Sharks Will Be Theme of Refuge's Coastal Cleanup and Awareness Day

Support marine protection and education and join us at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday September 20, 2008 for our 23rd annual Coastal Cleanup & Awareness Day.  It is part of the International Coastal Cleanup held globally to examine sources of marine trash to identify solutions.  Cleanup registration will run from 9 am – 11 am at the Refuge Visitor Center, 1255 Lighthouse Rd.  Cleanup volunteers who return to the Visitor Center with coastal trash will receive a ticket for a complimentary t-shirt and lunch as long as supplies last.

This year, all visitors will be invited to learn more about the Gulf coast sharks with expert Dr. R. Dean Grubbs of the FSU Marine Laboratory.  Touch tanks will be sponsored by the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and Saturday at the Sea educational programs.  There will also be a representative from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission to discuss new fishing regulations, especially regarding reef fish. Exhibits will be open from10 am – 1 pm.

{sidebar id=1}Insect repellant and bottled water will be supplied by Sportsman’s Warehouse in Tallahassee.  T-shirts are sponsored by the St. Marks Refuge Association and the lunch is sponsored by Publix Supermarkets and the St. Marks Refuge Association.  Lunch will be served from 11 am – 12:30 pm. Please call the refuge at 850/925-6121 for more information and to register groups of more than 10 people.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For more information about the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, visit the homepage at http://www.fws.gov

This information originally published on September 8, 2008.

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mkwestmark

 

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