Category: Misc

Posted on

Full Moon, Wine, and Cheese……

Become a CREW member before December 31st and participate in our most popular Members Only Wine & Cheese Social.

This event is in honor of our amazing CREW members and volunteers. Come meet new friends, visit with CREW Trustees and staff, and enjoy some drinks and light snacks under a gorgeous full moon sky.

To become a CREW member click the link: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/become-a-member/

wine & cheese flyer

There are many benefits in becoming a CREW member including: reduced member fees for programs, 2 “members only” socials each year, quarterly newsletters to keep you up to date on all of our CREW news, and knowing you make a difference for a small non-profit who continues to preserve and protect the Corkscrew Watershed.
Help CREW continue their mission, become a member, and enjoy wine & cheese under the full moon. 

 Become a member today: https://crewtrus.mystagingwebsite.com/become-a-member/

Posted on

CREW People in Spotlight: Conservation Educator of the Year & Ellen Peterson Award

jessi and deb with neil
Jessi Drummond, Neil Wilkinson and Deb Hanson at the 2014 Environmental Breakfast

Congratulations to Deb Hanson, CREW Land & Water Trust’s Environmental Education Specialist for being recognized as Conservation Educator of the Year and to Jessi Drummond, CREW’s intern, for receiving the Ellen Peterson Award presented on October 23rd by Audubon of Southwest Florida (ASWFL) at the 17th annual Environmental Breakfast held at Riverside Community Center in Fort Myers.

Senator Bill Nelson congratulates Deb Hanson in this letter
Senator Bill Nelson congratulates Deb Hanson in this letter

ASWFL President Roger Clark presented both awards, saying Deb Hanson has dedicated her career to providing quality environmental education to thousands of southwest Florida’s citizens.  Jessi’s award recognizes her as an active young advocate for the environment. In fitting fashion, Jessi (a recent FGCU graduate) has been hired to replace Deb as CREW’s environmental education specialist when Deb retires from her position in December.

Brenda Brooks and the CREW Board of Trustees are proud of both of these CREW educators and thank you for your dedication and service to CREW. We wish Deb well in her new adventures and welcome Jessi to the team.  Our mission to preserve and protect the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed continues with the support of our members, our partner agencies, and the public.

 

Posted on

Sunflower Festival & Ding Darling Days in October

Sunflowers at Cypress Dome Trails
Sunflowers at Cypress Dome Trails

The CREW Trust will be participating in two public outreach events during the month of October – the Sunflower Festival at Pepper Ranch (near Lake Trafford in Immokalee) and Ding Darling Days Family Fun Day on Sanibel.

Come on out and enjoy the fun and festivities while supporting these great events. The Sunflower Festival will be held on Saturday October 4th from 10 AM – 3 PM at Pepper Ranch, one of Conservation Collier’s premiere properties. Come celebrate the blooming of the sunflowers and hi to our volunteers as they answer questions about CREW for the visitors to the festival.

On Sunday, October 19th, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge celebrates its annual Ding Darling Days Family Fun Day. CREW intern, Jessi Drummond and friends will be there to represent the CREW Trust and encourage folks to come out to the CREW Trails to hike and play. Both events will have activities for all ages and entrance to both events is FREE!

 

Posted on

Sept. 24 – 30: Take a Child Outside Week

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in. – Rachel Carson

English: Rachel Carson, author of Silent Sprin...
English: Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. Official photo as FWS employee. c. 1940. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Silent Spring author and biologist Rachel Carson understood the importance of every child having a caring adult take him/her by the hand and share the wonder of nature. For the first time in history, we have the majority of an entire generation of young adults who have NOT grown up outdoors playing in the woods and streams, catching fireflies in a jar, fishing and hunting, and watching the stars. This disconnect from nature is wreaking havoc in the form of obesity, disease, attention deficit disorders, and mental illness, not to mention growing a generation of citizens who do not appreciate or understand how nature provides resources and services that help humans exist on the planet and therefore do not know to vote and organize to protect it.

 

To help remedy this disconnect and get more children outdoors, the NC Museum of Natural Science and cooperating partners declared September 24 – 30 as National “Take a Child Outside Week”. The CREW Trust challenges its members and the public to take up the challenge and take a child outside this week – or anytime! You can pledge and record your activity on their website. And we encourage you to tell us about it here or post it to the CREW Facebook page.

 

Go on! Find your favorite kid. Take her outside. Play, walk, find bugs, go fish. Enjoy the moments. Build a sense of wonder. And create a better world.

 

Posted on

September Mushroom Walk with Ben “Mykes logo” Dion

mushroom     Ben Dion Leads Fungi Seminar

Mushroom Walk with Ben Dion
September 27, 2014, 9:00 AM at the CREW Marsh Trails
Don’t hesitate – this walk will fill up fast!

Ben Dion is a senior at FGCU, a CREW volunteer, and a local expert on the identification, use, and ecological role of various fungi in the Southwest Florida area. He helps grad students all over the country with their research, has founded the Southwest Florida Mycological Society (see http://goo.gl/f7MHMq), and is a genuinely nice guy who loves to share what he knows with others. Check out Ben’s page on mushroomobserver.org and the following article: http://swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com/SWFL/April-2014/Help-for-Local-Mushroom-Hunters/

He’ll be leading a mushroom walk at CREW on Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 9:00 AM to noon. Come learn from someone with practical knowledge, passion, and patience! Register today at https://crewmushroomwalk.eventbrite.com

Posted on

CREW Volunteers Reach 750 and 1000-hour Milestones

volunteer graphic wordle

This month some of our dedicated CREW volunteers have reached some impressive milestones.

George Luther has logged over 1000 volunteer hours with CREW since he began just over 2 years ago. George is the “eyes and ears and face” of Bird Rookery Swamp, leading weekly guided walks and the Nature’s Peace program for Alzheimer’s patients, as well as monitoring the trails, doing maintenance and keeping track of visitors.

Jerry Hrinik and Mark Benzenberg have logged over 750 hours each since they began volunteering for CREW just over a year ago. Jerry and Mark spend two days each and every week – all year long – treating exotic plants on CREW lands and at the Caracara Prairie Preserve. Their expertise and dedication, willingness to do the dirty work and great attitudes have been a real gift to CREW and the South Florida Water Management District’s CREW management team.

Special kudos to these three – and much appreciation to all of our other volunteers – for the time, talent, and energy they give to help CREW preserve and protect the watershed and all its resources. We know it’s not just the hours they put in, but the heart and dedication each of them brings to the work they do that makes them so wonderful. We think our volunteers are the BEST!

What do you think it takes to be a great volunteer?

If you’d like to volunteer for CREW, visit our volunteer page for more information.

Posted on

CREW Trust Welcomes New Trustees

The CREW Land & Water Trust elected five new Trustees to its board at their May 9, 2014 Trustees Meeting. CREW welcomes:

  • Dennis Gilkey of Gilkey Organization, LLC
  • Steve Kissinger of Children’s Advocacy Center
  • John Mathes of Mathes Realty Appraisal and Board member of Bonita Springs Utilities
  • Bob Rosier, of Rosier Insurance
  • Laurel Smith of Gravina, Smith, Matte & Arnold Marketing & Public Relations firm

These new Trustees bring valuable business and non-profit experience and insight to the CREW Trust Board. We thank them for volunteering their talent and time, and we look forward to working closely with each of them.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted on

Boston University Herpetology Students visit CREW

green anole by jonathon suh
Green Anole (Photo by Jonathon Suh, BU CAS)

BU Today has published a nice post about Boston University college students who spent their spring break here in Florida learning about reptiles and amphibians in the wild. During their stay they visited Archbold Biological Research Station, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary , and CREW’s Bird Rookery Swamp. Their experience is chronicled in this BU Today post , entitled “Teachable Moments in Gator Country”, which includes lots of great photos! Check out their post and let us know what you think.

 

Posted on

New Bird Rookery Swamp Guided Walk added

Due to the high demand for guided walks at Bird Rookery Swamp this month, we are adding some new dates and new volunteers to lead walks…. CREW volunteer Chrissy Podos will lead a hike at Bird Rookery Swamp on Thursday, March 20th at 9 AM for the first 12 people who register at http://goo.gl/LRGyPZ .

As we add future dates, check back here or on our Eventbrite page.Bird Rookery Swamp Boardwalk

Posted on

Turkey Hunting Season Opens March 1st

turkey huntersSpring Turkey Hunting Season at CREW opens tomorrow, March 1st, and runs through March 9th at the CREW Cypress Dome Trails, Caracara Prairie Preserve, and in portions of the Flint Pen Strand unit of CREW. Specific spring turkey season regulations for CREW are listed below. Complete regs can be accessed at the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission website.

The Cypress Dome Trails will remain open to other users – hikers, bikers, geocachers – during hunting seasons. However, camping and horseback permits will not be issued during this hunt season. Hikers and bikers are encouraged to wear bright colors (hunter orange) when hiking during hunting seasons. Turkey hunting hours end at 1 PM each day. No hunting is allowed at the CREW Marsh Trails or at the Bird Rookery Swamp Trails.

Spring Turkey Season: March 1-4 and 5-9

Permit, Stamp and License Requirements – Quota permit, hunting license, management area permit and wild turkey permit.

Legal to Hunt – Bearded turkey or gobbler.

Regulations Unique to Spring Turkey Season

  • Legal shooting hours are ½ hour before sunrise until 1 p.m.
  • Hunting other animals is prohibited.
  • Hunting with firearms other than shotguns or using a shot size larger than #2 is prohibited.

The CREW lands are open to a variety of public recreational use activities. One of the most historical and storied recreational uses of CREW is hunting. Hunting is an important wildlife management tool and provides many sportsmen and sportswomen a way to enjoy the outdoors and put food on their tables. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has designated CREW as a Wildlife & Environmental Area (WEA) and regulates the hunting rules and seasons on CREW lands. FWC law enforcement officers patrol CREW lands all year long.