Volusia council OKs survey of Intracoastal islands

Volusia council OKs survey of Intracoastal islands
Daytona Beach News-Journal, Florida - August 11, 2006
By JAMES MILLER, Staff Writer
[Excerpted]
DELAND -- Volusia County sailed forward Thursday with a survey of islands in Halifax River and Mosquito Lagoon to find out things like which are good for camping and which are overrun by bird-thwarting plants.

The surveys, to begin in spring, will catalog animals and plants on natural and spoil islands, created by navigational dredging in the 1950s and 1960s, said Stephen Kintner, the county's environmental manager.

"We don't even know how many there are," he said, adding officials think there are well more than 100.

The work, approved by the County Council at its meeting in DeLand, will cost almost $60,000, funded with grant money and in-kind matches from staff and volunteer hours. The project has environmentalists smiling.

"Being in the environmental community, we typically come to the County Council to complain about something that's about to be done or has been done," said David Hartgrove, conservation chairman of the Halifax River Audubon Society. "It's nice to be able to come here and talk about something positive."

The goal is to classify islands into recreation and conservation categories. On active recreation islands, such things as docks and bathrooms could be built. Nothing would be built on passive islands. Public use of conservation islands would be discouraged.

The survey will identify islands infested with Brazilian peppers or inhabited by feral cats so both can later be removed. Getting rid of Brazilian peppers and some other species would help provide nesting areas for some birds listed as species of special concern, Hartgrove said. The cats also pose a threat to the birds.