START is helping to coordinate the planting of a 1.5-acre microforest at Colony Cove, a community of manufactured homes on the north shore of the Manatee River, just across from the Ellenton Outlet Mall. This will be the third microforest planted by Suncoast Urban Reforesters (SURF), which is a consortium that includes Florida Veterans for [...]
The Sarasota Tiger Bay Club, an organization of local citizens, policy makers and business leaders, meets monthly for luncheons at Michael’s On East Restaurant to hear a panel of experts address important topics of concern. The topics range from updates about pending legislation in Tallahassee, to local issues like the direction of the School Board [...]
The Florida manatee, designated the state marine mammal in 1975, is among the state’s most popular native animal. Manatees are often called gentle giants. They’re slow-moving, peaceful creatures that tend to flock toward human activity in search of warmth. However, they are not having a good year. More than 1,000 of the sea mammals have [...]
The response to the announcement last month of the launch of the Healthy Pond Collaborative created by the major grant from the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation has been very gratifying. Over twenty different communities have contacted START or one of the other partners in the collaborative to request an assessment of the health of [...]
Thanks to the popular success of the first Microforest in our area at the Celery Fields, the Sarasota Urban Reforesters have reached an agreement with the Stoneybrook community in Sarasota to plant another one there. As you have read in previous editions of our monthly E-Newsletter, a Microforest is a tightly-packed, condensed planting of small [...]
START is very pleased to announce the formation of an important new three-year water quality partnership known as the Healthy Pond Collaborative. Funded by a major grant from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, the Healthy Pond Collaborative includes START, the Sarasota County Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Team (NEST) Program, University of Florida IFAS Extension Sarasota County, [...]
START presents another community pond enhancement success story in Sarasota County. This month’s selection is from Pinebrook South as written by resident, Don Thomas. The community of Pinebrook South is located across from Wellfield Park on Pinebrook Road near Venice Avenue, minutes away from the downtown area and Gulf beaches. It was the second PUD [...]
