Florida’s expensive ($1,001.50) Lifetime Sportsman’s License went on sale Nov. 24 and stays on sale through December for $500. It’s a bargain restricted to Floridians 21 years old and younger.

The license is good for life, even if you later move out of state. It includes all the single licenses and permits — hunting, freshwater and saltwater fishing, snook and lobster permits, deer, wildlife management areas, archery, muzzle-loading guns, turkey, waterfowl.

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) Commission announced the discount in November, explaining that newly re-elected Gov. Rick Scott had enacted it by executive order and quoting the governor:

“This Lifetime Sportsman’s License will provide Florida’s youth with the opportunity to spend time outdoors with their families. Fishing and hunting are time-honored traditions in our state, and I encourage all Floridians to spend some time enjoying the great outdoors.”

You can buy the license for yourself — if you’re 21 or younger — or your kids at any county tax collector’s office. Be ready with proof of Florida residency. First get all the what-where-how of it on the FWC’s website here: http://myfwc.com/license/recreational/lifetime-licenses.

Sail-making patriarch passes away

Florida sailors lost a patriarch with the death in September of Fred A. Bremen Sr., whose kin continue to operate the Miami sail making business he opened in the mid-1950s.

Bremen, 89, died at Palm Bay, where he moved with his wife Geraldine after retiring in 1981.

After his discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1947, Bremen became an apprentice in New York City for sail makers Ratsey & Lapthorne. Later they sent him to Miami to open a loft here, but closed the business after four years and recalled Bremen to New York.

Instead, the Bremens decided to stay in Florida and go into business on his own. He acquired his employer’s equipment and opened Fred A. Bremen, Sailmakers. His sons Fred Jr. and Tom eventually joined him. Tom Bremen and wife Jill run the loft now. A third son, Gary, is a ranger at Biscayne National Park.

A competition sailing champion himself, Bremen Sr. was instrumental in the beginning of the International Optimist Dinghy Sailing Program. In retirement, he rekindled a youthful passion for archery and earned a new reputation with bows and arrows. He competed in many Florida tournaments and served on the pro staff of Browning Archery.

Manatee speed zones in effect

Now that it’s wintertime, Florida’s manatee protection speed zones are in effect for powerboaters. Hull collisions and propeller cuts injure and kill manatees and high-speed bumps can do a lot of damage to a boat.

Some speed zones are in effect only until April 30, but a few are all year long. It’s hard to keep every zone and speed limit in your own memory, so it’s a good idea to keep a smart phone or onboard computer ready to look them up.

You can make compliance fairly easy by consulting the state’s online database of manatee zones — especially when boating beyond your usual territory. Go online to www.MyFWC.com/manatees and scroll the left-margin menu to the “Data and Maps” link. Clicking that will take you to a list of 18 counties with manatee speed zones.

Each county page has a detailed map of speed zones, from the Intracoastal to barrier islands and canals that go miles inland. Remember that the colder it gets, the farther inland manatees will go to find comfortable temperatures.

You’ll find a good boater’s guide to manatees on this web page: myfwc.com/education/wildlife/manatee/for-boaters

There’s stuff to do at Biscayne

Biscayne National Park, 95 percent water, devotes a lot of effort to making itself accessible to people without boats. Now is the season to make the most of that.

New programs on the park calendar include manatee walks, shoreline snorkeling, dip-netting, family canoe trips and lionfish dissection. In addition there are expanded programs of guided canoe and kayak trips along the park’s mangrove shoreline.

You don’t know how to paddle? Rangers and volunteers will teach you, no extra charge. You’ve already paid with your federal taxes.

The park’s only access by land is at the eastern end of Southwest 328th Street in Miami-Dade County — 9 miles east of Homestead, but you don’t have to drive that far.

On weekends, the city runs a free weekend trolley service to both Biscayne and Everglades National Parks. The service’s other worthwhile purpose is to jack up business in downtown Homestead, which otherwise is too easily overlooked.

One of Biscayne’s best features is the Family Fun Fest, now in its 15th year. It starts on Sunday Dec. 14 and continues into April on the second Sunday of each month.

This year’s theme is “real science.” National park Service researchers, local universities, and international research organizations are pitching in to help make families aware of what’s going on in Biscayne.

“By exposing kids to real science and real researchers, we hope to plant the seed that any kid can aspire to be a scientist, too,” said Gary Bremen, the Fun Fest coordinator.

The December event is about great white sharks. A real one, nicknamed Katherine, appeared briefly in Biscayne waters this summer — the first great white ever documented there. Fun Festers will handle shark fossils and talk with great white scientists from Ocearch, an organization that tracks the movements of sharks with satellite tags.

For an activities schedule, details including reservation requirements and age limits, or for more information about Biscayne National Park, visit the park website at www.nps.gov/bisc. Use the Fun Fest link on the home page.

New state fishing e-zine debuts

Our new favorite e-zine is “Florida Freshwater Angler,” produced by the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation staff. That doesn’t mean it’s strictly for freshwater fishing-doers: The first quarterly edition includes a first-rate primer on how to choose and equip your ideal fishing kayak, good in any water.

“My ‘yak and I” was written by John Cimbaro, long-time editor of City Fisher.

Cimbaro and his wife bought a pair of fishing kayaks last year, and he’s turned the experience into an article that will help you to focus your expectations and make intelligent decisions before spending your money.

His City Fisher quarterly, printed in blue ink on slick white paper, was a must-read resource for fishing in-town canals and lakes of Southeast Florida. Those waters hold butterfly peacock, largemouth bass, a variety of interesting exotics and even snook and tarpon that find their way inland when saltwater gets chilly in winter.

Instead of the old City Fisher in print version, now you can subscribe to Florida Freshwater Angler by email — along with FWC’s ample trove of other fishing resources for both fresh and salt waters.

You can see what we mean by computing straight to the current edition of FFA, then following the instructions below to subscribe to it and a hefty list of other good stuff about Florida fishing. Visit: http://bit.ly/FL-FWA1. To subscribe go to http://bit.ly/FWC-GovDel.

Campground reopens

Everglades National Park’s drive-in campgrounds at Long Pine Key and Flamingo are mostly open now after being mostly closed for heat and mosquito season since last April 21.

Long Pine Key campground, 7 miles south of the park entrance near Homestead, has 22 miles of hiking and bicycling trails through old growth pinelands. There are 108 drive-in campsites for tent campers and recreational vehicles, a 10-person group campsite, fishing pond, picnic ground and rustic amphitheater. Occupancy is first come, first served, with reservations needed only for the group site. More details about camping at Long Pine are here: www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/longpinecamp.htm.

Flamingo, with 278 campsites (234 drive-ups, the rest walk-ins), is 38 miles south of the park entrance. It’s mainly a fishing and boating location, with a marina store and separate launch ramps for Florida Bay and the Whitewater Bay back country. There’s also a visitor center with educational displays, info brochures, back country camping permits and hiking trails.

The camps have good restrooms with solar heated showers, as well as 41 RV sites with electrical hookups. Those cost $30 a night, half that for seniors. Other sites are $16, with a 50 percent senior discount. Reservations are necessary for camping at Flamingo. Phone 1-877-444-6777 or go online to www.reserveamerica.com.

For more info on camping at Flamingo, visit www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/flamcamp.htm.