La Lutra, LLC

11/03/2016

Talk about fun and hard work. It took real teamwork to pull this off. Thanks to all who helped and showed up for wonderful festival.

We have many people to thank for a great Lantern Fest - a wonderful community event!

11/19/2015

Following in the footsteps of a wandering Florida black bear, three friends leave civilization and become immersed in a vast and unexplored wildlife corridor stretching…

11/17/2015

The Battle is not over. We are just fighting in the wrong place. The Apalachicola Bay is NOT part of the federal ACF project. The Army Corp of Engineers (ACE) jurisdiction stops about six miles from the bay at Jackson River.

The Good news is they are not decreasing the flow below the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam. Hence, with no change in flow, (as compared to the old plan) there is no increase in the environmental impact.

This Environmental Impact Statement was tasked to assess the impacts of the proposed new Water Control Manual as compared to the original one written in 1958. It is NOT an Environmental Assessment on the health of our bay.

The ACE is required to take public comments and include them in the document. They also rank all these comments and categorize them. The third largest category of comments were “ Biological Resources” and pertained to fisheries; threatened and endangered species; flow concerns for Apalachicola Bay; and other biological issues such as habitat, research, and monitoring.

They are also required to maintain a minimum flow and water quality to protect federally endangered and threatened species and habitat. Specifically the Gulf Sturgeon, and three species of mussels, the Fat threeridge, purple bankclimer, and the Chipola Slabshell, because they all have federally designated critical habitats in the ACF Basin. Our bay is not, at least not yet.

The EIS does a really good job of describing the Apalachicola Bay estuary as “one of the largest estuaries in the southeastern U.S. as well as one of the most important estuaries, in terms of productivity, in the entire U.S.” But that is all they can do.

So, understanding all this, I entered into a conversation with the ACE Project Manager and asked:
Recognizing that the health of our unique Bay could benefit greatly from increased flow, how would you go about getting more water released? I said I knew of only two ways to get more flow. One was by an Act of Congress, the other was to pray for rain.
He thought for a minute and he said. “Make it a Federal Project”. He said when it becomes a Federal Project they would have jurisdiction.” The moment that congress provides any funds for restoration, it becomes a Federal Project.

To get federal funds for restoring or maintaining our Bay we need an Environmental Assessment of the Bay by a National Scientific organization or consortium. We need ANNER, The Riverkeepers, NOAA, the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, FSU, Auburn, etc.

There are currently 3.3 million Georgians currently relying on withdrawals from Lake Lanier. We are going to have to take this to a national level with good hard science and support behind it.

The health of this bay is important to a lot more people than just live here. We need to solicit the help of all to keep our Bay sustainable.

11/09/2015

Jack and Anne Rudloe’s poster ( circa 1973), shows just how long this three state water war has been going on.

Well it’s not over yet. I have spent the last few days reviewing all the 2,000 + pages and there is good news and bad news. The good news is they will not be reducing the flow into the bay. The bad news they will not be increasing it either, which is what most of us were hoping for.

The DRAFT Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Updates to the Water Control Manual that controls the water discharge into our bay is up for public comment. I will be at the hearing this evening to see what they actually say and I will publish all this on Facebook and my web site.
I am also doing another white paper that will reduce all this into what’s relevant to us here.

07/21/2015

07/08/2015

Thank you all.

12/02/2014

Biologists rediscovered a freshwater mussel not seen in 20 years while working in the Ochlockonee River.

09/25/2014

The Photo Ark just reached an important milestone! This pygmy squid from Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea, Florida, became the 4,000th species to be photographed by Joel Sartore. A long-time National Geographic contributor, Joel began this project in 2006 to document every captive species on Earth. He travels to zoos, aquariums, private breeders and other wildlife centers to reveal the world’s magnificent and fragile biodiversity.

This pygmy squid (and the isopod riding on its back) are virtually unknown to the public. Through the Photo Ark, Joel hopes to show people "a world worth saving". Without more awareness and better stewardship, half of the planet’s species could be lost to extinction by the turn of the century.

See the article on The Photo Ark's visit to Gulf Specimen Marine Lab here: http://www.thewakullanews.com/content/gulf-specimen-lab-provides-species-photo-ark

09/16/2014

In case your not following La Lutra on facebook, check out the latest report on Bears, Manatees, and Hyacinth Bergs. These little guy's were not on the River. https://www.facebook.com/LaLutra.Serge
Thanks

09/16/2014

Manatees, Bears, and Hyacinth Bergs
on the Crooked River

As volunteer custodians with the Florida Paddling Trails Association, (www.floridapaddlingtrails.com) we monitor sections of the Crooked River. This weekend we had the fortune of taking a couple from Berlin on an electric canoe tour on the Crooked River where we had the wonderful opportunity to watch a mother and two young Manatees eating and rolling in the river. This is the first time we have ever seen them or their signs of foraging this far up/down the river.

Sunday, Debbi and I went back to document their range and see if we would be lucky enough to get a picture. No such luck but we did come around a bend to meet a nice bear swimming across in front of us. He picked up speed when he saw us and Debbi did get a few photos.

The River in this area this year is currently lined with mats of Water Hyacinths of which some are being eaten by the Manatees.

WARNING – These mats are large (10-20 yards long) and the Hyacinths are too tall to see over in a Kayak. When we started back we came to a TOTALLY BLOCKED River. I had to stand in the electric canoe to see over it and try to find the thinnest place to try to break through. A small Island had swung across and fetched up on the other side in grape vines hanging from a Tupelo. We could hear it creaking and breaking limps. Then to make it more interesting, more such Islands, Hyacinth Bergs, were coming up behind us.

We were slowly making our way by going in backwards and pulling the 4-5’ tall plants out of our way when I noticed the tops of a small Berg drifting away on the other side. We redirected our efforts and managed to make it through to where the berg had been, some 10 to 20 yards away, just as more bergs were coming down river.

You must remember this river flows both ways. So Paddlers may want to include a machete while plying the water of the Crooked River, east of the 67 bridge. At least till the Hyacinth Bergs pass.

08/21/2014

Here is a link to our website with Butterfly's and Flutterby's of Tate's Hell and St. Marks. http://www.lalutra.com/Dragonflys___Butterflys.php A gallery of these wonderful flying creatures that eat biting insect's. A key species for our survival out here in the swamp. And such magnificently beautiful flying dragons and fairy's of the breeze.

08/21/2014

Wonderful film and update on our local friends. And good primer on living with bears. Watch this. Then ask how FWC can issue a permit to GRASI to drop 17,000 men per month in the same swamp these wonderful bears live in.

Welcome to the Florida Black Bear Curriculum Guide that is a joint project of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Defenders of Wildlife. The Florida Black Bear Curriculum Guide was created in 1999 and was revised in 2014. It is a comprehensive series of lessons on the natural h…