Friends' President Message - Tom Baird

Many exciting things are starting to happen at the Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, and we are looking forward to a return to the traditional in-person Annual Meeting of the Friends later this spring. Our key programs continue, thanks to many generous donors. The biology interns continue the critical research and protection of frosted flatwoods salamanders and red cockaded woodpeckers. The environmental education program is strong and has added a regular and very popular in-class pre-school program. A new lighthouse condition assessment is underway to document areas of deterioration and need for repair. The longleaf pine-wiregrass restoration program continues bringing back the once native habitat. And Monarch habitats are protected throughout the refuge. 

All of these programs could not be accomplished without the donations of people like you. An easy way to become a donor is through automatic monthly giving. The Longleaf Society is a category of giving that offers monthly recurring donations. It’s an easy, efficient way to support the Refuge. We will charge your credit card monthly with the amount you specify. Go to https://www.stmarksrefuge.org/donate, and choose the amount to donate monthly. For the Friends, monthly giving provides a more predictable avenue of funding to enable better planning for program support. Join me and other board members in being members of the Longleaf Society. Future generations will benefit from your support today.

Text courtesy Tom Baird, President, Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, Photo courtesy Katasha Cornwell

Refuge Manager's Message - Terry Peacock

The re-paving of Lighthouse Road should be completed very soon. The paving itself will be finished the week of February 7, and the following week, the contractors will complete the surfacing and striping of the Lighthouse Parking Lot. The final steps then will be the final striping and the replacement of the rumble strips. Come out and experience the new road in mid-March!

The inconvenience of the road maintenance has not slowed down our visitation in the last few months. In fact, it has seemed to increase! Here are some reminders to our visitors. Lighthouse Road is a public road so please move off the road as far onto the shoulders as possible when looking at wildlife or taking pictures. Also do not block gates when parking. Do not approach the wildlife. Keep dogs on leashes; our alligators see dogs as food and could possibly attack them if they are not close to you.  Come and enjoy the spring wildflowers and the wildlife and be safe!

I want to introduce you to our new maintenance professional. Dan Hickey came to us from Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois. Dan is a U.S. veteran with many skills. He has worked on large fishing vessels in Alaska, designed shipping containers for a display diorama company, owned and repaired his own historic homes, and was a Maintenance Worker at Crab Orchard NWR. He is also a trained blacksmith. We are looking forward to working with Dan. He is already a valued asset at the Refuge. 

And, in recognition of Presidents' Day, all national wildlife refuges and other U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands that normally charge an entrance fee offer free admission on Monday, February 20, 2023.

Text courtesy Terry Peacock, Refuge Manager

Friends visiting Friends

Text and Photos by Tom Baird

On January 14^th, members of the board of the Friends of Lower Suwanee and Cedar Keys Wildlife Refuges visited with the Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. The Friends of Lower Suwanee have acquired an historic hunting and fishing camp that they wish to turn into a museum and nature store. They came to learn how to operate a nature store from Friends Nature Store Manager and board member Rita LeBlanc, and learn about fund sources and fundraising strategies from Friends president Tom Baird. Some of their board visited the lighthouse to look at the displays in the keeper’s quarters and talked about lighthouse operations with Ranger Connie Clineman. We were happy to share our experiences with another refuge Friends group and wish them success in their efforts.  

WHO Festival Was a Huge Success

After a two-year absence, the Wildlife, Heritage, and Outdoors (WHO) Festival returned in a big way. It was a crisp start to the morning, but as the sun warmed the exhibitors, families, students, newcomers, and old Friends came out to enjoy this annual event. Kids had many opportunities to learn new skills including fishing, archery, gun safety, and how to put out a fire, all with child appropriate gear and adult oversight. Other skills, like how to throw a cast net and roasting marshmallows were fan favorites. Several other exhibitors shared information about Florida ecology, trails, and cultural resources. At the Friends booth, Chip Coffin demonstrated how to make handmade walking sticks from crape myrtle branches. By all accounts of Refuge staff, Friends, volunteers, and visitors, this was an overwhelmingly successful event.

Byrd Hammock - Interpretive Site Planning Underway

Florida Trail Association (FTA), a 501c3, has partnered with a cultural resources management (CRM) firm and together acquired a planning grant funded by the State Division of Historical Resources to develop an interpretive site at Byrd Hammock, a Native American midden. Byrd Hammock was gifted to the Friends Board in early 2015 and the Friends transferred the land to USFWS later that year. FTA and their CRM firm held a public workshop in January to discuss plans for the site with the goal being to create a “vision and concept” for a spur trail off the Florida Trail so that visitors can broaden their cultural understanding, connect to the past, and learn about stewardship of historic resources. Members of the Board attended the meeting to hear the status of the plans and provide input. Professional archaeologists who know the site well were present to share history of when and how the site was used as well as their vision for what the finished product might look like. Some potential walking paths through the site (not far from the Florida Trail off Wakulla Beach Road) were displayed and discussed as well as ideas for signage. Additional coordination with adjacent property owners and Native American Tribes will be required before FTA and the CRM firm can finalize the plan, anticipated for June 2023. The Friends Board will stay tuned to see how or if we may be able to support this thoughtful approach for a Byrd Hammock interpretive site.



To learn more, check out this WFSU article and video about the site https://blog.wfsu.org/blog-coastal-health/2018/05/byrd-hammock-archeological-mysteries-st-marks-refuge/. 

Text Courtesy of Tom Baird and Katasha Cornwell. Photo Courtesy St Marks Friends Website.

Family Traditions in the Refuge

Dad took me on my first real hunting trip in 1976 when I was seven years old. We lived in the Tampa Bay area, and we drove up to Tide Swamp Wildlife Management Area in Taylor County. We slept in the back of his truck, and I shot two squirrels with my .410 shotgun. I was hooked. We’ve had 47 years of hunting adventures together, from central Florida to the western panhandle.

While in college in the early 1990’s, my buddy and I were drawn for permits for the general gun hunt in the Panacea Unit of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Manny had learned of the area from his friend Mark, whose family was from this area. In fact, there is a historical marker in the Newport Campground that talks about the Hamlin family and the town of Magnolia. It was my first time in the Refuge, and we saw a lot of deer and beautiful scenery and since then, Dad and I and a friend or two have applied for permits every year. I enjoy both the Wakulla and the Panacea Units. Dad prefers the hardwood hammocks of the Wakulla Unit over the pine and oak ridges of the Panacea Unit, so we usually apply for Wakulla. My son came with me on his first hunt in the Wakulla Unit in 2010. Katasha and I moved to Wakulla County in 2015, and we spend a lot of time in both units trail running, birding, and boating.

(The Arnolds - Scott, Sonny, Cole in middle circa 2005)

We were drawn for the Wakulla general gun hunt in December 2022. Dad is 84 years old now, he had a total knee replacement in August and while he gets around pretty good for all that, scouting and stand set-up are my jobs. I knew there were three spots I wanted to scout for this hunt. Site #1 we had hunted before, site #2 I had scouted before but not hunted, and site #3 was a new spot I had not been to. I began scouting two weekends before the hunt and the Refuge doesn’t open the gates for vehicle access until two days prior to a hunt, so it was time for a lot of walking and bicycling. A front moved in and I rode 22 miles in the rain, and walked several more miles.

Bucks rub their antlers on small trees to establish their territories (called a rub), and they scrape out bare patches of dirt to leave scent during the rut (called a scrape). Site #1 had rubs, scrapes and some acorns falling. Site #2 also had rubs and scrapes, and it had tons of acorns falling with a lot of tracks. I walked up on a couple of big hogs while scouting and they were so busy eating they didn’t notice me. Site #3 had some rubs and I saw three deer while walking around. There were not as many deer using site #3, but it was a beautiful, swampy hammock and I decided we would move there if we were not successful at site #2.

A good friend of mine was also drawn for the hunt, and Jim arrived two days early to help set up tree stands and check out the three sites I had scouted. We got the stands set up in site #2 and Dad arrived the next day. The first morning of the hunt found us walking into the woods well before daylight. Dad’s stand was about 300 yards from the parking spot and ours were farther in, so I carried his pack for him. Our plan was to stay in our stands until noon and then call each other on our phones unless someone shot earlier. We had great weather, and the squirrels and birds were very active, but the only deer seen that morning was a yearling doe that fed around Dad’s stand. We agreed that if we hadn’t seen a deer by 4:00 pm, we would move to site #3. The deer outsmarted us, so Jim and I carried the stands out and we barely had time to get them in position before it was dark, but we were ready for the next morning.

Dawn was clear and cool. Dad was on the edge of the swamp where it transitioned to pines. Around 10:00 am he stood up and turned around to get a drink from his pack, and he saw a large buck about 100 yards behind him, walking in his direction. At 80 yards out, the buck moved through an opening in the trees and Dad took the shot. Jim and I were not far from him and those few minutes waiting for him to call seemed to take forever. Dad’s first words were, “It was a jolly whopper!” The deer had disappeared after the shot, so Dad told me and Jim to stay in our stands while he looked for it. More waiting. Finally, Dad called and had found the deer. Jim and I walked over and found him sitting on a log next to the biggest buck he had ever taken. The bases of the antlers were huge, and it had 13 points. Dad was just excited as I was about those two squirrels 47 years ago.

Text and Photo Courtesy of Scott Arnold

If you are interested in carrying on your own family tradition or starting a new one, St. Marks offers youth hunts for 12 to 15 year olds. While registration for the spring turkey hunt in March has closed, keep it in mind for next year. Youth drawn for the hunt must complete a hunter safety course and each is accompanied by a parent or guardian. The hunt weekend teaches marksmanship, firearm safety, tracking and processing of game, how to hunt safely, legally, and ethically, and the relationship between hunting and conservation. 

Do Historic Places Make Us Feel Better?

On any given day, notice the license plates on the cars parked at the St. Marks Lighthouse. A large number will be from other states. People come to the Refuge for many reasons and a great many come specifically to see the lighthouse. There are lighthouse enthusiasts everywhere. 

As it turns out, visiting historic buildings and places actually makes us feel better. We all know that historic buildings need us; they can’t repair and maintain themselves. But numerous studies, some conducted in Florida, suggest that we also need old buildings. Historic buildings and places “improve our health, getting us out of the isolation of our cars and inspiring interactions within our community. Old buildings cause awe, charge our imaginations and can create empathy for those who experienced life differently than us.”

A 2016 study conducted in England showed “93% of respondents feel local heritage has an impact on their personal quality of life. Additionally, those who participate in their community’s heritage, such as by visiting a historic site, rank their happiness as 8.1 on a scale from 1 to 10, versus a rating of 7.8 by those who do not participate in heritage.” There are many variables that can affect our happiness, but one aspect can be how involved we are in our community, and how we understand the history of our area and the lives and conditions of the people who once lived here.

The Friends restored the St. Marks Lighthouse not as just a brick and mortar monument to the past, but so that present and future generations can know the stories the lighthouse has to tell and so those stories can be told for generations to come.

So visit the lighthouse often, and view the changing exhibits. It just might make you happier.

Text Courtesy of Tom Baird

Lighthouse Keeper's Quarters Tour Dates

The Keeper's Quarters Tours will continue into March. Tours are free and are available from 10am to 2pm. No reservations required. We appreciate the dedication of the volunteers who give their time to share their passion with the community.

• Saturday, February 25, 2023
• Saturday, March 11, 2023

Photos Courtesy of Katasha Cornwell

 The Wildlife Tours Continue

Wildlife Tours at the Refuge (with an emphasis on birds) continue through May.

Call 850- 925-6121 to make a reservation

Registration opens a month prior to each tour and each person calling in can only

register up to 5 people

Please see the refuge Visitor Tour Guidelines below for additional information.

Tour Dates Spring 2023  

March 5: Matt & Cyndi Johnstone 10 am – 1 pm

March 11: Don Morrow 9 am – noon   and  1 pm – 4 pm

April 2: Matt & Cyndi Johnstone 10 am – 1 pm

Some Things To Keep in Mind

Participants will meet at the Visitor Center parking lot at 1255 Lighthouse Road. We ask that participants please park across the street from the VC parking lot. The tours are three hours long, may have up to twenty five participants, and there are no bathrooms available on the tour routes. Bathroom access will be available at the departure point. It is therefore very important that participants arrive early enough - a half hour prior is not unreasonable - to organize their gear, attend to any other needs, and be ready to go at the designated start time. The tours begin with a brief but important orientation to make the tour safe and enjoyable for everybody; latecomers are very disruptive to this necessary introduction. The tours are frequently fully booked; no-shows at the starting time may be replaced with folks on the waiting list or those hoping for a walk-on. To allow more people to participate we ask that people only sign up for one tour a day unless space is available the day of the tour. Registration opens a month prior to each tour and each person calling in can only register up to 5 people.

To better enhance our tours and events we ask that our guests follow the guidelines listed below.

1. Pets will not be allowed on any tour.

2. For your safety and tour enjoyment, we recommend that all participants wear closed-toe shoes, bring a bottle of drinking water, sunscreen, and bug spray (please apply away from the other participants).

3. For your comfort and enjoyment, we suggest that you dress for the weather, wearing or bringing layers. It is also a good idea to carry a lightweight rain jacket for unexpected showers or cooling weather.

4. Practice “pack it in, pack it out”. Any trash, including biodegradable food and packaging, is to be taken back with the participant and disposed of off-site.

5. Attendees must arrive early enough to use the restroom prior to tour start time. If tour is scheduled to start at 9, it will be pulling out of the meeting area at 9.

6. Leave all plants and animals alone. DO NOT engage in any of the following: -Eating any leaves and/or berries found alongside trail -Approaching, handling, or attempting to feed any wildlife -Collecting any material, with the exception of trash, on refuge property

7. Be aware of your surroundings. The refuge is home to venomous snakes, alligators, burrowing animals, and some endangered species. Stay safe, when getting on and off the tour wagon watch your step and try not to disturb any habitats or animals with loud noises.

8. As a courtesy to all visitors, those that sign up and are no shows will not be allowed to sign up for another tour.

Text, Lori Nicholson, Refuge Instructional Systems Specialist/Environmental Education. Photo, Katasha Cornwell

We Encourage our Friends to SHARE!

As almost all of you know, the Friends give 100% of their support to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. An important way for you increase that support is to share our message. Therefore, when you get this newsletter, we encourage you to send it on to a friend. You can share it via email or through various other social media. Here's the link to the Friends Newsletter page. Scroll to the "current" entry and copy the link.

Phillip Pollock

Bird Reports Assist Visitors

Don Morrow and Matt Johnstone, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge volunteers and expert birders, create concise bird-sighting reports on a week-to-week basis. They also are again leading in-depth wildlife tours (with a concentration on birds) at the Refuge throughout the year (see the schedule of tours above in this newsletter).

Read their current and past reports by following the link below.

Go there now.

Photo (Long-tailed Duck) Courtesy Katasha Cornwell

Have you considered including the Refuge in your will? We would appreciate hearing from you if so. The Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge can provide information and guide you through the process. Just call the Refuge at 850-925-6121, and ask to be contacted by the Friends' Development Committee, or email us.

Reflections newsletter is a benefit of membership for Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge.

It also serves as an important supplement to

the Friends' website.

Both the newsletter and the web site provide members and the public information about volunteer activities and events at the Refuge.

Reflections editor: Katasha Cornwell

Reflections Editor, Phillip M. Pollock