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Mission 19 · Canaveral National Seashore, FL

Playalinda storm plan

Canaveral National Seashore

The agency files it as “Canaveral National Seashore, Playalinda District Storm Adaptive Management Plan”

Timing

The agency stopped taking comments on October 4. What you find still counts: it backs the formal objections from people who did comment, it goes to the lawyers on the fight, and it is the story.

The sentence we think is wrong

“The collected data show that the southeastern beach mouse does not use the eroding dune within the Playalinda District as habitat.”

The agency wrote that in its own document, under Southeastern Beach Mouse. Nobody has been out to check it. A dated photograph either backs it up or ends it.

How you settle it

Walk the dune along Playalinda just north of Parking Lot 8, early morning before wind wipes the sand. Look for tiny mouse tracks, tail drags, and small burrow holes at the dune base and in the vegetation edge. A close photo of small mouse tracks or a burrow opening in that dune, with a wider shot showing where along the dune you stood.

The decision

Canaveral National Seashore is developing a Storm Adaptive Management Plan for its Playalinda District to guide how the park responds to and recovers from storm damage. The plan will establish protocols for protecting natural and cultural resources while managing infrastructure and public access after storm events. It affects beachgoers, wildlife, and the coastal ecosystems of one of Florida's lon

Read the whole thing, and write to the agency about it

How to record it so it counts

  1. 01Photograph any sign: tracks, scat, feathers, rubs, nests, dens, burrows, carcasses. Put something for scale beside it (a coin, a pole tip, your boot).
  2. 02Photograph the surroundings so the habitat shows.
  3. 03Note the time of day and the weather.
  4. 04Keep your distance from any animal. Never approach a nest or a den.
  5. 05Write down what you think it is and why. If you’re not sure, say so; a photo of unidentified sign is still sign.
What would count
  • Presence, not absence. Sign proves something is there; a quiet walk proves nothing.
  • Scale, time and habitat in the same set.
All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide
Are you going?

Say yes or no. It tells the next person whether anyone has this ground covered, and it is the only way we know a request was answered rather than just read. You can change your mind any time, and nobody follows up.

Join, then say you’re going

Nobody has answered yet

Before you go
  1. Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
  2. Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
  3. Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
  4. Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
  5. If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.