Environment Archives - WMNF 88.5 FM

The Florida legislature has budgeted over $2 billion for protecting land in the Florida Wildlife Corridor since 2021.

Conservationists are keeping a close eye on areas in the Tampa Bay region. 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation is working to permanently connect and restore the statewide network of connected lands and waters that support wildlife and people.

Chief conservation officer Jason Lauritsen said 10 million acres across the state have already been conserved, however:

“There are 8 million acres that are not yet conserved. So those are areas that are potentially vulnerable to development decisions that could disrupt the connectivity,” Lauritsen said. 

Areas ripe for conservation include a narrow column in Polk County along the Peace River and Saddle Creek near road intersections that could become fragmented due to development.

Another gap is an area of Hernando County between the Withlacoochee State Forest, where an estate style neighborhood was planned. 

“Over time, with every fire, with every flood, with every drought, with every hurricane event, there’s the potential for some species to disappear from that special place. And if they don’t remain connected, there’s greater and greater chances that those species won’t return from places they still exist,” Lauritsen said.

Lauritsen said gaps can cause state parks to be less resilient after natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, leading to greater chances that animals will not return to the state parks. 

“The story will change from ‘let’s go in hopes to see a black bear, let’s go in hopes to see a panther.’ The story will change to ‘let’s go to this place where I once as a kid saw a panther, or I once as a kid saw a black bear,’” Lauritsen said. 

Lauritsen says getting the information about corridors to decision-makers has been the biggest obstacle, but encourages Floridians to appreciate wildlife for themselves and get involved in conservation efforts.

The post Conservationists warn of missing links in Florida’s wildlife corridor appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

Future engineering breakthroughs may be inspired by an unlikely source – the tongues of salamanders and chameleons. 

Now, a new study from the University of South Florida’s Deban Laboratory shows humans can learn from the animal’s nature.  

Salamanders and chameleons are two different classes of animals living in very different habitats.

This study is the first to reveal that they use the same mechanism to propel their tongues at lightning-fast speeds. 

Yu Zeng is a postdoctoral researcher at USF.

“They can quickly launch their tongue, grab the prey, pull the prey back to their mouth within the time of your eye blink,” Zeng told WMNF.

Zeng compared the mechanism to propelling a melon seed.

“You put a wet lubricated melon seed between your fingers and you pinch it. You can launch the melon seed. That is exactly the same mechanism here, where you apply pressure to a tapered, rigid object. That pressure can be transferred to a source that pushes that object away,” Zeng said.

He said his findings can have practical applications, and their “slingshot method” could inspire devices that could clear blood clots, retrieve objects from collapsed buildings, or even debris from outer space. 

“All these scenarios that require urgent retrieval of a object, sometimes without human interference. So that’s where a potential device that mimics ballistic tongues can fill that gap,” Zeng said.

In addition to these breakthroughs, Zeng also hopes his research will bring a bigger appreciation for wildlife.

The post USF study finds salamander and chameleon tongues could inspire engineering breakthroughs appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

Tanja Vidovic was joined on Monday’s Sustainable Living show by expert guest Rose Loria to discuss citrus greening. Rose is a scientist at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida. She studied plant science at Michigan State University beforejoining the faculty at Cornell, where she worked on vegetable diseases. She left Cornell in 2012 to become the chair of the Department of Plant Pathology at UF. After serving as chair for 12 years, she stepped down to do research on citrus greening.

Topics discussed include:

-what is citrus greening

-when/how did the first greening occur and what spreads it

-what other plants can it affect

-prevention

-signs and symptoms

-what to do if you think your tree may have greening

-research to find a cure

and more!

Find out more about Rose Loria, her research and information on citrus greening, at University of Florida’s website.

If you love the Sustainable Living Show, make sure to tune in every Monday at 11am on 88.5fm or listen to past episodes in the archives here. You can also stay up to date with show happenings on our Facebook page. Head over to the tip jar and direct your donation to Sustainable Living to show your monetary support. Remember, it takes a community to build a community.

The post Citrus greening with Rose Loria appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

UPDATE: The day following this show, by a 2 to 1 vote, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the order to dismantle and close the facility, pending the outcome of an appeal, saying it was in the public interest. This ruling will allow the facility to continue holding detainees for the time being, and the government can continue operations at the immigrant detention facility. The environmental advocates and plaintiffs vowed to continue the fight to close the detention facility.

On Wednesday, September 3, attorney Elise Bennett from the Center for Biological Diversity and Eve Samples, Executive Director of the Friends of the Everglades, joined us on MidPoint to discuss their successful court case against Kristi Noem and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the State of Florida. These environmental advocates, together with the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, obtained a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Miami that orders the defendants to close the Everglades Detention Camp, aka the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, aka Alligator Alcatraz, for failing to comply with federal environmental laws that required an environmental impact study and public notice and input before the site could be modified, expanded and used as a detention camp.

The 82-page court order analyzed testimony from numerous witnesses about the ecological damage to the site caused by the construction, lighting, and fencing added for the detention camp, and the risks posed to the habitats of some endangered species, as well as to the areas adjacent to the site occupied by the Miccosuke Tribe. The court found that the state and federal defendants completely failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to assess the environmental impacts of the detention camp, and until they so complied, all operations at the site must cease, and it must be returned to its previous state.

“No new detainees can be brought to the site, and that is to facilitate the wind down of the really harmful activities. So that is the artificial lighting which is impacting endangered Florida panthers and Florida Bonnetted bats, and also to take all of the potential contaminants off the site, jet fuel, human waste, so that there’s not this risk to these world-class wetlands that are in our Everglades and in Big Cypress National Preserve,” Bennett told WMNF.

Eve Samples is the president of Friends of the Everglades,

“There’s some painful irony in these projects being rolled out under the guise of law and order, because the state and federal government have violated the law, the National Environmental Policy Act, in doing them. So, so real irony to chew on there,” Samples said.

Samples said the state has 60 days to dismantle the facility. The defendants have appealed this order and asked the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for a stay of the order. The plaintiffs have responded, and a decision is anticipated to come soon.

You can listen to the entire show here, on the WMNF app, or as a WMNF MidPoint podcast on Spotify or Apple Music.

The post Environmental Advocates Win Order to Close Alligator Alcatraz appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

Our guest on the August 25th WMNF Sustainable Living Program was Jungle Jay Hardman.  A retired Archaeologist who gained regenerative insights from the past to create his no-waste, suburban jungle homestead of 30 years.  Jay is also the founder of Beacon Food Forest Gardens in Clearwater. Check out the archived program for a fruitful discussion about the abundance which emanates from employment of the ethics and principals of Permaculture.

Topics discussed include:

-what is permaculture

-how are permaculture principals applicable in other areas of life

-the ethics of permaculture

-affordable housing

-connecting community and creating innovative solutions to community issues

and more!

Check out Jungle Jay’s Facebook page to find out what he is up to and learn about permaculture and community events as well as information about Beacon Food Forest! 

If you love the Sustainable Living Show, make sure to tune in every Monday at 11am on 88.5fm or listen to past episodes in the archives here. You can also stay up to date with show happenings on our Facebook page. Head over to the tip jar and direct your donation to Sustainable Living to show your monetary support. Remember, it takes a community to build a community.

The post Living through the lens of permaculture with Jungle Jay Hardman appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

Environmental advocates are celebrating after a judge ordered Florida to shut down parts the Everglades migrant detention center within 60 days.

The judge gave  the state 60 days to remove many components of the facility, including lights, generators, gas, and sewage.

The ruling also bans any additional detainees from being sent to what the state calls Alligator Alcatraz. 

Eve Samples is the Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades. 

“What we saw from the court is not only a victory for the Everglades, it is a victory for the rule of law and for holding government accountable,” Samples said.

The detention center site is surrounded on all sides by the Big Cypress National Preserve, one of America’s first national preserves, which protects ecologically sensitive wetlands and a dozen endangered and threatened species, including endangered Florida panthers and Florida bonneted bats.

Elise Bennett is the Florida Director and Attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. 

“The weight of the law and public opinion is steadily phasing out this illegal, destructive detention camp, and we plan to work tirelessly to keep it that way,” Bennett said.

Environmental groups say the project poses serious threats to the sensitive Everglades ecosystem, endangered species, clean water, and more. 

However, advocates admitted this is not a final win.

Curtis Osceola is with the Miccosukkee Tribe of Indians of Florida.

“We are prepared to go all the way to the Supreme Court. This is not the first time the tribe has been in a fight like this, it probably won’t be the last,” Osceola said.

The state has appealed the ruling.

The post Judge orders winding down of Everglades detention center Alligator Alcatraz appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

A Sulphur Springs community leader is calling for the repair of a bridge that he says used to be a safe haven for the community.

 Charlie Adams, president of the Sulphur Springs Neighborhood Association, has memories of his grandfather taking him to the Sulphur Springs park, and specifically the pedestrian bridge.

“That was kind of the safe haven of the community, a place where we can just go out and just enjoy nature,” Adams told WMNF.

Now, he calls the state of the bridge perched over the Hillsborough River unfortunate. It’s been closed since 2018 and is currently in a state of disrepair. 

“Not every community has a river running through their backyard, right? So not being able to have access to that is really an atrocity,” Adams said.

Adams says the city has shown leadership on the problem, and a couple of city council members have come out to the site. 

“We are a part of this great city, and we deserve the attention, the resources, and we deserve our voices to be heard,” Adams said.

But he says he wants to see money allocated to that and other projects around the Sulphur Springs area. 

The City of Tampa is currently seeking input for a Sulphur Springs Neighborhood Action Plan, a city-planned effort to identify and coordinate improvements within the community. 

But the city says the bridge is a Parks and Recreation responsibility, but the Neighborhood Action Plan may “touch on topics related to the bridge.”

The post Sulphur Springs leader calls for repair of pedestrian bridge over Hillsborough River appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

WMNF’s Chris Young reports, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC voted unanimously yesterday to finalize the controversial hunt. It’s the first one in a decade.

It’s because of criticism the paper got after it published Bob Whitmore’s cartoon of a starving child in Gaza. Whitmore says that even though the cartoon seems to be a political statement about the famine and war in Gaza, the corporate parent company of CL considers it to be antisemitic.

That’s despite scores of infections linked to raw milk. The Tampa Bay Times reports in a post on X, Joseph Ladapo said, “I support the decision to consume raw milk when sought for potential health benefits and protective factors. Be aware of your source and know the risks.” His post came one week after state health officials issued a health advisory after 21 cases of infection were linked to the consumption of raw milk.

According to The Guardian, a new report from Defend Public Health, an organization of about 3,000 health professionals and allies outlines major health challenges in the US – and the misinformation coming from the RFK-led department.

The Scoop, produced by Seán Kinane.

WMNF anchors Seán Kinane, Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton. 
WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane, Zoe Sax, Julia Ferrara, Leah Burdick, Josh Holton
Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran.

Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5
https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3
The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF

The post The Scoop: Th. Aug. 14, 2025 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

A September 9 meeting will be about the Bartow site, while a September 10 meeting will be about the Mulberry site. Early last year Mosaic applied for approval to drill exploratory wells at sites in Mulberry and Bartow.

Last year, tens of thousands in St. Petersburg couldn’t flush their toilets for days after one of the city’s most critical facilities was shut off because of Hurricane Milton. The city has installed a barrier around the low-lying wastewater facility.

Florida Power & Light and numerous parties have reached what they call a “settlement in principle” on a plan for base electric rates over the next four years. But the state Office of Public Counsel — which is designated by law to represent consumers — has not agreed to the potential settlement and wants to move forward with today’s planned hearing at the Florida Public Service Commission.

A company proposes generating water directly from the atmosphere as one solution even as climate change continues to pose a threat to people and the planet.

The Scoop, produced by Seán Kinane.

WMNF anchors Seán Kinane, Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton. 
WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane, Zoe Sax, Julia Ferrara, Leah Burdick, Josh Holton
Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran.

Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5
https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3
The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF

The post The Scoop: Mon. Aug. 11, 2025 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.

Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice–an entomologist by training, and author whose books have tackled topics ranging from spiders to microbes—responds to my observation that her new set of books, “The Deadliest Series,” appears to represent a redoubling of her commitment to writing for young readers.

It felt worth exploring, in part because Spicer Rice holds a PhD, is an accomplished science writer, and has written a number of books geared for adult audiences—her first appearance on this show, in 2017, was discussing her just-published four guides on ants…for adult readers.

This leads us to a conversational detour, addressing the extent to which being the mother of two young boys plays a role here, and she allows that, indeed, the boys’ interests (and concerns) drive much of what she writes. And like many authors toiling in the YA realm, Spicer Rice says she hopes her work will inspire youngsters who tend to be non-readers to flip their status, adding that one of her sons is a reader, and the other, not so much.  

Spicer Rice recounts how the opportunity to write “The Deadliest Series” came her way, pitching the idea for one book, parenthetically proposing other titles that could round out a potential series.

Once she received the greenlight for the series—“The Deadliest Snake… Spider….Big Cat… Insect…Sea Creature… Flower”—she proceeded with the proverbial deep dive into research, poring over 50-150 peer-reviewed studies in preparation for each book. 

That’s part of the work ethic that involved Spicer Rice putting in 14-hour days, she explains, elaborating on details of the process, including where artist Max Temescu—whose extraordinary, vibrant illustrations give the books visual pizzazz—entered the picture (so to speak).

Given all the time, energy, and work she invests in these projects, I ask what she’s seeking to achieve—what does success look like?

“More kids wanting to go outside,” articulating that her ongoing objective is to have her young readers (and older readers, too) share her profound sense of wonder and enthusiasm for the great outdoors, and all the wondrous creatures who live there.

The post Talking Animals: Entomologist-Author discusses her “Deadliest” new series aimed at young readers (and seeks to convert non-readers) appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.