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Author: Nancy J. Sticht
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  • October

    According to the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Services, Sea Oxeye Daisy is native to salt water wetlands in south Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, and is commonly associated with mangroves. It fills swales and ditches on barrier islands and will endure brackish conditions and diverse soils.

    Wetlands aren’t always wet!

    Contrary to popular belief, wetlands are not always wet. And there may be a difference between what the Army Corps of Engineers and state and other regulatory agencies consider a wetland.
  • Donnie Kinard (second from left), chief of the Regulatory Division and Tori White (third from left), deputy chief, chat with attendees during a break at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida Open House July 11.

    Regulatory takes its show on the road

    For the first time in four years, Regulatory Division traveled Jacksonville District’s territory, from the Florida Panhandle to the Antilles, to offer a full day of information to stakeholders, partners, consultants and the public.

  • June

    District responds following Florida Panhandle storms

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District initiated emergency permitting procedures in response to conditions resulting from the April 2014 storm that affected the Florida Panhandle. The emergency permitting procedures will be in effect through October 2014.
  • As her school bus arrives at a project site at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, a first grade student from Antilles Elementary School views the solar panels that were installed by Fort Buchanan’s Environmental Division as an alternative energy source.

    Antilles students learn about harnessing nature’s power

    Antilles Elementary School students at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico had the unique opportunity to make an up-close-and-personal visit to local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project sites, in a follow up activity to a recent classroom presentation by members of the Antilles team (please see page 3 of the May issue of JaxStrong for more on the classroom presentation). The April 22 field trip was the second phase of a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative, co-sponsored by Jacksonville District and the Department of Defense Education Activity, to encourage students to pursue education and eventual careers in those fields.

  • May

    Capt. J.C. Cordon, deputy commander for the Antilles, was impressed by the questions asked by first grade students when he and fellow team members participated in an April 10 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math(STEM) event at the Antilles Elementary School, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico.

    Antilles team reaches out to elementary school students

    Inquisitive minds, vivid imaginations and lofty goals greeted members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Antilles Office when they visited the Antilles Elementary School at Fort Buchanan April 10. The team, along with Dr. Jorge F. Bauza-Ortega from the San Juan Bay Estuary Program, partnered with the Department of Defense Education Activity to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

  • February

    Florida wetlands among those receiving international attention: Annual World Wetlands Day is February 2

    The United States of America is one of 168 contracting parties in the Ramsar Convention, and has 35 sites that are classified as Wetlands of International Importance. Four are located in Florida.

  • January

    Real Estate Division’s varied program touches every project

    “Real Estate Division has a much more varied program than many people realize,” said Audrey Ormerod, chief of the Real Estate Division. “In fact, we touch every district project in some way.”

  • Engineering Division: Hard work results in significant achievements

    “It was a big year for execution,” said Laureen Borochaner, chief of Jacksonville District’s Engineering Division. “We already had plenty of work, and then took on a lot of additional, unplanned work besides. Much of that work was in-house design of complex major projects.”

  • Regulatory Division is meeting environmental, economic needs

    Protecting the nation’s aquatic resources while simultaneously meeting its economic needs requires dedication and an ability to balance often competing needs. Through the execution of the Department of the Army’s responsibility, authorized under the River and Harbors Act of 1899 and the Clean Water Act of 1972, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ regulatory program reviews multitudes of proposed projects annually, and either issues or denies permits based on these and other applicable laws.

  • December

    Matos, a two-year-old Belgian Malinois that works as an explosive detection dog, picks up a scent and focuses on leading his handler, Stevie Valencia of AMK9, to a buried training target during a demonstration on the Mullet Key Formerly Used Defense Site at Fort DeSoto Park near St. Petersburg, Fla. The specialty dogs are being used as a demonstration technology, to evaluate the potential for using them on other similar sites.

    These noses know no limits

    Don is a five-year-old German Shepherd, one of several explosive detection dogs that are working alongside their handlers at the Mullet Key Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County near St. Petersburg, Fla.

  • October

    Frank Araico (left), project manager for the Mullet Key Bombing and Gunnery Range Formerly Used Defense Site, shows a local news reporter maps that detail where military activities took place on the site during World War II. A Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study is currently under way.

    Work begins at Mullet Key Formerly Used Defense Site

    Investigations have begun on the Mullet Key Bombing and Gunnery Range Formerly Used Defense Site, now known as Fort DeSoto County Park on Tampa Bay. Soon after the Labor Day holiday, contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began surveying the site to mark the areas for investigation, which will then be cleared of brush and swept with digital metal detectors to identify buried metallic objects that may potentially be munitions remaining from past military activities.

  • September

    The Palm Valley Reach of the Intracoastal Waterway, where structures along the federal channel are plentiful.

    Regulatory rolls out revised setback guidance

    In the interest of navigation safety and waterway accessibility, Regulatory Division rolled out its revised setback guidance for structures placed along certain federal channels at a series of public meetings, held in Deerfield Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Valley, Fla. in August.

  • July

    The members of EMC Magnitude Design, Inc. at Booker Creek, the site of their award-winning water environment improvement design. Pictured left to right is Miki Skinner, Caitlin Hoch and Brett French. Team members not pictured are Erin Morrison and Josh Becker.

    Regulatory’s Caitlin Hoch and team headed to national competition

    Tampa Regulatory Office’s newest environmental engineer Caitlin Hoch has already added a pretty impressive credential to her resume. The recent University of South Florida graduate and her student design team, EMC Magnitude Design, Inc. took first place in a recent competition sponsored by the Florida Water Environment Association, beating 10 other teams from seven state universities. They will advance to represent the state in the national competition at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference this fall.

  • May

    A current view of the filter marsh, in which invasive vegetation has been removed. A new weir structure will be constructed, where flows will outfall into an existing slough system that discharges into the east branch of Coral Creek. Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills have already been observed feeding in the marsh as it was pumped down.

    Restoration project may serve as regional prototype

    Nationwide Permit (NWP) 27 specifically authorizes aquatic habitat restoration, establishment and enhancement activities, and it was this general permit, issued by Linda Elligott, project manager in the Fort Myers Regulatory Office, that authorized a unique hydrologic and habitat restoration project in Charlotte County.
  • After the initial clearing, Melaleuca mulch, similar to what is shown in the photo, was left behind, which suppressed the regrowth of sawgrass and beakrush. Waiting for the decay of the mulch and subsequent regrowth would have delayed achievement of the success criteria by approximately 10 years, much longer than the permit allowed. The enforcement case compelled Century to go back to the site and remove the mulch and conduct supplemental plantings in the buffer areas in order to jumpstart the mitigation area so that it met its success criteria within five years.

    Violation of consent decree in Century Homebuilders Clean Water Act case settled

    A 2006 Clean Water Act violation case against Century Homebuilders has been closed with the receipt of payment of $400,000 in civil penalties plus the purchase of $60,000 in mitigation credits from Everglades National Park.
  • The result of successful stream restoration at a different site.

    Areawide Environmental Impact Statement addressing phosphate mining in Central Florida Phosphate District completed

    The final Areawide Environmental Impact Statement (AEIS) addressing phosphate mining in the Central Florida Phosphate District (CFPD) has been completed and released and a Notice of Availability is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register May 3.
  • Unexploded ordnance, found by a young girl on Culebra, Puerto Rico. Old military munitions are not always easily identifiable and should always be considered dangerous, regardless of their age, condition or location.

    Injury underscores importance of 3R safety message

    The potential for encountering military munitions on Culebra and in the surrounding waters is high, and the Corps consistently informs the community about that possibility while promoting safety precautions.

  • March

    After inspecting the channel at Cowbone Marsh, Regulatory Division issued a cease and desist order, requiring the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to stop sidecasting dredged material into the channel.

    Cowbone Marsh to be protected through Regulatory Division action

    Located within central Glades County, Fla., eight miles upstream of the mouth of Fisheating Creek at the western shore of Lake Okeechobee, lies Cowbone Marsh, an approximately 5,500-acre freshwater marsh system. Fisheating Creek, the only remaining free-flowing waterway feeding into the lake, flows through Cowbone Marsh. Most of the surrounding land is either publicly owned or under conservation easements that restrict development, making it one of the most valuable aquatic and wildlife resource areas in the country.

  • January

    Six species of pitcher plants (Sarracenia) are found in Florida’s wetlands, with the greatest concentration found from Franklin County to Escambia County. The unique plant is carnivorous, attracting and trapping insects that decompose in the plant’s liquid, creating a nitrogen-rich “fertilizer.” England and Japan both have gardens that feature North American pitcher plants, and they are a major attraction. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, pitcher plant habitat in Florida is “at risk, primarily from lack of fire management and from drainage by ditching.” All wild pitcher plants are protected by state and federal laws.

    Busy year for nation’s largest regulatory permitting program

    Jacksonville District’s regulatory permitting program, the largest in the Corps, exceeded all national performance standards in Fiscal Year 2012. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that 94 percent of general permit decisions were completed within 60 days of receipt of a complete application and 82 percent of individual permit decisions were completed within 120 days of receipt of a complete application.

  • December

    Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, right, visited the New Jersey Recovery Field Office, where he was briefed by Tim Brown, mission manager for the Housing Planning Response Team.

    Jacksonville District’s Housing Planning Response Team on the scene in New Jersey

    Within days of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall, which reaped devastating effects across the northeastern seaboard, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District team was among the many national Corps responders to arrive on the scene to provide welcomed relief and assistance.