Sisters are doing it for themselves

The Anna Maria Island Sun newspaper reports this week of the restoration work on the Sister Keys.
It says: Volunteers with Sarasota Bay Watch, the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program, Bay Buddies and Audubon of Florida removed crab traps, plastic chairs and other debris from the largest of the Sister Keys last week.
Paradise Pointe LLC completed a $1million restoration project on the key last year in mitigation for environmental damage to mangroves, seagrass beds and oyster beds anticipated during its planned Perico Harbor Marina, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The project has not yet broken ground.
Restoration included removing exotic plant species, planting native trees and creating a two-acre wetland on the north side of the island, said James Linkogle of the town of Longboat Key Public Works Department, who helped supervise the project, now in a five-year maintenance and monitoring period.
The Sister Keys are closed to people, he said, to protect gopher tortoises, birds and other animals on the key.
We love looking at them from afar, though, so thanks for the good work guys.