[{"_1":2,"_86":-5,"_87":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":-5,"_68":69,"_70":-5,"_71":72,"_73":72},"mediaId",6413607,"mediaKeyId","2427678-0458acf96c4650103d58604bc3a2e903","parentId",2427678,"title","Jupiter officials describe greenways, open‑space bonds and living‑shoreline projects to restore river habitat","audioSeconds",1379,"startMs",2834000,"endMs",4213000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2427678-0458acf96c4650103d58604bc3a2e903&start=2834&end=4213","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2427678-0458acf96c4650103d58604bc3a2e903/thumbnail_2834000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6413607/Jupiter-officials-describe-greenways-openspace-bonds-and-livingshoreline-projects-to-restore-river-habitat","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6413607-c0cee0fd1f3ea06d3507a9c0eadf2c00/orig.mp4?Expires=1775106603&Signature=UO9I11PK6K-nOkzNC3macl5BeLLMZz3bV1S-I3NogjmUI2jmAc-znF-cn0uuWmKnssJOv54FfMMtxln4Cc-VMCo2wXlr7pO1WnmF6Bys87XMAb-ATuxmAnBf9PAk8xW3teArm75Xbs4AIlVol8EqURsL35zat86iLu11QzMB0C5zqYuSFi7DntJvp5hrnu-TRtSOylvyIReX5kt30U2UVia~fF~HPid~9QrKFSb-YEyiWt3UUGPTQqPPIuoBQyv1EJlAYjTsdnYfI9c7DbUVjSnyqlsUC-fZDBF8Kr6UYjIWIUbAh4En0brg-7c22oOLu9upVcVWNR7cRndArPSh1Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town of Jupiter, FL","date","2025-02-26T16:09:15Z","article","Stephanie Thoburn, assistant director of planning and zoning for the Town of Jupiter, outlined the town’s recent and planned environmental projects at the centennial presentation, citing open‑space bond purchases, greenway planning and marine restoration efforts aimed at improving seagrass, oyster and nearshore habitat.

“Josh gave us the the story of how we got here. I just wanted to show you where we are today,” Thoburn said as she described work the town has carried out since adopting a mixed‑use zoning district and greenway plan in the 1990s. She noted the town’s comprehensive‑plan provisions that require preservation of environmentally sensitive land and said those rules shaped later development and land purchases.

Thoburn described two town‑approved open‑space bond efforts — in 2004 and 2019 — that she said together resulted in the town buying “over 150 acres” of land the town now manages for habitat preservation and public access. She said those lands are restored, cleared of invasive species and connected to public greenways and blueways via mapped easements and right‑of‑way projects.

She outlined specific restoration work at Sawfish Bay and nearby shorelines: installation of reef balls, oyster and living‑shoreline treatments, and pilot projects to reintroduce shellfish and seagrass habitat. Thoburn said the town worked with local partners including the Florida Inland Navigation District and a high‑school environmental research program (JUPITER Environmental Research Field Studies Academy, JERVSA) to install reef balls and engage students.

“We put these reef balls in at installation and they have a pH level that's close to seawater, and the oysters love them,” Thoburn said, describing how baby fish and shellfish recruit to the new structures. She also said Sawfish Bay has a three‑phase living‑shoreline plan; phases beyond the first are “not funded.”

Thoburn discussed “green public infrastructure” projects that use road rights‑of‑way and stormwater features to create habitat and reduce runoff, and she described riverwalk extensions that would provide public access while hosting additional living‑shoreline and stormwater improvements. The Community Redevelopment Agency, she said, recently adopted a plan enabling local tax dollars to support environmental restoration, historic property acquisition and completion of the Riverwalk.

Thoburn closed by situating the projects within the town’s broader stewardship goals and said the town is also conducting a vulnerability assessment to inform shoreline stabilization and adaptation measures related to sea‑level rise and saltwater intrusion.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Where Land Meets Legacy: Jupiter's Natural History","oneSentenceSummary","Town planners outlined recent and planned projects including open‑space bond purchases, mapped green/blueways, sawfish bay living‑shoreline pilot installations and steps to integrate green public infrastructure into streets and riverwalk work.","taxTitle","taxId",0,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":-5,"_68":69,"_70":-5,"_71":72,"_73":72},6413627,"Speakers trace 5,000 years of human and environmental change along the Loxahatchee River",2631,204000,2835000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2427678-0458acf96c4650103d58604bc3a2e903&start=204&end=2835","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2427678-0458acf96c4650103d58604bc3a2e903/thumbnail_204000.jpg","/articles/6413627/Speakers-trace-5000-years-of-human-and-environmental-change-along-the-Loxahatchee-River","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6413627-54e987ee63e7a9941b70425332b6a3f6/orig.mp4?Expires=1775106603&Signature=OpS2NoUVXYp3bOERb8pIDZBhnANqwkn43MwNMb6BMUFnROj0TwxoZsq77NilZF7FHKMkMsRcKCytcWkIInOsY~9L0CHLAlzBA~KfLHcM9uk1UXDcNkwbSTt6FyMOGJQ9sATd2LC6tBcEZr~j0n1EyzY1g~bVk4BmHBiCO4oxCvkKOBxS0oc-2U5yQQsS6jymIl2ON~X5XEXDA9XMo2DL2CY~QYOdhJmVNQsHKDU1KqGxupol0EDIk-TjV7FBArjL3APvtKfuXRRZ2v4e6JQ3Gp6WhSumFtPc2~QQ8kjmv5F7DHxFJy2boWk1fi3JiNuX-RNnyy4HHqkVko-46zM-ZA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Josh Liller, historian and collections manager for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society and vice chair of the Town of Jupiter’s Historic Resources Board, told an audience at the town’s centennial presentation that people have lived along the Loxahatchee and its adjacent waterways for at least 5,000 years.

“We've got the Gulf Stream just offshore, which is vital for our weather and our climate,” Liller said, beginning a roughly hourlong recounting of the river’s physical evolution and human use. He described the area’s original coastal and wetland environments, Native American shell mounds and middens, early European contact and later settlement patterns that followed the construction of the lighthouse in 1860 and the arrival of rail service.

The talk emphasized how 20th‑century alterations — canals, dredging and road and rail construction — changed the river’s hydrology and ecology. Liller said large drainage projects and canals such as the C‑18, built to drain the Loxahatchee Slough and for agricultural use, likely represent “probably the single biggest change to the Loxahatchee River,” and he linked canal and ditch construction after World War II to declining water clarity, muck accumulation and changes in fish and oyster populations.

Liller detailed logging and resource extraction in the river corridor, noting both pine and cypress were harvested from pioneer settlement through World War II. He pointed to historic practices such as dredge‑and‑fill and the building of bulkheads and seawalls that narrowed the river and removed natural shoreline habitat.

The presentation also outlined political and conservation milestones: Fort Jupiter’s military reservation that delayed settlement, the post‑war push to drain wetlands that culminated in regional water‑management efforts, and conservation efforts in the 1960s–1980s that led to acquisition of river corridor land and the Northwest Fork’s designation as Florida’s first national wild and scenic river in the 1980s.

Liller cited archaeological and archival evidence during the talk: carbon‑14 dating from sites at Sawfish Bay that he said support continuous human presence “for 5,000 years or more,” and large shell mounds such as the Du Bois Mound that he described as roughly 30 feet tall and formed over centuries of shell deposition.

The talk concluded by framing current management work — including ongoing challenges with saltwater intrusion, balancing freshwater flows and preserving remaining cypress stands — as the latest chapter in a long sequence of human and natural influences on the river system.","At a Town of Jupiter centennial presentation, historian Josh Liller outlined the area’s environmental history — from indigenous habitation and early European contact to 20th-century canals, logging and the creation of the Jupiter Inlet District — and described how those changes shaped the river seen today.","actionData","errors"]

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Jupiter officials describe greenways, open‑space bonds and living‑shoreline projects to restore river habitat

Speakers trace 5,000 years of human and environmental change along the Loxahatchee River