Bay Soundings l Tampa Bay's Science and Nature News Journal

Oyster reef domes were installed at MacDill Air Force Base in Hillsborough County using Mini-Grant funds.

Mini-Grants Make a Difference

Endangered Golden asters were planted in the McKay Creek Greenway as part of a 2008 Mini-Grant.

From removing invasive plants on remote islands or placing oyster domes in underwater ecosystems to helping restore wetlands at local schools, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s Bay Mini-Grants are making a difference in our communities.

More than $1.4 million has been awarded to more than 200 groups since the Mini-Grants were established in 1998. Funding comes through sales of the Tampa Bay Estuary specialty license plate, also known as the "tarpon tag."

From 2004-2009, the Mini-Grant program awarded an impressive $635,000 in grants to more than 90 organizations, including 36 non-profit organizations, 12 neighborhood or civic associations, 17 public schools, 11 private schools and 15 local government departments. “The Bay Mini-Grant Program represents regional partnership at its best and has substantially enhanced the area’s environmental education and restoration initiatives,” said Misty Cladas, Mini-Grant manager.

Historically, projects have been fairly evenly divided between education and restoration, often incorporating both in a single project, she said. Restoration projects must take place on public lands, common areas or lands held in conservation easements. Bay Mini-Grants have significantly contributed to removal of invasive plants and restoration of natural habitats at dozens of public parks or preserves within the bay watershed.

Grants are awarded for as little as $500 and as much as $7,500. In some years, special $10,000 grants have been awarded for special priorities such as habitat restoration. All grant applications are reviewed and ranked by members of TBEP’s Community Advisory Committee, further reinforcing the program’s mission of involving the community in bay improvement.

Many of the grant recipients leverage TBEP funds with other funds to conduct large projects involving multiple partners. For example, a Brazilian pepper removal and native plant restoration project at Mariposa Key (See Bay Soundings, Summer 2010) in lower Tampa Bay includes direct or in-kind matching funds from nine different non-profit, private sector and government groups, for a total project value of $67, 469. This is just one example of how Bay Mini-Grants provide extraordinary “bang for the buck.”

Recipients often partner with local governments or other community organizations to maximize the value and impact of their projects. Additionally volunteer hours and in-kind matches have gone beyond measure for these grassroots restoration and education projects.

Bay scallops ready for release into lower Tampa Bay as part of a 2006 Tampa Bay Estuary Program Mini-Grant.

Many projects would never have been initiated without the Mini-Grant program, said Cladas. “This is especially true of neighborhood projects to remove invasive plants or improve stormwater treatment by restoring or enhancing wetlands on common grounds or conservation easements.”

Schools, including both public and private institutions, have also benefitted tremendously in the form of outdoor experiences, summer camps, mentoring and field trips made possible by Mini-Grant funds.

In addition, several small research projects that have been financed with Mini-Grants have substantially contributed to our overall understanding of bay habitats and inhabitants, filling in gaps in our collective scientific knowledge. For example, a survey of seahorses and pipefishes in the bay’s seagrass meadows was the first ever conducted in the bay (See Bay Soundings, Winter 2005). The same is true for a survey assessing use of restored habitats by neo-tropical migratory birds like scissor-tailed flycatchers and blackpoll warblers.

And Bay Mini-Grants are not always one-hit wonders. Several projects that started as Mini-Grants still endure as ongoing programs with well-established track records. Examples of how Mini-Grants have been used as seed money include Tampa Bay Watch’s Bay Grasses in Classes high school wetland nursery (See page two in this issue) and derelict crab trap removal programs (See Bay Soundings, Fall 2004), and the Hillsborough River Watershed Alliance’s popular Frog Listening Network citizen monitoring program (See Bay Soundings, Spring 2004).

“The Bay Mini-Grant Program represents regional partnership at its best and has substantially enhanced the area’s environmental education and restoration initiatives.”

Misty Cladas, Mini-Grant manager

The overall intent of the Mini-Grant program is to provide hands-on opportunities for citizens of all ages and skills to learn about the bay and be part of its recovery. More than 80% of Mini-Grant funds are awarded directly to community organizations which must track their progress and submit final reports summarizing their accomplishments. While local governments are allowed to lead grant projects, they must involve community volunteers at some level to receive funding. “The members of TBEP’s Community Advisory Committee who select the recipients are extremely diligent about maintaining the community-based focus of the program, and ensuring that selected projects help to meet TBEP’s bay restoration and education goals,” Cladas said.

Mini-Grants Projects

Examples of the diverse education, restoration and research initiatives funded with Mini-Grants over the last five years include:

Spring Break Camp at Felts Preserve, Around the Bend Nature Tours

This grant allowed 60 students participating in the free and reduced lunch program at local schools to attend a one-week spring break camp. Students learned about invasive plants, the role of wetlands in water quality, and how important wetlands are to the survival of migratory birds.

Restoration of the Forest Conservation Area, The Forest Countryway Homeowners

Residents and volunteers restored a two-acre wetland conservation area by removing Brazilian pepper trees and replanting with native trees. Volunteers also learned why the removal of the invasive trees is important.

Florida Native Plant Nursery, Learning Gate Community School

Middle-school students at Learning Gate School partnered with local organizations to grow native Florida plants as part of their environmental research and environmental health class. Mature plants were transplanted to local parks as part of restoration projects.

Mini-Reef Habitat Restoration at the Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary, Audubon of Florida

The Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary is eroding on the south side of the Bird Island Cove. Mini-Grant funds helped to pay for mini-reefs of oyster domes that reduced wave-caused erosion and provided habitat for oysters, colonial waterbirds and diamondback terrapins. Volunteers from Mosaic Fertilizer, Tampa Port Authority and local Audubon chapters placed 150 domes.

This year, $93,000 was awarded to 22 community groups for projects that directly involve citizens in restoring and improving Tampa Bay. Innovative programs funded for the first time this year include:

City of Plant City, Community Rain Gardens

Mini-Grant funds will be used for a sub-grant program that allows up to 30 residents or businesses to install rain gardens on their property to retain stormwater runoff. Participants will receive training from Hillsborough County Extension, Suncoast Native Plant Society, and Adopt-A-Pond on proper installation and use of the rain garden, and then receive reimbursements for their rain garden plants and materials.

Tampa Bay Beautification, Stormwater Education

A hands-on workshop for students in Hillsborough County schools will show how their everyday actions impact our watershed and ultimately Tampa Bay. Students will participate in litter and debris clean up projects at their schools and will mark storm drains throughout the neighborhood. They will also place door hangers at homes where drains have been marked to share their knowledge with residents.

South St. Petersburg Bayou Clean-up and Recycling Round-Up

The local branch of Golder Associates, an international environmental consulting firm, will facilitate educational sessions and shoreline clean-up activities in south St. Petersburg. AKA AKademy middle-school students will use kayaks and waders to clean up and recycle debris around Big Bayou and Lassing Park in Pinellas County.

Habitat Florida Manatee

Kayak Nature Adventures will facilitate on-water cleanups in Clam Bayou and nearby areas that can’t be reached except by boat. Participants will learn how manatees use the area and how polluted stormwater runoff harms them.

Island Adventure Pilot Project

Nature’s Academy will offer marine science field trips for Pinellas County seventh graders at Fort DeSoto Park. They’ll learn about the estuary, mangroves and the ecological and economic importance of local habitats, then participate in a community service-learning project.

McKay Creek Gone Batty

A combination wildlife conservation and volunteer community event, McKay Creek Gone Batty will take place on the grounds of the 60-acre natural area adjacent to McKay Creek. Community volunteers will clean up the nature trails and remove invasive plants leading to the bat house. Once complete, the bat house will accommodate up to 40,000 bats and visitors can safely view the structure.

USF – SEAS (Students Environmental Awareness Society)

The SEAS will oversee the installation of a custom-built “watergoat” device to trap trash and debris flowing into Bayboro Harbor on the USF Bayboro Campus in St. Petersburg. Currently the SEAS group maintains a watergoat at the outfall of Booker Creek near the NOAA building. SEAS members will maintain this new watergoat by removing the trash that collects there before it is washed into the bay.

Manatee School for the Arts

Students at the school, located less than a half-mile from the Manatee River, will go on outdoor excursions to take water samples, learn about invasive species at Emerson Point Preserve and participate in a service-learning project. Students will learn how their behavior affects the watershed and keep a journal of their activities.

Hillsborough

Crystal Springs Foundation, Inc., $4,600

Source to the Sea and Me watershed education program for 200 home-school students

Hillsborough River Watershed Alliance, $2,000

City of Plant City Water Resource Management Division, $5,000

Lowry Park Zoo, $4,945

Colorful native lined seahorses program for students from VanBuren Middle School

Sulphur Springs Museum and Heritage Center, $3,874.10

Tampa Bay Beautification, $5,000

The Florida Aquarium, $4,850

Manatee

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, $2,474.94

Manatee School for the Arts , $4,862.10

Pinellas

Canterbury School, $2,930

Habitat restoration projects at Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve and Weedon Island Preserve

City of Safety Harbor, $5,000

Marshall Street Park wetland education and nature trail, including pet waste stations

Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Inc., $5,000

Golder Associates, $3,985

Jungle Terrace Civic Association, $4,998

Kayak Nature Adventures, $5,000

Nature's Academy, $5,000
Island Adventure Pilot Project

Pasadena Bear Creek Neighborhood Association, $4,937.95

Pinellas County Extension, $4,815.80

Saint Paul's School, $4,452

USF – SEAS (Students Environmental Awareness Society), $3,358.63

City of Gulfport, $4,645.00

Restoration of an area that was once a dumping ground and is now a park with volunteers from the Sierra Club removing invasive plants

Baywide

Turtle Talks.Org, $2,209
Freshwater Turtle Adventure Activity Book

The Turtle Talks team has visited more than 50 schools in the past nine years teaching students about personal responsibility for protecting the state’s wildlife, focusing on freshwater turtle species. The books are coupled with presentations and classroom activities in an effort to enhance learning. Partial funding of this grant will provide for several thousand printed books.

Mini-Grants are awarded on an annual basis with applications due by Oct. 1 each year. A complete list of winners, along with guidelines for upcoming awards, are online at www.tbep.org. For more information, contact Cladas at Misty@tbep.org or 727-893-2765.