Field & Stream Magazine Seeks Local Environmental Heroes

Here's a chance to be a hero for a day while helping to improve Florida's endangered ecosystem.

Field & Stream magazine, in collaboration with Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., has selected the Tampa Bay Shell Reef Construction Project as their first Hero for a Day workday for 2012.

Volunteers will create a new oyster shell bar by shoveling fossilized shells into mesh bags and placing them along the shoreline Friday, March 9. The reef restoration will have a direct impact on the bay environment, aiding in erosion control and improving water quality as well as providing habitat for oysters, redfish, trout, snook, and birds.

The first volunteers to arrive will receive a Field & Stream Heroes gift bag. Volunteers over the age of 18 are also eligible to win a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the Heroes of Conservation gala.

The project will take place from 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine. Volunteers will gather at the Williams Park boat ramp at 8749 U.S. 41 in Riverview. The actual restoration site is a 15-minute boat ride from the ramp.

Now in its second year, Hero for a Day connects volunteers with hands-on conservation workdays across the country, serving as a unique opportunity for Field & Stream readers to take action in sustaining and preserving wildlife in their area.

Field & Stream will be on site at 10 Hero for a Day projects throughout the spring and will report on the work efforts in the magazine and online.

Hero for a Day is an extension of Field & Stream’s Heroes of Conservation initiative, now in its seventh year, which profiles three exceptional conservation volunteers each month and awards them with a $500 grant from Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Six Heroes finalists are selected to attend a gala event in October, where the Hero of the Year will win a new Toyota Tundra.

Among those scheduled to be on hand for the Riverview workday is Field & Stream webisode host and outdoor TV personality Kelly Gotch from the "Total Outdoorsman Challenge" and "Step Outside" on the Outdoor Channel. Tampa Bay Watch habitate restoration director Serra Herndon also plans to attend the workday along with project partners at Southwest Florida Water Management District; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Restore America’s Estuaries; Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, Tampa Chapter; and the Shell Marine Program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Volunteers should expect to be shoveling shell and lifting up to 35 pounds. A limited number of boxed lunches will be provided by Tampa Bay Watch.

Volunteers shoud wear clothes and closed-toe shoes that can get wet and dirty and bring gloves if possible.

For more information on Field & Stream’s Hero for a Day program, visit fieldandstream.com/heroforaday.