Robinson Preserve viewing platform, Manatee County, FL that overlooks a 400+ acre $10 million+ restoration the Coastal Program partnered with. Photo by Bob Kavetsky, 4/14/2008. For more infomation see www.mymanatee.org/conservation.html

Robinson Preserve, Manatee County, FL, a 400+ acre $10 million+ restoration the Coastal Program partnered with. Photo by Bob Kavetsky, 4/14/2008. This area's Brazilian Pepper and Australian Pine were removed and after land re-shaping, were planted with Spartina, mangroves and other native vegetation. For more infomation see www.mymanatee.org/conservation.html

Fort De Soto fishing pier, viewing Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge, Hillsborough County, FL. That day's temperatures were among the coolest on record for that date, reminiscent of the Great Lakes, and the beach was completely empty. Photo by Bob Kavetsky, 4/15/2008.

Near the local power plant and desalinization plant is a wetland restoration in progress the Coastal Program partnered with. Photo by Bob Kavetsky, 4/16/2008.

Use of reef balls in partnership with MacDill Air Force Base and other partners to restore oyster and other intertidal species habitats. Photo by Bob Kavetsky, 4/16/2008.

Tom Reis, consulting restoration ecologist and Bryan Pridgeon discussing the interpretive signage at an educational restoration used by the local schools that was converted from a tropical fish farm. Photo by Bob Kavetsky 4/17/2008.

Bob Kavetsky,Great Lakes biologist assigned part-time to the Coastal Program-Great Lakes, participated in a one-week detail, April 14-18, to field-review how the Coastal Program is implemented by a single full-time Coordinator (Bryan Pridgeon) in the Tampa Bay Focus Area of Region 4, (see http://www.fws.gov/coastal/docs/factsheets/2007/1245.pdf ). 

This detail provided many opportunities for exchange on the history of the programs, how they are implemented, and the differences in scale and opportunity.  Among the field stops were Robinson Preserve, a county restoration partnership of more than 400 acres and total cost over $10 million (see http://www.mymanatee.org/conservation.html).  This large and diverse package of project funding provides for construction of amenities, wetland creation and wetland restoration, as well as ongoing interpretive programming and project maintenance.   

The suite of Tampa Bay Focus Area sites that were visited involved numerous techniques of invasive species removal, native plantings, restoring bivalve reefs with the "reef ball" technology used to repair damaged coral reefs in other parts of the world.  The Tampa Bay projects were generally much larger and involved more partners and financial resources than the Coastal Program-Great Lakes has generally been delivering in its early years.  Another main observation is the benefit of having all the Tampa Bay Focus Area's projects so close together, so close that in an 85-mile day of driving almost all sites were viewable as opposed to the situation on the Great Lakes where none of East Lansing Field Office Coastal Program projects are found that nearby.  The benefit of having a single person right there near the project and able to take advantage of new nearby opportunities as they formed, rather than having their effort spread over a vast basin became obvious as the week progressed.  It was also enlightening to see that the strength of the partnerships in the area are particularly enhanced by the local counties. Thanks go out to Bryan Pridgeon and his partners, co-workers and friends in the Tampa Bay Focus Area for their help and hospitality.