Ms. Wendy Valle

"We're excited to welcome the public to a new season at the center," said Wendy Valle Anastasiou, environmental specialist at the Manatee Viewing Center.

"We were proud to have the help of this dedicated group of students from Dowdell for this important project," said Wendy Valle Anastasiou, environmental specialist at the Manatee Viewing Center.

"We got in there and found some really neat stuff," said Wendy Valle, an environmental scientist and coordinator for TECO's manatee center."It's already coming back."

Leather fern fiddle heads are emerging from the pepper debris, tiny beauty berry plants are popping up, and palmettos, mowed down along with the peppers, are fanning back out.

Valle even discovered a small field of swamp lilies and several black rush ponds once the clearing was complete.

"I can't wait for the natives to get in there and flourish," she said."This place has all kinds of hidden secrets."

The peppers were growing so thick on the property, Valle didn't even know there were leather ferns and sawgrass growing there in small clumps.

Brazilian peppers typically move in when soil is disturbed.They grow fast and thick, overtaking native vegetation that would otherwise live there.

The crew from Florida Natives discovered an old fill road on the property during clearing, which probably opened the door for the pepper invasion years ago, Valle said.

Despite unseasonably warm weather this fall, a recent cold snap chased about a dozen lumbering sea cows into the canal leading to TECO's warm water outfall, said Wendy Valle, TECO Manatee Viewing Center director.At least two manatees have been seen each day since then, she said.

Aside from our initiatives, our Tampa Bay Chapter A&WMA meetings occur every third Thursday of the month with this month's presentation featuring Ms. Wendy Valle, manager of the Manatee County Viewing Center.She will be discussing invasive species identification and management for Hillsborough County.

"We're excited to begin another tremendous season that showcases Florida's unique habitat and educates people of all ages about how we can all work to preserve it," said Wendy Valle, environmental specialist at the Manatee Viewing Center.

"We're excited to begin another tremendous season that showcases Florida's unique habitat and educates people of all ages about how we can all work to preserve it," said Wendy Valle, environmental specialist at the Manatee Viewing Center.