Rye
Preserve “Scrub Jays for the Future”
Funded
by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program
And
Manatee County Conservation Lands Division
Includes
hands-on scrub restoration monitoring at Rye Preserve
Scrub
Restoration Monitoring: 3’x3’
sections will be laid out on the first field study and subsequent classes will
monitor plant growth, and calculate the diversity index. Old growth was cut in
Oct. 2004, burn is scheduled in late summer 2004.
Scrub
Jay Game: By
offering students a better appreciation and understanding of the endangered
scrub jay, we give them a chance to change the future survival outlook of this
species. Students become scrub jays
and compete with man for their living space, see the effects of dwindling food
supplies on family groups, and deal with other man-made obstacles.
Rye
Preserve History/Nature Walk: This activity leads students along the
“Settlement Trail” observing and classifying various plants and animals. On
this walk, students will witness firsthand the restoration of the scrub habitat
and see the Rye Cemetery, all that remains of the thriving settlement of the
1850’s.
Tentative
schedule:
Arrive Rye Wilderness Park by 9:30
Complete activities by 12:00
May
remain to picnic on site
Directions to Rye Preserve Take SR 64
east: 4 mi. east of I-75 to Rye Rd.
Turn north on Rye Rd. and proceed about 4 miles You will go over Manatee River (small bridge)
Entrance to Rye Preserve is on right just past bridge. (Do not be confused by the brand new development with the same name (Rye Wilderness) about 3 miles down Rye Rd. Continue past this new construction to the bridge.)
Meet your guides at picnic pavilion.