The Friends of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves (FCHAP) is a Citizen Support Organization for the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves and the Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park.

About the Friends

The Friends of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves, Inc., (FCHAP) is a nonprofit Citizen Support Organization that assists the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the management of Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves :
·         Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve
·         Cape Haze Aquatic Preserve
·         Gasparilla Sound - Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve
·         Matlacha Pass Aquatic Preserve
·         Pine Island Sound Aquatic Preserve
·         Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park

FCHAP is comprised of a Board of Directors, citizen members, and volunteers who are committed to protecting Charlotte Harbor and the adjacent public lands.

The Friends are always seeking new general members and board members. The FCHAP Board holds 6 to 8 meetings per year and does not normally meet during the months of June, July, November, or December. The FCHAP annual meeting is held in February, when new board members and officers are chosen.


Friends of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves 2011 Annual Summary

The Friends had their Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 12, 2011. We elected a new slate of officers, updated our members on this year’s accomplishments and identified new priorities for 2011. Our 2010 accomplishments include:

  • A new logo; due to printing costs the Board decided to adopt a black-and-white logo to reduce t-shirt and pamphlet printing costs. A special thank you to Friends board member Jaime Boswell and her mother-in-law Jaye for designing the new logo and coordinating its production!

  • A new laboratory facility; Our Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas (CAMA) program is in the process of building a new laboratory for water quality and biological sample processing at the Punta Gorda Preserve Office site. The Friends donated $5,000 toward the new lab with an equal match from the State of Florida. We are excited to announce that it should be complete later this year.

  • Electronic newsletters & updates; in an effort to save resources for volunteer activities and staff needs the Board decided to use computer technology to move to an entirely electronic format for newsletters. This has cut our printing and postage expenditures dramatically and allows the Friends to fund staff training, Preserve & State Park support projects and volunteer events.

  • Over the last year our State Parks staff have increased the documented inventory of local archaeological sites and cataloged them in an interactive map format for future planning and management activities. All of this was made possible with grant funding. Special thanks to Michele Cotty for her efforts in the field.

  • The Preserve Staff have completed their rookery network surveys this year and added a few rookeries to their monitoring schedule for next year. The Preserve could use volunteers to help out with rookery monitoring. We need people who are experienced birders who can use binoculars while standing on a boat. If this is a good fit for you please give us a call and ask to speak with Mary McMurray (941-575-5861).

Announcing our 2011 Board Members & Officers

Liz Donley – President

Gary Brooks - Vice President

Karen Bickford – Treasurer

Barbara Fleshman - Registered Agent

Wilma Katz & Nick Sterling - Board Members at Large

Friends Goals for 2011 – The Friends goals for 2011 include recruiting new board members, designing and printing updated table top displays for our educational activities and continuing to support the operational needs of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve & State Park with volunteer time and community donations.