re venturing out to the surrounding communities and checking out other springs, rivers, and lakes.

My first stab at that was last week when I wrote about Bluebird Springs. Mostly just pics on my blog, but I did do some research and posted about Bluebird Springs on the Chronicle blog if you would like to know a little more.

On Sunday, Terry and I attended the Crystal River Manatee Festival–mainly so we could go to Three Sisters Springs which is only open to the public for special events. There is no parking at the springs so you either have to walk from King’s Bay Plaza on Hwy 19 or catch a shuttle at the festival. We chose to pay the entry fee for the festival and ride the bus. That turned out to be a wise move since the road is long and not made for walking!

We wanted to be there early, hoping to arrive before the crowds. Another smart choice! By the time we left, that place was crazy busy. Since access is limited, both the locals and tourists take advantage of an opportunity to see this special place.

It has been very cold here the last few days so we expected to see plenty of manatees. (Manatees can not handle cold weather and flock to the Florida springs which are always 72 degrees.)

I was quite surprised to see all the kayaks and snorkelers in the springs since they are often closed off when it gets cold to give the manatees room to stay warm.

There is a section between the springs that is about 8 or 9 feet wide that manatees, kayakers and swimmers share. While we watched, the manatees swam underneath the snorkelers to get to the next spring.

Three Sisters Springs

Part of the spring is a manatee sanctuary–cordoned off for the manatees so they can rest and stay warm undisturbed.

Three Sisters Springs

Outside of the shelter and lined along the canal were numerous tour groups.

Three Sisters Springs

The raised boardwalk provided many places to see the water and appreciate the native Florida plants.

Three Sisters Springs

Three Sisters Springs is a beautiful place. The City of Crystal River, along with several Government agencies purchased the property in July 2010, saving it from private development. The city depends on “eco-tourism” and wants the park open to the public as soon as possible. But there are obstacles. One I read about was that people that live there do not want tourists looking into their back yards. After finally going to the spring and seeing all the tour boats, snorkerlers, and kayakers, I have a hard time understanding how limiting access to the boardwalk would eliminate that issue. The river is never closed and the tour operators make their living bringing tourists in to swim with the manatees. Even the kayakers can put in at King’s Bay and it’s a quick paddle to the spring.

The road into the park goes through a residential neighborhood. A new road will need to be built. In addition, there are plans for a visitor and education center. One guide we spoke with said that it will cost $11 million to get the park open full-time.

A representative from the Southwest Water Management District said that they are currently working on turning part of the park into a watershed. Water draining from local businesses and parking lots will no longer go directly into Crystal River but go through the watershed and first be cleaned.

Until the park is open full-time, we’ll be visiting during these special events. In addition, we’re planning a kayaking venture to check it out from the water–on a warm day and during the week!