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Center Academy students pitch in to restore marsh

Tribune photo by YVETTE HAMMETT

Wendy Anastasiou, center, of Tampa Electric Co., teaches students from Center Academy in Riverview about the important role salt marshes play in the Tampa Bay ecosystem.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 20, 2009

APOLLO BEACH - There were a few who didn't want to get their feet muddy, but most of the 19 youngsters from Riverview's Center Academy were happy to plunge into a restoration project at Newman Branch Creek near the Big Bend Power Station on May 12.

Donning double gloves, the fourth- through sixth-grade students grabbed bags of smooth cord grass and got to work with volunteers to transform a former jungle of noxious exotic plants into a working salt marsh to support crabs, otters, shorebirds and fish.

Tampa Electric Co. has partnered with the Southwest Florida Water Management District to restore the 12-acre tract. The land has been deemed a conservation easement by the utility company.

Yvette C. Hammett

To view a photo gallery of this event, enter the search words: Newman Branch Creek.

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