Where do your Grass Clippings Go, Earth Day Event, and more!
- IRNA
- Apr 12
- 7 min read
April 12, 2025 Weekly Newsletter
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM
Spring is here in beautiful Indian River County. You can almost hear the green grass growing. That means more frequent mowing. Please DO NOT blow the grass clippings onto the road, down storm drains, into swales, ditches, canals or other water bodies.
Be sure to Instruct your landscaper of these rules. Grass clippings and other yard debris end up in our lagoon where, as they decompose, take up oxygen and give off nitrogen and phosphorus to an already impaired lagoon. These excess nutrients fuel the algal blooms that cloud the water preventing seagrass growth.
Loss of seagrass is the cause of manatee starvation and death and the death of juvenile fish species that use seagrass as shelter from predators. Ultimately, these clippings and other plant material, along with sediment runoff, become the mayonnaise muck that covers the sandy bottom of the Indian River Lagoon.
So, what to do with those grass clippings.
Leave them to decompose on your lawn as a valuable source of nutrients
Bag them for useas mulch on plant beds
Add them to your compost pile or bin
Dispose of them with your other yard waste for municipal collection
Be part of the solution, not the problem.
Celebrate Earth Day's 55th Anniversary at Sebastian's Riverview Park
The Indian River Neighborhood Association invites you to join us for a special Earth Day celebration commemorating the 55th anniversary of this important environmental holiday. This family-friendly event will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at Riverview Park in Sebastian, Florida.
As Earth Day is April 22nd, our community celebration will continue the festivities on the following Saturday. The Natural Resources Board of Sebastian, as ever, has organized an impressive lineup of activities combining Earth Day and Arbor Day traditions.
From 10 AM to 4 PM, visitors can explore booths from local non-profits, organizations, and small businesses. The Sebastian River Art Club will host an art show and sale, while ORCA will lead a buffered shoreline planting activity to help protect our precious waterways.
Children will enjoy special activities designed just for them, and everyone can look forward to live entertainment, raffles, and prizes throughout the day. The IRNA will have an activity for your young ones too!
Stop by the Indian River Neighborhood Association booth to say hello and learn about our ongoing efforts to protect and enhance our local environment. We look forward to celebrating this annual tradition with you and your family!
Spotting the Roseate Spoonbills of Stick Marsh (Vero Beach Magazine) - The Stick Marsh in Fellsmere offers a vibrant birdwatching experience, especially during the roseate spoonbill’s colorful courtship season, with its designation as a Critical Wildlife Area helping protect diverse bird populations while fostering deeper human appreciation for local wildlife.
Round Island park vandalism puts security in spotlight (Vero News) - Vandals caused significant damage by driving vehicles through Round Island Riverside Park, highlighting ongoing security challenges at Indian River County parks, many of which remain open and ungated overnight despite repeated incidents of vandalism.
Fort Pierce, Vero Beach power plants closed, but manatees kept coming (TCPalm) - Despite the closure of nearby power plants, manatees continue to thrive around Fort Pierce’s Manatee Center due to the warm waters of Moore’s Creek, but threats like boat strikes, habitat development, and increasing perinatal deaths highlight ongoing challenges for their long-term survival.
Hurricane Center report details Milton's tornadoes on Treasure Coast (TCPalm) - Hurricane Milton, a devastating 2024 storm that produced a record number of tornadoes—including a deadly EF3 tornado on the Treasure Coast—caused $34.3 billion in damages, led to 15 direct deaths, and has been retired from future storm name lists due to its severe impact.
Colorado State University predicts 17 named storms for 2025 Atlantic hurricane season (Fox Weather) - The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be highly active with 17 named storms, nine hurricanes, and four major hurricanes predicted, alongside an elevated risk of major landfalls along the U.S. coastline and in the Caribbean due to warm Atlantic waters and neutral to La Niña ENSO conditions.
Experience the IR Lagoon: A Visual and Educational Journey at Emerson Center (Indian River Guardian) - The Emerson Center is hosting The Indian River Lagoon By Brush and Lens exhibition from April 4 to June 4, 2025, featuring art and photography celebrating the lagoon’s beauty and ecology, with a special Earth Day event including a lecture on conservation challenges by environmental advocate Heather Stapleton.
Everglades Restoration Faces Funding Setback in New Budget
The Florida House has proposed slashing Everglades restoration funding to just $357.1 million in the 2025-26 state budget—less than half of Governor DeSantis's requested $805 million. This dramatic reduction comes amid claims that the Department of Environmental Protection has unspent funds, a justification that misses the importance of consistent, long-term investment in this unique ecosystem.
The logic behind these cuts reveals a troubling philosophy: that unspent conservation funds indicate a lack of need rather than acknowledging the complex realities of large-scale environmental projects. Such reasoning fails to recognize that environmental restoration operates on timelines dictated by nature and science, not fiscal calendars. Punishing entire ecosystems and future generations for administrative delays or allocation challenges demonstrates shortsighted thinking that undermines decades of conservation progress.
Environmentalists have expressed alarm at these proposals, understanding that sustained funding is essential to the survival of the Everglades—a system that provides drinking water to millions of Floridians, supports incredible biodiversity, and offers natural protection against climate impacts.
The question remains: at what point do budget "efficiencies" become false economies that cost us irreplaceable natural treasures?
Florida must act quickly to stop water pollution, federal lawmakers urge (Tampa Bay Times) - Florida faces urgent calls from federal lawmakers to combat worsening water pollution that has devastated ecosystems like the Indian River Lagoon, causing mass manatee deaths and highlighting failures in state regulation and enforcement.
April 2025 Peligram (Pelican Island Audubon Society) - The April 2025 Peligram newsletter from the Pelican Island Audubon Society highlights upcoming nature activities, honors volunteers and conservationists, promotes environmental education programs like Adopt an Advocate, and emphasizes urgent advocacy for science funding and global disease prevention, while also celebrating International Dark Sky Week and local birding experiences.
Manatee spotting, mermaid shows and airboat rides: top Florida experiences beyond the theme parks (The Sun) - Crystal River on Florida’s Gulf Coast offers an authentic outdoor escape with manatee encounters, kayaking, mermaid shows, scalloping adventures, rich Native American history, and fresh seafood dining, providing a tranquil alternative to the state's theme park attractions.
Manatees swim in Moore's Creek near the Manatee Center in Fort Pierce (TCPalm) - Manatees delighted visitors by swimming, drinking from drainage pipes, and surfacing in Moore’s Creek near the Manatee Center in Fort Pierce on February 4, 2025, offering close-up glimpses of these gentle creatures, some bearing scars from past boat strikes.
Digging into Ashley Moody's 'Dirty Money' (VoteWater.org) - Former Florida Attorney General and newly appointed U.S. Senator Ashley Moody received over $2 million in campaign contributions from polluters, including nearly $200,000 from the sugar industry and significant sums from sugar-aligned political action committees, according to VoteWater.org research.
Termite stowaways: UF/IFAS study reveals boats as perfect vessels for global termite spread (University of Florida) - A University of Florida study reveals that recreational boats are major contributors to the global spread of invasive termites, with hidden infestations allowing pests like the Formosan subterranean termite to travel undetected across oceans and establish costly, hard-to-eradicate colonies.
DeSantis rips House over inaction on boating bill that in part would limit local control (Islander News) - Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the Florida House for not advancing the controversial "Boater Freedom Act," which would have limited local control over boating regulations and made safety inspections a secondary offense, but the Legislature's inaction is preventing this bad bill from moving forward as of now.
Good News for our Natural Spaces!
Two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rangers at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, who were terminated on February 14 as part of broader cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have been reinstated. The cuts, which affected nearly 1,710 people across the Department of Interior, were reversed after public outcry and two court orders, though the Trump administration has appealed these orders to the Supreme Court. The rangers' absence had immediately impacted operations at the refuge, causing school field trips and birdwatching tours to be canceled.
The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is the only federal land specifically designated to protect Florida's threatened manatee population, and it serves as a vital economic engine for the area, attracting over 400,000 visitors annually. The refuge, which relies heavily on volunteers to supplement its already small staff, faces uncertainty about whether these reinstatements will be permanent as DOGE continues its efforts to reduce the federal workforce. We hope the Wildlife Refuge has all the staffing it needs going forward, and we encourage you to visit as it is an amazing place!
How storytelling, creativity and collaborations can inspire climate action (The Conversation) - Harnessing storytelling, creativity, education, and collaborations between artists, scientists, and communities, the "We Are the Possible" initiative uses arts-based approaches to inspire climate action, amplify Indigenous voices, engage children globally, and embed cultural influence into policy-making to address the climate crisis.
Rain barrel basics: Conserving water but not mosquito habitats (Science Daily) - Rain barrels can conserve water and reduce runoff but, if improperly maintained, can become mosquito habitats, with research showing that using mesh covers, water treatments like Bti, and homeowner education are key to preventing mosquito breeding and protecting public health.
Here's how to create a more nature-literate society (The Conversation) - Building a more nature-literate society requires helping people notice, name, and nurture the natural world, fostering curiosity, innovation, and environmental stewardship critical for a sustainable future.
This new group promotes climate 'realism' — and it's scary (E&E News) - The Climate Realism Initiative, launched by the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that global warming will exceed 2°C and urges the U.S. to abandon unrealistic targets in favor of preparing for the severe economic and societal impacts of a hotter world.
The world is heating up. How much can our bodies handle? (Grist) - New research shows that human bodies can reach dangerous levels of heat stress at much lower temperatures than previously thought, meaning even moderate future warming could make large parts of the planet hazardous to live in, especially for vulnerable populations like the elderly.
Florida faces greatest threat of coastal flooding by 2050 (Miami Herald) - Florida faces the highest risk in the U.S. for annual coastal flooding by 2050, with 23,000 people and 17,000 homes projected to be affected due to sea level rise, poor coastal planning, and continued greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the urgent need for emissions cuts and coastal resilience efforts.
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