First Northeast Florida Great Air Potato Round-up

The Duval Audubon Society is sponsoring a clean up site at the Crosby Sanctuary. Please go to http://www.nature.org/florida or call (904) 598-0004 to pre-register for this worthy event. It is necessary to pre-register to guarantee sufficient supplies and prizes. Prizes will be handed out for the largest potatoes collected! Great fun and educational opportunity for kids and the whole family!

Air potato is an exotic vine from Asia that is considered one of Floridas worst invaders of native plant communities. These vines creep over every other plant and smother them out, similar to Kudzu in Georgia and North Carolina. It reproduces by dropping numerous bulbils, which look much like brown potatoes. For more info and pictures please see the previous post on this blog entitled Air Potato.

When: January 20, 2007
Time: 9 am to 12:30 pm
Where: Crosby Sanctuary or other sponsored sites
Meeting Place: Vystar Credit Union parking lot on NW corner of Blanding Blvd and Aurora Blvd in Orange Park (just south of Wells Road/Orange Park Mall)
Contact: Pete Johnson (904) 536-4806

4 December 2006 -- FYCA Workday

The Florida Youth Challenge Academy conducted their third workday at the Crosby Sanctuary on Monday December 4th. A mixed group of these young men and women worked on pulling more air potato vines, collecting air potatos, and mounting several bird nest boxes (see pictures) on trees within the swamp. These FYCA cadets were full of energy to take on the challenge of pulling and collecting air potatos. They did a great job!

The next FYCA workday will be sometime in mid January. They will be collecting more air potatos and helping to prepare test grass kill plots for the landscape demonstration garden site. Our goal is to begin construction/planting in Spring 2007!

9 November 2006 -- Planning Meeting On-site

Several of the parties involved/interested with this project met at around 5:00 PM to look at the site. These parties included: Rhino Johanson of All in One "Integrity Fencing" to estimate project fencing costs; Scott Davis of Florida Youth Challenge Academy; Dan Hays of SJRWMD youth education program; and two of Scott's advisors from the University of Florida Masters Program.

We discussed topics including fencing upgrade options, history of the property, current conditions, landscape garden project, community vegetable garden, exotic vegetation control, connectivity to other natural areas, FYCA projects, water quality monitoring, local drainage area signs to demonstrate connection between neighborhoods and downstream watershed, community involvement, local government involvement, Clay utility company involvement, and potential drainage/stormwater improvements to neighborhood ditches/outfalls.

It was exciting to have such a dynamic group discuss how to utilize the the Crosby Sanctuary to positively engage and educate people!

Pete Johnson

First Successful Workday October 14, 2006

Thanks to Scott Davis and his 11 member crew of 16-18 year olds from the Florida Youth Challenge Academy for an excellent workday last Saturday. They were very energetic and enthusiastic workers and they even learned a few things about naturally vegetated ecosystems verses those infested with exotic nuisance plants.

Talk about a group of nature hungry kids. They literally ate every minute of it up out there and asked me several times when they could come back.

Duval Audubon looks forward to a mutually rewarding relationship with the FYCA organization. We are also working with the Wave Action Volunteers of the St Johns River Water Management District to get them the materials to put "No Dumping" signs on the stormwater drains in the adjacent neighborhood. Scott Davis also plans to have them construct bird nest boxes for the kids to install and monitor in the main swamp area.
Things are really taking off!

Pete Johnson

Zoning Change Approved!!

Last night the Clay County BCC approved the zoning change from Residential to Private Services, thus allowing our native landscape demonstration garden/yard to move forward!

Please come out on October 28 (see details posted August 22) to visit the site and enjoy a guided fieldtrip of the entire Crosby Sanctuary. There will be experienced birders, botanists and naturalists on-site to identify plants and wildlife!

Please contact me at (904) 536-4806 if you are interested in helping out with this project in any way (volunteer, donate plants, donate materials, donate money).

Pete Johnson

Crosby Sanctuary Project

October 28, 2006 -- Crosby Sanctuary Field Trip

Time: 8:00 am -- 11:00 am
The group will meet at the Vystar Credit Union on the NW corner of the intersection of Blanding Blvd and Aurora Blvd in Orange Park.
We will then consolidate vehicles and drive approximately 0.25 miles to sanctuary entrance. From entrance we will walk about 2-3 miles, first through disturbed (lots of exotic plants) uplands and then through semi-mature bottomland hardwood swamp (very nice) along a dry trailroad grade. Once we emerge from the swamp, we will then walk along an open powerline through swamp forest edge and freshwater marsh habitat. Finally, we will traverse a broad seepage slope forest north of the powerlines and then return back through the swamp road to the sanctuary entrance.
Previously identified plant and bird lists will be provided. Please at least bring enclosed shoes that can get wet, water, bug repellent and a good attitude! See you there!

Call Pete Johnson at (904) 536-4806 or e-mail pjohnson@sjrwmd.com for further details or directions.

August 14, 2006 Update

The Clay County Planning/Zoning Department Staff have determined that our proposed zoning change is legal, as per previous zoning changes approved in the past.

Please note that the Clay County Zoning Change meeting has been moved to September 5th at 7:00 pm. If all goes well, then the Final Meeting before the Board of County Commissioners will be on September 26 at 7:00 pm.

The Clay Planning Department staff recommended to me that it is important to have as many people in support as possible in attendance at the meetings. If anyone wants to support the project but can not be in attendance, then a signed letter of support for the record is fine. Please e-mail me (pjohnson@sjrwmd.com) if you send in a signed letter so I can keep track of how many are sent.

If nothing else, then an e-mail (send to: planning@co.clay.fl.us and Cc to pjohnson@sjrwmd.com) of support for the project will also work.

Please send letters of support to:

Planning & Zoning Division
Department of Development Services
P.O. Box 367, 477 Houston Street
Green Cove Springs, FL 32043-0367
Telephone: (904) 284/269-6375
email: planning@co.clay.fl.us

August 2006 Update

The Clay County Planning Commission has decided to review the codes to determine if the zoning change is legal. Therefore, the next public hearing will be on the first Tuesday of September 5th at 7:00 P.M. in Green Cove Springs on the 4th floor of the Clay County administration building.

Planning Commission members did express interest in working with Duval Audubon to accomplish this project regardless of the zoning change status.

Please call, e-mail or write the Clay County Planning & Zoning Division to voice your comments and support for this project.

Planning & Zoning Division
Department of Development Services
P.O. Box 367, 477 Houston Street
Green Cove Springs, FL 32043-0367
Telephone: (904) 284/269-6375
email: planning@co.clay.fl.us

June 2006 Update

Zoning Change from Residential (RB) to Private Services (PS-2), which will allow the property to be used for a Park and Xeriscape/Native Plant Demonstration Garden. There will be two public hearings on the zoning change: Clay County Planning Commission -- 7:00 P.M. on August 1, 2006; and the Clay County Board of County Commissioners -- 7:00 P.M. on August 22, 2006.

The Park and Demonstration Garden will be limited access due to tresspassing and vandalism concerns. However, Duval Audubon Society is looking for volunteers from the neighboorhood to help build/maintain the park and help facilitate walk-through access on weekends. Please contact Pete Johnson at (904) 536-4806 for further details.

The Park and Demonstration Garden is currently in planning and development phase by Duval Audubon Society with support from the University of Florida IFAS Clay County Extension -- Master Gardener Program Staff (internet address: http://hort.ufl.edu/mg/).

May Update

Crosby Sanctuary Project is currently on hold for the summer and until we can obtain a zoning change from Clay County. The zoning change should be complete by August 2006, which will give us plenty of time to finish planning and conduct more fundraising. Please feel free to contact me at (904) 536-4806 for sanctuary tours and information.
Here are some pictures of the Crosby Sanctuary from this spring.

Air Potato

Air Potato vine is an exotic plant that is noxious and very prevalent in the southern uplands at the sanctuary. It will eventually be eradicated as we work to restore native upland habitats.

If you see this plant in your yards and neighborhoods, then please eradicate it before it spreads!

Progress as of March 1, 2006

The development of the Crosby sanctuary is in the planning and development stage by the Duval Audubon Society Board of Directors and member volunteers. We are always looking for and in need of people to volunteer their time to help with all aspects of the project.
At the next on-site volunteer meeting and work day on Saturday March 18, 2006, we will begin planting a native plant, bird and butterfly demonstration garden. Meet at Vystar Credit Union parking lot on the corner of Blanding Blvd and Aquarius Concourse at 8 am sharp.
Please feel free to post your comments and any helpful information or ideas for recruiting volunteers and eliciting funding sources.