Peacocks Pocket Road Closure

The numerous emails I received about the extended Peacocks Pocket Road closure prompted me to contact the management of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to find out why it was not opened as scheduled.

The reports I initially received from a couple of my readers stated that the road was closed due to the damage it received from hurricane Matthew last year and that they would not re-open Pocket Road until it was deemed to be "safe" again.

After unsuccessfully trying to contact someone in authority, I decided that walking Peacocks Pocket road for myself was the only way to accurately report how bad the damage really was.

I finally got around to walking the portion from the shallow water boat launch to the large pond where I stopped a couple of weeks before and found no significant damage to the road itself, however, I finally contacted Tom Penn, the assistant to Layne Hamilton (the Refuge Manager) and eventually to Layne herself about the dike road closures.

After a long conversation, she explained to me that although Pocket Road looks passable when walking the road, there are several areas where the road has been undermined and suffered erosion serious enough to cause a safety problem with vehicle traffic.

They are operating on a continuing resolution from congress from last years budget which was cut, and are expecting additional budget cuts for the upcoming fiscal year.  In short, they have a serious funding problem.

When I asked about the closures of Bio Lab Road, Shiloh Road, etc.; I was told that funding was the main problem.

It takes money to keep the dike roads open for vehicle traffic, clear of litter, etc. and over the years, the Refuge has suffered from  budget cuts. 

When I first moved into this area my wife and I loved fishing Long Pond road, Shiloh Road, Pump House Road, Bio Lab Road, and several un-named roads around Haulover Canal.   Unfortunately, all of these roads have now been closed to vehicle traffic for fishermen.

With her permission, I am posting the email she sent me below concerning the problems they are having at at the Refuge with funding.

"John,
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me last week about  Peacock Pocket road closure.  Hope you've had a chance to do some fishing since I talked to you.

I thought you might be interested in a little background information on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). 

The Refuge is one of over 560 national wildlife refuges in the country.  National Wildlife Refuges are part of the National Wildlife Refuge System which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).  The FWS is an agency within the U.S. Department of Interior.

Merritt Island NWR (~140,000 acres) is the headquarters for a 3-refuge complex consisting of Lake Woodruff NWR (21,574 acres, DeLeon Springs, FL) and St. Johns NWR (~6,300 acres, west of Titusville).  Lake Woodruff and Merritt Island NWRs are open to the public.  St. Johns NWR is closed to public entry.

Merritt Island NWR hosts over a million visitors each year.  The refuge is renowned for its fishing, waterfowl hunting and abundant wildlife.

Based on the draft 2016 Banking on Nature Report, Merritt Island NWR visitors contribute $76 million annually to the economy of local area (Brevard, Orange and Volusia counties).

Since 2005, the Merritt Island NWR Complex has lost 17.5 of 44 full-time permanent positions. 

We currently have 26 full-time permanent, one 1/2 time permanent position, and 4 temporary positions on the Complex. 

One third of the permanent staff (8.5) are in the Complex's wildland fire program (which is a zone program covering all FWS lands in the eastern Florida peninsula). 

The remaining staff work in visitor services (2), law enforcement (2), maintenance-facilities (2), maintenance-heavy equipment operation (2), biology (3), management (4), natural resource planning (1: regional responsibilities) and administration (2).

The National Wildlife Refuge System has experienced between -1% and -8.7% budget cuts over the past 6 years (since 2011).  We are currently preparing for budget reductions between -10% to -20% for the next two fiscal years (FY2017 and FY2018). 

Our fiscal year starts on October 1.  We are in FY2017 and are operating under a stop-gap Continuing Resolution (CR) budget until April 28, 2017.  Another CR or an appropriation bill will need to passed by Congress and signed by the President to prevent a government shut-down after that date. 

In reference to your concerns regarding the continued closure of Peacock Pocket Road, Merritt Island NWR suffered $28.5 million in damage from Hurricane Matthew on 10/7/2016. 

Approximately 45 of 140 miles of Refuge levees sustained damage that ranged from complete loss to minor washouts, impacting several of the refuge's public roads that are located on levees. 

Biolab Road lost approximately 5 miles of road bed.  Peacock Pocket Road suffered erosion and undercutting. Both of these public roads are closed indefinitely to vehicles, but are open to walking and biking. 

East Peacock Pocket Rd (to the boat ramp), Gator Creek and Catfish Creek loop are open to vehicles. 

Currently there is no funding to repair the hurricane damage. 

We are trying to "patch" Peacock Pocket and Biolab roads with material we will try to salvage from the washouts and any excess limerock or similar material we can find on the refuge.  We are also partnering with Brevard Career Source to obtain trained workers and equipment (at no cost to the refuge) to assist with the repair work on the levees related to Hurricane Matthew damage.

My primary concern is public safety and these roads will not be re-opened unless they are safe for public vehicles.

During our phone call, you asked me to outline the Federal budget process.  I'll do my best to simplify a complex process.  In case you need more information, I attached a detailed description of the federal budget process.

President - proposes budget

Congress (House and Senate) - develops own budget plan or "budget resolution"

Congress (House and Senate)- following adoption of a budget resolution, congress considers individual appropriation budgets for agencies.  They must take into account statutory deficit reduction legislation.

Congress (House and Senate) - must pass an appropriations bill and the President must sign it before the start of the fiscal year on October 1 or affected agencies and discretionary programs must shut down.  If an appropriations bill is not enacted, Congress must pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) and the President must sign it to provide stop-gap funding to the agencies.

Department of Interior (DOI) receives appropriations after the President signs the bill.  Funds are then distributed by the DOI to individual agencies according to funding levels outlined in the Congressional appropriations bill.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distributes appropriations based on appropriations bill:

    National Wildlife Refuge System - funding is allocated, based on Congressional appropriations, to the following programs*:
        Wildlife and Habitat Management
        Refuge Visitor Services
        Refuge Law Enforcement
        Conservation Planning
        Refuge Operations
        Refuge Maintenance

(*Funding for wildfire suppression and prescribed burning operations on National Wildlife Refuges are distributed through the Department of Interior's Office of Wildland Fire.)

On March 23, from 4-7 pm, we will be hosting an open house at the refuge visitor center to inform the public about plans to replace the existing visitor center. Tom and I will be there and you are welcome to attend. Hopefully we can find some time to talk.

Please contact me if you have any questions.  I understand your concerns regarding the road closures and appreciate your input and comments.  I truly hope we can get the roads open soon! "

Layne L. Hamilton
Refuge Manager

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 2683
Titusville, FL 32781

321-861-2278
321-403-9213 (cell)
321-861-1276 (fax)

layne_hamilton@fws.gov 

For those of you who care about the road closures as much as my wife and I do, I suggest making a call or sending an email or a letter to your representative about the road closures and lack of funding for the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Florida's 8th District Congressman is Bill Posey -  CLICK HERE
email

Florida's 6th District Congressman is Ron Desantis -  CLICK HERE
email

Other public officials.

Politicians love their cushy jobs and when enough of us raise our voices to our representatives, they usually pay attention.

Till something opens up again, Tight Lines.