Meet at 12087 SW U.S. Highway 27, Fort White FL 32608 at 8 a.m. Park entrance fee is waived for volunteers.
NOTE: Participation in this CITO will require a 4 hour commitment of time.
The workday begins at 8:00 a.m. with volunteer registration, a brief orientation, and allocation of equipment and crews. Workday cleanups will meet initially at the Educational Center on the south end of the park. Workers will then be transported to the selected work site on the Ichetucknee River. Boat and wading crews are in place usually by 9:00 or 9:30 AM. Water lettuce removal will continue until about 12:00 PM. (or another agreed-upon time). The focus will be on the more remote areas where there are the largest rafts of water lettuce.
Water Lettuce is a nuisance plant and is causing trouble within Ichetucknee Springs State Park and the lower Ichetucknee River system. Water lettuce floats on the surface of the water and rapidly multiplies. It can quickly form a dense raft over the water surface. This in turn restricts light penetration to the substrate directly below the raft, eventually killing plants growing on the bottom. This also tends to greatly reduce oxygen levels in the water, affecting aquatic animals also living within the system.
Water lettuce plants are collected by hand or by rakes and placed in small crafts such as canoes or other non-motorized vessels. Volunteers then scoop the harvested plants into baskets and recycling bins and, bucket-brigade style, deposit them at selected high sites along the riverbanks to decompose out of the water. In this way, reproduction is halted, and the downstream movement of plants caught in the river current is eliminated. Other volunteers will carefully wade into hard-to-reach locations with hand tools such as rakes and pitchforks to access remote water lettuce rafts and to aid the boat crews. All equipment including canoes are provided.
Participants are encouraged to wear river-appropriate clothing and sun-protection, including river/water slippers, sun hats, sunblock, poison ivy block, and swim gear useful in wading situations. Drinking water is provided, but volunteers are also encouraged to bring personal water bottles and snacks if desired. Slides and flip flops are not recommended as they can get sucked off by the mud when exiting the canoes.
Approval for the CITO was granted by Caitlin Gonsiorek, Park Services Specialist, Ichetucknee Springs State Park. (386-497-4690).