Support native plant gardens at the Indian River County Administration Complex at May 18th County Commission meeting
An exciting new initiative is planting model native gardens at the entrance to the Indian River County Administrative Building A to demonstrate to the public the beauty and value of native plants in our environment, a model for everyone’s public and private spaces. In discussions with Jason Brown, County administrator, and Rich Szpyrka, Director of Public Works, Rich suggested two small gardens near Building A main entrance to get the most folks to see it when entering the building. In November, in discussing this, the County Commission recommended using a professional landscape architect plan the gardens. We have selected one of the best landscape architects, Stephanie Dunn, Senior Designer, Cadence, in Ft Lauderdale who specializes in professional native urban design for businesses and governments. Ms. Dunn demonstrated her expertise as the keynote speaker at the Florida Native Plant Society State meeting and at our 2020 Transforming Landscapes for Sustainable Future conference.
Pelican Island Audubon will provide the funds for hiring Ms. Dunn and for all the plants put into the two gardens. There should be no cost to the County. We are delighted to learn that Rich Szpyrka says his county staff will be happy to maintain the new plantings when established.
We are planning to present this to the Indian River Board of County Commissioners, 1801 27th Street, Vero Beach, next Tuesday morning, May 18th. Your full support would be invaluable. Please attend the meeting and/or send an email to our county commissioners (Susan Adams <sadams@ircgov.com>, Joseph E. Flescher <jflescher@ircgov.com>, Joe Earman <JEarman@ircgov.com>, Laura Moss <lmoss@ircgov.com>, Peter D. O’Bryan <pObryan@ircgov.com> in support of planting natives at the entrance to the Indian River County Administrative Building A as Audubon will insure no cost to the County. We would appreciate a copy of the letter sent to piaudubon@yahoo.com.
Good News, we do not have to go to Mars!
As you know we humans are turning our Earth into a lifeless Mars! Only 10% of the Earth is occupied by humans. Yet we are badly contaminating and altering the whole planet. Our North and South Poles are melting; thus, our ocean has risen on our treasure coast shores 8” since 1880. All our waters are being polluted. Lake Okeechobee has 300 square miles of cyanobacteria—deadly to humans and causal for ALS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. Our seagrasses do not thrive, so Manatees are starving–the most- 696 – manatee deaths since January 2021. In the St. Sebastian River, I see large manatees trying to eat shore plants along the edge of the river. Development replaces trees and plants that produce the oxygen we breath. Fish kills have awakened us to problems in our Lagoon. David Attenborough says the problems that await the world in the next 5-10 years due to climate change are much greater than the Coronavirus.
Why are we losing our seagrasses? Most damage is from chemicals from fertilizers, paint, medicines, and pesticides from lawns, septic tanks, broken sewage pipes entering as wastewater, reclaimed water, and stormwater. We in our county can work together on these issues.
See attached flyer outlining the staggering wastefulness of our American Lawns. It also gives information on how trees help our human well-being and the economic benefits of planting a tree and native plants and gives a list of plants we currently have available at our Audubon House nursery.
Let’s all turn our yards into viable habitats for our enjoyment and saving the planet.
Three years ago, Pelican Island Audubon set a goal to plant 100,000 native plants in the next 10-15 years primarily in our county to save our Birds, Us, and the Earth. Progress: In partnering with over 30 organizations, we have distributed over 7,500 native plants of which 2,500 are trees of 9 species and 5,000 native plants of over 30 species. We have given and helped plant 50 live oak trees at Jones’ Pier, 40 trees of 9 species at South ORCA, planted a native garden at the USFWS office in Vero, provided native plants to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fellsmere City Halls, Gifford History Museum and Cultural Center, Sebastian’s Garden Club Park on Barber St., Sebastian Inlet State Park, Indian River County parks and conservation lands, homeowner associations, and many private homes. JOIN US!
And let’s all use models to plant our yards and commercial spaces where native birds will thrive again and we will all breathe fresh air.
Richard H. Baker, Ph.D.
President, Pelican Island Audubon Society