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Manatee project falls to state budget cut
By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
HOMOSASSA SPRINGS -- A tight state budget this year will cost the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park some planned improvements to the manatee habitat area. But staffing and operations should receive the dollars they need, park manager Tom Linley said. For several years the park has planned to add an isolation pond that could be used to provide a closed system to examine and treat manatees. It would work in conjunction with another treatment pond installed last year, giving the park more options for keeping its captive manatee herd healthy while researching the best environment for the endangered animals. But Linley said that although the permitting for the isolation facility was under way, he recently got word that the $800,000 cost would not be funded in this year's state budget. The park will also lose out on additional dollars from the state to pay a portion of a planned dredging of the closed area just outside the park. That is a project spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; officials hope it will free up more attractive habitat for wild manatees that gather in the Homosassa Blue Waters area each winter. Despite the state budget crunch, major upgrades at the park that have been largely funded by donations and the efforts of the park's volunteer support organization are under way. Some of those could cause minor disruptions for visitors in the coming months, but Linley said the finished product would be well worth any inconvenience. Work began several weeks ago on Phase 2 of the park's Wildlife Walk. That project will add a boardwalk around the animal displays and includes construction of new display areas for the park's cougars and bobcats. The cougar cage alone will be five times its current size, and all old-fashioned chain link and barred cage fronts in that portion of the park will be replaced with open-air enclosures. The new reptile house is also nearing completion, and a grand opening of the reptile facility and the first stretch of the planned 900-foot boardwalk will be dedicated next month. Completion of Phase 2 will be several more months down the road. Meantime, some visitor trails could be closed during construction of the boardwalk and new bridges. In several weeks, the park will take cougars and bobcats off display to make room to build the new enclosures. Also planned for the Wildlife Walk project are new restrooms and rain shelters, and a new wildlife encounter area. Volunteers with the Friends of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park raised $180,000, and the state has provided $120,000 toward the project. While the big cats will be off display for a while this spring, the park will be adding some new animals for visitors to enjoy. Last week, park employees were working on a mural to improve the old stork exhibit that soon will become home to two highly endangered whooping cranes. Those birds, which are expected to arrive in May, will bring a real distinction to the park because Homosassa Springs will be one of only six parks that have the birds. Last week the park acquired several more of another very rare creature when it welcomed new key deer, a tiny relative of the more common white-tailed deer. The key deer live on only a couple of islands in the Florida Keys. Now the park has four of the animals. Soon the park will begin to display the two bear cubs that have been living in an area off public view since last year. The bear display area has been improved slightly by the Friends organization, but Linley said the hope was to collect donations in the coming months to accomplish the next big improvement, a new $150,000 bear enclosure. The Friends organization has raised $60,000 toward that cause. When that is done, the bears will not only have access to a land habitat, but they will also be able to enter and swim in a pond area. "We've got a lot going on right now," Linley said. He said the next five years would bring the need for other improvements, such as a new Fishbowl Observatory, which will cost $750,000. Smaller improvements might also face the ax if state budget numbers don't improve next year. Like the existing Fishbowl, the park's boats are 40 years old, and officials had hoped to replace them in the next several years. The first of the new boats purchased should arrive next week, Linley said. He did not know whether other new boats would be fit into future state budgets. Despite the shortage of state funds for parks, Linley tried to keep the bigger picture in mind. "As long as we continue to keep the doors open, that's what's important," he said. -- Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com
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