The Guardians of Martin County Podcast

Guardians Of Martin County podcast #3 features Greg Braun, Guardians of Martin County Executive Director and Eve Samples,  Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades. This podcast focuses on water quality issues facing the St Lucie River due to Lake Okeechobee discharges, the unintended consequences of the St Lucie Canal. Please note that this podcast was recorded prior to the recent Lake Okeechobee discharges initiated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Additional topics include a review of Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA’s) as well as a discussion of the Lake Okeechobee discharges impact on the Everglades.

Our focus on today's Guardians of Martin County podcast episode is the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters. This project is a consortium of non governmental organizations that are working together to conserve wild lands in southeastern Martin County, Florida- between the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River and the South Fork of the St. Lucie River. With us today are several individuals who have been key players in this project that's been going on for a couple years: Greg Braun: Executive Director, the Guardians of Martin County Barbara Birdsey: Founder, The Pegasus Foundation, and the Treasured Lands Foundation and Member of the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Steering Committee John Sedwitz: President Hobe Sound Golf Club Homeowners Association & Hobe Sound Concerned Citizens Coalition, and Member of the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Steering Committee Geoffrey Smith: Artist, Artist and Member of the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Steering Committee Jeff Corwin: Television Wildlife Series Host, Member of the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Steering Committee

The Guardians of Martin County are pleased to launch a new podcast series that will feature various topics that are of interest to people who care about the environment in Martin County. In this inaugural release, Guardians Executive Director Greg Braun sits down with Guardians President Peter Conze, Jr. to provide an overview of who the Guardians are and their view on Growth Management, Martin County’s Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, wetland protection and the highly contentious issue of protecting the Urban Service District boundary.

Future podcasts, which we expect to release approximately once a month, will feature discussions about the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters project, the Indian River Lagoon, Stormwater Treatment Areas, Controlling Urban Sprawl, Martin County Forever, the varied plants and ecosystems in Martin County and more.

I'm Greg Braun, the executive director of the Guardians of Martin County, and the Guardians are just starting off on a series of podcasts. We're going to be interviewing a variety of local collaborators on water quality and growth management and a whole variety of environmental topics during the next several months.

We're hoping to have various guest and presenters along with us. Some of these are going to be audio only, others will be audio and video- and we'll be taking walks in the woods and looking at stormwater treatment areas and the C-44 Reservoir and things like that. I hope you'll join us.