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RMCA Students Help 'Fix' Shoreline At Newman Branch Creek

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 27, 2009

APOLLO BEACH - A gaggle of young volunteers who'd never heard of black rush grass spent this morning plugging it into the shoreline of a freshwater pond near the Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend Station.

They learned that restoration is a fix for environmental damage perpetrated by human activity, like fish farming, ditching and agriculture.

They planted grasses to stabilize the shoreline and held horseshoe crabs and other creatures that live in and around Newman Branch Creek.

"I've planted flowers, but not grass," said 10-year-old Sandra Santiago, one of the fifth grade class from RCMA Wimauma Academy. Rafael Garcia, 11, who said he once fished with his dad in Tampa Bay, said he's happy to help out. "We help out at school, too."

And Tampa Electric, which owns the 12-acre restoration tract, is happy to have their assistance.

Volunteers are helping to transform the former fish farm south of the Manatee Viewing Center into a lush salt marsh and freshwater pond system that will help protect the coastline and provide habitat for young marine creatures, frogs and other wildlife, said center director Wendy Anastasiou.

The $239,000 project is a public-private partnership between the electric company, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Ecosphere Restoration Institute, a nonprofit collaborative of biologists who specialize in habitat restoration.

There are four important reasons to have a salt marsh, Anastasiou told the group of 15 students. They serve as a home for animals, protect the shoreline, capture pollutants and stop erosion.

"You are going to make a difference in providing a place for animals and plants to live," Brandt Henningsen told the small group. Henningsen is a senior scientist with the state's Surface Water Improvement and Management program, or SWIM.

"The best thing about this is we're helping the environment and that's good for the whole world," 11-year-old Jonathan Saldaña said. "We've been studying a little bit about the environment."

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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