The trail in environmental stewardship that the Manatee Viewing Center has blazed since 1986 is one that you can enjoy at ground-level. November 1 marks the opening of the center’s coastal habitat trail, a mulched path that winds eight-tenths of a mile through saltern, coastal high marsh and coastal strand habitats. Like the MVC, it’s free to the public and showcases a variety of plant and animal life. And like…
Community Environment
Great things reveal themselves along Gandy Boulevard…and some other objects turn up too
Native species – cabbage palms, mangroves – you’re cool. Keep doing what you’re doing as part of the Tampa-area ecosystem that depends on you. Invasives, on the other hand (you know who you are, Brazilian pepper and lead trees): You’re outta here! At least that’s if TECO team members have anything to say about it. And after another habitat restoration effort in the nature area near the public boat ramp…
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Community Environment
TECO team members stood atop the hill, looked around, and it was good
“I didn’t even know that hill was there until today!” said Christina Arenas, environmental program manager with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, as she surveyed the hard work by TECO volunteers and others to restore the natural habitat along the McKay Bay Greenway. Suddenly, with the removal of highly invasive lead trees and Brazilian pepper, new contours in the landscape revealed themselves – along with the power of teamwork to make…
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Community Environment
Between gunshots and chainsaws, a habitat gets a haircut
If only clearing more than 14,000 pounds of invasive plants was as easy as giving someone a haircut. But the former is exactly what happened along the banks of McKay Bay in Tampa on March 31 – and rows of shoreline mangroves can breathe easier now. It was the latest collaborative effort between TECO and Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful (KTBB), not far from where TECO team members previously refurbished an…
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Community Environment For Home
Ten reasons (among many) why you should come to the 30th anniversary/5 millionth visitor celebration at Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center on Thursday, March 16
If it’s in your nature to enjoy yourself, we humbly suggest you enjoy yourself in our nature – Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center – this Thursday, March 16. We’re celebrating our 30th season as a showcase of free, fun, environmental education, along with the fact that we’ve welcomed more than 5 million visitors since we opened in 1986. And we’d love to see you there. Below are 10 reasons that…
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