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  • June

    Outreach program specialist and former middle school teacher Erica Skolte spoke to eighth grade students at Polo Park Middle School about what the Everglades were like prior to being altered by man.

    The student connection: Corps employees reach out to local schools

    For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, this time of year provides an opportunity to educate future engineers and scientists on the breadth of the district’s work and the contributions it makes to the quality of life in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All Corps team members are representatives for the Corps in their own communities. Every interaction provides a potential opportunity to share information about the district’s programs and projects.
  • A view of Palm Beach Harbor, the site of the Lake Worth Inlet Feasibility Study, which evaluates the potential widening and deepening of the channel.

    Lake Worth Inlet moves forward with release of draft report to public

    In May, the Lake Worth Inlet project team reached a major milestone with the release of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to the public. A public meeting to introduce the plan to the community was attended by nearly 70 interested residents and stakeholders in Palm Beach.
  • Panther biologists have tracked Florida panthers crossing north in a section of the Caloosahatchee River that narrows to about 92 feet across and has relatively gradual banks. It is just a few miles west of the Ortona Lock and Dam.

    Corps recognized for role in making Florida panther corridor a reality

    Panther scientists estimate that there are only 100 to 140 Florida panthers remaining in the wild, and the last remaining breeding population of Florida panthers is in south Florida, south of the Caloosahatchee River.
  • Steve Dunham, chief of the South Florida Operations Office in Clewiston (in white shirt) and park ranger Richard Bailey speak with army instructor Sergeant First Class Brian Lamberton as JROTC volunteers plant Royal Palms along the entrance to the Port Mayaca Lock & Dam.

    Volunteers take pride in accomplishments at Take Pride in America Day

    Like anything worthwhile, Jacksonville District’s observance of Take Pride in America Day took a lot of planning, preparation and hard work. For the Corps employees and volunteers who participated in the May 4 event, the results were well worth the effort again this year. It was a win-win for everyone involved.
  • Adam Morrison (left), Jacksonville District Equal Employment Opportunity Office, visited lock leader Pam Peralta (right) and lock operator Robert Holmes (center) at Moore Haven Lock and Dam on the Okeechobee Waterway.

    Female lock leader honored with Steel de Fleury

    Forty years ago, career choices for women were generally not as diverse as they are today. Pam Peralta never let that stand in her way. Her choices leaned toward the non-traditional and resulted in several historic firsts.
  • An aerial view of the Culvert 11 site shows the ongoing work to replace more than 30 water control structures around Lake Okeechobee, providing continued stability for Herbert Hoover Dike.

    HHD named Project of the Year

    The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Palm Beach Branch has given its Outstanding Project of the Year Award to Jacksonville District, for its work in designing and constructing the improvements to reduce the risk of failure at the dike. The award is presented annually by the organization to recognize the best example of an innovative or outstanding design/construction project in Palm Beach County.

  • May

    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 Michael Allen Schultz Endowed Scholarship fund, established by Susan Schultz in memory of her husband, Mike, benefits deserving undergraduate engineering students enrolled at Iowa State University. The first scholarship was awarded this spring, and two more are planned for fall.

    One man’s legacy lives on through scholarship fund

    The Michael Allen Schultz Endowed Scholarship fund was created in 2012 by Schultz’s wife, Susan, in honor of her husband. The fund assists deserving undergraduate, civil, environmental, agricultural or biological systems engineering students enrolled at Iowa State University.
  • 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.
  • Water Conservation Area #3 near the Tamiami Trail in late April. How to handle this water during extreme wet weather events was the topic of a meeting held with multiple state and federal agencies in preparation for the upcoming wet season.

    Water managers prepare for wet season

    A different challenge facing water managers this year surrounds Lake Okeechobee and a higher water level this year, when compared to the previous two years. On April 23, the lake level was 13.59 feet, more than two feet higher than it was on the same date in 2011 and 2012. The lake has stayed within the Corps’ preferred range of 12.5 and 15.5 feet all winter. As a result, the district has been able to provide regular discharges of water to meet a wide variety of needs, including releases to the Caloosahatchee Estuary to keep the saltwater-freshwater mix in an acceptable range.
  • During his recent deployment to Afghanistan, Robert Medlock (center) managed construction projects in Afghanistan, one of which was on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank in the Logar Province.

    Corps project manager sets future conditions in Afghanistan

    Robert Medlock, a 10-year veteran of Jacksonville District, just returned from his second deployment with the Corps in February and is now incorporating new skill sets he acquired while overseas into his management of Everglades restoration projects in the district’s Ecosystem Branch.
  • The giant African land snail (GALS) is considered one of the most damaging snails in the world, known to consume at least 500 different types of plants and possibly pose a health threat to humans.

    Giant African snails attack south Florida

    The giant African land snail (GALS) is considered one of the most damaging snails in the world, known to consume at least 500 different types of plants and possibly pose a health threat to humans, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) website.
  • Looking upstream to its source in the central mountains, the Río Puerto Nuevo basin drains 24 square miles of metropolitan San Juan, 75 percent of which is highly developed with a population of 250,000. The plan of improvements includes channels, high velocity channels, debris basins and modifications to bridges, in an effort to protect the population against a 100-year flood.

    An overview of projects and missions in the Antilles

    Puerto Rico, at its widest point, is 110 miles long from east to west and only 40 miles wide from north to south. The main mountain range, La Cordillera Central and the smaller cordilleras that run east-west through the center of the island are sparsely populated, but take up half of the available land. Most of the population lives in the narrow coastal band around the cordilleras. In the mountainous region above the city of Ponce in the south, slopes average 45 degrees and Cerro de Punta, the highest point of the island, at 4,393 feet, is only 14 miles from the coast.
  • 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.

  • April

    Biologist Jessica Spencer (left) educates a volunteer group about air potato, an invasive vine that has been found at local creek cleanups. The volunteers were at one of many cleanup sites around Jacksonville, Fla. as part of the 18th Annual St. Johns River Cleanup March 16.

    Air Potato Roundup yields big results, educates community

    National Invasive Species Week, held March 2 through 8, focused on raising awareness of non-native threats to local ecosystems and endangered species. Invasive species smother native plants and are one of the greatest ecological threats to natural communities, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, which also estimates the costs to prevent, monitor and control invasive species at about $137 billion annually.

  • Army Family Action Plan

    AFAP is input from the people of the Army to Army leadership. It's a process that allows Soldiers, Department of the Army (DA) civilians, retirees and family members to say what's working and what isn't – and what they think will fix it. It alerts commanders and Army leaders to areas of concern that need their attention and it gives them the opportunity to quickly put plans into place to work toward resolving the issues.
  • Beach vitex leaves are round, silvery gray-green, have a spicy fragrance and purplish blue flowers. If beach vitex is spotted, do not dig it up; contact Jacksonville District’s Invasive Species Management Branch.

    Coastal menace from the Carolinas creeps towards Florida

    The rapidly spreading beach vitex, an invasive vine native to countries in the western Pacific, is creeping down the eastern coast from the Carolinas towards Florida, impacting beach stability and endangering sea turtles.
  • W.P. Franklin Lock volunteers measure twice and cut once when replacing re-planed boards in shelters.

    National Volunteer Appreciation Week

    Volunteers play a vital role in the success of the recreation and environmental stewardship programs at Lake Okeechobee and along the Okeechobee Waterway. Each year, approximately 350 volunteers provide more than 16,500 hours of service.
  • USACE is the nation’s largest federal provider of outdoor recreation, managing more than 400 lake and river projects in 43 states and hosting more than 370 million visits per year. Through its partnership with FLW Outdoors, USACE is helping to shape future stewards of the nation’s natural resources.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers partners with FLW Outdoors to connect America’s youth with the outdoors

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will partner with FLW Outdoors and the FLW Foundation on future events and activities designed to connect America’s youth to their natural resources while promoting education, conservation and an active lifestyle.
  • Confined blasting method, using 3,000 pounds of explosives to crack rock beneath the water’s surface in Miami Harbor.

    Residents learn about proposed confined blasting for Jacksonville Harbor

    When most people hear the term “blasting,” they imagine a cosmic explosion of material that shoots into the earth’s atmosphere and shakes foundations. However, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Study, the proposed confined blasting technique to remove rock obstacles will sound more like a bullet as it is fired from a gun and will barely cause a blip on the radar.