At our Group planning meeting in February, we decided to focus on adding to our roster of volunteers. Like most non-profit, volunteer-based organizations, we rely on volunteers for almost everything. We have fun, we get training, we have opportunities to meet community leaders, and most importantly, we have the satisfaction of making a difference. Specifically, we are looking for:
Fundraising and Gala Committee Chair: Our Group’s life blood. The fundraising chair collaborates with our Executive Committee to design and execute fundraising events – with plenty of help from an established group of volunteers. The fundraising chair creates a budget and timelines, and delegates volunteer responsibilities. This volunteer position can include negotiating event space, catering, auction items, performers, etc. Ideally, the fundraising chair has experience in fundraising, possesses organizational and communication skills, and is capable of inspiring and leading a team. Word and spreadsheet skills are useful. Are you ready to lead fundraising efforts that support our children’s programs, scholarships and conservation efforts? Let me know. Together, we can drive change and protect our planet for future generations.
Events Tabling: Tabling is what the Sierra Club calls working (having fun) in our booth at community events. It is an opportunity to meet with the public, tell them what the Sierra Club is, what we do, and invite them to join. We participate in 6-8 tabling events per year.
Membership Chair: The membership chair is tasked with making sure visitors are welcomed and that we get their information. A membership chair becomes a liaison with our new members and sends them Welcome Emails, including information on how to contact the Group and participate in activities. The membership chair helps us identify member’s strengths and areas where they might like to volunteer within the Loxahatchee Group, providing them with information on how to do so, and letting committee chairs know of members who want to volunteer for their committee.
Any of the above positions could consist of one, two, or more people. Together, we can drive change and protect our planet for future generations.
We invite you to join us. Please contact me at the email address below.
Loxahatchee Group April General Meeting Thursday April 24, 6 pm
Everglades 101 and More!
Presented by Chris McVoy
Where: Lake Worth Beach Public Library, 15 North M Street, Lake Worth FL 33460. A historic building with state-of-the-art services. Program: Discussion of the Everglades 101 and more. Speaker: Chris McVoy, PhD, Soil Science, Cornell University. Commissioner McVoy is serving his second term as a Lake Worth Beach Commissioner. As a soil scientist, wetland expert, and author, Dr. McVoy has devoted most of his career to scientific support and advocacy of Everglades restoration.
Everyone, please welcome our brand-new Outing Leader Michelle Dunaway. She is the first new Loxahatchee Group outing leader in many years and we are very happy she has joined us. She has put together two interesting walks for April that should interest many of you. Please let her know you appreciate her volunteer efforts by participating in them. That's her in the photo below, second from left, on one of her recent outings.
April 9, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Yamato Scrub Natural Area. Difficulty: Easy. This is a leisurely 2-mile hike exploring scrub, flatwoods, and basin marsh habitats in the northern portion of Palm Beach County's Yamato Scrub Natural Area, 701 Clint Moore Road, Boca Raton, FL 33487. We will walk a paved trail and an uneven sandy trail with exposed roots. Group size is limited due to parking availability. Note: there are no restrooms or drinking water available on site. Leader: Michelle Dunaway For directions and more information, click here to register and sign the waiver.
Can’t make it April 9? Michelle is offering this same trip again on April 27!
April 27, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Yamato Scrub Natural Area. Difficulty: Easy. This is a leisurely 2-mile hike exploring scrub, flatwoods, and basin marsh habitats in the northern portion of Palm Beach County's Yamato Scrub Natural Area, 701 Clint Moore Road, Boca Raton, FL 33487. We will walk a paved trail and an uneven sandy trail with exposed roots. Group size is limited due to parking availability. Note: there are no restrooms or drinking water available on site. Leader: Michelle Dunaway For directions and more information, click here to register and sign the waiver.
Have you signed this petition yet?
Right to Clean Water Petition Drive We need your help!
There is an important campaign under way RIGHT NOW to get a Right to Clean Water amendment on the ballot in 2026. This amendment would create a fundamental right to clean and healthy water by legally holding Florida State executive agencies accountable for actions or inactions that harm or threaten to harm Florida’s waters.
You can help this campaign in two ways:
1. Sign the petition. Go HERE to do that. 2. Help us gather petitions from your friends, neighbors, co-workers and others. Put up a sign in your yard. Get a sticker for your car. How to do that and more is all right here!
Here's What You Missed at our March Meeting
By Carol Stender
On a beautiful Saturday morning, March 22, the Loxahatchee Group held an in-person General Meeting at the Visitor Center of the Arthur R. Marshall (ARM) Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in western Boynton Beach. The stars must have been aligned because everything went so well: • the room was crowded with members and visitors • breakfast items supplied by volunteers were exceptional, spurring greetings and conversations as everyone mingled around the buffet • Loxahatchee Group Chair Linda Smithe ran through a slide show of basic information about the Loxahatchee Group, including: • a sample list of our many activities • environmental concerns that we are addressing
Then, Nicole Prieto, Urban and Community Engagement Fellow with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at ARM Loxahatchee NWR, presented the moving story of the Conservation Ranger Camp (CRC), a program created in partnership with Standfirm Outreach, a nonprofit based in Belle Glade, with the goal of serving at-risk youth through mentorship. The CRC program introduces students to different careers in conservation and outdoor recreational activities, hoping to inspire a sense of stewardship.
A short film that followed the students through their five days at camp brought to life their amazing transformations. On Day 1, their typical comments were “EW, swamp! Ugh, I don’t like mud. NO! I’m afraid of animals!” Then we watched as they participated in five days of fishing, hiking, archery and capturing invasive frogs. We witnessed their attentiveness at presentations by professional firefighters and USFWS Inspectors who intercept contraband at the Miami airport, items including camouflaged alligator skin boots and jaguar fur bags. By Day 5, the at-risk students were totally involved and eager to follow careers that nurture the environment. We witnessed the evolution of their transformation and it was most heart-warming and inspirational.
The meeting ended with a guided walk through my favorite part of ARM Loxahatchee NWR, the Cypress Swamp Boardwalk. It’s only .4 miles, but it’s a magical wonderland. If you haven’t walked it, you really must go sometime.
If you missed the meeting, try to make the April 24th General Meeting, which also promises to be a special event. Hope to see you there.
Sierra Club Lobby Days
Join Sierra Club Florida volunteers and staff as we kick off our first meeting of 2025 with a weekend of exploring, enjoying, and protecting our wild places in Florida’s state capital!
Spring Quarterly Meeting and Lobby Day - LOCATION: Miccosukee Land Co-op Community Center - 9601 Miccosukee Rd. Tallahassee, FL 32309
Timeline: · Friday, April 11th -5:00 PM-10:00 PM: Welcome Campfire, Pizza & Social, at Miccosukee Land Co-op Community Center.
· Saturday, April 12th -9:00 AM-5:00 PM: Sierra Club Florida Spring Meeting, at Miccosukee Land Co-op. Virtual option available. For Zoom details, email javier.estevez@sierraclub.org.
· Saturday, April 12th -5:00 PM-10:00 PM: Dinner & Live Music, at Miccosukee Land Co-op Community Center.
· Sunday, April 13th -8:30 AM-10:30 AM: FL Chapter ExCom Meeting, at Miccosukee Land Co-op Community Center. Virtual option available. For Zoom details, email javier.estevez@sierraclub.org.
· Sunday, April 13th Outings on Wakulla/Wacissa River
o 11:30 AM-12:15 PM, Boat Ride at Wakulla Springs State Park, Location: Wakulla Springs, FL. Register HERE. **space is limited**
o 12:15 PM - Picnic Lunch at the Wakulla Springs State Park Pavilion. Location: Wakulla Springs, FL , food and refreshments provided.
· Sunday, April 13 6:00 PM-9:00 PM: Dinner and Lobby Day Prep at: Miccosukee Land Co-op Community Center.
· The Main Event Monday, April 14th 8:00 AM-3:00 PM: Lobby Day at the Capitol, Location: Florida State Capitol, 400 S Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32399 Meet one-on-one with your Senators, Representatives, and their Staff to discuss our environmental and conservation concerns!
Hotel Block Sierra Club Florida has reserved a block of rooms at the Staybridge Suites Tallahassee. Book by April 11 through the group booking link with the group code ‘SCF’ to receive the discounted rate. Note: Make sure ‘Group Rate’ under ‘Rate Preference’ is selected when booking. For volunteer reimbursement questions, email Javier Estevez.
Home Stays and Camping Options Email Susannah Randolph for more information.
JOIN US FOR EVERGLADES ACTION DAY APRIL 7-8
Your Invitation: A Wildflower Walk on April 5
Pine Rockland
Walk with Roger Hammer in the Wildflowers at Long Pine Key
Roger L. Hammer, renowned naturalist and author, will guide a leisurely walk among blooming wildflowers on the Long Pine Key Nature Trail in the Everglades National Park. What an exciting opportunity for Loxahatchee Group members and our Miami/Dade Group partners!
Long Pine Key Trail: This flower-power hike, a 1½-mile loop, should take about 2 hours. The hike passes through globally imperiled Pine Rocklands, Everglades prairie, and tropical hardwood hammock plant communities.
Entry into the park & facilities: Meet at 8 a.m. in the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center parking lot. Restrooms are available at the Visitor Center and 1/4 of a mile from the trailhead.
Cost: The Entrance Station is just past the Visitor Center. Entry fee is $35 per vehicle or free with a National Park Pass. We encourage those with passes to carpool with those who don’t from the Visitor Center to the Long Pine Key trailhead. A $10 donation for the Sierra Club would be welcome. Roger Hammer’s books will be available to purchase, cash or check only.
What to wear and bring: Long pants and closed toe shoes are recommended as poison ivy and poisonwood are along the trail. Bring your good humor, water, hat, sunscreen and a bagged lunch.
Roger Hammer is a native Floridian, the 1982 recipient of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award (Florida Native Plant Society, Dade Chapter), retired Senior Naturalist for the Miami-Dade Parks Department, author, survivalist instructor for the TV program Naked and Afraid, conservationist, and photographer.
It’s Earth Month- How are you celebrating?
No plans? Help us greet fellow earth lovers and share with them our local initiatives at these Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group’s tabling events.
Thursday, Apr 17, 2025, 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM - 16th Annual Earth Day Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach State College, Eissey Campus, 3160 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Connect with over 400 engaged students, faculty, and staff. Share Sierra Club's organizational mission and sustainability efforts. Inspire action through interactive exhibits and take-home learning materials. This event is an excellent opportunity to inspire mission and make a meaningful impact in our community. Working together for a cleaner greener future! Details Here.
Saturday, April 19. 2025, 9:00 AM- 4:30PM – Earth Day Celebration Okeeheelee Nature Center, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33413.
Activities will promote awareness of environmental protection and earth conservation. Come on your own or bring the whole family to celebrate one of the most important milestones in conservation history with your local nature center! Enjoy live animal encounters, eco-friendly crafts, guided nature walks, the PBSO Mounted Unit, a rehabilitated animal release, raffles to benefit the Friends of Okeeheelee Nature Center, food trucks, environmental exhibitors and vendors and much more! Come and explore all the nature center has to offer since its opening in 1992. The Friends of Okeeheelee Nature Center sponsors this year’s Earth Day event. Details Here
Please contact Glenn Laufer to volunteer 561-254-2286 or glaufer7@gmail.com
Save Our Parks Love Fest April 5
It’s not over ‘til it’s over!
Florida residents and visitors will gather again as part of a statewide Florida State Parks Love Fest to celebrate and defend Florida’s public conservation lands. The event brings together community members to highlight the importance of preserving our parks and to demonstrate to state leaders that they need to do what it takes to protect state parks from development threats.
What: Sign Waving! Horn Honking! Fun!!
When: Saturday, April 5, 2025, 10:00AM-2:00PM, Bring your refillable water bottles and a hat!
Where: Jonathan Dickinson State Park, along US 1 at entrance, 16450 S.E. Federal Highway, Hobe Sound, FL 33455
Who: Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group, Indian Riverkeeper, Friends of the Everglades, Guardians of Martin County, and Vote Water.
Background: Last summer, Florida’s wild places came under threat from Governor DeSantis’ plan to build golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts, and more in our state parks. In less than 9 days, protests across the state drew thousands of activists, shutting down that threat. Now there are two bills moving through the legislative process, SB 80 and HB 209.
Neither bill will do enough! As currently written/amended they cannot prevent the development threats we fought last year.
We stopped this last August, let’s strengthen these bills so we never have to do it again.
Carol Stender, Maria Pizano-Balatovis, and Linda Smithe at the Sierra Club table.
The Loxahatchee Group was a sponsor of the Palm Beach County (PBC) Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society’s (FNPS) first South Florida Native Plant Expo. The event was held on Saturday, February 22, at the Palm Beach Gardens Campus of Palm Beach State College. I arrived early for the busy day and Linda Smithe, with her Sierra Club hat on, already had our Sierra Club table set up in the busy sponsor’s area. But I was there not for tabling, but to take advantage of the Expo that Mindi Ogden, President of the PBC Chapter of the FNPS, had so professionally put together.
The day started with an inspiring message from Keynote Speaker George Gann, who in fifty minutes managed to assuage my ecoanxiety and provide hope that a real difference can still be made here in South Florida, where 50% of the land and water is protected. The problem is that much of the protected areas are in wetlands which don’t have that many species. In fact, 97% of the native plant diversity exists in the most populated sections of South Florida, where there has been catastrophic loss of Historical Plant Communities. Fragmentation of the ecosystems leads to increased loss of species over time. As of 2002, one in four native plant species was found to be critically imperiled or possibly extirpated. But restoration continues and Gann called for a balance for people and nature, and a strengthening of partnerships and collaboration.
George Gann’s presentation was the highlight of the Expo for me. Born in Miami, Gann is the scientist behind the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC) and the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), two organizations which unite global thinking with local expertise. He emphasized that the key to success in the fight to save our natural ecosystems is to first have a clear idea of what a native ecosystem is and then to use the tools available. Gann is a true force for nature. His intellect and ability to crossover from science to real life practices has given him international recognition and influence.
The rest of the day was divided into four major sessions, each offering a choice of five or six different presentations, and two lunch sessions that offered three presentations. Presentations ranged from Alex Onikso’s Identification and Management of Invasive Plants in Natural Areas to Susan Lerner’s Good Hedges Make Good Neighbors to Autumn Kioti Horne’s Plants for Birds-Gardening for Flock’s Sake and many more on everything in-between. Besides the various presentations, workshops were offered in the campus nursery in Plant Propagation and Proper Pruning Practices, as well as tours of their Native Plant Garden.
Attendees came from all parts of the state. I chatted with people who drove down from Jacksonville and up from Ft. Lauderdale. I attended two talks by Craig Huegel, who drove over from the west coast. It was a full house and everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic and felt fortunate to be there.
The first South Florida Native Plant Expo was a terrific success! My fingers are crossed that Mindi Ogden will put together another for next year. The day was well organized and so rewarding, not only because of the variety of presentations by experts in their field, but also because of the sense of camaraderie that flowed throughout the event. My advice: if there is another next year, don’t miss it! Thank you, Loxahatchee Group, for sponsoring and helping make this event possible.
MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
Here's what some of our members have been up to in the past month. Send a note to Linda Smithe about what you've been doing and you could be featured in the May Turtle Tracks.
Bruce Rocheleau had a Letter to the Editor published in the Sun Sentinel on March 11, 2025, “‘Black snow’ in his own county should alarm Trump." Bruce’s letter is a great call to action. He wrote, “Despite evidence of health risks, the county health department has not issued warnings or conducted a health care assessment of cane burnings. County health director Dr. Jyothi Gunta has refused to communicate and her agency stonewalls the public. Some other countries, such as Brazil, have responded to similar concerns with action.”
Sabrina Carle (left) and Linda Smithe (right) participated in the Department of Environmental Management’s Limestone Creek Workday. Thanks for removing 270 pounds of trash at Limestone Creek Natural Area, a great little park in a busy corner of Jupiter with hiking trails and a nice kayak launch.
On March 1st Kay Gates, long time Loxahatchee Group activist, was one of hundreds of protestors who gathered outside a Tesla dealership in Fort Lauderdale. These protests are not formally organized (nor endorsed by the Sierra Club) but, ongoing peaceful protests are the first Saturday of the month at various Tesla dealerships in Palm Beach County.
On March 19, Jessica Namath, our own Loxahatchee Group ExCom Member, was quoted in the Palm Beach Post in columnist John A Torres’ piece, “Parks bill shows government works.” The same day, she co-authored a guest column in the Palm Beach Post with Gil Smart, Policy Director for Friends of the Everglades. The column, “Park Legislation is good, but falls short” points out that without a few tweaks, bills currently moving through the legislature may not achieve the goal of protecting our parks. Much of the language in Senate Bill 80 and House Bill 209 is subjective and “leaves the door open for developers claims … we all know that if you leave an opening, it will be exploited.” Development interests will likely seek to exploit every loophole. No one wants developers exploiting every loophole — so let’s prevent it with a few minor changes. Please show your support for our State Parks and attend the April 5th Love Fest Event at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
Broward Sierra Club Meeting April 3 In person or virtual
TOPIC – NATIVE SOUTH FLORIDA PLANTS 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. Reasons to plant natives include esthetics, practicality, and preservation.
Get a Free Simple Will and Leave a Legacy to Our Loxahatchee Group
When they draft their will, many people decide to leave some of their assets to charity. And what better charity than our Loxahatchee Group, where your money can continue defending our natural environment and environmental justice even after you're gone.
My Law Office of Gary M. Landau will draft your simple will for free if you leave a bequest to the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group of $5,000 or more.
As a member of the Loxahatchee Group’s Executive Committee and the co-chair of the political committee, I understand the importance of continually funding all the great work the Group does in our community.
Our law office, located in Coral Springs, has served the residents of South Florida for more than 25 years. We specialize in wills and living trusts as well as real estate transactions and closings.
To make an appointment to discuss how your legacy can include protecting our natural world via a free simple will, contact my office at 954-979-6566. Learn more about estate planning on our office website.
AN EMAIL TIP!
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