You Made It Happen - Thank You!
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The Calusa Waterkeeper Annual Meeting, held on April 2nd, was a big success. We raised more than $35,000 for our water and air monitoring programs, advocacy efforts, and operational needs. The event provided a great opportunity for our supporters to come together to honor retired Waterkeeper John Cassani, welcome our new Waterkeeper, Captain Codty Pierce, and hear about the advances the organization is making in the fight for water quality.
We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the countless number of volunteers who helped us with the event and the:
- 132 people in attendance
- 54 donors who gave items for our silent auction
- 6 table sponsors
- 1 silent auction sponsor
- All who participated in our silent auction by bidding on items
We can't wait to see everyone again at our next event.
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Honoring Trailblazers Who Made Impacts
At the April 2nd Annual Meeting, the Calusa Waterkeeper Board of Directors surprised Jim and Ruth Watkins with an award and an announcement that they established a fund to honor them for their years of dedicated service to the organization in various leadership roles, as well as serving as volunteer Rangers.
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We invite you to join the board in honoring trailblazers Jim and Ruth Watkins by donating to the Jim and Ruth Watkins Transformational Fund. This fund will help support causes Jim and Ruth have so passionately devoted their lives to - improving and restoring SW Florida waterways. | |
Help Us Urge Governor DeSantis to Veto the Sprawl Bill
Senate Bill 540 was passed by the Florida state legislature on May 2nd, 2023. It is one of the worst bills of what our coalition of environmental groups has dubbed the "Session of Sprawl."
This bill will eliminate public feedback and challenges on local development decisions throughout the state by discouraging and financially penalizing citizen challengers. In short, it's the legislature's latest bold attempt to streamline unchecked development in our communities and intimidate the public's ability to reign in projects that are bad for water quality, traffic, flood control, resilience and the overall quality of life in Florida.
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In April, The Safe Waterways Act of 2023, House Bill 177 and Senate Bill 172, died in the state legislature. Although it received positive support in its first House committee hearing, it never advanced in the House or was scheduled for a hearing in the Senate. Although disappointing, Calusa Waterkeeper, along with its partner organizations, made positive strides in advocating for water quality standards in SW Florida and we thank you for your support. | |  |
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We added a couple new sites in North Fort Myers this month, and a site at San Carlos Park in Estero. Results show 47% of sites passed, 53% of sites failed (MPN over 70). View the interactive map now. |
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Understand How Mangroves Defend the Coastline | Ride along with Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce as he checks in on mangrove shorelines in Pine Island Sound with WINK News and learn how these trees protect our coastal communities. Continue Reading |
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Meet Calusa Waterkeeper's Newest Board Member
The Calusa Waterkeeper board is comprised of 12 members, including four executive officers and eight directors. This month we feature one of our newest directors, Tim Huyck.
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Next Ranger Quarterly Meeting
Attention all CWK Rangers! Don't miss the next quarterly Ranger meeting on Saturday, June 10th, from 10 am to noon at the Fort Myers Regional Library in downtown Fort Myers. Learn about updates coming to the Ranger program and hear Don Duke, Ph.D., professor of Environmental Studies in The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University, decipher the alphabet soup of water regulation. He will explain the meaning and background behind such acronyms as BMAP, TMDL, SFWMD, MS4, and more. More info to follow.
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Keep Your Membership Active | We recently updated our donor management system and learned that some donors' information, including monthly and annual donations, might not have been transferred. If you believe this may have happened to your record, please contact Cindy Swisher at 239-899-1440 or by email at cswisher@caluseawaterkeeper.org so she can update your donor profile and keep your membership active. | | |
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CALUSA WATERKEEPER MISSION
To Protect and Restore the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee to the Coastal Waters.
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FOLLOW CALUSA WATERKEEPER |
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Phone: (239) 899-1440
Email: info@CalusaWaterkeeper.org
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