On Friday, I joined more than 100 people to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Site 1 Reservoir in Palm Beach County.  The reservoir, long on a list of Audubon priorities, will be named after the late West Boca Community Council founder Fran Reich.   Called the Fran Reich Preserve, the project covers 1,600 acres southeast of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee NWR.  Purchased from the county by the South Florida Water Management District, the site will be remade into an 8 foot deep reservoir to capture excess water during the wet season for use during the dry season.

Project funding comes from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will create hundreds of local jobs.  A recent report by the Everglades Foundation showed that restoration projects such as the Site 1 reservoir along with the ecosystem benefits provided by Everglades restoration provide huge benefits for our economy.

The ceremony was hosted by my friend Col. 

Al Pantano and featured Assistant Secretary of the Interior Tom Strickland who spoke passionately about President Obama’s commitment to the Everglades.

Along with seeing friends at the ceremony, I was fortunate to watch many birds as I looked past the speakers into the wildlife refuge:  Anhinga, Tri-colored Heron, Osprey, White Ibis, Common Moorhen, and Belted Kingfisher.