EDITOR’S DESK

This is the Hour

We didn’t plan it this way, but both lead stories in this issue focus on major problems facing Tampa Bay and the options that governments and big business are considering to address them. When it comes to cap-and-trade programs and allocating nitrogen loadings, responsible citizens certainly need to understand the basics, but we’re less likely to be involved with the actual decisions.

What’s missing from both stories, however, is a sense of how citizens continue to play a critical role in impacts upon the bay. People like Joe Smith, chair of the Tampa Bay Partnership’s Transportation Initiative and winner of the Herman W. Goldner Award for Regional Leadership, and Monique Borboen-Abrams at the St. Petersburg Audubon Society are practically full-time volunteers working to make Tampa Bay a better place in the future.

But even if you can’t take a leave of absence from your job or your family to protect beach-nesting birds and plan transit systems, every single citizen in the region can make a difference every day, cleaning up beaches, assisting in bird counts or planting native trees.

At home, we’ve detailed the top ten tips on saving energy on pages 8 and 9, simple steps that conserve energy, save money and protect Tampa Bay. An ever-increasing percentage of the nutrient contamination in Tampa Bay is coming from backyards and driveways across the region because major point sources have been so successful at reducing their discharges. People who overfertilize their lawns don’t just throw money away to buy bags of chemicals – we all pay to clean up those excess nutrients before they enter Tampa Bay.

And while it appears that we’ve escaped the worst of the drought that some experts had predicted, conserving fresh water means that more will be available for the ecosystems that make Tampa Bay a rich resource. Governments, industry and utilities may be responsible for working out the big issues, but we all have an important role to play in protecting Tampa Bay.

Your turn – talk back!
We welcome letters to the editor on topics covered in Bay Soundings. Send them to editor@baysoundings.com.

— Victoria Parsons

The Strategic Regional Transit Needs Assessment, initiated by the Florida Department of Transportation, earned the Charles A. McIntosh, Jr. Award of Distinction in the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council’s 16th annual “Future of the Region” competition.

The assessment objectively and comprehensively identifies travel patterns as well as transit operations and infrastructure opportunities in the region for the next 50 years. Project implementation is a primary focus of the study – essentially determining how to get beyond planning and get a regional transit system on the ground and operating.

To communicate with an eight-county audience while maximizing public involvement, minimizing staff time and managing key messages of the study, the FDOT developed a video as an outreach tool for use at presentations, workshops, and meetings of business, neighborhood, and civic associations. It can also be downloaded from http://fdot-srtna.c-b.com.

The video illustrates the views of different types of people and their need for mobility options. Elected officials, local business leaders, and the FDOT management discuss the community goals, objectives and desires. The video emphasizes the importance of a strong, multi-modal transportation system and its effects on the economic vitality of the Tampa Bay region.

The winner of the Herman W. Goldner Award for Regional Leadership was Joe Smith, chair of the Tampa Bay Partnership’s Transportation Initiative. Smith attended more than 250 meetings across the region as a full-time volunteer to garner support for the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority.

Winners in the environmental category include:

• First place to the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management for developing a model of urban ecology that has earned national recognition for achievements in land management, restoration ecology and environmental education.
• Second place to the Lake Seminole Habitat Restoration Initiative including Boy Scout Troops 371, 404, 340, & 417 and the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management.
• Two honorable mentions were awarded: the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County for its artificial reef program and the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management for its environmental management of Shell Key Preserve.

Certificates of excellence in the environmental category were awarded to:

• City of Dunedin for its Green Local Government program and the restoration of Hammock Park Natural Systems.
• Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management for the Honeymoon Island beach restoration and its sponsorship of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System/Storm Water, Erosion & Sedimentation Control inspection program
• City of New Port Richey for the James E. Grey Preserve
• Southwest Florida Water Management District for its McKay Bay/Eastshore Commerce Park stormwater retrofit project
• Pinellas County for the McKay Creek Greenway Habitat Restoration
• Tampa Bay Estuary Program and its Tampa Bay Nitrogen Management Consortium for their Partnerships for Progress report
• Port Manatee for its seagrass mitigation project
• City of St. Pete Beach for its Recreational Community Family Center

Other environmentally oriented awards include:

First place in the community service category to the volunteer program at the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management. Already totaling 65,000 person-hours, the division’s volunteer program is the fastest-growing section of volunteerism in county government. A model for other agencies, it provides benefits for natural resource protection through education, research, land management, and government administration. Amid stringent budget reductions, this program is also a cost-effective avenue for conservation. Second place in community service went to Bring Back the Bayou program sponsored by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Kayak Nature Adventures.

First place in the public education category was awarded to the Hillsborough County Economic Development Department for its ecotourism guide, “SouthShore: What a Difference a Bay Makes.” Created to educate visitors about the various natural highlights like bird sanctuaries, nature preserves, and county/state parks, it also promotes the diverse businesses that provide services to Tampa Bay residents and visitors and encourages them to experience the area’s ecological assets. Second place went to the Southwest Florida Water Management District for its Hillsborough River Watershed Awareness week and an honorable mention was awarded to the Weedon Island Preserve for its “Connecting People and Place” program that illustrates 7000 years of natural and cultural history in west-central Florida.

First place in the cultural/sports/recreation division was awarded to the Pinellas County Clean Marina program, with an honorable mention to the Hillsborough County Public Works Department for its Comprehensive Canal Dredging and Preventative Measures study on how the county and property owners can address engineering, environmental and recreational issues on the 26 miles of canals within the county.