23998 Corkscrew Road Estero, FL 33928

(239) 657-2253 FAX (239) 867-3259 Email: crewtrust@earthlink.net

Web: http://crewtrust.org

2011 Annual Report

OUR MISSION The CREW Land & Water Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the water resources and natural com-munities in and around the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW). The Trust was established in 1989 to coordi-nate the land acquisition, land management, and public use of the 60,000-acre CREW Project. The CREW Project spans Lee and Collier Counties and contains the largest undisturbed watershed in Southwest Florida. CREW lands provide aquifer recharge, water storage, natural flood control, wildlife protection, and public recreation in an unspoiled environment.

From the Chairman… In a time of hardships and financial challenges CREW gains greater meaning in our Southwest Florida Community effort to preserve critical open space, manage water and land wisely, provide a quality of life “lift” to residents and wildlife while sav-ing taxpayers substantial dollars through wise collaborative management practices and avoided costs from development. These challenges emphasize the importance of CREW, which continues to need our enthusiastic, wholehearted support and efforts to ensure this natural resource is protected, not just for today, but for the future. We owe a special thanks to the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board (especially our local board mem-ber Dan DeLisi) for its continuing financial and staff support of CREW’s work in coordination with the District’s Land Manager Ayounga Riddick. Thanks to CREW Trustee Terry Brennen for initiating the two-part WGCU Public Television documentary that focuses on the uniqueness of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Project, the CREW Trust, its partnerships, and its mission. The documentary brings to life CREW’s important story as a model public-private partnership for others around the state and nation. We lament the passing of CREW’s founding land manager, Jim Goodwin, for his wisdom and spirit will be missed. Also, very special thanks to retiring CREW Trustees Mary Ellen Hawkins and Wayne Daltry, whose visions and support made the CREW Trust possible. Executive Director Brenda Brooks and Environmental Education Specialist Deb Hanson have provided a terrific expansion in our collaborative management practices and partnerships, creating superb new opportunities for students, residents and visitors to better connect to the wonders of nature. Opportunities include the new Strolling Science Seminars for adults, Night Star Gazing, Wildflower Weekend, “A Musical Night with Nature” CREW Concert under the stars and other great CREW events & hikes. Deb has also increased CREW’s profile through social networking exchanges and information flow utilizing Facebook and Twitter. The CREW Trust enters 2012 with an expanded educational program, activities, and events scheduled for people of all ages with the goal of reducing “Nature Deficit Disorder.” We do this by increasing the opportunity for people from around the world and southwest Florida to stroll the trails and boardwalks, soaking in the marvels and surprises that nature always pro-vides, melting away the stressful pace, and allowing the mind, body and spirit to relax as swallow-tailed kites soar overhead,

butterflies dance over wildflowers, and stately oaks provide shade while the red maples and cypress conveniently shed their leaves and needles to allow the winter sunlight to warm your face. Come and join us as a member of CREW and help us preserve this valuable resource. Bring along friends and visitors and experience new levels of aware-ness as they interact with the natural environment of the original Florida, the real Florida, at CREW! Happy Trails to You, Bill Hammond, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board

Land Management

In November 2011, the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District approved the updated CREW General Management Plan. The plan summarizes the Land Stewardship Section's primary goals and objectives pertaining to the manage-ment of District lands within CREW. It also serves as a guide for carrying out priority activities such as exotic plant control, pre-scribed burning, upland and hydrologic restoration projects, and public use administration. As of late November, the District, with assistance from FWC, CREW Land and Water Trust, and Collier County, successfully prescribed burned approxi-mately 1,256 acres. Most of the burns occurred during the growing season in the pine flatwoods along Corkscrew Road. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the cooperative partnerships. For the 18th consecutive year, contractors con-ducted initial and follow-up treatments of exotic plants covering approximately 3,506 acres. Ground crews spent most of their time treating heavy infes-tations of Old World climbing fern and Melaleuca in Bird Rookery Swamp and Flint Pen Strand (mostly Southern CREW), respectively. The District's aerial spray contractor used herbicides to re-treat nearly 900 acres of coastal Carolina willow in the Cork-screw Marsh. If left unchecked, willow would con-tinue to invade the open marsh communities and form a dense monoculture that ultimately degrades ecological value. Last spring, contractors completed construction of the new parking area and trailhead at Bird Rookery Swamp. Shortly after com-pletion, the District officially opened the area to the general public. The 1,275-foot long boardwalk and 12-mile tram road loop provide access to more than 7,000 acres of CREW. This area has the potential to attract a large number of visitors due to its prox-imity to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. — by Ayounga Riddick, SFWMD

2011 CREW TRUST EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Dr. Bill Hammond—Chairman Kitson and Partners

Commissioner Donna Fiala—Vice Chairman Collier County Commission

Rick Barber—Secretary Agnoli, Barber, and Brundage

Ed Carlson National Audubon Society

Charles Dauray/Dan DeLisi SFWMD

Commissioner Ray Judah Lee County Commission

Ellen Lindblad Lee County Port Authority

Doug Machesney—Treasurer Friends of CREW

Ben Nelson City of Bonita Springs

2011 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Dick Anderson Mariner Properties, Inc.

Terry Brennen WGCU

Brian Farrar BCF Management Group, LLC

Kevin Godsea Florida Panther NWR

Billy Gunnels/Marguerite Forest FGCU

Cullum Hasty Friends of CREW

Ken Heatherington SWFL Regional Planning Council

Jennifer Hecker Conservancy of SW Florida

Tom Jones Collier Companies

Tyler Kaulbars GROW, Inc.

Syd Kitson Kitson & Partners

Jerry McPherson Bonita Bay Group

Carla Palmer Carla Palmer and Assoc., Inc.

Fred Partin Bonita Springs Utilities

Ricky Pires FGCU Wings of Hope Program

Councilwoman Martha Simons City of Bonita Springs

Michael Taylor Collier Enterprises

Tom Taylor Hole, Montes, Inc.

Clarence Tears Big Cypress Basin

Steve Walker Lewis, Longman & Walker, PA

2011 HONORARY TRUSTEES

Wayne Daltry John Fitch Mary Ellen Hawkins Neena Lurvey

Funding & Land Acquisition

CREW Financial Overview Fiscal Year

October 1, 2010–September 30, 2011

Operating Account

Income:

Contract (SFWMD)....................................................….... 109,272

Contributions........................................................…............42,451

Interest...................................................................................2,429

Membership Dues.................................................…........... 8,976

TOTAL REVENUE...............................................................$163,128

Expenses:

Professional Fees/Development..…………………….….…….5,575

Office Expenditures (utilities, supplies, postage)....….....……4,507

Public Awareness (ads, displays, brochures)……………….. 7,836

Salary, Benefits, Payroll Taxes..................................….... 127,600

Travel (includes mileage).....................................……...........5,626

Taxes, Insurance, Fees (includes corp. tax, bank fees)….....5,918

Other expenses ………………………………………………....7,296

TOTAL EXPENSES............................................................$ 164,358

NET UNRESTRICTED FUNDS......................…................-$1,230

NET INCOME & RESERVES………………………….….$105,838

NET RESTRICTED FUNDS....……………………...…....$344,675 (Restricted funds for land acquisition and related fees only)

CREW Lands Purchased October 1, 1990–September 30, 2011

Lee County Lands

Funding Source Acres

Lee County owned ................................................ 895

Lee County (transferred/sold to SFWMD) .......... 8,510

Mitigation (Youngquist) ......................................... 237

Southern Critical CREW Area ........................... 4,021

District…………………………………………..2,444

Non-District ................................................... 1,577

Conservation 20/20 (S29 T47 R26) ....................... 14

CREW Land & Water Trust owned ........................ 50

LEE COUNTY TOTAL .................... 13,727 Collier County Lands

Owned by SFWMD

Funding Source Acres

P2000

Corkscrew Marsh ....................................... 6,780

Fisch (S32,33 T47 R27, & S4,5 T48 R27) .. 3,207

Musca (S7 T48 R27)...................................... 638

SFWMD

Starnes (S30 T46 R28) .................................. 280

Collier Reed (w/ BCB) (S4, 19, 30, 31 T47, R 27) 1,707

Popejoy (w/ BCB) (S2 T47 R28) ...................... 51

Audubon Donation………………………….……70

Mitigation

Livingston Road……………………………..…..436

WCI (east half of Section 12 T48 R26) .......... 320

Wiseman (S13 T47 R27 & S8,9 T47 R27E) .. 237

Brynwood Reserve………………….…………..150

Owned/Held by CREW Trust

S8 T48 R27 ............................................................... 8

S14 T47 R28 ......................................................... 101

Conservation Easements (S13, 14 T48 R27) ....... 530

STARNES/in partnership with Collier County…………..367

COLLIER COUNTY TOTAL ................................... 14,882

TOTAL ACRES ACQUIRED/DONATED …….28,609

Other Lands in Preservation

Department of Education (Leased)

(S34 T47 R27 & S3 T48 R27)... .................... 640

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary .......................... 10,737

National Audubon Society Owned/Managed

Panther Island Mitigation Bank .......................... 2,778

Imperial River Flow Way ......................................... 30

Collier County Road Easement…………...…………..8

Pepper Ranch-Collier County…………………….2,500

OTHER LANDS TOTAL ................................ 16,693

TOTAL ACRES IN PRESERVATION……......45,302 Photo by Deb Hanson

Environmental Education and Public Outreach Trail Use and Education The most visible part of the CREW Trust’s work are our public outreach and environmental education programs, and our numbers continue to grow. Trail Use during FY2011: 8,183 people trekked the trails to hike, learn, camp, ride, and refresh their spirits. These included 1,610 hikers, 287 campers, 84 horse-back riders, 5,660 school kids (K—college), and 542 people on guided hikes. Our education partnerships continue to grow with Lee and Collier County Schools, FGCU, Ave Maria University, and others. The Bird Rookery Swamp Trails opened in July 2011 and trail use has increased dramatically there, but no record of visitors is being kept yet. We spent the summer revising the Col-lier County 3rd grade field trip curriculum and materials, writing grants to fund public outreach displays and programs, and planning new family and adult education programs for FY12.

Offsite Outreach 13,953 people learned about the importance of protecting the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed through displays at festivals and presenta-tions to community groups and in schools. Presentations were given to Col-lier County Teacher Workshop, Lehigh Garden Club, and the Eco-tour Provider Series. CREW staff and volunteers displayed information and answered ques-tions at Ding Darling Days, Adventures at Lovers Key, Super Science Saturday, Six Mile Cypress Slough, Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, Burrowing Owl Fes-tival, Earth Day at Koreshan State Historic Site, and the Conservancy Earth Day Celebration.

Volunteers Our volunteers work hard assisting with hikes and field trips, maintaining trails, pulling exotic plants, cleaning roadsides, working in the office, and help-ing with special events. These generous folks donated 1,609 hours of their time, talent, and experience to CREW. At current dollar values, that amounts to over $34,000 worth of time & talent donated to fulfill the mission of the CREW Trust.

CREW Documentary & Special Events WGCU produced two 30 minute documentaries which aired multiple times during 2011. They also made several short videos and 30 and 60-second PSAs for use by CREW for fundraising and presentations. CREW’s Annual benefit concert “A Musical Night With Nature” and silent auc-tion was held at Riverside Park in Bonita Springs again this year, raising $18,747 for the CREW Trust. The Annual CREW Wildflower Festival weekend brought about 200 people to the Cypress Dome Trails and awards were presented to the 12 winners of the annual 3rd grade—college Wildflower Art Contest.

by Deb Hanson, CREW Trust

0

1000

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3000

K-12 (Lee, Collier)

Wings of Hope

College Other

Environmental Education - FY11

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1000

1500

2000

Indiv. Hikers Guided Hikes

Campers Horseback Riders

Other Trail Use - FY11

8,183 people trekked the CREW Trails this year!

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Environmental Education 2006-2011

20%

7%

3%

1%69%

CREW Trail Use by User Groups

Indiv. Hikers Guided Hikes

Campers Horseback Riders

Environmental Ed.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is responsible for fish and wildlife management and law enforcement on CREW. FWC is proud to partner with the SFWMD to conduct land management activities and the CREW Trust as they design and implement public educational opportunities on the WEA. Previous CREW biologist Bob Harris transitioned from CREW to J.W. Corbett WMA in September 2011. Kathleen Smith will be the new CREW biologist as of November 2011. Since 2007, Kathleen had worked as the FWC Biological Scientist III in Big Cypress and Picayune WMAs prior to join CREW. She will continue to conduct the annual game hunts, wildlife surveys, cooperate on land management activities with the SFWMD, and foster partnerships with the CREW Trust and FGCU. During 2011, three white-tailed deer and wild hog hunts, two spring turkey hunts, and one small game hunt were conducted on CREW. Hunters harvested 7 deer, 7 hog, 2 blue-winged teal, 50 doves, 79 snipe, 2 squirrels, 1 rabbit, and 4 turkeys for 315 days of hunter pressure. In 2011, FWC biologist Bob Harris designed and implemented auditory point count survey for bobwhite in the Corkscrew Marsh and Flint Pen units of CREW. Bob established a grid system of randomized points listening for quail calls in the early morning and late evening to provide an index of quail presence. Herp arrays that were first conducted on CREW by FWC’s Joe Bozzo during 1995-1997 were reiniti-ated by John Cassani of Lee County Hyacinth Control in 2010 and 2011. The project goal is to exam-ine potential changes to the herpetofauna communities at CREW over time. Drift fence arrays were established at nine CREW locations representing four habitat types. CREW represents one of the most unique plant and animal communities in the region due to its floral and faunal composition. FWC continued vegetation monitoring points at several locations throughout Corkscrew Marsh, the Cypress Dome trails, and Southern Flint Pen. Photo monitoring is a process where photographs are taken at specific sites to detect change in vegetation or landscape conditions over time. They can be an effective tool for land managers and biologists.

The FWC panther capture team spent 24 field capture days at CREW and adjoining lands (Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Lee County Port Authority mitigation property, and Pan-ther Island Mitigation Bank). Two known panthers, FP 186 (young male) and FP 188 (female), occupied areas in and around CREW. Unfortunately, both panthers died this year – FP 186 from intraspecific aggression in Bird Rookery in June 2011 and FP 188 on private property north of Corkscrew Road in September 2011. FP 188 orphaned two four month old kittens upon her death. FWC biologists captured her kittens and with assis-tance, transported them to White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida. The kittens will be raised with little human contact with the hope that they will be released back into the wild once they reach adulthood. FWC biologists will attempt to capture and radio collar additional panthers on CREW again this fall/winter with the goal of capturing one

male and one female. CREW is considered a critical habitat and corridor for panthers in addition to many other species of wildlife. Finally, FWC would like to recognize the outstanding contributions of our FWC LE officers who make CREW a safe and friendly visi-tor experience. These officers educate the public regarding rules and boundaries of the area through the enhanced patrol pro-gram. FWC LE officers patrolled CREW year-round and have been aggressively monitoring saw palmetto berry-pickers in the Cork-screw Marsh Unit (SEE PHOTO). We would like to take a moment to introduce and thank our dedicated officers.

Felix Collazo Demian McColgin Lonnie Sushil Brad Bell Andy Brown Greg Stanley Gregory Laird Larry Jernsted Aaron Davenuta Kurt Harris Shawn Polly Lt. Jonathan Ruggiero

- by Kathleen Smith, FWC CREW biologist

Fish and Wildlife Management

Photo by John Cassani

Photo by Karen Meeks, White Oak

FWC Officers, Felix Collazo & Jasmine

Printed on recycled paper!

Thank you from CREW !

Southern Bald Eagle $1,000 Bonita Springs Utilities; Fred Partin Florida Gulf Coast University Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.; Stephen Walker

Swallow-tailed Kite $500 Collier Enterprises; Mike Taylor Hole Montes, Inc.; Tom Taylor Huether, Virginia & Charles Passarella & Assoc. Inc.; Ken Passarella River, Roots, & Ruts; Steve & Susan Brookman

Ghost Orchid $100 - $300 Agnoli, Barber, and Brundage; Rick Barber BCF Management Group, LLC; Brian Farrar Bittner, Michael Brooks, Brenda Bunch, Janet Carla Palmer & Assoc.; Carla Palmer Clow, Bruce & Elizabeth Conservancy of SWFL; Jennifer Hecker Echols, Ron & Mary Elting, John & Nancy GROW, Inc; Tyler Kaulbers Hamilton, Layne Hammond, Bill & Rosemarie Hanson, Deb & Keith Inge, Ron & Sherry Kemper, Ron & Lynne Knox, Arlene Lindblad, Ellen & Erick Machesney, Doug & Carolyn Mariner Properties; Dick Anderson Murray, John & Wendy Nelson Marine Const., Ben & Lori Nelson O’Neil, Karen Pires, Ricky & Tony; FGCU Wings of Hope Santamaria, Vincent & Susie Schmidt, Richard & Peggy Shivok, Leonard Smith, Michael & Laurel Stacell, Glen & Laura

Starnes, Hugh & Judy SWFL Regional Planning Council Worthington Country Club; Neena Lurvey

CREW Land & Water Trust Staff Brenda Brooks, Executive Director Deb Hanson, Environmental Ed. Specialist

Bobcat $50 Bachrach, Jan Cassani, Mary Kay College of Life; Charles Dauray Collings, Matt Daltry, Wayne & Marti Egan, Peggy Ennis, Dick & Kathy Fiala, Donna Fitch, John & Jean Gray, Whitney & Kurt Lohner, Bernd McCarley, Winifred Menk, Al & Lucie Samuel, Edward Schmelz, Gary Schwartz, Philip & Jeannine Tucker, Ed & Michelle

Family $35 Brown, Dotty & William Carlson, Ed & Joann Corradino, Pete & Malena Davis, Fred & Nancy Duever, Mike & Jean McCollom Gunnels, Dr. Charles & Katrina Hawkins, Mary Ellen Heatherington, Ken, Deb, & Chelsea Humphrey, Jim & Nancy Jacobitti, Edmund Judah, Ray Rhodes, Laurel & Dusty Robinson, Henry & Marjorie Tears, Clarence Webster, MaryAnn, Marilyn, & Edison

FY 2011 Friends of CREW

Individual $25 Allen, Rosemary Andre, Marcia Angel, Leslie Broyard, Kathy Cabral, Karen Cooper, David Dombrowski, Maureen Ferber, Chuck Gahr, Brigita Gordon, Richard Grossenbacher, Roger Hanson, Roxann Hasty, Cullum Hulcher, Susie Lurvey, Neena Magee, George McPherson, Sally Melin, Bob Olson, Nancy Reilly, John Rex, Wendy Roche, Jean Spikowski, Bill Thomas, Brenda Voytek, Mary Wewerka, Laura Student $10 Gardose, Gaby Groening, Stefan Harvey, Alex Hermina, Chloe Humphries, Michael Jenkins, Meagan Kelly, Alanah Larsen, Sarah Mullins, Rocky Reihm, Clancy Sarria, Sebastian Schwartz, Isabelle Shirakawa, Matt Tremblay, Meli Zaldana, Anthony

Photo by George Luther