Members of Sarasota Bay Watch teamed up with The Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant, Longboat Key Turtle Watch, Suncoast Waterkeepers, St Stephan’s Episcopal, Whitney’s and the Town of Longboat Key to do an invasive cleanup on the Sister Keys Saturday November 23rd from 8:00 – 12:00. Thirty volunteers worked to help Longboat Key keep the keys in their “natural” state.
The Sister Keys Conservancy was created in 1989 in response to the listing of the property for sale. With the impetus of the Conservancy the Seventy Four (74) acre islands were saved from imminent development in 1992 when the Town Commission vote unanimously to purchase the islands. They were then designated as a nature preserve in perpetuity.
In 2007 a million plus mitigation project removed all invasive species, planted native vegetation and created a two-acre wetland. Sarasota Bay Watch has a yearly cleanup in April and the Invasive cleanup in November. For more information on the history of the Sister Keys visit www.sisterkeys.org. Find Sarasota Bay Watch at www.sarasotabaywatch.org.