The Virgin Islands

St. John is well known as the home of the beautiful Virgin Islands National Park. The park is loved above all for its preservation of the natural beauty of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although all of the Virgin Islands are lovely, it is in St. John’s national park that visitors can appreciate the Virgin Islands as they appeared to the first explorers, pristine and wild. The national park's protected land will increase thanks to the efforts of a conservation group. The Trust for Public Land signed a contract to purchase 415 acres of land at Maho Bay. The Maho Bay Estate will be transferred to the U.S. park service when federal funds are available. With the land held in trust by the conservation group, St. John’s coral reefs and seagrass beds are protected from potentially harmful effects of development. Also, the view from within the national park will remain free from obstruction. Maho Bay’s seagrass ecosystem is an important marine habitat that sea turtles favor. Hawksbill and green sea turtles may be seen in the evening or the late afternoon as they search for food.

Continue reading "Maho Bay Conservation" »

Posted by Tanner at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lindqvist Beach on St. Thomas is a beautiful expanse of oceanfront paradise found only on the U.S. Virgin Islands. With a view of the British Virgin Islands and St. John, the Lindqvist Beach is popular among locals for picnics and recreation. So why is the beach empty? The simple reason is that no one can get there anymore. Although Lindqvist Beach is public, the land surrounding it is not, and the beach will remain empty until that changes. Beaches belong to the people. That’s the law of the land in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a law established by the V.I. Open Shorelines Act in 1971. But the law doesn’t specify that beaches must be accessible by land. If they can be reached by boat, the beach is considered a public beach. But it’s not practical to most beachgoers to arrive via watercraft. So the question arises, should private properties provide unrestricted public beach access?

Continue reading "Lonesome Beaches" »

Posted by Tanner at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first threat of a hurricane in the U.S. Virgin Islands has passed. When Tropical Depression Chris churned a path through the Caribbean Thursday only 95 miles north of St. Thomas, a hurricane watch was in effect, meaning that the weather system could develop into a hurricane. Beginning on Wednesday, the Virgin Islands was met with heavy rains as the weather system steadily pushed northwest at a lazy 10 mph. Top sustained winds for the weather system clocked in at 60 mph. The system has been weakening and was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression by Friday. Although the Virgin Islands provide a retreat to the easy life of the Caribbean, Hurricanes are a part of the Caribbean that can’t be avoided. Fortunately, this weather system has weakened and does not pose a threat to the Virgin Islands. Strong storms are nothing new to the Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands are rich in history of hurricanes and other strong storms.

Continue reading "Tropical Depression Chris Breezes By U.S.V.I." »

Posted by Tanner at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A controversial topic has sprung in the US Virgin Islands and is currently in debate in a forestry conference held at the Carambola Beach Resort on the island of St. Croix. The issue is whether to manage or leave alone the non-native plant life that is emerging in USVI soil. The question: should non-native species be cleared out completely and replaced with native growth, or should the new plant life be left alone and allow nature to take its course?

There are intelligent theories and reasons behind both sides. Wayne Zipperer, a research forester for the US Department of Agriculture's Forest Service is a strong proponent of allowing the non-native plants to serve the purpose of clearing the way and breaking the soil to prepare for the natural return of native species. He has studied plant lifecycles and trends in Puerto Rico. In abandoned fields, researchers found that the native plants were not able to penetrate the hard soil, and it was the non-native plants that plowed the soil to allow the native species to spring up underneath the foreign plants and then repopulate the area.

Continue reading "Non-native Plant Life Springing Up in USVI: Good or Bad?" »

Posted by Liz at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Little baby turtles are hatching all over the beach in Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge on the island of St. Croix. The staff of the West Indies Marine Animal Research and Conservation Service has looked on as over 300 leatherback turtle nests are rustling with new hatchlings this season. Researchers have reported a lower number of turtles nesting compared to years past.

This year 90 turtles have returned to nest, as opposed to 144 last year and 186 in 2001.

Continue reading "Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, Home to New Leatherback Turtles!" »

Posted by Jessisa Bookstaff at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week the US Virgin Islands will be a bustle with 49 foreign military dignitaries visiting for a special program created by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency. Ninety-eight guests from Canada, Argentina, Denmark, Bosnia, Ghana, Israel, Mexico, China, Russia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe will tour the islands and participate in special events created to foster closer security cooperation among the world's military forces.

Yesterday morning the group experienced a drug interdiction demonstration at Frederiksted Beach on the island of St. Croix. Today the dinitaries accompanied by their spouses attended a lavish Government House reception hosted by Gov. Charles Turnbull. Tomorrow the delegates will take part in an interagency panel discussion at the V.I. Port Authority on the island of St. Thomas.

Posted by Jessisa Bookstaff at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What have you done in the last four hours? That’s 360 minutes, or 216,000 seconds. If you are like Craig Anderson, a 32 year old triathlete from Australia, you could easily say you won the Saint Croix Ironman 70.3 Triathlon. Because that’s exactly what Craig did in 4 hours, seven minutes, and thirty-three seconds when he crossed the finish line in Christiansted National Park. Of course, you don’t have to be a man to compete in the Ironman triathlon. The first woman to complete the course, a 25 year old also from Australia, clocked in with a time of four and one-half hours.

Continue reading "Ever Try a Triathlon?" »

Posted by Jessisa Bookstaff at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)