There are disadvantages to being the newsletter editor. Our grand leader (a.k.a. Rocky) fingered me to be this month's leader.
By training, I am both a plant ecologist (PhD, U. Mich.) and a seasoned web programmer. I had a 30+ year Florida career using my plant skills and doing things from working on land use planning, conducting rare plant surveys, working on land management planning, and working with water suppliers.
I also have been programming and maintaining websites and organization membership databases since 2012. I am the person who created the native plants for landscaping database for the Florida Native Plant Society (https://fnps.org/plants).
I am currently communications chair for the Tampa Bay Group. I am the one who put this newsletter together and, if you get the official Tampa Bay Group emails, the person who sent it to you. I am also on the Excom.
For the last several years, I was Tampa Bay Group Outings Chair (now passed on to Ed Shindle).
Program Meetings
August Program Meeting
A Crash Course in Spiders and Common Spiders of the Area
Wednesday, August 14
Socialize: 6:45 pm
Program: 7:00 pm
Location: Online
Shown: Red widow spider, native to Florida scrub habitats
Speaker: Madison Heisley
Bio: Madison is a graduate student at the University of Florida. She is a spider biologist at the Taylor Lab at the university. The lab mostly focuses on spider behavioral research. She has worked with spiders for over six years and assists with teaching the yearly Spider Biology course at the University. She also does many outreach events that help educate the general public or school groups about spiders and insects.
Katherine is the Lead Communications Coordinator for the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). She has apresentation that will outline the various water conservation efforts put forth by the District. She will also talk about how we can conserve water in all areas of our lives.
"This 80-acre nature preserve includes diverse habitats, including hammock, scrub, creeks, ravines, shoreline and tidal marsh. Marked hiking trails include a 0.8-mile loop and a 1.3-mile loop. A scenic overlook on the Alafia River is a half-mile from the trailhead. Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve was purchased by Hillsborough County through the Jan K. Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) in 1998 with funding assistance from the Florida Communities Trust."
Join Ed Shindle for a relatively moderate pace bike ride averaging 7 to 10 mph. This is a 13-mile bike ride along Courtney Campbell Causeway bike trail.
We are starting at Skyway Park and biking to Ben T Davis Beach and then to the Hillsborough/Pinellas county line. We may only get to the bridge, it will depend on the group.
Learn about the history and efforts done to improve the bay.
Bike trail starts south, opposite of the baseball field.
Bicycle helmets are required to be worn by Sierra Club policy. Electric bikes ok.
Registration is required for all outings. Unless otherwise noted, outings are free though there may be site entry fees. Liability waivers are required, and anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. No pets.
Registration is required for all outings. Unless otherwise noted, outings are free though there may be site entry fees. Liability waivers are required, and anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. No pets.
ICO
Volunteer
This year we are working with the 5th grade students at Academy Prep of Tampa, St Pete, Lakeland, Leto, and Riverview High Schools, in addition to the Young Men's Leadership Corp from Plant and Berkley High Schools.
Our first ICO outing will be August 17. Need more than usual volunteers for it to be successful. No experience required just an enthusiasm for introducing 10 year olds to nature! Our motto is Get Outdoors Make Friends Have Fun! Contact Karen Kress at kress__loy@hotmail.com for more details on this outing.
If you are interested in becoming a leader or volunteering, please contact one of the leaders.
Academy Prep of St. Pete: Agency Lead, Emilie Joyce
Academy Prep of Lakeland: Agency Lead, Rocky Milburn
Policy and Legislation
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Gary Gibbons.
August Is the Time to Vote!
It's election season! The Primary Election is August 20 (with Polls open from 7 AM to 7 PM), but there is no need to wait until "Election Day" because we have early voting starting August 5-18 from 10 AM to 6 PM at several early voting locations. If you wait until August 20 to vote, you must vote in your assigned Precinct.
On the Ballot for Primary Elections are those races which are "nonpartisan"--School Board and Judicial races. Also on the August ballot are the primary races in which there are multiple people running from the same political party for the same office (with the winners appearing on the November ballot). Only voters who are registered as a member of those parties are able to cast ballots in those primaries. But, if you are a Non-Party Affiliated voter (you can still vote for School Board and Judges in August. In some instances, where there are only 2 people on the ballot in a race, it will be decided in August. Also, if a candidate in a nonpartisan race in August receives more than 50% of the vote, they will be declared the winner and will not be on the November ballot.
Because of the hyper-politicization of school board races in recent years, and because school board seats are often viewed by some candidates as a springboard to higher office, the Tampa Bay Sierra Club is interviewing candidates running in the Hillsborough County School Board races for the first time in many years. We are also making endorsements in some of the races for the Hillsborough County Commission and State House races. Some of the endorsements have been concluded in those races and some are still ongoing. Once they are completed, we will post those on our website.
In conducting our endorsement activities, Sierra Club follows a detailed, thorough process which initially focuses on the local level beginning with our Political Committee which is made up of Sierra Club members who volunteer their time to conduct research about the candidates, submit detailed questionnaires on the candidates' views on environmental issues, and we also conduct interviews with the candidates to ask follow-up questions on their views on the issues that are important to Sierra Club and its members. Our Political Committee this year is comprised of 10 volunteers who have been working hard to vet candidates in a variety of races, for several months.
Once the local Political Committee recommends endorsing a candidate, it next goes to our local Executive Committee for a vote. If the Executive Committee approves the endorsement, then the Political Chairs of the Sierra Club in the surrounding counties must also concur in the approval of the endorsement before it becomes final. For State and Federal offices, the approvals also require the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club and the national Sierra Club to vote for approval.
So, when you see that Sierra Club has endorsed a candidate, you may rest assured that they have been vetted and questioned extensively on a wide variety of environmental issues.
For a list of candidates endorsed by the Tampa Bay Sierra Club, please click on the link to the political page and then on the link to locally endorsed candidates near the bottom of the political page.
Why do we have to click on a second link in order to see the list of candidates whom the Tampa Bay Sierra Club has endorsed? The answer is required by federal tax laws.
Because Sierra Club has a charitable foundation "arm" and a separate advocacy "arm", we have special rules that have to be followed to keep our political opinions in the advocacy side of the Sierra Club organization, and keep it entirely separate from the charitable side of Sierra Club. Therefore, when we direct you to our endorsements, if we are sending them out to a group that includes Sierra Club members as well as non-members, we have to send you to a different link to view our list of endorsed candidates. Many people ask why they have to click on a different link, rather than just have those names of endorsed candidates listed in an article like this without having to make that "second click." Now you know why we have to do that--we keep our charitable fundraising separate from our political advocacy work.
We hope that you will take your civic responsibility seriously and take the time to study the candidates and the issues, and VOTE! We stand behind our endorsed candidates and hope you will share information about them to your friends and family, as we endeavor to improve the quality of the air that we breathe and the water that we need in order to survive.
Voting matters! Let your voice be heard!
Conservation
Conservation Committee Meetings
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Nancy Stevens.
Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 6:30 pm via Google Meet. Contact Nancy to get the link.
Palma Ceia Spring in Fred Ball Park
Fred Ball Park near Bayshore was once known as Palma Ceia Spring Park. The park had two springs and a creek. The spring was known for its healing powers.
Today, the spring is not in good shape. Most of the former pool is covered by dirt and grass, and considerable trash and muck has been pulled out of the current spring.
Historic
Current
A small group of people, headed by Trudi Irvine, is working to bring the spring and its run back to life.
This is a citizen led project, and it is going to need expertise, permitting, and funding. The intent is improving water flow and water quality, eventual expansion of the current spring pool, beautification, and maintaining the history of the park.
If you are interested in helping with this project including helping with a fundraiser on November 1, contact one of the following people:
The high TECO rates and request for a $20 per month rate increase have many people upset. One resident stated “My electric bill is higher than my mortgage.”
if you can,add a personal introduction line to make it unique to you.
Or email the PSC directly to clerk@psc.state.fl.us. and reference Docket #20240026.Also, note the following concerns about TECO’s rate hike increase, from the Hillsborough Affordable Energy Coalition:
Fossil fuels are not only bad for the environment, but our wallets as well. As a coalition, our bigger fight is to bring renewable energy to Hillsborough County, which would not only move our community in the right direction environmentally, but it would also lessen monthly bills for consumers
TECO has the 3rd highest bills in the country and has increased rates by 62% over the last 5 years. They are a for-profit shareholder company, which means they do not answer to consumers’ needs, but rather the to profits of their shareholders
The three energy companies in Florida, TECO, Duke, and Florida Power and Light, all lobby to the Public Service Commission (PSC), a non-elected body of individuals, for any changes to bills. This means they ask this body permission for bill increases and decreases.
Our bills are comprised of many charges, including fuel cost and base rate. Fuel cost is volatile and ever-changing, yet one more reason to break the reliance on fossil fuels
More
New Mailing Address
Tampa Bay Sierra Club has a new mailing address. This address is more convenient to key group leadership.
PO Box 20474
Tampa, FL 33622
Tampa Bay Group Mini-Grant
We just awarded a mini grant to Carrollwood Village Park (as the first mini grant by the current committee) to acquire plants, equipment, mulch for a butterfly garden in the park. Implementation was scheduled for June/July.
Give the park a little time to grow and then check it out!
(image by Tia Sylvasty)
New Pasco County Group
It has been long coming, but this group now exists! We welcome them to the area.
It includes most of Pasco County. Zipcodes along the county line best served by the Tampa Bay Group remain with the Tampa Bay Group. There are 6: 33556, 335558, 33548, 33549, 33559 and 33540.
33540 is a large zip code and covers new Tampa up into Pasco towards Zephyrhills and surrounds it 33539, perhaps leave that as part of Tampa Bay. We have ICO and Outings leaders in these zip codes in addition to the Lower Green Swamp, which is a Hillsborough County Preserve with a trail named after Kent Bailey.
One of the zip codes (33597) includes the Lower Green Swamp and Withlacoochee State Forest, which is mostly in Ancient Islands.
Manage Your Membership
To get our newsletter, you need to get emails from the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Tampa Bay Group. For multiple reasons, many people do not get our official emails.
Sierra Club members can fix this online, but legally, we cannot do it for you.
To set up your My Account access, go to myaccount.sierraclub.org and click on “Create your account.” Fill in the form on the next page with your information. It is important that you use the email address that the Sierra Club has on file for you, because this is how the system will confirm that you are a valid member. When you submit the form, you’ll receive an email at that address with instructions for setting up a password to log into your account. If you have multiple email addresses and don’t remember which one you used for Sierra Club, call Member Care at (415) 977 5653 to verify which address the Club has on file for you.
Needless to say, don't use "Unsubscribe" - either use your account or call Member Support.
Member Support: 415-977-5653
Needed Now
Graphic designer - will help create handouts for tabling events and posters. Contact Shirley Denton.
Social media - will assist our Social Media coordinator and may do things such as posting to Instagram, LinkedIn, MeetUp, Facebook. Contact Shirley Denton.
Outings leaders - will be trained to lead outings. This includes a 2-year certification (free) in basic first aid. Contact Ed Shindle.
ICO leaders will be trained to lead ICO trips. This includes a 2-year certification (free) in basic first aid. Contact Rocky Milburn.
Tabling volunteers. No experience required. Contact Emilie Joyce.
