Friends of Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges (FTBNWR) needs your help today!
We need your help to tell the RESTORE Council and Gov. Scott to spend RESTORE funds for the Egmont Key Restoration and Storm Damage Reduction proposal.
Here’s what we’re asking you to do:
Letter to Submit
Support for the Egmont Key Restoration and Storm Damage Reduction proposal from US Army Corps of Engineers
I am a member of the Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges (FTBNWR) who supports the proposal from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers submitted for Egmont Key Restoration and Storm Damage Reduction for RESTORE funding.
Egmont Key NWR is a very important island for wildlife at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Because it is a National Wildlife Refuge it is protected and a very successful location for over 30,000 pairs of birds to nest and rest.
It also hosts nesting for Loggerhead and other sea turtles. Gopher and Box Turtles also call the island home. Erosion has been chipping away at these habitats.
Birds are more crowded and sea turtles encounter huge escarpments which hinder nesting. Baby birds can fall off the same escarpments and drown.
The same fate can befall the Gopher and Box Turtles who wander too close to the edge.
The highly populated Tampa Bay area has no other habitats that work as well for these animals.
The Seminole Tribe has a deep connection to Egmont Key. There are still some members of its tribe buried on Egmont from the time of the Trail of Tears. Historic Fort Dade also is located on Egmont. Erosion has claimed three of its batteries and the remaining three are vulnerable to ruin without periodic sand replacement. The U.S. Army Corp proposal includes structure that will better protect the remaining batteries as well as sand placement.
The public is able to visit Egmont Key in the public use areas where they can spend the day on a beautiful beach (quickly eroding away), tour Fort Dade, see amazing wildlife, and learn about nature. The restoration project will provide ongoing recreational and educational opportunities for the public.
This important island will benefit greatly from the proposed project. I support this project and urge you to choose it as one of the RESTORE Act projects that are funded.
Sincerely yours,
(Signature)
(Name)
(Address)
(Date)
Thanks for your support!
Here’s what we’re asking you to do:
- Copy the letter. See “Letter to Submit”. Update the letter to state, in your own words, why you feel Egmont Key is important to you.
- Submit your letter via email to RestoreCouncil@RestoreTheGulf.gov .
- Visit http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/email-the-governor/
- Fill out the required fields. See example below.
- Paste your letter in the “Message to Governor Rick Scott (required)”. Then type in the Security code. Then select send.
Letter to Submit
Support for the Egmont Key Restoration and Storm Damage Reduction proposal from US Army Corps of Engineers
I am a member of the Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges (FTBNWR) who supports the proposal from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers submitted for Egmont Key Restoration and Storm Damage Reduction for RESTORE funding.
Egmont Key NWR is a very important island for wildlife at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Because it is a National Wildlife Refuge it is protected and a very successful location for over 30,000 pairs of birds to nest and rest.
It also hosts nesting for Loggerhead and other sea turtles. Gopher and Box Turtles also call the island home. Erosion has been chipping away at these habitats.
Birds are more crowded and sea turtles encounter huge escarpments which hinder nesting. Baby birds can fall off the same escarpments and drown.
The same fate can befall the Gopher and Box Turtles who wander too close to the edge.
The highly populated Tampa Bay area has no other habitats that work as well for these animals.
The Seminole Tribe has a deep connection to Egmont Key. There are still some members of its tribe buried on Egmont from the time of the Trail of Tears. Historic Fort Dade also is located on Egmont. Erosion has claimed three of its batteries and the remaining three are vulnerable to ruin without periodic sand replacement. The U.S. Army Corp proposal includes structure that will better protect the remaining batteries as well as sand placement.
The public is able to visit Egmont Key in the public use areas where they can spend the day on a beautiful beach (quickly eroding away), tour Fort Dade, see amazing wildlife, and learn about nature. The restoration project will provide ongoing recreational and educational opportunities for the public.
This important island will benefit greatly from the proposed project. I support this project and urge you to choose it as one of the RESTORE Act projects that are funded.
Sincerely yours,
(Signature)
(Name)
(Address)
(Date)
Thanks for your support!