Greetings, We had our Loxahatchee Strategic Planning Meeting in February with a good turnout, in person and via zoom. If you missed it, we missed you! Here are some highlights. We will be creating more action points.
We watched a video by Elizabeth Johnson, Marine biologist, policy expert, writer in love with climate solutions -AEJ TED Talk "How to Find Joy in Climate Action . The video is a guide for completing your own Climate Action Venn Diagram. Very inspiring and worth watching again! Live link! We don’t want to do things that no one wants to do. We need to focus on what brings us, if not “Joy,” at least “Satisfaction.” So many ideas were thrown out, it was hard to sort out which ones stuck to the wall. There is no limit to what we can think of, but sorting out what we have the capacity to do was the mission.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT). Everyone in attendance was allowed to vote for two things. This will be reviewed during future ExCom Agendas, every 2-3 months.
Loxahatchee Group Strategic Plan 2025 will be incorporated into future ExCom Agendas, to be reviewed every month.
Announcing Loxahatchee Strategic Goals for 2025: What we will be focusing on this year. What we will be spending our personal and financial capital on. · Preserve Natural Habitat, Protect Palm Beach County Natural Areas · Fundraise · Increase Number of Active Members · Stop the Palm Beach County Incinerator
GENERAL MEETING SATURDAY MARCH 22, 2025, 9:30-11:30 AM
Conservation Ranger Camp Presented by Nicole Prieto
What: Program includes a video and discussion of the Conservation Ranger Camp
When: Light Breakfast: 9:30-10:00 AM Program: 10:00-11:00 AM Nature Walk: 11:00-11:30 AM
Where: Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Visitor Center, 10216 Lee Rd, Boynton Beach, FL 33473
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is just one of many National Wildlife Refuges across the country that work to protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Refuge is uniquely positioned to advance this mission due to its proximity to over 6 million Palm Beach County residents. It collaborates with partners, including local non-profits, in order to offer engaging, educational programs that are designed to foster strong, meaningful partnerships with local communities.
Conservation Ranger Camp (CRC) is one example of the Refuge’s programs. The 5-day camp was created in partnership with Standfirm Outreach, a nonprofit based in Belle Glade that serves at-risk youth through mentorship. CRC introduces students to a variety of careers in conservation and engages the participants in healthy, outdoor recreational activities. CRC hopes to inspire a sense of stewardship in the participants.
Nicole Prieto graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies. Through her involvement with the university’s arboretum, Ms. Prieto developed a love for engaging the public with their local natural areas. After graduation, she spent three years working within the horticulture industry and then pivoted to work for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. An internship through the Hispanic Access Foundation allowed her to become the Urban and Community Engagement Fellow at the Refuge, where she focused on programs and building partnerships in the community. Last November she was hired as a permanent park ranger.
Joint Meeting with the Martin County Chapter of the Native Plant Society
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL HELPS BEAT INVASIVE PLANTS
The Loxahatchee Group’s first joint meeting with the Martin County Chapter of the Native Plant Society featured Allen Dray, Allen Dray, Director of the United States Department of Agriculture Invasive Plant Research Laboratory (IPRL).
Dr. Dray’s presentation focused on the use of insects and micro-organisms in our fight to reduce invasive species in Florida. The mission of the IPRL is to address the complex and multi-faceted problems of exotic plant invasions in natural and agricultural ecosystems.
Invasions by exotic plants is one of the most serious threats to the health and integrity of our native Florida ecosystems. Managing pest plant populations is critical to restore the function and biological diversity of these systems.
Are you sick and tired of trying to kayak through waterways choked with water hyacinth? How about walking through dead zones created by Australian pines or melaleuca? Email your state representative and ask that they consider Florida Invasive Species Category 1 Invasives as noxious weeds, thus banning their sale and distribution.
For more information about the work of the IPRL, Go Here
February Clean-up of Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve
The third Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area clean-up of the Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve on February 12 was a resounding success. Twenty-nine folks volunteered, including Loxahatchee members Randy and Sabrina Carle, Richard Stowe, Mike Fitzpatrick and Micheline Many. The volunteers represented a number of other organizations too, including the Department of Environmental Resources, the Florida Wildlife Commission, South Florida Water Management District, and The Town of Tequesta Parks and Recreation. Also represented were the Florida Conservation Corps, Palm Beach County School District, City of Boynton Beach, and Chris Lockhart, the invaluable Environmental Consultant to Boynton Beach.
The professionals and Sierra Club volunteers worked from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, while Loxahatchee Group Treasurer Lila Kipp and Lisa Hanley, the group’s public lands chair, helped teachers and the school districts’ environmental and conservation coordinator, Lisa Toy, escort three, very enthusiastic classes of second and third graders through the nature trail. The students were also treated to a riveting presentation by Michelle Metzler of the Youth Environmental Alliance who brought along her rescued African spurred tortoise (gopher tortoises were not available, perhaps on holiday?).
The highlight of the talk? The tortoise pooped on Michelle! The most frequent questions asked during the walks were, “Are there snakes in here?” “Is that a snake up that tree?” “Is that a snake hole?” No snakes were seen. The kids were also amazed that they were walking on “a beach” a.k.a., the Atlantic Coastal Ridge.
The day was so successful that the organizers are planning on holding a third clean up on March 29th. Want to help? Register HERE
Sierra Club Paddling the Upper Loxahatchee
Upcoming Outings
Sunday Mar. 2, 10 a.m. Paddle South Fork of St. Lucie River Leisurely three-hour paddle on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River in Stuart. No rentals available, suitable for paddleboards too. Rest stop halfway through. For information and registration Trip Leader: Ron Haines Ron Haines
Wednesday March 5, 10 a.m., Paddle at Okeeheelee Park South in West Palm Beach This is a leisurely, two-hour paddle on the water trail at Okeeheelee Park South. The park is at 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach. For information and registration. Trip Leader: Ron Haines
Sunday Mar. 9, 10 a.m., Upper Loxahatchee River Leisurely 3-4 hour paddle in the backwaters of Riverbend Park in Jupiter. Rentals available. Two portages required. For information and registration Trip Leader: Ron Haines
Sunday Mar. 16, 10 a.m., Paddle at Okeeheelee Park South in West Palm Beach This is a leisurely, two-hour paddle on the water trail at Okeeheelee Park South. The park is at 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach. For information and registration. Trip Leader: Ron Haines
Thursday Mar. 27, 10 a.m., Paddle at Okeeheelee Park South in West Palm Beach This is a leisurely, two-hour paddle on the water trail at Okeeheelee Park South. The park is at 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach. For information and registration. Trip Leader: Ron Haines
Saturday Mar. 29, SERVICE OUTING. Cleanup at Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve in Boynton Beach See article above about our cleanup there in February. Join us this month!. For information and registration Leader: Lisa Hanley
Tuesday April 1, 10 a.m., Paddle at Okeeheelee Park South in West Palm Beach This is a leisurely, two-hour paddle on the water trail at Okeeheelee Park South. The park is at 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach. For information and registration. Trip Leader: Ron Haines
Please come out and help at Sierra Club Tabling Events
Enjoy a beautiful day in some of our great State and County Parks!
Please volunteer to help us meet with the environmentally-minded public and introduce them to our local initiatives at our Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group Table.
Saturday, March 8, 2025 Nature Fest MacArthur Beach State Park 10 900 Jack Nicklaus Dr, North Palm Beach, FL 33408 9:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday, April 19, 2025 Earth Day Celebration Okeeheelee Nature Center Palm Beach County Okeeheelee Park 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33413 9:00am – 4:30pm
TO VOLUNTEER: Please contact Glenn Laufer 561-254-2286 or email glaufer7@gmail.com
Danny Parker measuring reflectance with an Eppley Precision Pyranometer on a Cocoa Beach roof in 1995. (Photo: Stephen Spencer, FSEC)
This Cool House: Keeping Your Cool Amid the Heat
Loxahatchee Group’s Energy Committee Inaugural Zoom Public Meeting
by Richard Stowe
Thursday, March 6, 2025, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Energy Committee will be looking at the demand side of energy consumption and supply side of energy production. We welcome new members. You don’t have to be an expert! We are looking for people who can help plan meetings, have writing and/or communication skills and are interested in recruiting speakers for Zoom or in-person meetings. We plan to have quarterly meetings on Thursday evenings.
Our first speaker is Danny Parker, a research scientist at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center since 1988. As a principal research analyst at the center, he studies low-energy buildings globally and serves as an expert on low energy cooling and zero energy buildings. This includes his pioneering work on cool roofing materials and design, implementation and monitoring of Florida’s first Zero Energy Home, which is in Lakeland.
Danny’s patented high efficiency ceiling fan was the genesis of a new Energy Star program for ceiling fans and is to date the university’s most successful patent. As a member of the Building America U.S. Department of Energy Partnership for Improved Residential Construction, Danny has tested and evaluated many high efficiency technologies. He has studied how a warming climate will alter building efficiency objectives for the European Commission. Danny is lead or contributing author in 124 published peer-reviewed research papers. His study “Comparative Evaluation of Roofing Systems on Residential Cooling Demand in Florida” verified that white metal roofs run cooler than any other roof construction.
The Loxahatchee Group has endorsed candidates in Lake Worth Beach, Royal Palm Beach and Jupiter. The candidates below would appreciate your vote
Lake Worth Beach: Christopher McVoy for Commissioner District 2
We are endorsing incumbent Christopher McVoy for the second time.
Christopher McVoy has a doctorate in soil science and is a dedicated advocate for protecting our environment.
He has spent over a decade fighting against million-dollar giveaways to wealthy developers to better focus tax-payer dollars on the people of Lake Worth Beach.
Lake Worth Beach: Reinaldo Diaz for Commissioner District 4
We are endorsing incumbent Reinaldo Diaz for the second time.
Reinaldo Diaz founded Lake Worth Waterkeeper, a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization that advocates for the Lake Worth Lagoon and its watershed.
He is on the board of directors for both the Everglades Coalition and the Florida Wildlife Federation.
He cites Smart Growth and Infrastructure as the two top issues facing the city.
Royal Palm Beach Village Council: Sylvia Sharps for Group 3
Sylvia Sharps has a long history of advocating for the residents of our western communities, which are the most affected by sugar cane burning.
She was a vocal leader in their campaign to Stop the Burn and, while working for the county, she was instrumental in obtaining funding to improve the canal and waterway system.
She is an active member of Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group.
Jupiter Town Council: Cameron May for Mayor
Incumbent Cameron May is dedicated to protecting our waterways.
He participates in public beach clean-ups, as well as private clean-ups when on his boat.
He said he has considered strengthening Jupiter’s fertilizer bans from June 1-Nov. 31, installing solar power on two proposed fire stations, creating oyster beds to help the Loxahatchee River and supporting programs to eliminate waste.
Jupiter Town Council: Linda McDermott for District 2
Linda McDermott is committed to ensuring that Jupiter preserves its delicate ecosystems and habitats.
She feels that any projects that would jeopardize these unique treasures must be avoided.
She hopes to make a positive contribution by using her grant writing skills to procure available grants for environmentally-friendly projects for Jupiter.
Jupiter Town Council: Teri Grooms for District 1
Teri Grooms is a founding member of the Jupiter Inlet Foundation, which works to preserve seagrass at the Jupiter Inlet and oyster beds in the Loxahatchee River.
Teri plans to safeguard Jupiter’s waterways, parks, and open spaces for future generations, while promoting responsible growth and environmental stewardship.
She is also endorsed by the Professional Firefighters/Paramedics of Palm Beach County Local 2928 and the Palm Beach Post.
Amanda Landazury with her 2024 Alan Parmalee Scholarship plaque
The Alan Parmalee Memorial Scholarship
Please help the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group fund the Alan Parmalee Memorial Scholarship.
Our group provides an annual $2000 scholarship to a deserving student from The Gale Academy of Environmental Science and Technology at Forest Hill Community High School in West Palm Beach. Graduating students in the Academy who apply for the scholarship are interviewed by Loxahatchee Group members and others on the interview panel. Scholarship monies are sent to the college or university that the winning student will attend.
If you would like to learn more about the Academy, Go Here
Member Highlights
Here’s what some of our members have been up to. Send news about your activities to Linda Smithe for inclusion in the next Turtle Tracks. This month we have three things to tell you about.
ONE: you can join two of our members and get your name on one of these...
Linda Smithe and Jessica Namath already have one of these. Check out information and classes for yourself. Go Here
TWO, please enjoy this acrostic by Gail Ladd
S eeing Nature I n all its promise. E xplore, enjoy, protect, R ecycle, reduce, R euse. A ctivate our neighbors and friends to
C onserve Earth’s resources, L ove and protect, U nderstand and teach B y example
THREE, good to know that we have a member so well-versed in all things plant!
Coffee Nervosa
Florida Friendly Shrubs and Flowers
Sierra Club member Carol Stender presented Florida Friendly Shrubs and Flowers at the Royal Palm Beach Branch Library on February 1. She was assisted by Research Librarian Cathy Burns, who developed the library’s regular gardening series, which meets on the first Saturday of each month.
Carol’s presentation educates homeowners about sustainable ways to landscape their southeast Florida properties. Uninformed gardeners tend to buy pesticide-infused non-native plants from convenient big box stores. They then spread weed-killers and fertilizers throughout their yards and, as they see problems, they spray more pesticides. This practice not only kills bugs and pollinators, depriving birds of food, but it also sends copious amounts of fertilizer into our ground water, which often runs off into canals and ultimately the ocean. The Florida Friendly presentation shows how using native plants and Florida Friendly gardening practices leads to more success, less maintenance, and saves the Florida ecology.
Carol first explained WHY Florida Friendly Gardening Practices are the only sensible approach to gardening in southeast Florida due to the intensity of the sun, demands of rainy and dry seasons and the fact that 95 to 98% of the soils in our area are sand.
She then presented a number of native shrubs, from the taller Marlberry and Simpson Stopper, the medium-sized Bahama Senna and Coffee Nervosa, to the low-lying Dune Sunflower and Scorpion Tail. A variety of native herbaceous flowering plants were also highlighted. Audience members busily took photos of various slides of the presentation. A Q & A session rounded out the presentation.
Thanks to Mindi Ogden, President of the PBC Native Plant Society, attendees went home with a native plant seedling or two to try in their home gardens.
Carol is a Gardening Consultant with National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC) and has been the local Chair for a series of Gardening Courses designed by NGC. She is a member of the Oleander Garden Club in West Palm Beach, as well as the PBC Native Plant Society, and Everglades Audubon.
Publix Bags Campaign
Our campaign to ask Publix to stop using plastic checkout bags continues. We have over 11,000 digital petitions but need more toward our goal of 20-50,000. This campaign is 4 years old, but is still relevant because we need to focus on reducing single use plastics at the beginning of the process instead of just doing litter cleanups. It is a simple thing for Publix to stop giving out plastic bags or to charge for them, and for customers to bring their own bags. This avoids the use of fossil fuels for manufacturing the plastic and would save 500-750,000 bags per year, many of which end up littering our neighborhoods and natural areas. Please sign our petition if you haven’t already done so.
IN PALM BEACH COUNTY The Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management website (ERM) might have something for you. ERM sponsors FREE naturalist-led events that will provide one-of-a-kind learning experiences while getting you outdoors hiking, photographing nature, paddling, and cycling. If you want to volunteer, you can join ERM's team to preserve, protect, and restore your eco-treasures. Events are open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis.
IN MARTIN COUNTY Go to the county’s Website and look for Things To Do on the top line. Click on it and open up a world of indoor and outdoor events and volunteer opportunities for all ages.
IN ST. LUCIE COUNTY Check out the county’s Environmental Resources Website. It is full of things to do and places to go in the county.
IN OKEECHOBEE COUNTY Go to Visit Okeechobee County and check out the Explore tab. That will take you to everything from what portions of the Florida Trail go through the county to the best place to go for airboat rides.
Get out there and get active!
Events from Sierra Club Broward Group
Earth Day on March 23
Broward Group General Meeting on April 3: NATIVE SOUTH FLORIDA PLANTS
WHO: Phil Busey, agronomy and horticulture expert and veteran Sierra Club volunteer
WHAT: Native South Florida Plants
WHEN: 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 3
WHERE: From the comfort of your couch. YOU MUST REGISTER HERE TO RECEIVE ZOOM LINK
South Florida native plants are refreshing alternatives to the endless gaudy monocultures of invasive plants and other exotics. Of some 1400 native South Florida plant species, you will be introduced to interesting and usable natives that work well in the landscape. By learning the names and stories of selected native plant species, and seeing how to identify them from photographs, it will be a pleasure to see how many you can recognize around you and see which are doing well in the landscape. The many reasons to plant natives include esthetics, practicality, and preservation.
Getting too many Sierra Club emails? Don’t hit unsubscribe! Use the Manage Preferences option at the bottom of this or any other Sierra Club email to choose what you want and what you don’t want. Please keep on subscribing to My Chapter, the first option, so you continue to receive Turtle Tracks, our local newsletter. The rest of the email options? Decide for yourself. If you have any questions, contact Ron Haines at ronaldhaines@bellsouth.net.
