St. John’s River habitat loss spurs grassroots restoration effort

Joe Balog wades into the murky shallows of Lake Woodruff, his boots sinking slightly into the soft, silty bottom. There are no other boats on the lake. No anglers. No duck hunters. On a sun-soaked spring morning in Central Florida, the 22,000-acre Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge is almost eerily quiet - and to Balog, that silence says everything.