Volunteer to be a part of the ‘Give the River a Hand’ team. Our goal is to eliminate or greatly reduce herbicide use on the Santa Fe River.
Our Santa Fe River volunteer organization have been meeting, organizing and implementing hand-pulling techniques with acknowledgment of Florida Fish and Wildlife Aquatic Plant Management. Our goal is to eliminate or reduce the use of herbicides which is toxic to life and creates mats of dead vegetation which reduces oxygen levels in the river.
We will have teams in boats retrieving the plants and another on shore to shake-out invertebrates and deposit the plants in a permitted area. We are limiting our first pull of the season to 20 participants. We will be scheduling a monthly pull of plants through the spring and summer months during high growth rates.
This project was led by the late Rhonda Long who named the participants the “Cabbage Patch Team.” We rebranded this effort as “Give the River a Hand” when reinstated our efforts on Thursday July 13th , 2023 at 9 am, at the High Springs’ Santa Fe Canoe Outpost. Our next hand-pulling event is scheduled for Friday April 19th, details will be emailed to the participants. Here is a link to sign-up for this event.
Removing invasive plants takes some understanding of habitat; care for all species; and careful removal of the plant from the waterway. We will be cautious to shake out any organisms living in the plants. Removing this plant is highly regulated and requires permits from the FLDEP to remove or eradicate any and all invasive plants from State waterways.
This volunteer effort is for caring volunteers that do not want herbicides sprayed within our waterway. We must work to save what little we have left that remains intact and unfettered. If you are unable to come but would like to help, consider making a donation to Our Santa Fe River, Inc. to help with our operational costs.
Volunteer to be a part of the ‘Give the River a Hand’ Team. Our goal is to eliminate or greatly reduce herbicide use on the Santa Fe River.
OSFR President Joanne Tremblay
joanne.tremblay@oursantaferiver.org
“Giving Our River A Voice”
