Sierra Club Florida Political and Legislative Director Javier Estevez during a presentation at the Quarterly Meeting
Ahh, Spring is in the Air and so was the Sierra Club Quarterly Meeting…
Linda Smithe, Executive Committee Chair
Typically in the spring, Sierra Club members migrate north to Tallahassee to meet with their elected officials and advocate for our conservation and environmental issues. This year was no different.
We also take the opportunity to meet with other Sierra Club groups and staff to discuss the state of Sierra Club in Florida. This year, our own Alyssa Cadwalader gave us an overview of our C-3 and C- 4 tax status with discussions on reimbursement and targeting strategic investments in our groups and members. We learned about the Google suite of products, which is a free computer/internet platform with powerful collaborative tools. With a little practice, we should be able to work better together and together we are stronger.
We wrapped up with a breakout session specifically on AI data centers. Data centers are going to be a critical issue for our Loxahatchee Group with one being planned in Palm Beach County in the twenty-mile bend area and one planned in Martin County outside of Indiantown. AI is coming whether we are ready or not, and we need to get ready to fight for a cleaner energy goal, more efficient use of water, and reduction in noise and light pollution. There is some good news in the FPL service areas. FPL has implemented special rates to ensure large load customers like data centers are fully responsible for their energy costs, rather than shifting the burden to residential and small business customers. Now we must make sure that happens.
During our March General Member Meeting we will learn about the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Initiative protecting an ecological corridor between the Atlantic Ridge Preserve and Jonathan Dickinson State Park, with an optional field trip.
And please plan on attending and supporting our Fun Fundraising Sip and Paint Party.
Loxa-Lucie headwaters looking east Photo by G. Smith
March 21, 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Hobe Sound Public Library
10595 SE Federal Hwy
Hobe Sound, FL 33455
Speaker Greg Braun presents the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Initiative, designed to protect the largest area of natural lands east of I-95 in southeast Florida. Through conservation of important scrub, pine flatwoods and marshes, the project aims to preserve and restore historical water flows while protecting an ecological corridor for native endangered plants and wildlife between the Atlantic Ridge Preserve and Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
Optional Field Trip: Greg Braun will lead a small-group hike into a portion of land preserved by the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Initiative. The hike will be through initiative land acquisition #3, about 5 miles from the library.
Meetup Point for Field Trip: Kitching Creek Preserve, 6125 SE 138 Street, Hobe Sound 33455. Waivers required. Closed toed walking shoes and water bottle strongly encouraged. The hike will be after the library meeting. Make sure you specify when you register for the meeting if you want a spot on the hike.
*Use of the Hobe Sound Library meeting rooms does not imply Library endorsement of the aims, policies, or activities of any group using the room.
A Loxahatchee Group Energy Committee and Mandel Public Library talk not to be missed!
Marci Woodward, Vice-Chair Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners
photo provided by Commissioner Woodward's office
Jeffrey Huber, award winning architect and landscape architect, FAU professor and principal of architectural firm Brooks, Huber and Scarpa
photo provided by Jeffrey Huber
Salty Urbanism, author Jeffrey Huber's first book identifies challenges for South Florida coastal cities such as saltwater intrusion and provides solutions
photo provided by Jeffrey Huber and book cover created by the publisher ORO Editions
The Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group Energy Committee and Mandel Public Library present a talk by Jeffrey Huber, on his book, Salty Urbanism: A Design with Nature Manual for Sea Level Rise Adaptation in South Florida Urban Areas.
Thursday evening, March 12, 2026, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Doors open at 5:15 p.m.
Mandel Public Library, 3rd Floor Clematis Room
411 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
The event is free. Parking vouchers for City Center Public Parking Garage on Banyan Street are available at the library. Light refreshments will be served.
Vice-Chair of the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners Marci Woodward will introduce Professor Huber shortly after 5:30. Woodward, the 4th District County Commissioner since 2022, has been a strong ally of Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group’s goals to protect Palm Beach County’s Agricultural Reserve. Despite strong opposition from residents in Highland Beach, she has staunchly pushed forward the creation of Milani Park, an oceanfront preserve with beach access.
Author, architect, and Florida Atlantic University professor, Jeffrey Huber will speak about his 2024 book Salty Urbanism. Learn how South Florida cities with short- and long-term infrastructure challenges can respond and adapt to “sunny day flooding, storm surge and sea level rise.” Professor Huber offers a design framework for coastal cities. He transforms aggregated research data into “actionable design” strategies that address vulnerabilities through resilient infrastructure and adaptive South Florida native landscapes. According to Huber, future community planning offers opportunities “not just to survive, but thrive.”
Sierra Club paddlers at Okeeheelee Park in January (Photo by Ron Haines)
JOIN US
Sunday March 8, 9:00 – 11:30 a.m, Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve Service Outing
We continue to work on our habitat restoration project at the Boynton Beach Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve. We will work along the shaded nature trail removing (digging, pulling) invasive snake plants.
If you have them, please bring a shovel and hand tools, like clippers, loppers and hand trowels. Gloves, a few shovels and trash grabbers will be provided.
Water, long-sleeved shirts and pants, hats, gloves and closed-toe shoes are recommended – thorns in the scrub!
Sunday, March 8, 9:00 a.m, Wellington Environmental Preserve – Early Spring Walk
Join us for a relaxed, approximately 2-mile interpretive walk along paved trails and boardwalks at Wellington Environmental Preserve. We’ll explore seasonal blooms, listen for wetland birds, and watch for hummingbirds visiting nectar plants like firebush. All experience levels welcome. Leader: Michelle Dunaway For more information and registration
Thursday March 12, 10:00 a.m, Paddle John Prince Park in Lake Worth
This is a leisurely two-hour paddle in the backwaters of an urban park in central Palm Beach County. Please arrive in time for launch at 10 am. Use the Congress Avenue entrance to John Prince Park, 4759 South Congress Ave., Lake Worth. Trip Leader: Ron Haines For information and reservations
Sunday March 15, 10:00 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. Go south from Forest Hill, NOT NORTH. Allow yourself time to launch at 10 please. Trip Leader: Ronald Haines For information and registration
A NOTE FROM THE EVENTS CHAIRPERSON, GLENN LAUFER
(left to right) Glenn Laufer, Michelle Dunaway, Gary Landau and Meryl Davids worked the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group table at the Jonathan Dickinson event on February 14.
“Love was in the air" on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2026 at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and at Jonathan Dickinson State Park..
Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group volunteers had a wonderful time interacting with the many people who visited our Sierra Club displays. The conversation was all about nature and the environment.
Upcoming events:
March 7, 2026 Naturefest at John D MacArthur State Park
April 18, 2026 Earth Day at Okeeheelee Nature Center
Volunteers are always welcome and needed at these fun events. No experience necessary, just bring a smile.
Questions? Email Glenn Laufer or call at 561-254-2286
What’s Going on Environmentally in the State Legislature
By Gary M. Landau, co-chair of the political committee of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group
When it comes to the environment, the Florida legislature is always a mixed bag. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes awful.
The 60-day legislative session started in early January and ends March 13.
The more than 1,000 bills filed in this session are a fast-moving train. Below, I highlight some of the good and the bad moving through the legislature, but things may be substantially changed by the time you read this.
Remember that there are Republican supermajorities in both the House and Senate, along with a Republican Governor.
Here are some bills that the Sierra Club is watching. Reach out to your representative (found on the Senate and House websites listed below) to voice your opposition or support.
1. SB-354/HB 299, aka “Blue Ribbon Project Bill.” Sierra Club opposes this bill, which creates a fast track for massive developments to bypass local comprehensive plans and zoning and land use rules, overriding rules local communities have put into place to curb growth. The law would create traffic, crowded schools, and strained water systems, and is yet another way the state is trying to strip authority from local governments.
2. SB-546/HB 441. This is a bill the Sierra Club supports. The aim is to increase transparency on the sale or exchange of state-owned conservation lands—prompted by an effort last year to quietly push through a land swap in St. John’s County’s Guana River Wildlife Management area with just 10 days’ notice to the public.
3. SB 302. The Sierra Club supports this bill, which promotes the use of nature-based solutions to strengthen Florida’s coastal resilience, which is under growing threats from sea level rise and severe weather. The bill “supports long-term, cost-effective solutions,” says Republican Senator Ileana Garcia, the bill’s sponsor, and “positions Florida as a national leader in coastal resilience.”
Staying informed can be challenging, but sources of reliable information and ways to speak out are available. Check out the following:
• Sierra Club Florida website On the HOME page, click the “Learn More” button under “2026 Legislative Session.” That takes you to the Legislative page where you’ll find buttons for:
• Taking action
• Lobby Day in Tallahassee
• Legislative Scorecards for recent years
• Sign Up for New and Action Alerts
• Florida Senate website offers a wealth of up-to-date information on many topics, including the senators, committees, and sessions (along with the bills under consideration)
• Florida House website has a menu to select from the bills being considered, the representatives, the committees and the House schedule.
Do you know the Loxahatchee chapter has a political committee, whose mission is to vet and endorse candidates running for office who work in favor of supporting a healthy environment?
In addition to endorsing environmentally minded candidates for elected office, the committee also reaches out to local legislators and lobbies them to work on behalf of the environment.
f you’re interested in joining the committee, please email co-chair Gary Landau or Pat Edmoson at Pat Edmonson The committee meets monthly, generally by Zoom.
Weed Wrangle/ECISMA Clean-up Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve
Thanks to these ECISMA volunteers, 1,700 pounds of invasive plants were cleared out of the Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve
Before Photo on the left, After Photo on the right
The 4th annual ECISMA* clean-up of Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve on February 17, 2026 was another great success
Loxahatchee Group members Sabrina Carle, Danielle Lamping, Carol Stender, Lisa Hanley and many highly motivated ECISMA volunteers made substantial inroads into severely overgrown areas of Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve. Bags and bags of sword fern, snake plant and debris were collected and disposed of, creating more space and sunlight for the native seed banks to sprout and expand in the foraging areas for the Preserve’s precious inhabitants, the gopher tortoises.
Loxahatchee Group and ECISMA volunteers worked from 8:30 am to 3:30 p.m, while Group secretary Carol Stender and Public Lands Issue Chair Lisa Hanley helped teachers and PBC School District Environmental Specialist Wendy Barhydt herd classes of Galaxy Elementary School students through the nature trail. Two classes of very curious, enthusiastic, shall we say, rambunctious, second graders and two classes of more mature, but no less eager, fifth graders. Once again, the most commonly asked question was, “Are there snakes in here?” The kids were amazed that they were walking on “a beach,” a.k.a., the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. In addition to the nature walk and talk, Fish and Wildlife Commission employees easily engaged the kid’s attention with their collection of gopher tortoise carapaces.
This year we had thirty-six participants! The event was coordinated by Galaxy Sand Pine Preserve stakeholders, the Loxahatchee Group, City of Boynton Beach, School District of Palm Beach County and ECISMA. Our special thanks and abundant appreciation go to Chris Lockhart of Habitat Specialists for her unflagging commitment to the restoration of the Preserve.
*ECISMA is The Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area and is comprised of these agencies: Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources, Florida Wildlife Commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service, South Florida Water Management District, Village of Tequesta Parks and Recreation, Florida Conservation Corps, Palm Beach County School District, and City of Boynton Beach.
Bittersweet Muck Screening in Stuart in April
On April 4, 2026, from 2:00 - 5:00, the Stop the Burn Go Green Campaign will host its next screening of the Emmy nominated film Bittersweet Muck at the Blake Library, John F. & Rita M. Armstrong Room, 2351 SE Monterey Road, Stuart, FL 34996.
Last May, the Loxahatchee Group helped lead a highly successful screening and Q&A panel to a packed house at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach. These film events and discussions do more than raise awareness. They help grow our movement by bringing people together, strengthening community ties, and connecting us with allied organizations.
Past screenings have been supported by partners such as the League of Women Voters and the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida.
This upcoming Stuart screening is being co-led by the League of Women Voters of Martin County. We encourage Loxahatchee Group members to attend, not only to show support for the campaign, but also to build relationships with advocates in Martin County and continue expanding a united front for cleaner air, healthier communities, and environmental justice.
Come be part of the conversation and the solution.
Presentations of Florida Chapter Awards to our local Loxahatchee Group
Cypress Award: Jessica Namath for her Alligator Alcatraz work.
Jessica Namath documented the conversion of a little-used training airport into the federal detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz. For months, she organized protests and stood at the entrance of Big Cypress National Preserve and live-streamed the endless flow of vehicles in and out of the airport. Hundreds of dump trucks, heavy earth moving equipment, generators, intense road construction lights, diesel fuel trucks, water trucks, buses with “detainees,” and more. Anyone on Facebook, could see for themselves that Gov. DeSantis’ assertion of “zero environmental impact” was blatantly false. Her documentation and in-person testimony helped convince Judge Williams to issue a temporary restraining order on the detention facility.
Black Bear Award: Ron Haines for his administrative work.
Ron Haines is always willing to share his expertise with anyone who needs it. Whether it is a group needing help running their election or fellow volunteers needing assistance to navigate the ecosystem occupied by the various digital platforms the Sierra Club uses - Campfire, Drupal, Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, Ron is there to connect you to the necessary resources and to make sure it gets done. Ron is exacting and demands that as Sierra Club leaders we operate at the highest levels of competency and integrity.
These are some of the reasons he is such a vital member of the Florida Chapter’s Group Empowerment Team. Ron is there to provide hands-on technical help on any aspect of the Sierra Club volunteer operation or provide guidance from his long and extensive experience as a leader locally and nationally.
Otter Award: Pam Maldonado for her work with Palm Beach Inspiring Connections Outdoors
See article below for more about Pam and her award.
Pam Maldonado Wins Chapter Award for Youth Work With Inspiring Connections Outdoors
Pam (on the right with her arms extended) having fun showing kids how to snorkel.
By Meryl Davids Landau
Palm Beach County Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) is proud to announce that Pam Maldonado, one of our trip leaders, is this year’s recipient of the Florida Chapter’s Otter award for her dedication and leadership in the program.
Pam's creativity coming up with outings that interest kids knows no bounds. Instead of a regular hike, she recently introduced teenage girls to “forest bathing.” While leading kids on a wildflower walk, she had them sketch what they saw with the pastels and drawing pads she brought along. Pam recruited an Audubon society expert so kids with binoculars could truly learn about birds. And when she met a vendor who specialized in panning for fossils in a shallow river, she was determined that the kids should experience that.
Pam’s enthusiasm for ICO serves as a great inspiration for the group’s other leaders, including those she has mentored to become fantastic trip leaders, too.
Congratulations, Pam!
In other ICO news, we are pleased to announce that two of our volunteers have now been elevated to trip leaders: Janet Kanai and Donna Kerner. Thanks to both of them for stepping up!
Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group members and supporters were at it again last month.
On January 22, 2026, volunteers including Sabrina and Randall Carle and and Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management (ERM) staff spent several hours removing invasive non-native ferns and trash from Delray Oaks Natural Area Delray Beach.
Some of the ferns were taller than the bags! This required lots of bending and stuffing to get everything to fit. The group pulled enough ferns to fill 37 large bags!
On January 24, 2026, a group of hard-working volunteers and ERM staff spent several hours removing trash from Jupiter Ridge Natural Area. "Glass Hill" is an area that used to be a party spot many, many decades ago. To get to the buried treasure (broken bottles) the group shoveled piles of glass and sand into buckets. They also cleaned up Ski Beach, an area along the Intracoastal Waterway frequented by boaters. The group searched the shoreline vegetation for beer bottles, aluminum cans and plastic containers. No, Linda Smithe and Brian Ducharme did not drink the wine.
On Jan 28, volunteers, including three Sierra Club members, Linda Smithe, Brian Ducharme and Zara Brenner, helped ERM staff remove 900 pounds of trash from Juno Dunes Natural Area in Juno Beach. Cleanup efforts were focused along a half-mile of mangrove and rock riprap, the natural area's border with the Intracoastal Waterway. Volunteers crawled over, under and around red mangrove aerial roots. Most of the trash consisted of bottles, cans, plastic bags, lumber and fishing/boating debris. Volunteers enjoyed helping the environment, the camaraderie and the snacks.
Please contact Linda Smithe if you or a Sierra Club member you know does something to further our Mission: To explore and enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth. To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources. To educate and enlist humanity to protect and to restore the quality of the natural and human environment. And to use all lawful means to carry out those objectives.
BROWARD GROUP EARTHDAY
OLEANDER GARDEN CLUB SPRING FUNDRAISER
(Editors’ note: Oleander Garden Club of the Palm Beaches, Inc. helped the Loxahatchee Group with our November floral fundraising event.)
What:Sounds of Spring 2026 will feature gourmet hors d’oeuvres, wine and an outdoor concert. Returning will be the club’s signature orchid sale, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle.
When: Thursday, March 12 from 5:00-7:30 p.m.
Cost: $40.00 per person
Where: Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
Parish Hall and Courtyard
Questions: Call Pat Welch (561) 271-0709
RSVP: by March 6 to Pat Welch, 2792 Irma Lake Drive, West Palm Beach, Florida 33411.
Include your name, address, contact phone number, email, names of guest if paying for more than one person. Make checks payable to Oleander Garden Club of the Palm Beaches.
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About Turtle Tracks
Turtle Tracks is the monthly newsletter of the Sierra Club Florida Loxahatchee Group. It contains environmental news and activities of interest to Sierra Club members and supporters in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties. Contributions from readers are welcomed. Please review our submission guidelines.
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