News -  January 2000

Daytona Beach News Environment     |   Sun-Sentinel:   Everglades Site    |   Miami Herald: Cy Zaneski   |  
Commons-Everglades Discussion List     |   Sun-Sentinel Everglades Discussion List    |   SFWMD News Releases

1/30/00


A big job, a nice guy, a scary idea
If Floridians could count on Steve Seibert to redraw the rules by which the state will grow, they probably could trust him. Problem is, he wants Floridians to believe in a system that would place more power in people they probably can't trust.  Mr. Seibert is secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which last made news during hurricanes Floyd and Irene. Most employees of DCA work in emergency management and disaster relief. Day-in and day-out, however, the department most affects Floridians in the area that has the least number of employees: growth management and land-use planning.
© 2000 Palm Beach Post, published January 30, 2000

More people, less land -- how to manage our growth
Richard Grosso is executive director and general counsel of the Environmental and Land Use Law Center, which represents Florida residents in environmental and land-use cases.  Steve Siebert, secretary of Florida's Department of Community Affairs, recently wrote an Other views Page column defining the Bush administration's guiding principles for growth-management reform. Essentially, the administration's intent is for the state to play a reduced role in growth-management issues except where there is an important state interest.  In concept, the approach sounds like it makes sense. But the reality is that most issues that growth management seeks to address require, at a minimum, regional solutions, and almost every single one requires a state role. For example, in South Florida the restoration and protection of the greater Everglades system falls within the jurisdiction of three regional planning councils, a water management district and several dozen local governments.  I agree with Siebert that Florida's growth-management process must be changed, but I strongly believe the emphasis must be on stricter enforcement and clearer, simpler rules and procedures.
© 2000 Miami Herald, published January 30, 2000


1/29/00

Biscayne Bay partnership launch points up environmental conflicts 
A large coalition of wary bedfellows launched a ballyhooed new campaign for protecting Biscayne Bay on Friday as environmentalists expressed skepticism about the effort and staged a protest featuring an activist in a manatee costume.   The new Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative brought together 275 participants^×conservationists, business people, community leaders, scientists and government officials^×in hopes they can put aside their differences and craft a plan for protecting one of Florida's environmental jewels. 
© 2000 Miami Herald, published January 29, 2000


Think Tanks: Corporations' Quiet Weapon
Derailing a multibillion-dollar federal plan to restore the Florida Everglades is just the kind of cause that suits Citizens for a Sound Economy, a conservative think tank that fights for smaller government.  But soon after the group took on the Everglades project in 1998, the Washington-based nonprofit got an incentive that went beyond the purely philosophical. It received $700,000 in contributions from Florida's three biggest sugar enterprises, which stand to lose thousands of acres of cane-growing land to reclamation if the Army Corps of Engineers plan goes into effect.
© 2000 Washington Post, published January 29, 2000


Everglades a prize, pawn in presidential race
In the great poker game of Campaign 2000, promises of billions of dollars for the Everglades are flying like chips into the kitty.  First came the Democrats, with Vice President Al Gore throwing his weight behind a $7.8 billion plan to restore the Everglades' natural water cycles. Then came Republican leaders in Congress and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of GOP front-runner George W. Bush, pledging their support for passing the plan this year.  The spectacle pleases environmental activists. They're hoping for a repeat of the 1996 election, when President Clinton and Republican challenger Bob Dole each sank big bucks into the Everglades while pursuing support in vote-rich Florida.
© 2000 Palm Beach Post, published January 29, 2000


Blame won't save sparrow, plan may
The controversy surrounding the Cape Sable sparrow, put in danger by flooding, and the emergency actions taken by various government agencies, have prompted an enormous amount of finger-pointing and blame-gaming that is counterproductive for Everglades restoration.  In the latest round, sugar farmers are being blamed for flooding the sparrow's nesting grounds, although their land is almost 70 miles away. Sugar farming has other impacts on the Everglades system that are already being addressed, but the sparrow is not one of them. This knee-jerk tendency to lay every crisis in the Everglades at the farmers' doorstep prevents proper attention to the real cause of each individual problem and consideration of effective solutions.
© 2000 Palm Beach Post, published January 29, 2000

1/28/00

`Top Guns' fly low to save crop in Glades
"It's a real fine line between life and death in the corn field." So says Chris Hopper, who's been farming here since 1972. He spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning directing helicopter pilots on missions to move warm, dry wind onto freezing corn stalks.  Without these pilots keeping stalks dry and pushing temperatures just a few degrees higher, Winn-Dixie, Publix and the suburban produce stand wouldn't have so much sweet corn.
© 2000 Palm Beach Post, published January 28, 2000


1/26/00

Commissioners: Proposed bill would thwart county efforts to manage growth
Collier County commissioners weighed in Tuesday against a proposed state measure that they said would frustrate their efforts to manage growth.  A bill is pending in the state House that would specify the circumstances under which property owners could use the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act.  That 1995 law gave them a new way to seek relief from government decisions that impose an "inordinate burden" on their land.  The amendment would define "inordinate burden" as any action that would decrease the use of their land below the equivalent of one unit per 5 acres.  Commission Chairman Tim Constantine said it was an "amazing coincidence" that the bill was submitted at the same time Collier County is studying options for growth management in the wake of an order from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet.
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 26, 2000

1/24/00

Environmental groups seek moratorium on wetlands destruction permits
At least two Southwest Florida environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on wetlands destruction permits in Lee and Collier counties until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identifies exactly what it will take to reduce the cumulative damage of the homes, roads and stores built here each year.  It's one of the more extreme requests the federal agency has gotten from the slow-growth end of the spectrum in the debate over how to improve a regulatory program charged with balancing environmental protection with reasonable development. On the other end of the spectrum, development interests are also asking that more science be interjected into the process - but they want any tightening of the rules to be put off until further studies are done. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the National and Florida Wildlife Federations have separately sent letters to Jacksonville District headquarters commenting on the federal agency's draft Environmental Impact Statement, a 600-page study released in July that aims to reduce the environmental destructiveness of the Corps' permitting program. The public comment period ended Jan. 15. The Corps' will revise the draft into a final form based on the thousands of written and public hearing comments it has received about its plan for 1,500 square miles of Lee and Collier counties.
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 24, 2000

1/23/00

Editorials: Everglades restoration; Cloning.  Gov. Bush out in front with funding proposal
And now, the hard part: how to raise the money for Everglades repairs that nearly all Southwest Floridians agree need to be made.  Gov. Jeb Bush gets credit for revving up the politics to match the science.  He proposes raising $4 billion - Florida's share under a 50-50 deal with Congress. It follows, Bush says, that Florida's share should be shouldered 50-50 by state taxpayers in general and South and Southwest Floridians in particular, because the Everglades' neighbors stand to gain the most from the restoration's protection of precious water in the gigantic swamp.
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 23, 2000

1/21/00
Environmental groups file new challenge to Collier's growth plan
Two environmental groups made good Thursday on their promise to file a new challenge to Collier County's growth plan.  A St. Petersburg attorney representing Florida Wildlife Federation and Collier Audubon Society petitioned the state Department of Community Affairs for a hearing on boundaries for interim Natural Resource Protection Areas county commissioners approved in November.  The interim NRPAs are part of the county's plan for meeting an order from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet to slow growth until further study can result in better environmental protections.  The new challenge contends the NRPA boundaries miss important wildlife habitat areas. The DCA has approved the NRPA boundaries.  The boundaries take in 155,400 acres of rural land around Immokalee and south of Interstate 75 and east of County Road 951. An additional 33,000 acres is marked for special study.  Rules for development are more stringent inside a NRPA during the study period, which is targeted to result in proposed growth plan changes in 2002.  Attorneys representing a coalition of the county's largest landowners have criticized the environmental groups for continuing to file challenges instead of negotiating with landowners during the study process.  Thursday's filing is the second from the groups since the state order in June.  A challenge filed in November takes issue with changes the county made in 1997 to parts of the growth plan governing aquifer recharge, water quality, and wetlands and wildlife protections.  
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 21, 2000

1/19/00  

Bush details Everglades finance plan
The governor envisions Florida's share of the cost coming from state and local funds.
TALLAHASSEE -- In an announcement that won plaudits from environmental groups and sugar farmers, Gov. Jeb Bush outlined a plan Tuesday for paying the state's $4-billion share of the effort to restore the Everglades and provide water for South Florida's booming population over the next 20 years.  The governor has lined up support among Republican legislative leaders for passing his plan during the session that begins in March.
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 19, 2000


Guest Commentary: We must back Gov. Bush's commitment to Everglades restoration
By DAVID GUGGENHEIM, Guest Commentary
If you missed the recent Everglades Coalition's 15th annual conference in Naples, the most important take-home message was easy to remember: "This is the year of the Everglades." Translation: The next six months hold the greatest challenges yet for restoring the Everglades. Indeed, they will determine whether restoration lives or dies. The greatest challenge is not the daunting task of creating a restoration plan for such a massive and complex ecosystem: A first-rate restoration plan was completed and delivered to Congress on July 1, 1999. Nor is the greatest challenge the seemingly impossible task of enlisting the participation of the incredibly diverse group of stakeholders across South Florida that rely on a restored and functioning Everglades, including environmental, agricultural and urban interests. Extensive public participation has been one of the hallmarks of this effort. Nor is the greatest challenge the threat of partisan politics undermining this historic effort to restore one of America's most revered natural treasures. In fact, Everglades restoration has consistently stood as one of the most inspirational examples of resolute bipartisanship in public policy today.
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 23, 2000

1/16/00

Ecologists urge land swap as part of air base deal
Conservationists in Southwest Florida are urging the Clinton administration to link redevelopment rights at the former Homestead Air Force Base to efforts to preserve environmentally sensitive lands on the western edges of the Everglades.  At issue is the bid by owners of that prime habitat, the powerful Naples families of Barron and Miles Collier, to redevelop the base -- which closed after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 -- with golf courses, hotels and offices.  In exchange for the base, the Colliers are offering the federal government a small percentage of oil and gas rights they own at Big Cypress National Preserve, the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Florida Panther Refuge.  The families have applied for 25 federal permits that would allow them to explore for petroleum in Big Cypress.
© Miami Herald, published January 16, 2000

1/14/00

Editorials: Air base land deal, Commission chairman, Psychic training
Preserve land, as well
Interesting idea: swap mineral rights under some of eastern Collier County's prime wilderness for a surplus, federally owned air base in Homestead in Dade County. Descendants of the county's founding family would develop a resort-style community instead of a commercial-style airport between two national parks - Everglades and Biscayne - at Homestead.  The Colliers and feds are familiar partners. Four years ago they exchanged more than 100,000 Collier acres and cash for urban development rights in downtown Phoenix.  The proposed Homestead deal came to light at last weekend's Everglades Coalition meeting in Naples. No less authority than Bruce Babbitt, U.S. Interior secretary, said the arrangement "bears careful consideration and scrutiny."  Indeed. It would retire Big Cypress National Preserve and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling.  
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 14, 2000

1/13/00

Environmental Groups Win Big Court Victory Justices uphold use of citizen suits to enforce federal pollution laws
The Supreme Court handed environmentalists a major victory yesterday, upholding the right of citizens' groups to sue alleged polluters under the federal Clean Water Act.   The decision is expected to have a major impact because activists have frequently used citizen suits as a means to enforce environmental laws -- often winning court victories that go beyond the positions that government agencies have been willing to pursue.
© 2000 San Francisco Chronicle, published January 13, 2000

 

1/09/00

Water officials, Corps plan new study of Everglades restoration effort
Just when you thought scientists had looked at every mangrove root in Southwest Florida, counted every fox squirrel and collected enough water samples to fill the TECO Arena - turns out another mega-study is in the works.  This one aims to fit Southwest Florida into the massive Everglades restoration and replumbing effort planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District.  Corps officials say the area was left out of the $8 billion "Restudy" plan that was submitted to the U.S. Congress in July because this side of South Florida doesn't have the huge network of Corps-made and district-managed canals that have made development and farming possible in central and southeast Florida.
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 9, 2000


Conservation: Sierra club leader wants state to go slow in changing growth management laws
A Florida Sierra Club leader called Saturday on Gov. Jeb Bush to commit to vetoing any legislation that would weaken the state's growth management laws as Congress takes up Everglades funding.  Getting money for a $7.8 billion plan for replumbing water flow in the Everglades is the top priority for the Everglades Coalition, a group of some 40 organizations working for Everglades preservation.  The organization wraps up a meeting in Naples today.  U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, a key member of the committee reviewing the Everglades plan, questioned during a hearing Friday whether Congress' half of the bill amounted to a bailout for poor growth management in Florida.
© 2000 Naples Daily News, published January 9, 2000

 

 

 

 

 

Credit:
Everglades photograph courtesy Philip Greenspun

 

Revised:  03/25/03