A Day in the Life: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Facilities Team

A loud whirring sound emanates from Upkeep Store 1 as Gio D’Achiardi arrives for work. He checks in together with his group, a few of whom are sanding a big plank of wooden,  and units the day’s agenda earlier than heading to his workplace.  On a typical day, D’Achiardi is named upon to handle points arising with any autos, vessels, tools, and buildings that make up the stock beneath his purview as Audubon’s senior amenities supervisor at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Probably the most essential objectives of the amenities group is to make sure the security of all Sanctuary guests, volunteers, and employees. 

“We changed 520 boards on the boardwalk final 12 months, alone,” says D’Achiardi. With the long-lasting, 2.25-mile-long boardwalk on the coronary heart of the Sanctuary customer expertise and practically 80,000 pairs of ft strolling on it annually, Amenities Assistant Derick Gordillo responds to any experiences of boards which have began to put on from use or the weather. It’s an ongoing course of—one which requires planning, a wide range of working energy instruments, and care to make sure the hassle leads to minimal influence on the pure assets and guests. With practically a 12 months beneath his belt on the Sanctuary, Gordillo is aware of methods to outfit his boardwalk upkeep scooter with all of the instruments he may have for the day’s venture.

Subsequent on the agenda: loading up a swamp buggy on its trailer so it may be taken to the service supplier in Fort Myers. Whereas amenities group members are extremely expert in engine restore, swamp buggies and airboats utilized by the conservation group typically require specialised upkeep off-site. 

“As a result of the conservation group depends on autos and vessels to do their job out within the Sanctuary backcountry, we purpose to make sure all tools is in working order and decrease any downtime they could expertise,” D’Achiardi says. His group ensures that every subject car is supplied with a stocked first assist package, a prepared car restoration package, and accessible backup models for restoration efforts.

Senior Amenities Coordinator Randy Shaffer has been on web site because the daybreak, working behind the scenes, establishing occasion areas, inspecting buildings and buggies, and now hitting the highway with the truck and trailer. As soon as he will get Shaffer on his means, D’Achiardi spends a couple of minutes at his laptop checking the standing of some airboat components he ordered and is then notified {that a} supply has arrived on a pallet. He jumps on the tractor to get it out of the best way and the place it must go. 

The cellphone rings: it’s Steve Simpson, the amenities woodworker volunteer, who says the desk he and fellow volunteer Gary Dorrough are constructing for the Blair Customer Middle is prepared. D’Achiardi heads again to the store to test it out. 

“They did a wonderful job, as standard,” says D’Achiardi.

Simply when he thinks it’s a good time to return to the workplace to overview work order requests, he will get a name from the sector —a swamp buggy is caught within the mud within the backcountry.

Whereas daily is completely different, the amenities group strives for seamless integration between the conservation group, Blair Customer Middle operations, the accounting division, and quite a few contractors. On the finish of every day, D’Achiardi is aware of his group has performed a significant function in advancing the Sanctuary’s mission—preserving these habitats and supporting the conservation and restoration of pure ecosystems throughout the Western Everglades.