We want to thank our many supporters who donated to START in the recent Giving Challenge sponsored by the Community Foundation. You contributions were doubled during the Challenge helping START fund more of our water quality programs along the Suncoast. Whether you are a regular reader of our Monthly E-Newsletters, a resident in one of [...]
The Venice Area Audubon Society hosted its inaugural Bird Rookery Day on Saturday, March 19th, with an array of environmentally important exhibits, hands-on conservation demonstrations and educational presentations by leading local organizations. The on-site exhibitors included the Mangrove Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, The Peace River Butterfly Society, Sarasota County Master Gardeners, START’s [...]
The Healthy Pond Collaborative that we introduced to you in last month’s E-Newsletter was officially launched on September 15th with a press conference held by the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation at Selby Gardens. Teri A Hansen. President and CEO of the Barancik Foundation, welcomed the audience and opened the proceedings by explaining the growing [...]
START is pleased to introduce the following guest article by Charles Reith, President, Florida House Board of Directors and Science Advisor, Southface Institute, about the exciting new Microforest project at Nathan Benderson Park. Following the great public interest in the Microforest that was planted at the Celery Fields last October by the Sarasota Urban ReForesters, [...]
With the expansion of our public educational outreach program and our increasing number of in-water projects that START now administers, we have decided to add a new Program Manager position to our Executive Committee. As with all START officers, it is a volunteer position that would be ideal for a recently retired person who enjoys [...]
Entering our sixth year as a contributing partner to Sarasota Bay Watch’s successful native clam seeding program in Sarasota Bay, START is very pleased to relay Ernesto Lasso de la Vega’s report on the progress of the repopulation project so far this year. Members of the Sarasota Bay Watch visited clam farmer, Carter Davis’, leased [...]
Following the impressive success of the biochar material shown above in a pilot test of filtering out 73% of the nitrogen and 87% of the phosphorus in reclaimed water at Lakewood Ranch, START is announcing a plan to bring this effective process to Sarasota’s developing Bay Park to help reduce the nutrients in stormwater from [...]
