ANNUAL From the President’s Desk

MEMBERSHIP
By Bonnie Swanson
RENEWAL
Hello, I am Bonnie Swanson, the new President of the Society. I am
It’s that time of year to humbled to be allowed to serve you in this capacity for the 2006-2007 year.
renew your membership in
PIPS. All memberships As you know we have a remarkable treasure right here on the Treasure
expire in April of each year Coast. It is not gold, it is not jewels but its value is priceless. The Pelican
and need to be renewed for Island National Wildlife Refuge sits in the Indian River Lagoon. It is
the 2007-2008 year. We struggling to survive the hardships of weather and land development. Only
urge you to take the time four remarkable people, Refuge Manager Paul Tritaik, Refuge Ranger
NOW to renew your Joanna Taylor, assistant Refuge Manager Charles Mathhis, and
membership, so we can administrative assistant Fran Breedlove are caring for it.
continue to maintain and As I learn more about the significant issues facing this small but vital piece
improve Pelican Island of property I know that every one of us must roll up our sleeves and get to
National Wildlife Refuge. work.
If you have any questions
Over the next year we will continue to put a call out to volunteers to help
regarding your membership,
secure the future of this tiny island so that we can leave a legacy that the
please call Walt Stieglitz at
birds of Pelican Island and the land itself will be there for our Grandchildren
(772) 663-9750.
and future generations.
Join us in our efforts to promote this local treasure by informing your friends
PIPS OFFICERS
and neighbors that this is the first national refuge, that it is right here in
& BOARD MEMBERS
Indian River County and that we all must take responsibility to help it thrive.
President Join with us to get the job done! Come to general meetings that are listed to
Bonnie Swanson learn more about the Refuge and the work to be done. Learn about the
Vice-President history, learn about the birds, learn about the Refuge itself.
Steve Massey Sincerely, Bonnie Swanson
Secretary
Elaine Dickhaus PS Get at least two friends to join and volunteer to help!
Treasurer
UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Walt Stieglitz
Monday, October 23, 2006 – General Meeting
Board Members Monday, January 22, 2007 – General Meeting
Tim Glover Saturday, March 10, 2007 – Wildlife Festival
Scott Webb Monday, April 23, 2007 – General Meeting
Heather Stapleton Monday, June 25, 2007 – General Meeting
Bob Montanaro The General Meetings start at 7:00 p.m. at the Sebastian
Entertainment Center, 1550 Indian River Drive, just south of Captain
Hiram’s.
Pelican Island Preservation Society, INC. --- Pelican Flyer -- October 2006 1
 Ospreys of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge:
An Exploration into the Life of the Fish Hawk
PIPS Meeting, Monday, October 23, 2006
The Monday, October 23 meeting of the Pelican Island Preservation Society will feature
the presentation Ospreys of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge that follows the
nesting attempt by a pair of Ospreys at the Refuge throughout the 2006 nesting season.
The Osprey, or Fish Hawk, is one of the largest birds of prey in North America with fish
making up most of its diet. The Osprey has a global presence, being found on almost
every continent except for Antarctica and is a common sight not only in the Pelican
Island National Wildlife Refuge but also throughout Florida. Over 100 days were spent
at the Refuge with almost 30,000 photographs being taken to chronicle the lives of the
Ospreys. The program covers not only the Osprey nesting attempt, but also shows
encounters with other wildlife in the Refuge---everything from River Otters
and a family of Pileated Woodpeckers to fighting Red-Shouldered Hawks!
The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Sebastian Entertainment Center located
at 1550 Indian River Drive just south of Captain Hiram’s. Refreshments will
be served following the program.

CENTENNIAL ITEMS
FOR SALE
Did you know that PIPS has acquired what
we believe are the remaining supply of
USPS 37 cent Pelican Island National
Wildlife Refuge Centennial stamps? These
are the ones that were issued at the
Centennial Celebration for the National Wildlife Refuge
system that took place on March 14, 2003 here in Sebastian.
In addition, there are a few other centennial commemorative
items available, some of which you can download and print
yourself. Please check out the "Merchandise" section of our
website at www.pelicanislandfriends.org to see what is
available. There is an order form available on the site that Pelican Island & Archie Carr National Wildlife
can be printed out. Refuges Manager Paul Tritaik, holding his son Liam,
At the present time, the only form of payment we can along with PIPS Treasurer Walt Stieglitz present out-
accept is a check (or cash if you live locally). We are going PIPS President Cheryl Cummins with a plaque in
working on getting an account set up through PayPal so that appreciation for all her hard work during her term as
in the near future you should be able to purchase our items President. Cheryl and her husband Ron owned Kayaks,
and even renew your membership, using a credit card! Etc. in Vero Beach and were long time supporters of
Additionally we are working on making other PIPS the Pelican Island Wildlife Festival by sponsoring the
merchandise available on the website, so please check back Kayak Poker Run along with kayak tours to Pelican
now and then. Island and with kayak demonstrations the day of the
festival. They have recently moved to South Carolina
Finally we wanted to bring to your attention that in the near
where they conduct guided tours through their new
future, some select PIPS items will be available for purchase
company, Calm Water Kayak Tours. Visit them on the
at the new "Sebastian Entertainment Center", which is located
web at www.calmwaterkayaktours.com.
at 1550 Indian River Drive, just north of Hurricane Harbor
restaurant.
Pelican Island Preservation Society, INC. --- Pelican Flyer -- October 2006 2
 Trees in the News…. The Press Journal wrote about the big move; so did Florida
And You Made It Happen! Today. And thanks to your memberships and support, you helped
to make it happen!
By Heather Stapleton
Using $10,000 from the PIPS account, plus an additional $20,000
from US Fish and Wildlife Service 143 sabal palms and 12 live oak trees were moved from the neighboring site of
The Reserve subdivision to the Michael tract located within the refuge. Instead of cutting down the trees for the
planned ten homes, the developer allowed the refuge to take them in order to restore the Michael tract (from
abandoned citrus groves back to natural habitat).
And, so far so good. All of the palms have survived!
It is still too soon to tell for the oaks. Transplanting oaks is more labor intensive and a little bit riskier than
transplanting palms. A 60% survival rate is expected. Charles Mathis, assistant Refuge Manager who has been
overseeing the project said that even though the workers physically relocated 12 oaks, they were able to do it in 10
moves. In two cases two separate oaks were close enough to share the same root ball and were relocated as one tree.
He went on to say, “Paul and I are very happy with the results so far. It looks good, and in my opinion, is better than
trying to grow nursery grown trees for a variety of reasons.”
Those reasons were discussed at length at a specially scheduled PIPS board meeting on July 10th. Before the board
decided to dedicate such a large chunk of PIPS funds to the project, we talked at length with Paul and Joanna.
Working towards the goal of refuge restoration, the opportunity was perfect.
Transplanting these trees actually made more sense than trying to buy similar trees. These trees were already well
suited to live within the refuge. They were already adapted to the nutrient poor soils and the harsh
growing conditions of the barrier island – not qualities you could find in most nursery raised trees.
Moreover, they were mature trees, producing canopy, shade, fruits, acorns, and an appreciable size
that wildlife could use almost immediately – also not qualities easily found in nursery raised trees.
And, with the rate of local development, you can’t ignore the “feel good aspect” of having saved
155 trees!
Thanks so much for your continued support of the refuge. Without it, this project would not have
been as far reaching as it turned out to be. The board looks forward to assisting the refuge in
many more projects to come. Your memberships certainly will help in many future endeavors.

Coastal Cleanup Benefits Refuge the past two years of hurricanes. The most numerous
item picked up by volunteers were discarded beverage
By Refuge Ranger JoannaTaylor bottles/cans and food wrappers. The Pelican Island
On Saturday, September 16, over 500 volunteers came out Audubon Society and Pelican Island National Wildlife
to several beaches in Indian River County and Pelican Refuge sends a big thanks to all the volunteers for their
Island National Wildlife Refuge, but their visit was not for
hard work, dedication and valuable time spent for this
leisure purposes. These hard working, dedicated volunteers important cause. We appreciate your commitment and
came out to spend their valuable time cleaning up trash and passion for ocean and waterway conservation issues. We
debris from public lands for the 21st annual International
hope you'll join us again next year.
Coastal Cleanup. Over 1 ton (2100 lbs) of debris was
collected from Round Island, South Beach, Jaycee Beach,
Wabasso Beach, Treasure Shores Beach and Pelican Island
National Wildlife Refuge. Thirty-seven volunteers showed
up to help clean up Pelican Island National Wildlife
Refuge, where 9 miles of roads and foot trails were cleaned.
Items of particular interest that were found included half a
canoe, an abandoned crab trap, fishing nets, and building
materials that most likely got blown in around the salt Refuge Cleanup volunteers: Mary Schaeffner, James
marsh impoundments of the Indian River Lagoon during Webb, Ron Stiansen, Barbara Bromberg, Scott Webb,
Susan Isom, and Art Neuberger.

Pelican Island Preservation Society, INC. --- Pelican Flyer -- October 2006 3
 Pelican Island Preservation Society
P.O. Box 1903
Sebastian, FL 32978-1903

Volunteer Needed!
Do you like talking to people? Do you like to write?
PIPS is looking for a volunteer to get the word out to
the media and the public about the Pelican Island
National Wildlife Refuge and all the good things PIPS
is doing there. The interested person will write press
releases detailing PIPS’ activities for local media
outlets along with handling advertising for PIPS’
events like the Pelican Island Wildlife Festival. Don’t
miss out on this unique opportunity to help support the
nation’s first National Wildlife Refuge! For more
information, contact Refuge Ranger Joanna Taylor at
(772)562-3909 ext 258 or Joanna_Taylor@fws.gov

Visit PIPS on the web at

www.pelicanislandfriends.org

WILDLIFE FESTIVAL
NEEDS YOU!
The fifteenth annual Pelican Island Wildlife Festival
will be held in Sebastian’s Riverview Park on
Saturday March 10, 2007 and many volunteers will be
needed to help us throughout the day. Volunteers will
be needed for a variety of tasks, including parking,
staffing the photography contest exhibit, assisting
with booth operations for Pelican Island Preservation
Society, Friends of the Carr Refuge and Pelican Island
and Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuges, exhibitor
unloading and check-in, volunteer check–in and
hospitality tent operations, event break down, boat
tour guides, observation deck information station,
naturalists at the Centennial Trail at the Refuge and
more. Volunteer sign-up has begun! If you’d like to
see how you can help us before the event, you may
come to our festival planning meetings on:
2006 – October 11, November 15, December 13
2007 – January 10, February 8, February 22, March 1,
March 6
All meetings start at 6:00 p.m. at the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service office at 1339 20th Street in
downtown Vero Beach.
For more information or to sign up, contact Refuge
Ranger Joanna Taylor at (772)562-3909 ext 258 or
Joanna_Taylor@fws.gov
Pelican Island Preservation Society
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Please check one:

Student (under 18) - $5/yr.

Individual - $10/yr.

Family (Joint) - $15/yr.

Contributing - $50/yr.

Corporate / Business - $100/yr.

Supporting - $250/yr.

Life - $500
Name(s)___________________________________
Company__________________________________
Address___________________________________
City/State/Zip______________________________
Phone(Day)____________(Eve)________________
Email_____________________________________
Send completed application & dues to
PIPS Membership
P.O. Box 1903, Sebastian FL 32978-1903

Pelican Island Preservation Society, INC. --- Pelican Flyer -- October 2006 4