Category: Environmental Education

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CREW Trust announces 2019-2020 Season Programs

We know you’re excited for this season of programs and we can’t wait to share all the incredible hikes, bikes and talks with you. Register for something different every month or make visiting the CREW trails a part of your regular schedule with the weekly guided walks. Pop-up hikes and programs may be added when trail and weather conditions are right! Stay up-to-date on our website, CREWTrust.org.

Registration for our 2019-2020 programs will open on Tuesday, September 3rd to CREW Trust Members. Non-member registration will open one week later on Tuesday, September 10th. You must be a current CREW Trust member to register during our first week, so please make sure your membership is up to date or join today online at crewtrust.org/become-a-member/.

Strolling Science Seminars

Our scholarly walks for ages 18 and older are always a hit and sell-out quickly! This year we have four programs scheduled and may add more as schedules allow.

December 6: Florida Panthers– with Ashlee O’Connor 

January 18: Strange Plants in a Strange Land– Join Anne Reed, writer, storyteller and CREW Trust volunteer naturalist for a scholarly walk and talk on the history of our beautiful, pesky and sometimes deadly invasive species. 

February 7: Herpetology- with Shane Johnson

March 6: Nature by Any Other Name– with Dr. billY Gunnels

Strolling Science Seminar 2019

Specialty Walks

October 12: Fall Wildflower Walk– Join Brenda Thomas for a stroll along the trails where you’ll see the bounty of Florida’s fall wildflowers! And, if you’re lucky, it might be pine lily time.

January 24: Birding with Brian Beckner of Native Bird Boxes. These sessions are for everyone from serious birders to beginners.

April 14: Spring Wildflower Walk- Springtime means a new rush of color on the trails! Participants will stroll through the CREW Marsh Trails with Roger Hammer, author of several wildflower books including The Complete Guide to Florida Wildflowers. 

April 18: GeoCache Day- Milla and Pete will be hosting a day of Geocaching at the Cypress Dome Trail for everyone to come and explore the outdoors!

photo by Bill Zaino at Flint Pen Strand

Free Guided Walks

Our free guided walks schedule has changed this year and walks will be offered on select dates. 

Guided Walks

1st Tuesdays (Jan-Apr) at CREW Marsh Trails

3rd Tuesdays (Jan-Apr) at Cypress Dome Trails

Wednesdays (Nov-Apr) at Bird Rookery Swamp

Thursdays (Nov-Apr) at Flint Pen Strand Trails

Bike Tours

3rd Saturdays (Jan-Apr) at Bird Rookery Swamp

Fundraisers

CREW Stanley Hole Golf Tournament: October 25 at Old Corkscrew Golf Club.

2020 CREW Concert Under The Stars & Silent Eco Auction: February 29, from 5-9 p.m. featuring the High Voltage Band at Riverside Park in Bonita Springs. Sponsorship options and tickets available on our website, CREWTrust.org.

Members Only Events

January 21: Beer & Cheese @ Momentum Brewhouse

March 9: Full Moon Hike

Registration for members opens on September 3; for non-members on September 10. All programs require registration; visit eventbrite.com after registration opens. CREW Trust members will receive an email on September 3 when registration opens.

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Hiking at CREW: A comparison of Second graders and college-aged students.

Purely by chance a series of college hikes, and second grade field trips, overlapped in the same week, giving this observer a first-hand look at some of the timeless similarities and funny differences between these two age groups.

  • Second Grade Field Trips
  • FGCU Colloquium Hike

The bus dismount goes about the same for both groups. Some faces clearly display their inner thoughts, that they actually have no idea they were going for a hike in the middle of a 60,000 acre watershed. Quickly though they are reassured by the guide that they are in good hands and that staff know the way back to the bus. As the students all breath in the fresh air, they generally relax and enjoy the introduction.

As the hike meanders through the diverse yet intertwined ecosystems, personalities start to emerge. This is where it gets interesting.

College students ask questions and make observations that are quite cerebral in nature, where as the second grader is more hands-on and scientific in their approach:

  • Most second graders want to pick up and touch everything. They get muddy, and when they’re hot, jump in a puddle or pour water on their heads. 
  • Whereas most college students wouldn’t volunteer pick up an insect or touch soil samples, even if it was directly handed to them.

The talented teachers and experienced CREW Trust staff teach the perspective groups about a range of topics from observational details about wildlife and plant species to the benefits of prescribed burns, water quality in Florida aquifers, and what exactly is a Cypress Dome. 

  • The second grader often asks authentic, unprovoked, and funny rhetorical questions about the immediate world around them.
  • A college student tends to represent a broader knowledge and asks worldly and provocative questions, leading to some interesting discussions with classmates.
Stephanie Bravo holds a wild blueberry, while expertly warning the students to never eat what you find on the trail.

Guide says: Guess who likes eating these berries?

Students: BEARS!!

Concerned student asks: What do I do if I see a bear?

Guide responds: Well, first of all you probably won’t. But if you do know you’re lucky. Then look big and walk away slowly. You can wait until it leaves and continue your hike. Oh, and hike with a parent or friend.

Florida summer is particularly hot and buggy, but staff points out it’s also the time of year we see water-loving flowers in abundance and say goodbye the youngest Swallow-tailed Kites migrating to South America. The point of all this is to see these things first hand, to push personal boundaries and make a connection with the wild spaces around us. 

  • Second graders will apply their experience in the classroom and start to connect the bigger picture of watersheds and wildlife habitats to conservation projects.
  • College students may give back, volunteer, or spread the word to friends.

Getting back on the bus, regardless of the age group, students walk away with an awareness of the land and the role they can choose to play through conservation.

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CREW and You, part 5 and 6: WHY and HOW

This is part 5 and 6 of our six-part series on the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of the CREW Trust.

The trestle bridge at Bird Rookery Swamp

In our previous posts, we’ve talked about the 60,000-acre Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) and the role of the CREW Land & Water Trust.

Our nonprofit is dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of the water resources and natural communities in and around CREW.

We do this through assisting with funding and land acquisition and through environmental education.

At the heart of our WHY is this: we care passionately about the water, the land, and the flora and fauna within the watershed.

We care.

Part of protecting anything, from land to water to animals, is getting people to care. We know that, when someone is out on the trails and learns about how a drop of water moves through the watershed and is filtered by the 5,000-acre sawgrass marsh and helps fill our aquifer, we are helping them care about where their water comes from.

When a student learns about the palmetto berries and the bears that feed on them, they have an understanding of why we protect both the berry and the bear and how they (including the human) are all connected in our ecosystem.

Because we know that, when someone cares, they then ask HOW. How can they be part of protecting and preserving water? How can they work towards making sure that our future generations have clean water to drink?

How can they help protect endangered species like the Florida Panther?

game camera image by Tom Mortenson

All of us here at CREW Land & Water Trust – from staff to interns to volunteers and Trustees – we are all part of this nonprofit because at some time, we learned, then cared, then felt called to do something.

And if you have attended a program and learned about the watershed, or wandered the trails and watched a swallow-tailed kite soar overhead, you probably care, too. You are part of our why, and you can be part of our how.

Become a member. Our members help support our environmental education programs, not just through their membership dues, but also through attending our programs as paid participants.

Volunteer. Our volunteers do everything, from trail maintenance and exotic plant removal to assisting with field trips and leading guided walks. We simply could not educate the over 49,000 people who visited the CREW Trails or participated in a CREW Trust program last year without our volunteers.

The reality is, no one person started the CREW Project, and no one person founded the CREW Land & Water Trust. It took a few people caring a lot to start the process of acquiring and preserving land within the 60,000-acre border. Their WHY led to their HOW and it’s up to us to continue and carry the passion they had 30 years ago into the years to come.

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CREW and You, part 2: WHAT

This is part 2 of a 6-part series on the Who, What, When, Where, Why and Hows of CREW and the CREW Trust.

CREW Marsh Trails observation tower, overlooking the 5,000-acre sawgrass marsh

In our last blog post, we established WHO we are (CREW Trust), and WHO is involved in the CREW Project. Today, let’s explore the whats – WHAT is CREW, and WHAT does the CREW Trust do?

CREW

CREW stands for Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, a 60,000-acre watershed that spans Lee and Collier counties.

The land is preserved for our most important natural resource: water.

What does the watershed do?

During rainy season, if you followed one drop of rain water, it would fall in the northern part of the watershed – the CREW Marsh Trails. From there, it would move slowly over the land and into seasonal marshes or through the 5,000-acre sawgrass marsh that is the heart of the CREW Project.

The sawgrass helps filter the water, which then continues to slowly move either west towards Flint Pen Strand and into the Kehl Canal (then the Imperial River and finally Gulf of Mexico) or south to Bird Rookery Swamp and into the Cocohatchee River and then the Gulf of Mexico.

But we do not want all of that water to leave the watershed. The majority of that water needs to sit on the land, seep through the roots of the plants and the sandy soil, then through the limestone and into our aquifer.

We rely on our aquifer to provide us with all of the water we use in SWFL – from cooking and drinking to taking showers and flushing toilets. We do not have glacier melt or springs or reservoirs and rely solely on the aquifer. Large green spaces are need for aquifer recharging, and that is the main function of the Corkscrew Regional Ecocystem Watershed (CREW).

Because the land is preserved for water, it is also a home for wildlife, including some critical and endangered plant and animal species. The ecosystems include seasonal marshes, pine flatwoods, oak hammocks, popash sloughs, cypress domes, cypress swamps, hydric pine and more. Animals that can be found throughout CREW include Florida black bears, Florida panthers, coral snakes, alligators, grasshopper sparrows, roseate spoonbills, swallow-tailed kites, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, bobcats, lubber grasshoppers, zebra longwing butterflies and so many more. Due to the many ecosystems within CREW and the variety of wildlife that live within the 60,000-acre border, the second function of CREW is as a home for Southwest Florida flora and fauna.

What does the CREW Trust do?

The CREW Land & Water Trust is a private, non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of the water resources and natural communities in and around the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW).

We do this through assisting with funding and land acquisition within the 60,000-acre CREW project border.

As part of our commitment to the preservation and stewardship of CREW, we provide environmental education programs for students of all ages on the four CREW Project trails (CREW Marsh Trails, Cypress Dome Trails, Flint Pen Strand Trails and Bird Rookery Swamp Trails).

We believe that, if we teach people about the watershed and the wildlife within its borders, we can help make connections that will ensure that future generations will continue to care not just about preserving CREW but care about preserving more watersheds nationally and globally.

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CREW and YOU, part 1: WHO

This is part 1 of a 6-part series on the Who, What, When, Where, Why and Hows of CREW and the CREW Trust.

When we first meet people, whether it’s visitors, new members, new volunteers or residents, introducing ourselves (explaining who we are) can be confusing.

It’s not an easy answer.

For example, when you introduce yourself, you say “Hi, my name is Blankity Blank, and I’m a rockstar astrophysicist who enjoys entomology.”

(Also, if that is you, let’s be friends as soon as possible)

But when we, the CREW Trust meet someone knew, explaining who we are can take five minutes – and that’s the short version.

Most people check out within the first two sentences – once they realize we’re going to say a lot of really long words, some of which may be new, like “aquifer recharge” and, well, honestly even what CREW stands for trips people up.

So let’s break it down into WHO exactly we are, and how that relates to CREW.

CREW

The acronym stands for the Corkscrew Regional Ecosytem Watershed, which is a 60,000-acrew watershed that spans Lee and Collier counties in Southwest Florida.

(we will get into the WHAT of the watershed in our next post)

So, CREW is the name for the land. (super short version of the definition)

The CREW Project

We sometimes refer to the entire 60,000-acres as the CREW Project, because CREW involves multiple agencies.

Those agencies include the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Conservation Collier, Conservation 20/20 and the CREW Land & Water Trust. Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary is also within the borders of the CREW Project.

CREW Land & Water Trust (CREW Trust)

We, the CREW Land & Water Trust, are the non-profit agency attached to the CREW Project.

We help with funding and land acquisition and provide environmental education at the four trail systems within the CREW Project – the CREW Marsh Trails, Cypress Dome Trails, Bird Rookery Swamp and Flint Pen Strand.

The CREW Trust is often confused with CREW (as in, the names are used interchangeably) but we try to stress that we are part of the multi-agency project and NOT the land owners, land managers, biologists, law enforcement… we are helpers within the CREW Project.

We are ultimately tasked with helping each person we meet learn about WHAT CREW is (and what you can do at the trails), WHERE it is located (along with the trails), WHEN the project started and its timeline, WHY it’s important to protect the watershed, and HOW the public can help.

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Bear Calling Cards

That title seems terribly old fashioned. And maybe a bit fancy for bears.

For visitors who have hiked the Popash Slough or Bird Rookery Swamp, you’ve likely seen what we call Bear Trees.

These are trees where bears have rubbed the bark smooth and you can see the oil from their fur rubbed into the tree and sometimes, on special occasions, find some of their fur.

We spend a lot of time explaining how bears do this and why to somewhat disbelieving audiences. Let’s face it – when I’ve got my back to a tree and have my arms up over my head pretending my claws are grabbing onto the trunk as I shimmy my back up and down, I don’t seem like a very credible source.

Bears do this back-scratching-thingee not because they have an itch, but because they are leaving their scent.

Like bear emails. Or text messages. That seems a bit more up-to-date than calling cards.

We finally, FINALLY, thanks to Volunteer Tom Mortenson and his game cameras, have a photo of a bear doing exactly what I’ve demonstrated hundreds of times – scratching his or her back on a tree and leaving scent. They’ve just done it at night instead of in front of a crowd of visitors.

MOULTRIE DIGITAL GAME CAMERA

For actual scientific important information about bears and bear safety, visit myfwc.com

For something completely unscientific, enjoy this video of not-Florida-bears scracthing on trees along to “Jungle Boogie.”

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Join us for our pop-up SSS: Prescribed Fire

THIS EVENT WAS CANCELLED due to humidity levels dropping too low for a permit to be issued.

Conditions are right, and the permits are issued!

On Thursday, January 10, join Joeseph Bozzo and Thaddeus Penfield, SFWMD land managers for the CREW Project, along with CREW Trust staff, for an informative working Strolling Science Seminar on the use of prescribed fire as a land management tool.

You will learn about the role of fire in Florida’s natural landscape and how fire is used within the watershed. Participants will also observe a prescribed burn in-progress.

CLOTHING: Participants must wear long pants, closed-toe shoes or boots (and socks) and 100% cotton shirts (no polyester). Leather work gloves are recommended as well. Please bring water with you (plenty of water).

Tickets are limited to 15 participants. Member tickets are $15; non-member tickets are $20.

To register, visit our eventbrite page.

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Register today for our weekly guided walks at the Marsh Trails

It’s the almost November, which means cooler temperatures, blooming wildflowers and time to register for our weekly guided walks!

Volunteer naturalist and spider enthusiast Janet Bunch returns for her second season leading our Marsh Trail interpretive hikes. Her walk takes guests through pine flatwoods and oak hammocks to the observation tower overlooking the 5,000-acre sawgrass marsh before traversing the short boardwalk and heading back to the trailhead.

Guests will learn about the plants and animals that call the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed their home and engage in lively, scholarly conversations with Janet and other CREW Trust Volunteers.

The walks are free but registration is required. Please visit our eventbrite page to register. Guided walks are held each Tuesday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. November-March, excluding Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

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Chirp chirp CHECK! Take these wildlife checklists with you when you hit the CREW Trails.

Our volunteer naturalist of many years, Dick Brewer, is well known on our website, blogs and social media for his hours of work as a citizen scientist in the field and for his almost-weekly critter counts.

Now you, too, can complete a critter count! Even if you aren’t quite sure what animals are out there.

Dick has combed through years of observations by himself and others and created two wildlife checklists: one for Bird Rookery Swamp and one for the Cypress Dome Trails. The lists have everything from alligators to skippers, bitterns to bats. Check them out and print a copy for your next visit to the trails!

CYPRESS DOME TRAILS wildlife checklist

BIRD ROOKERY SWAMP Wildlife Checklist

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Meet Savannah DeBarr, our new Education Coordinator!

We’re very excited to introduce the newest member of the CREW Land & Water Trust Staff!

Savannah DeBarr is a graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and completed an internship with the CREW Trust in summer 2017. Savannah also completed an internship with Lee County Mosquito Control’s education program and worked with kindergarden students.

Checking rain gauges in the sawgrass marsh with Savannah DeBarr

 

Want to know more? Check out her answers to a few of our questions below.

Hometown: Stone Mountain, GA

Favorite nature experience as a kid: We had a lot of woods behind our house in Georgia and we built a little bridge over the creek – so we would always play out there.

Family: Engaged with one fur kid, Daisy, an Australian Shepherd.

Savannah’s dog, Daisy, on the boardwalk enjoying the CREW Marsh Trails

 

Favorite Florida Wildflower: Pine lily! I saw my first one today at the CREW Marsh Trails.

Wildlife bucket list: I feel like everyone says it, but a panther.

Favorite part of your internship with the CREW Trust?  I loved all of it. Probably just getting to be out in nature with the kids.

What is one thing you are looking forward to in your new role?  Helping people understand the importance of CREW. Most people don’t know that the watershed has an impact on our drinking water. I’m looking forward to teaching students of all ages about the water and wildlife on the CREW trails.