We here at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve had the opportunity to host a summer camp this past Wednesday! This art camp for students in elementary school visited the Buffer to work on creating masterpieces that combined nature with printmaking and sketching. Students first arrived early in the morning and began a drawing assignment that was meant to get them thinking about all the things they might see at the Buffer Preserve. Artistic interpretations and expectations ranged from trees to bears to buried treasure!
We then went on a tram tour just for this group of students and decided that we would put our theories to the test and see what we could find. We started out on Treasure Road but unfortunately didn’t find any gold coins, but we did see a variety of birds and a 170-year-old longleaf pine! We continued on our journey and saw an eagle nest, a recently burned area, and even our resident alligator, Surly! We then got out of the heat for a little bit and took a break for lunch.
After a nice meal and a little time to cool off, we set back out on a nature hike to see what else we could find. We collected all sorts of specimens to practice sketching and making prints. We then went back to the visitor center and the students set out on making their beautiful artist creations. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and our students left for the day, bringing with them all of their newfound knowledge and appreciation of our preserve’s natural resources!
Join UsSaturday,February 1st, 2025for our popularWinter Bay Day! 9am – 3pm EST
Friends of St. Joseph Bay Preserves present a day of education, shrimp and music. Learn about the preserves and life along the bay. There will be lots to see and lots to do. Best of all, the Low Country Shrimp Boil will be delicious – as always! Meet you on the deck of the Visitor Center! … no admission fee!
3915 State Road 30A, Port St. Joe, Florida 32456
On the Deck: The Visitor Center Deck will have the low country boil and drinks, picnic tables, a silent auction, live music, and stunning views of St. Joseph Bay. Low Country Shrimp Boil: 11am – 2pm EST $15 Donation Live Music Throughout the Day: Crossroad Bluegrass Band – music for saints and sinners.
Guided Tram Tours: The Buffer Preserve staff will have tram rides throughout the day that will showcase the backwoods trails of the Buffer Preserve.Explore the preserves on a guided tram tour through the backwoods trails of the Buffer Preserve and learn about the native animal and plant life. Tours depart from the Visitor Center. Reservations are recommended and will be available on the deck at the Bay Day event. Bay Day tram tour seating will be first come first served. Departure Times:9:00am, 10:00 am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, & 1:00pm EST.
Exhibitors & Demonstrations: Exhibitors at Bay Day will have displays set up to share information about water quality, recreational opportunities, seagrass research and monitoring, urchins, scallops (touch tank), updates to the State Park, turtles, fossils, shorebirds, and so much more of the great environmental work that is done in and around St. Joseph Bay! All the environmental displays will be located down on the grass by the observation tower and along the back of the lodge. Winter Bay Day Exhibitors Include: Central Panhandle Aquatic Preserves, St. Andrews & St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Rish State Park, Gulf County UF/IFAS, Audubon Florida, Indian Pass Turtle Patrol,
Florida Coastal Conservancy/Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center,
Friends of Gulf County Library, International Dark Sky/Capture the Dark, FWC/Fish and Wildlife Research Institute – Bay Scallops
FWC/Fisheries-Independent Monitoring Program.
Silent Auction and Raffle: Our silent auction and fun raffle have lots of donations from our community partners that support our Mission to advocate for the St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve and State Buffer Preserve, and to support the education on those key issues that are important in keeping the bay and preserve one of the most pristine areas in the world. These silent auction items cover a wide range of things such as chef at home experiences, fishing charters, art, dining gift certificates and much more! We have options to bid on the specific item or buy it now pricing. Either way, you take all items home that day and have a chance to be a raffle winner.
Silent Auction and Raffle: Our silent auction and fun raffle have lots of donations from our community partners that support our Mission to advocate for the St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve and State Buffer Preserve, and to support the education on those key issues that are important in keeping the bay and preserve one of the most pristine areas in the world. These silent auction items cover a wide range of things such as chef at home experiences, fishing charters, art, dining gift certificates and much more! We have options to bid on the specific item or buy it now pricing. Either way, you take all items home that day and have a chance to be a raffle winner.
Birding Tour at Salinas Park Bayside: Collette Lauzau, Shorebird Program Manager-Audubon Florida, will be leading the 2 hour bird tour around St. Joseph Bay during Bay Day. Participants meet at Salinas Park Bayside(280 Cape San Blas Rd, Port St. Joe, FL 32456) at8:30am EST.
“We will bird that area and potentially drive a short distance to a second location that I will scout before the birding walk just to see if there will be birds foraging the flats. The meeting time will be at 8:30 am and if the second location is active, we will probably end at 10:30 am. Regular walking shoes should be fine. It would be great for participants to bring binoculars.” The Bay Day events are located at theSt. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve Visitor Center, 3915 StateRoad 30-A (C-30), Port St. Joe, Florida 32456. Bay Day is presented by Friends of St. Joseph Bay Preserves, Inc., Central Panhandle Aquatic Preserves, and the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve. All proceeds to benefit the Friends of St. Joseph Bay Preserves. For more information: Call 850-229-1787 or Send Us an Email
Fall Fest in the Preserve Join Us Saturday, November 16th, 2024, for our Fall Festival in the heart of the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve.
3pm – 6pm EST
Friends of St. Joseph Bay Preserves present an afternoon of outdoor fun and activities including hay rides through the preserve, interpretive hiking, scavenger hunt, face painting, hot apple cider, campfire with marshmallow roast, walking tacos and more … no admission fee!
Live Music Throughout the Afternoon: The “mixed acoustic” sounds of Marilyn and Tyler Freeman, …. “a little old country, blue grass, and rock n’ roll”.
The Fall Festival events are located within the Buffer Preserve on Treasure Road. Turn in at Treasure Rd off 30A, “across the street” from the Buffer Preserve Visitor Center (3915 State Road 30-A, Port St. Joe, Florida 32456). Follow the signs and volunteer parking guides.
The Fall Festival is sponsored by The Friends of the St. Joseph Bay Preserves in Partnership with Buffer and Aquatic Preserves staff.
For more information: Call 850-229-1787 or Send Us an Email
HELP DEP AND FWC REHOME SEA URCHINS – SEPT. 9, 2023
St. Joseph Bay, located in Gulf County in the Panhandle, once contained extensive beds of seagrass and supported an abundant scallop fishery. Residents and visitors enjoyed extensive, pristine seagrass beds and clear bay waters. Summertime recreational scallop harvesting contributed greatly to the local economy. Seagrass beds in the bay are dominated by turtle grass which also provide food for abundant green sea turtles. The scallop fishery has become depleted in recent years, algal blooms are more frequent, and the acreage of seagrass beds has decreased. An overabundance of sea urchins (Lytechinus spp.) continues to destroy turtle grass beds through overgrazing. This project will jump start natural recovery of seagrass by installing exclosures over grazed areas to allow seagrasses to grow back without sea urchin grazing pressure. In addition, sea urchin roundups, public outreach events, will involve citizens to remove sea urchins from active grazing fronts. The animals will be released in deeper areas of the bay at a distance from grazed areas.
See the Friends of St. Joseph Bay Preserves Christmas tree at the Festival of Trees, at The Joe Center for the Arts! Many organizations and businesses have decorated beautiful and original trees for this display. Vote for your favorite! Plus there are special events including a Silent Auction. For the schedule, see https://thejoecenterforthearts41.wildapricot.org/
201 Reid Avenue, Port Saint Joe/ Wednesday-Saturday, 11-6, except Thanksgiving weekend (closing at 3 on Weds., reopening on Sat.)
Friends of the Preserves 2021 Festival of Trees
A Citizen Support Organization established to protect and preserve one of the most ecologically significant areas in the Southeastern United States
