The unfortunate need to release 270 million gallons of polluted “process water” in early April from the southern phosphogypsum stack at Piney Point is very troubling. The release was deemed necessary by the FDEP to avoid the collapse of the entire pond that would have flooded over 200 homes with a wall of contaminated water. [...]
On Friday April 2, The Sarasota Bay Watch and its loyal volunteers seeded another eighty-eight bushels or about 105,000 native southern hard-shell clams (Mercenaria Campenchiensis) in Sarasota Bay. This was an historic event as it marked the last time the clams will be cultivated down in Pine Island Sound and trucked up to Sarasota Bay [...]
START is pleased to report the story of Rivendell, an environmentally responsible community, that has embarked on a comprehensive pond maintenance program to help reduce the erosion of their pond’s banks and to decrease the release of excess nutrients into the waterways downstream. Rivendell was established in the late 1990s in Osprey with 498 homes [...]
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation has released its groundbreaking Community Playbook for Healthy Waterways, a user-friendly website that integrates water quality science, government policy, community education, and actionable solutions to help stem manmade nutrient pollution in our local waters. This is a must-visit site for START’s environmentally concerned followers. The Playbook is based on a [...]
The following is a guest editorial by Christine Johnson, President of the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. Conserving the land next to our waterbodies is one of the best ways to make sure we have drinkable, fishable, swimmable water. That’s why a group of concerned citizens banded together with two not-for-profits, Manatee Fish & [...]
As we covered in last month’s E-Newsletter, START is a part of an exciting new partnership with the Sarasota Urban ReForesters in the installation of an environmentally sustainable Micro-Forest at the Celery Fields. Approval from the County has been secured and we are scheduled to plant the Micro-Forest just off the parking lot at the [...]
START is pleased to announce an exciting new water quality partnership with the Sarasota Bay Rotary Club, Veterans for Common Sense Fund, Inc. and the Florida Native Plant Society that will be known as the Sarasota Urban ReForesters (SURF). The objective of the partnership is to help replace the urban forests that have been largely [...]
