March  2002 

 

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30-Mar-02

Drilling Could Hurt Wildlife, Federal Study of Arctic Says

SEATTLE, March 29 - Undercutting the Bush administration's
case for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, a federal study released today said that such drilling could harm caribou, snow geese, musk oxen and
other wildlife. The report, by the United States Geological Survey, a
branch of the Interior Department, comes just a week and a half before the Senate is scheduled to begin debating the White House's plan to allow drilling in the 19-million-acre
refuge. Drilling was approved in an energy plan backed by the House, but opponents say they have the votes in the Democrat-controlled Senate to block it. The report paid particular attention to the Porcupine River caribou herd, which is 125,000 strong and masses on the
Arctic coastal plain early each summer to gorge on tundra grass and flowers and to give birth after a long migration from the Canadian Yukon.
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times  All rights reserved   

28-Mar-02

Environmentalists lose court bid to stop projects on panther land
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental groups to stop the construction of roads and other projects in Florida panther habitat.  U.S. District Judge James Robertson this week dismissed a suit filed by the National Wildlife Federation and several other groups against the Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The groups had accused the Corps of wrongly issuing 23 permits for roads, golf courses and housing developments within the endangered cat's shrinking range. The other two agencies played roles in certifying projects or plans as meeting the requirement of the Endangered Species Act.  The judge dismissed the suit on technical grounds, without considering its merits. He said he had no jurisdiction. The permits already had been issued and much of the construction completed. He said he had no authority to issue a blanket declaration that the permits shouldn't have been issued or that the agencies should refrain from issuing similar permits in the future.  John Kostyack, attorney for the National Wildlife Federation, said he expected to appeal. Nancy Payton, southwest Florida field representative for the Florida Wildlife Federation, said the federal government continues to waste time doing studies and reports while the panther's habitat continues to dwindle.  "There's this pattern of studies and map and studies and reports and nothing really gets done," she said. "Meanwhile, every day, every month, every year panther habitat is being whittled away."  Dana Perino, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which defended the agencies, said the permits were issued lawfully. "The Fish and Wildlife Service is working with the Corps and other federal agencies to ensure the long-term survival of the Florida panther," she said.
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Judge dismisses suit seeking more protection for panthers
A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the Florida panther lawsuit that argues the government needs to do more to protect the endangered animal.   Judge James Robertson based his decision on legal process, saying the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case filed in October 2000 by the National Wildlife Federation and four other groups. The groups argued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration are breaking federal law by allowing development harmful to panther habitat through permitting, planning and funding decisions.  Panther habitat issues have been a controversial concern in many Southwest Florida developments, such as Florida Gulf Coast University and the airport expansion.  In Robertson's dismissal opinion, he cited a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court case, Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, that said federal courts should not hear lawsuits that seek "wholesale improvement" of a program - that's the territory of government agencies and Congress.  "We think he's just plain wrong on that and we'll be appealing," said John Kostyack, the Washington, D.C.-based attorney representing the environmental groups. "In that case, it was very different facts." In the panther case, the federation addressed 23 permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, plus other agencies' projects. Kostyack said the specific permits build a case that the program needs revision.  "That's not a violation of law," Kostyack said.  Lee County was among the 23 permit holders addressed in the case.  Chief Assistant County Attorney David Owen called the judge's ruling fair.  Kostyack, however said he is disappointed the case has been in court for a year and a half and no judge has addressed whether the groups are right or wrong on the panther issue.  The other groups that filed the panther lawsuit were the Collier County Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and the Florida Wildlife Federation.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has experts working on a conservation strategy for the panthers. The service does not issue permits but does comment on them.  "Hopefully . whatever recommendations the panel comes up with will be helpful in our decision making process," said Tom Grahl, deputy project leader for the Service's South Florida office in Vero Beach.
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Bush approves land protection: Panther, Bear corridor near LaBelle safe from development, mining
Gov. Jeb Bush approved a $1.6 million agreement that will keep 3,000 acres southeast of LaBelle - a panther and bear wildlife corridor - from being developed or mined.  The land, owned by LaBelle Ranch Inc., will remain a ranch. But the conservation easement approved Tuesday will prevent the land from being used for anything other than cattle grazing, sod harvesting or row crops. It also limits the latter two uses to 30 percent of the land. The easement is the first bought within the state's Caloosahatchee Ecoscape Florida Forever project, which aims to conserve nearly 18,000 acres in Hendry and Glades counties.  "It's to provide that refuge for threatened animals," said Lucia Ross, state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman.  The project's secondary goal is to provide compatible recreation such as fishing, camping and hiking.  The purchase "represents the first significant step toward protecting a number of native species and their habitats," said DEP Secretary David B. Struhs. "These kinds of purchases are a thoughtful use of state resources that Floridians expect when Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever funds are used."  Wide-roaming animals such as panthers and bears need such corridors for foraging and ranch land can provide those corridors, officials said.  By conserving the land with an easement instead of buying it, the state not only saves money but the property remains on tax rolls and the owner continues to pay taxes. That falls in line with requests from Hendry County, where residents fear losing tax revenue when governments buy land.  "We'd be happy with that," said Hendry County Administrator Lester B. Baird Sr.  Florida also has agreed to spend $1.7 million to buy 800 acres near Ocala National Forest to help protect the threatened black bear population.  The property is between the forest in central Florida, which is home to the state's largest population of bears, and two rural roads where dozens of bears have been hit by cars and died.  The deals are part of a larger plan to create a 74,000-acre corridor to protect bears as they migrate. The state has already spent $114 million and acquired about half of that land.  State officials have said Florida's black bear population hovers between 1,200 and 1,900. But federal officials have said there may be as many as 3,000 black bears in Florida. - The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Black water: Nitrogen-rich agricultural runoff possible black water catalyst
                               

Florida agriculture could have added the final ingredient to a cocktail of nutrients in western Florida Bay that led to the black water discovered there by fishermen in January.  Nitrogen-rich waters would have flowed from the Shark River after above-average rainfall, researchers say, and the area experienced such rainfall in the time period leading to the black water.  South Florida saw extremely heavy rainfall by early December almost two and half times normal monthly rainfall in the Big Cypress National Preserve, according to Collier County Pollution Control. And Larry Brand, a marine biology professor at the University of Miami's Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said with it would have come a shot of nitrogen.  "The nitrogen is coming off the sugar cane fields," Brand said. He said farmers don't put the chemical on their crops but rather disturb it from the peat on which they grow their sugarcane.  Barbara Miedema, spokeswoman for Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, said growers have worked to control nutrient releases and have substantially cut back on what phosphorus makes its way to the waters off South Florida. The cooperative represents 54 sugar cane growers in Palm Beach County.  She wasn't able to comment on efforts, if any, to control nitrogen by sugar cane growers.  A representative of Florida Crystals in Palm Beach County, one of the largest sugar operations in the state, was unavailable for comment Wednesday.  Plants and algae use both nitrogen and phosphorus as food and they do it in a 16 to 1 ratio, respectively. Without one the other can't be used efficiently, and ecosystems keep excessive plant growth, such as harmful algae blooms in check by lacking one.  Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Two firefighters suspended for cutting down mangroves
Two St. Lucie County firefighters will be suspended without pay, while three others received written reprimands for their roles in the destruction of mangroves near the South Hutchinson Island Fire Station.  Lt. Jan-Paul Brolmann, shift commander at the station when the trees were cut, will be suspended for 10 days, while firefighter William "Ferrel" Mosely will lose one day's pay.  Fire Chief Jay Sizemore said the pair left fire district property to cut mangroves and would have been unable to respond promptly to emergency calls. The pair also didn't tell all they knew during the department's internal investigation, Sizemore said. Their refusal to tell the truth was one reason a sheriff's detective was asked to investigate, Capt. Tom Whitley, the district's spokesman, said.  Firefighters Ed Hill, Joe Waters and Shawn Smith received written reprimands for driving a sheriff's department all-terrain vehicle down paths to fishing areas where they wouldn't be able to respond promptly to fire or rescue calls.  More than 40 mangroves -- protected by state law because they provide shelter for fish and combat shoreline erosion -- were destroyed on the county's Ocean Bay preserve and Mosquito Control District land near the station.  The sheriff's office investigation found that paths to two fishing areas had been there for years but were widened so firefighters could drive the all-terrain vehicle to them.  The fire district has agreed to replant the mangroves and remove Brazilian pepper trees from 5 acres near the station. Volunteer labor will be used, and the firefighters involved in cutting the trees aren't required to participate, Whitley said.  "That's not part of the discipline," Whitley said.  Two groups have offered to donate mangroves to be planted near the station, Whitley said.  Tim Munson, president of the Professional Fire Fighters & Paramedics, said many firefighters will help replant and cut trees.  "In a family of 300 people, these few made mistakes," Munson said. "That's not the whole family, but we will stand behind them."  He said that the five's actions were wrong and that he thinks the punishment is "fair, equitable and appropriate."  Brolmann and Mosely have the right to appeal their suspensions through the union contract's grievance procedure or through the Civil Service Appeals Board. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

State to buy 800 acres in central Florida for black bears
State leaders have agreed to purchase 800 acres of black bear habitat in central Florida. The state will buy the land in Lake County between Ocala National Forest and two rural roads south of the forest where dozens of black bears have died.  The $3.3 million deal also buys conservation rights to prevent development on 3,000 acres near LaBelle in South Florida.  Tuesday's action is part of a larger plan to create a 74,000-acre corridor for the bears south of Ocala National Forest. The state has spent $114 million and acquired about half of that land, said David Struhs, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection. The black bear is listed by the state as a threatened species. State officials have said Florida's black bear population hovers between 1,200 and 1,900. But federal officials have concluded in the past that there may be as many as 3,000 black bears in Florida.  Officials also plan to build a second, $1 million bear underpass below state road 46, the deadliest road for bears in Florida.  At least 12,000 vehicles use the road between Sanford and Mount Dora every day and 41 bears have died there from 1976 to 1999.
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

 

27-Mar-02

Commissioners, staff defend wetlands mitigation plan
 Lew Lautin, a developer-turned-environmentalist, flashes with pride pictures of the marshlands he has helped restore.  Lautin boasts that he and his partners have already spent almost $4 million turning abandoned farmland and forest into wetlands teeming with wildlife. Lautin is a mitigation land banker, and he's in the cross hairs of taxpayer watchdogs who are asking questions about the millions of dollars Collier County plans to give Lautin's wetlands bank to offset environmental damage caused by the construction of new roads.  On Tuesday, County Manager Tom Olliff, his staff and county commissioners vigorously defended the county's plan to buy wetlands mitigation credits from Lautin's Panther Island Mitigation Bank.  "We're saving money," Commissioner Fred Coyle said, adding that a contract to purchase credits did go out to bid last year.  To get state and federal permits, the county has to pay for wetlands restoration somewhere else to offset the wetlands that will be destroyed by new roads.  In the coming weeks, Collier County plans to spend $1.7 million for wetlands restoration without going out to competitive bid. The spending will come under the umbrella of an open-ended, yearly contract that was put out for competitive bid last year and awarded in June. The annual contract has an option for a four-year renewal, county officials said.  County officials said putting the mitigation credits out to bid for individual road projects would slow down permits for roads by eight weeks. Officials say they're trying to expedite a road-building agenda that's lagged behind Collier's booming population growth.Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Growth management- Speak out, Mr. Daltry
The bad news is that Wayne Daltry of Fort Myers is wrapping up 20 years as the executive director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, a consortium of elected officials and appointees. They are supposed to scrutinize development for harsh impacts on surrounding areas. Obviously, they have not always heeded his warnings.  The good news is he is keeping his talents here and available to the public. He is becoming the director of a Lee County growth management review called Smart Growth, giving it instant credibility as more than a development-driven smokescreen for squeezing in more density here and golf courses there.  The better news would be that Daltry, who displays near-genius skills in history and vision, delivers on his promise to speak out forcefully.  "I already know I'm going to be fired," he says of the job that will sunset after two years. "But then I'm already retired. I'm supposed to say the things that are supposed to be said."  Say them, Mr. Daltry. Start with roads and water. Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Former water boss rehired for Everglades restoration
The man who was South Florida's top water manager in the 1970s and '80s is returning to head the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration.  The South Florida Water Management District announced Tuesday it is rehiring Jack Maloy, the former executive director who sometimes enraged environmentalists as he dealt with floods, drought, pollution in Lake Okeechobee and the start of the Kissimmee River restoration. Maloy, 68, will start work April 4 as director of the Everglades restoration and a separate $867 million cleanup of runoff in the northern Everglades. He'll earn $105, 414 a year, more than twice the $50,000 salary he received as executive director from 1975 to 1984.  Maloy, know for his unorthodox leadership style and disregard for rigid authority lines, was a bearded, cigar-chewing executive who hadn't finished college and never wore socks.  Critics and supporters agree he wielded almost single-handed control over the 16-county agency.  Just before leaving the district in 1984, Maloy admitted to the state ethics commission that he had accepted illegal salary increases, travel pay and the use of a Key West condo at taxpayers' expense. Maloy said at the time that he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He didn't return phone calls Tuesday. In yet another unusual arrangement, Maloy will remain on staff of the St. John's River Water Management District in North Florida during a three-month "trial run" in South Florida.  Maloy will be on unpaid leave from St. Johns, where he is assistant water resources director. The South Florida district will reimburse the St. Johns district for the cost of Maloy's health insurance and other benefits, South Florida District Executive Director Henry Dean said.  "He wanted to make sure he will fit in and be able to be of assistance to us," said Dean, who ran the St. Johns district for 17 years until last summer. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Changes Set in Water, Growth Processes
 If local officials wanted to create a growth plan with no thought to whether it would cause flooding or seriously deplete the region's water supplies, there hasn't been much water management officials could do to stop them.T hat's about to change. Within the next three years, local officials will have to consider the water management district's regional water supply plans when they make major changes in their growth plans.  If they don't, they may have to explain their reluctance to officials at the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the state planning agency that oversees local growth planning and the state-required periodic updates of those plans. "Water supply is going to be the major issue in the next round of reviews," said Rand Frahm, planning manager in the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Planning Department. Frahm briefed members of the district Governing Board's Planning Committee on Tuesday on the upcoming changes.  He said the effort to better coordinate land planning and water planning came out of meetings organized by David Struhs and Steve Seibert, the heads of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Department of Community Affairs, respectively.  Water managers will be reviewing the sections of the growth plan updates that relate to the regional water plans to look at a number of water-related issues. Those issues include what the 20-year water supply projections show, where local officials plan to get the water to meet their growth needs, how they plan to pay for getting additional water and how well they're doing to promote water conservation. In addition, water officials will be involved in reviewing major growth plan changes that may affect water demands, such as major land-use changes, Frahm said.  However, Frahm emphasized that it is the DCA, not the water management districts, that has the legal authority to enforce growth rules.  But board member Janet Kovach asked why water officials haven't been doing this all along.  Richard Owen, Swiftmud's planning director, said the difference between now and the last growth plan reviews in the 1990s was that now water officials have much better data to argue their case that increased water use in some parts of the district will damage groundwater supplies.  Sonny Vergara, Swiftmud's executive director, made it clear that the agency's role is limited, however.  "We're not proposing getting more involved in local government planning," he said. "But we've got to improve decision-making because the facts are on the table." Copyright  © 2002 theledger All rights reserved.

Study can open area to housing
A city study could pave the way for golf course development and more housing in an area of Bonita Springs that has been off-limits to major construction.  City officials want engineers and hydrologists to study and determine whether the 3,100 acres are vital to the region's water supply.  Within the next two city council meetings, council members will decide if the city should solicit experts to conduct the study now or wait until after the comprehensive land-use plan is complete later this year.   The water recharge areas are lands where development is limited so underground aquifers - vital sources of drinking water - can be replenished.  Current regulations limit development to one house per 10 acres.  Developers want the city to allow for construction of golf courses and increase residential density to three units per acre with the possibility of adding up to six units for affordable housing.  The water recharge area in Bonita is about a quarter-mile north of Bonita Beach Road and runs north to the city limits between Interstate 75 and Bonita Grande Drive.  The area was established in 1984 to protect Lee County's critical water supplies and declared off-limits to major development. Density in the area remains at one unit per 10 acres.  In 1999, the county amended uses in the recharge area and allowed for as many as 10 golf courses to be built.  When Bonita became a city in 2000, the county lost jurisdiction, and the city's LPA began working on its own growth plan. Bonita council members indicated last week they would like to see a study of the area start as soon as possible. The study could cost the city up to $75,000 and could take nearly a year to complete, City Manager Gary Price said Friday. "Once the RFP (request for proposal) goes out and we get someone on board, it'll probably take at least eight months to complete the study."  The study would likely examine soils, hydrology and the flow of groundwater, Price said. "They'll probably pull together a history of the area, talk to the people at the DEP, South Florida Water Management District and the county people who did the last study."  Both developers and environmentalists are encouraged by the city's effort to study the area.  Forty-two percent of the land in the recharge area is owned by Citrus Park owner Eric Trost and Kevin Stoneburner.  Engineer Grady Minor, who represents the two landowners said two weeks ago he wanted to see the city start the study immediately. He said he was confident small-scale residential development and golf courses will not have a negative impact on the area.  Minor could not be reached for comment Friday.  Fran Stallings, an environmentalist and president of the Responsible Growth Management Coalition, said the more information that's known about the area, the better off everyone will be. "There are parts that are recharge areas and there are parts that are discharge areas," he said. "It behooves us all to learn as much about it as possible." Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.


26-Mar-02

Former city councilman wants investigation into county's mitigation credits process
Taxpayer watchdogs have a new assignment from former Naples City Councilman Fred Tarrant, who wants an investigative spotlight turned on the millions of dollars it's costing county government to pay for environmental damage caused by new road construction. Buried inside Collier County commissioners' routine consent agenda today is an authorization to contract with two firms for so-called wetland mitigation credits. In order to get state and federal permits, the county has to pay for wetland restoration somewhere else to offset the wetlands that will be destroyed by new roads. But here's what is not disclosed to commissioners and the public on the one-page summary commissioners are scheduled to vote on today: the county is slated to pay $1.7 million for wetland mitigation credits in the coming weeks for construction on stretches of Livingston and Immokalee roads without going out to competitive bid. Consent agenda items have no public discussion unless commissioners ask for it.  County transportation official Kevin Dugan said the county hasn't opted to solicit competitive bids each time it needs to buy mitigation credits because doing so could throw permit applications for new roads off by two months.  The county is struggling to expedite a road-building agenda that lagged behind explosive population growth in recent years. Mitigation land banks sell credits to local governments and private developers, who in turn cash the credits in with federal and state regulatory agencies in order to get needed permits. Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Clause in growth management bill to regulate agriculture intensity disappears
As the dust cleared Monday from last week's end to the legislative session in Tallahassee, growth management advocates discovered they didn't have a victory they thought they had last week.  Advocates had pushed for a clause in a growth management bill to blunt an amendment they feared would undermine environmental groups' case for requiring Collier County to regulate the intensity of agriculture.  The amendment passed. The clause didn't. It made it into an early House version of the growth management bill, but it wasn't in the final version passed by both chambers. The bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Jeb Bush.  "Something may have slipped through the cracks, but it was supposed to have been there," said Charles Pattison, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Florida.  It's unclear whether the clause would have had any practical effect, but the episode points up a problem of the traditionally chaotic final hours of each legislative session. The dropped clause said the growth management bill would not affect pending litigation, including Florida Wildlife Federation and Collier Audubon Society's appeal of Collier County's interim Natural Resource Protection Area boundaries on agricultural land around Immokalee. The groups want to control the conversion of pasture land to more intense uses such as row crops or citrus groves in habitat for endangered Florida panthers.  The bill includes an amendment that does away with part of state law that the environmental groups are using in the appeal to argue that cities and counties are required to establish intensity standards for agriculture.  Instead, the amendment requires cities and counties to establish standards to control "population densities and building and structure intensities."  Supporters of the bill said that's what the original law meant anyway, but the groups' attorney Tom Reese, in St. Petersburg, said Monday that it was inappropriate to amend the law "at the request of certain parties."  "I was opposed to it because it just confuses things," Reese said.  Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Panel key to manatee law
With the passage of a new manatee protection law Friday by the state Legislature, the question becomes whether two sides of an often divisive issue can work together.  The new law is the result of a bill sponsored by Rep. Lindsay Harrington, R-Punta Gorda, that passed in the House by a vote of 108 to 1, and a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, that passed when it was attached as an amendment to another bill.  According to the law, counties where manatees live must establish committees to review any proposed changes in rules regulating motor boat speed and operation to protect manatees. To ensure one side doesn't have greater sway on a committee, the law says each must be made up equally of waterway users, such as fishermen, boaters and water skiers, and manatee advocates and other environmental advocates.  "Any time you put together a committee that reviews regulations, the issue is who's on it," said Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples. "Having both boaters and environmentalists is the only way to go. If it was purely boaters, the environmentalists would be enraged. If it was purely environmentalists, the boaters would be enraged. We'll have to wait and see how it will work. I'm sure it will work."  County Commissioner Ray Judah was less concerned about whether it will work than what a review committee will cost Lee.  "Our board has consistently been opposed to unfunded legislative mandates and that's what this sounds like," he said. "If the Legislature deems this extra layer of bureaucracy essential in the issue of protecting manatees and boaters' rights, fine, let them help pay for it. Not help pay for it: Pay for it."  The law also states that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will establish "measurable biological goals" defining manatee recovery.  Then the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will use those goals, which include population counts, to develop manatee management plans.  The two manatee protection bills were controversial during the 2002 Legislative session. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Black water casts shadow over faith in 'watchdogs'
Black water casts shadow over faith in 'watchdogs'  Those who are following the Mystery of the Black Water between Collier County and the Keys are learning a great deal.  They realize their sense of security is false from an array of public  agencies with watchdog-type names such as the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency - even the Coast Guard. Despite satellite photos and firsthand testimony from commercial fishing fleets indicating something badly wrong with Florida Bay water as early as January, they're still leaving the heavy troubleshooting to privateers such as Sarasota-based Mote Marine Laboratory.  Citizens wonder what would have happened without news media exposure of the problem. Could fouled water have washed up on beaches and sickened unaware swimmers?  The lack of attention and skill in responding is mind- boggling in such a seafaring locale - especially one that publicly embraces environmental protection and public health. Against a backdrop of national security concerns, it still is not known if the black water is from a disease, a man-made toxin or a rush of fresh water from the Everglades.  That leads to the most important points we have learned - our ecosystem is so vulnerable and our knowledge of it is so incomplete. The latter will be helped right away when scientists in and out of government and commercial fishermen start sharing information and stop regarding each other as the enemy.  Shared threats from black water are the enemy. Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Lake Trafford cleanup critical to community
We should have known it couldn't be this easy. The beginning of restoration of Lake Trafford in Immokalee has been delayed until at least June because the Army Corps of Engineers miscalculated the cost of the project.  All bids have come in at least 25 percent above the estimated project cost of $17 million.  This project is essential to the economy of tiny Immokalee, a mostly farming community in Collier County.   Trafford is a marvelously productive fishing lake when it is healthy, but lately has been plagued by fish kill offs in recent years. That's because layers and layers of muck have built up on the lake bottom, choking off its health.  Not only is the lake important to ecotourism for its amazing assortment of bird life and for fishing tourism, but it provides food and recreation for poor people living near the lake.  A grass-roots effort by dedicated citizens, friends of the lake and even local schoolchildren has been effective in raising almost half of the money needed for the cleanup, a commitment not often seen in any community.   It will be up to Carl Overstreet, the new Corps project manager, to straighten this mess out.  Supporters, including U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, and Big Cypress Basin director Clarence Tears Jr. vow they will not give up on the lake restoration.  That is a hopeful sign. This important natural resource must be maintained and returned to health. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Former Water District Head to Manage Everglades Restoration
A veteran water manager has been named to oversee the day-to-day operations of restoring the Everglades.  Jack Maloy, former head of the South Florida Water Management District, will manage the massive $7.8 billion Everglades restoration project for the water district, officials said Tuesday.  The replumbing of the Everglades involves more than 40 projects to be completed over several decades. The state and federal government are sharing the cost of the cleanup.  Maloy also will oversee construction projects including six stormwater treatment areas intended to reduce the amount of phosphorous flowing into the Everglades.  He joined the district in 1965 as an engineer. He served as executive director from 1975 to 1984. He most recently was assistant water resources director at the St. Johns River Water Management District. Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

2 Florida parks on threatened list
Polluted runoff is affecting Florida's Everglades, mountain views are clouded by air pollution and historic monuments are crumbling, a park advocacy group said Monday.  In what is becoming an annual ritual for the National Parks Conservation Association, the nonprofit group released its "Top 10" most-threatened parks.  The list includes Florida's Everglades National Park and adjacent Big Cypress National Preserve.  The Everglades is threatened by polluted runoff from agriculture and from flood-control projects, and a restoration plan under way is still too conceptual to guarantee a fix, association officials said.  The Big Cypress is still fighting "considerable swamp buggy use" and now faces the threat that the private owner of underground mineral rights may want to conduct more exploratory drilling and seismic testing for petroleum deposits.  The list also includes Yellowstone National Park, the country's first park, and Federal Hall, the site in lower Manhattan where George Washington was sworn in as president.  The list was released just three days after the Interior Department released its own list, detailing projects it said are needed to improve 12 national parks. The Interior Department's list also included Yellowstone, for a $75,000 plan to replace an aging sewer line near Old Faithful, and Federal Hall, for a $16.5-million appropriation to repair cracks in the building's foundation that appeared following the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11.  Also included on Interior's list are: Mojave National Preserve in California; Ocmulgee National Monument, Georgia; Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania; Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska; Big Bend National Park, Texas; Glacier National Park, Montana; and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina.  "Parks have so many important projects going on across America that we couldn't keep it to the usual "Top 10' list," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in a prepared statement.  President Bush has proposed $663-million for new construction, maintenance and rehabilitation projects, ranging from erecting new buildings to repairing sewer lines that threaten waterways.  That is about $2-million more than what Congress appropriated for the current year. Aides to Norton expect Congress will increase the president's  budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The parks association already is lobbying Congress to appropriate more money than what Bush has proposed in order to hire more employees and to catch up on a substantial maintenance backlog. Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Bond bill for Everglades opens environmental rift
TALLAHASSEE -- Before the final gavel pounded late Friday on a largely
incomplete agenda, Florida lawmakers gave environmentalists a qualified
victory. Now Gov. Jeb Bush must decide whether to approve a bill that creates a
$100 million bond program for Everglades restoration, but also makes it
harder for some individuals and environmental groups to sue polluters.
"We're on the horns of a dilemma," Terrell Arline, legal director for 1,000 Friends of Florida, said Monday. "Clearly a citizen lost the ability to initiate proceedings. The problem is, it's in the Everglades bill. We don't know what we're going to do." The last-minute coupling of two bills (HB-813 and SB-270) backed by Senate Majority Leader Jim King of Jacksonville could give Bush some pause -- as well as some welcome political cover. Bush has concerns about the funding scheme, even though it is supported by some of his staunchest conservative Republican allies.
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Nursery owners get reprieve from plant ban
Palm Beach County's nursery industry breathed a collective sigh of
relief Monday. Environmental regulators have dropped plans to expand the
county's forbidden-plants list to more than 100 from nine non-native invasives.
"It means we can get back to work," said Pat Ford, owner of Pat Ford's
Nursery west of Boynton Beach and a state Florida Nurserymen & Growers
Association representative. Mike Kastenholz, owner of Boynton Botanicals west of Boynton Beach said, "A lot of the varieties are plants we ship out of state in large quantities
this time of year. We would have lost a significant amount of business."
Instead, legislation awaiting Gov. Jeb Bush's signature will require all
local governments to follow the state's less-restrictive banned-plants
list. The county's controversial proposed ordinance, which would have barred
the sale of the plants and fined homeowners who planted them up to $5,000 a
day, stirred a round of protests from the industry in the last month.
Growers had objected to what they called the arbitrary, non-scientific
basis for including plants on the list.
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Controlled Burn Surrounds Bald Eagle Nest, Chicks Fate Unknown  

PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) - A controlled burn set by the state near a bald eagle's nest forced two adult birds to flee and left the fate of their chicks in question, officials said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating whether anyone violated the Federal Endangered Species Act, a criminal offense punishable by a $50,000 fine and one year in prison. The Flagler County Public Works Department and the Florida Division of Forestry set the fire in the Princess Place Preserve in west-central Florida, but did not call state wildlife officials to verify the location was clear of bald eagle nests. Instead they checked a website, which is not frequently updated. "We're really sorry it happened," said Mike Kuypers, district supervisor for the Division of Forestry. "Had we known, we wouldn't have burned in that location." The eagles "experienced extreme stress and they lost their chicks," said Amanda Auger, a volunteer for the Audubon EagleWatch division of the Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland. Federal wildlife officials said they didn't find any bodies and could not confirm that any chicks had died. An aerial inspection in January showed one chick and one egg in the nest. One of the chicks may have been mature enough to fly away, officials said.

Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

 

25-Mar-02

New Plan Redesigns Plumbing of Everglades

        

Long ago, water in this subtropical state flowed this way: summer downpours coursed from the central flatlands into Lake Okeechobee, which spilled south through the vine-tangled forests beyond its indefinable marshy shore.  Trees and grasses filtered and locked away nutrients, building 20 feet of rich peat. The cleansed water percolated south, forming the Everglades' "river of grass." In dry times, the soggy, spongy ground kept things green.  Then farms, cities, highways and homes got in the way.  This is how South Florida's water flows now: in a hurricane-proof control room a block from Palm Beach International Airport, Tim Owens, an employee of the South Florida Water Management District, types a code for Canal Gate S39 and hits "return." Twenty miles inland, a gate rises and 119 cubic feet of water per second drains from a swampy wildlife refuge fed by Okeechobee into a canal used by vegetable farmers.  Day and night, water managers type and click, banking or moving water through 1,800 miles of canals and gates and pipes and valves.  But the system was built to serve people. Nature has mostly been an afterthought.  When there is too much water, the Everglades drown in runoff tainted with excess nutrients that nourish invading plant species. The water flushed to the coast kills oysters, crabs and plants attuned to a particular balance of fresh and salt. Okeechobee ails, as well, walled in behind the 38-foot Hoover dike and overdosing on the same nutrients.

   Stockpiling water for a river of grass. Multimedia  

   Copyright  © 2002  NY Times  All rights reserved   

Six 2002 OCEWA Finalists Are Chosen (Excerpts)
This year's jury has sleeted 6 merit finalists from a field of 33 in the
2002 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA)
competition-including this year's OCEA winner. The finalists will be recognized on April 27 at
the third annual Outstanding Project and Leader (OPAL) awards gala, which
will be held in Los Angles. The six projects are:  Experience Music Project Seattle, Washington Everglades Construction Project: Storm Water Treatment Areas 1 West
and 2 Palm Beach County, Florida  JFK Terminal 4 Jamaica, New York  I-15 Design/Build Reconstruction Project Salt Lake City, Utah Bibliotheca Alexandria Alexandria, Egypt Seven Oaks Dam Highland, California Established in 1960, the OCEA award recognizes the project that best illustrates superior civil engineering skills and represents a significant contribution to civil engineering progress and society. Honoring an overall project rather than an individual, the awards signalizes the contributions of many engineers. The OCEA winner is accorded an OPAL award. Read more...

http://www.asce.org/ascenews/index.cfm

Trafford restoration delayed until June

The long awaited Lake Trafford restoration project will have to wait a little longer. Instead of breaking ground this month, as originally planned, dirt probably won’t move until June. The reason: Money and bad math. Project proposals came in with much higher price tags than the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expected. The Corps miscalculated how much it would cost to remove 8.5 million cubic yards of muck from the bottom of the lake and dump it on agricultural land nearby, said Richard Bonner, the Corps’ deputy district engineer for project management. “$17 million is what we thought it would cost,” Bonner said. Bonner did not disclose the bids but explained that they were at least 25 percent above $17 million. “It was way above,” he said. How could the Corps make a multimillion dollar mistake? Two reasons, Bonner explained: First, the Corps used state agency formulas to figure out the cost of the project. However, state projects don’t have as many constraints as federal projects and generally cost less because of that. Another reason, he said, is that the bids were based on removing the muck from a dry lake. But the water can’t be drained from this lake, Bonner said. The Corps is now asking contractors to tell them what they can do for $20 million or less. The project may be smaller in scope because of this, Bonner said, at least for now. First the contractor is to prepare the disposal area, then begin dredging the lake one section — roughly 190 acres — at a time.

Copyright  © 2002  The News-Press. All rights reserved.

Session was struggle for environment

TALLAHASSEE -- For environmentalists working the Florida Legislature, victory is relative. Success in recent years usually meant fending off assaults on environmental laws. This year, it meant swallowing a proposal widely bashed as anti-environment to get a stable source of money for Everglades restoration. Lawmakers authorized borrowing up to $100-million a year to pay for Everglades cleanup, one of the biggest environmental priorities this year. But they added a controversial amendment making it harder for the average person to fight development. It was was a prime example of how difficult progress is on environmental protection, activists say. "It's analogous to having every finger on your hand plugging holes in the dike. While you're holding back the dike, you can't fix what's really broken," said Pat Rose, president of the Save the Manatee Club. His club, with help from Jimmy Buffett, mobilized hundreds of Floridians to oppose a proposal to weaken Manatee protections. The result: a compromise with boating groups that pleased both sides. Lawmakers also passed a much-touted growth management bill linking school capacity to new development. It was a priority of Gov. Jeb Bush, but is far weaker than what he wanted last year. Last year's version essentially required local communities to reject development in crowded school districts, according to homebuilder lobbyists. Developers did not oppose this year's bill, which merely requires that local governments weigh school capacity before approving development. Even that nearly died in a dispute over taxes. It passed only after senators agreed to strip out a provision allowing local governments to raise sales taxes for schools without a referendum. It was a baby step, said Charles Pattison, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Florida, a growth management watchdog.

Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

 

24-Mar-02

Endangered Cranes May Head North
A small flock of endangered whooping cranes could soon begin a migration from Florida to a Wisconsin marsh where researchers hope the birds will spend the summer. Last fall, the cranes were led with ultralight aircraft on their flight from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. ``They're doing great,'' said Heather Ray, spokeswoman for Operation Migration, one of eight groups and agencies participating in the project aimed at establishing a second migratory flock of whooping cranes. Of the eight young birds that started the project in the fall, five have survived and could leave any day on the journey north, researchers said. The experiment in fostering migration worked well with a flock of sandhill cranes, which were led south in the fall of 2000 and then left Florida on Feb. 25, 2001, to travel north on their own. Ray said the later departure date for the whoopers was not a concern.   Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved

                                        

Land Advocates and Drivers Reach Fork in the Off-Road
An avid outdoorsman, Lyle McCandless likes to spend his weekends here in the southwest Florida back country hunting for small game and fishing for large-mouth bass. But in recent years, people who enjoy the land like Mr. McCandless have come under intense criticism from environmentalists, who say they are abusing the Big Cypress National Preserve and public wilderness areas throughout the country. That is because to get to the best hunting sites and fishing holes, Mr. McCandless and his buddies from the Collier County Sportsman's Club near Naples drive their off-road vehicles into the most remote sections of this 729,000-acre preserve, a vast undeveloped area of wetlands, cypress groves and protected wildlife.  Environmental groups contend that the squat, fat-tired all-terrain  vehicles are damaging wetlands and wildlife by creating thousands of miles of deep ruts in the soil.

                                                                                     

The tracks in Big Cypress are so extensive that, from the air, the preserve looks as though someone has dropped thousands of giant strands of spaghetti on the land.  More than merely causing aesthetic damage, the environmentalists say, the tire tracks have damaged soil, water and vegetation and changed the habitat of endangered species like the Florida panther and the Cape Sable seaside sparrow. In an effort to stop the damage, the groups have sought to limit or eliminate the use of all-terrain vehicles, swamp buggies and other off-road transportation in the preserve, which is 50 miles east of Naples and borders Everglades National Park.  As a result, a fight is raging between environmentalists and all-terrain vehicle users here that is a microcosm of the battle between interest groups and agencies nationwide trying to balance recreational use with preservation on public lands.  "What you have is a minority of the population using Big Cypress and other places around the nation as an amusement park for their thrill vehicles," said Erich Pica, an economic policy analyst for Friends of the Earth, a national environmental organization. "The environmental degradation it's caused, the air pollution it's caused and the effect on endangered species and other animals has to be factored into this use."  That, of course, is where the environmental groups and the users of all-terrain vehicles part ways.  "You can't have an area that is public and have people come in and not leave a footprint," Mr. McCandless said. "There are extremists out there who want to have untouched land, and they can't have that when it's public land." Copyright  © 2002  NY Times, AP online  All rights reserved.

Tree-felling response angers activists: Some say harsher penalties for firefighters are in order
Local environmental activists are "disgusted" by the St. Lucie County Fire District's response to the felling of more than 50 protected trees by firefighters on Hutchinson Island.  Members of two environmental groups worry district officials are setting a bad example by not immediately disciplining firefighters who destroyed mangrove and other protected trees to improve access to a fishing hole and make room for joy riding on a sheriff's all-terrain vehicle.  "This is such a bad precedent when you have a government agency disobeying the law so blatantly," said Grace Stock, a board member of the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County. "There should be considerable mitigation on this." Activist Gerry Tafoya patrols the St. Lucie River for illegal mangrove cutting and said she's "disheartened" at the damage caused by the firefighters.  "It's like a slap in the face to us in St. Lucie County to have firefighters do that," said Tafoya, a member of the Port St. Lucie Ang- lers Club. "They are setting an example. These are people you tell your kids and grandchildren to look up to."  District officials said the state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the fire district to perform $15,000 worth of environmental enhancements to make up for the damage.  The DEP directed the county last week to devise a work plan for the mitigation, which the fire district must agree with before receiving final DEP approval.  The work could include such things as replanting dunes or clearing nuisance exotic vegetation, district officials said.  As part of the DEP penalty, the district must also replace the felled trees. Copyright  © 2002  TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Lee breaking new ground in developing Smart Growth panel will convene
Hanging on the door of Wayne Daltry's office is an oversized poster from the movie, "Gettysburg."  It's not his favorite movie.  And the Army brat/Vietnam veteran/son of a POW, isn't a proponent of war.  What caught his attention were some words in small print at the bottom that he says embody the debate that's been raging in Southwest Florida for decades: "Same land, same God, different dreams."  "That's our whole Southwest Florida dilemma,'' he said. "We have different dreams.''  At 54, Daltry is a 30-year veteran of planning in Southwest Florida. He will become Lee County's first Smart Growth director starting Thursday.  Smart Growth is an approach to planning that Lee County and various other areas in the United States are using so development doesn't damage the environment and deplete natural resources. Daltry, who will make nearly $90,000 a year and oversee a $340,000 budget, described himself as the lightning rod.  He'll meet with the 15-member citizen advisory committee created to guide the county commission on how to set policy on growth. Lee Commissioner Bob Janes, County Manager Don Stilwell and Lee School Board member Jane Kuckel are also committee members.  "We have an economy that depends on natural resources,'' Daltry said. "Without them we don't have much of an economy.''   Like counseling an addict, Daltry said the first step is getting past denial.  "We don't have to accept Miami is the end result of where we're going to be."   But that's the path Southwest Florida is heading if something's not done, Daltry said.  If every piece of land now zoned residential is built upon in Southwest Florida, there will be 3 million people living here between 2010 and 2020, he said. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.


Editorial: Enron subsidiary

Little did most of us know that when Enron collapsed, it was due in large measure to an ill-fated campaign for control of Florida's drinking water. The name of the Enron water subsidiary is Azurix. Thanks to Florida's open records laws and investigative reporters, we see how close our state in general and Southwest Florida in particular came to being ensnared beyond our friends and neighbors losing their Enron investments. Stories originated by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and republished by this newspaper last Sunday show how Azurix lost nearly $1 billion trying to win long-term leases to withdraw water from the ground and relax state laws on aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells for stormwater runoff and treated sewage effluent. Azurix even offered to help pay for Everglades restoration, in hopes of repayment from the $8 billion state and federal commitment to the project, in return for the exclusive rights to sell the project's newly protected resource. Azurix hired key lobbyists. They include at least one former board member of the South Florida Water Management District — James Garner of Fort Myers, who tried in vain to win Lee County's water utilities contract for Azurix — and at least one former district executive director, John Wodraska. The water district includes Collier and Lee counties. Azurix enjoyed enthusiastic support from David Struhs, Gov. Jeb Bush's chief of the Department of Environmental Protection. Struhs, who worked with Enron CEO Kenneth Lay in the administration of President George W. Bush's father, championed water privatization at a Florida Chamber of Commerce seminar on Marco Island in July 2000.

Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Legislature: Lawmakers pass Everglades funding bill

TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers voted Friday to allow bonding of up to $100 million to buy land as part of a massive Everglades cleanup on a bill that also dealt with when environmentalists can sue to block development. Florida and the federal government are sharing the cost of the $8 billion Everglades project. The state has committed to spending $100 million a year for 10 years. The bill (HB 813) would give lawmakers an option to pay for its share of the restoration if they don't have money available in the budget. Some lawmakers opposed the measure, however, because it contained another item that deals with when citizens can challenge developers' permits. It passed the House 87-30 in the final hours of the session. "I cannot allow the lack of public participation to be given up for a funding bill," said Rep. Cindy Lerner, D-Miami. "Public participation in the process is the cornerstone ... of a democratic state."

Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

 

23-Mar-02

Environmentalist William B. Hutchins dies
William B. Hutchins was in an ecological race with time: His goal was to
visit the world's tropical rain forests and see as many exotic animals
as possible. On Wednesday, time ran out for Mr. Hutchins. The 47-year-old
environmentalist, herpetologist, educator and world traveler died from a
sudden illness, according to his family. A memorial service will be held Monday for Mr. Hutchins at Quattlebaum-Holleman-Burse Funeral home, 1201 S. Olive Ave., from 4 p.m.
to 7 p.m. On Tuesday, the funeral is being held at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 211 Trinity Place, at 3:30 p.m. Mr. Hutchins, a native of West Palm Beach, was the sanctuary manager at the Pine Jog Environmental Education Center. During his 21 years at the center,
he also became a great storyteller and photographer, traveling to some of the most exotic locations known to man. "He could turn a story into an adventure," said Kim Nielson, his oldest brother. "He had to go to where there was no telephone, no roads, no
town, no people."
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Odd Fish Thrive in Local River An AP Member Exchange

SEBASTIAN, Fla. (AP) - Sarah Fries-Torres is the only person in the world to keep opossum pipefish alive in an aquarium long enough to watch a male give birth to up to 250 comma-sized young. And it was done in her Melbourne dormitory room. The only place in the United States where that occurs naturally is in the St. Sebastian River, which divides Brevard and Indian River counties and is part of the most diverse estuary in North America. Fries-Torres is a Florida Tech doctoral candidate who has spent two breeding seasons studying the tiny fish that return to the St. Sebastian to breed after living in the ocean. The fish resembles a stretched-out seahorse. "This species is tropical. In North America, the only freshwater pipefish is this one," Fries-Torres said. Not just the opossum pipefish, but also four unique species of snook, the burro grunt, the striped croaker, the bigmouth sleeper and others are fish found nowhere else in the United States except in the St. Sebastian. In the 1960s, Grant Gilmore discovered and researched the unusual species while working as a fish biologist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce. "I was quite surprised to find fish here you don't see anywhere else, not even in the Florida Keys or the Bahamas. And it's interesting that some are abundant. There are 10 to 15 species in the St. Sebastian that only are found there," he said.

Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

 

22-Mar-02

County buys property to add to preserve:
The parcel will link Brooker Creek Preserve to other land the county owns, and provides lakes and lots of pine trees that could draw  wildlife such as bald eagles.
There's more to the 190 acres that the Pinellas County Commission decided to buy for $5.3-million this week than its four lakes and abundant pine trees.  The land also will connect the Brooker Creek Preserve to 160 acres the county owns in the Anclote River basin dubbed the Lost Management Area. One day, the new county property on the east side of East Lake Road may become a trailhead where residents can park and embark on hikes east toward the Anclote River or west into the heart of the preserve.  "We are very pleased," said Ken Rowe, chairman of the Friends of the Brooker Creek Preserve. "It's an important parcel. It's the stepping stone from the preserve to the Lost Management Area. We have been working in that direction for some time. This is terrific."  Until the county approached the property owners several years ago, it was well on its way to becoming a cemetery. The unusual method of purchase will have the county buying all the stock of East Lake Memorial Gardens, which is mostly owned by John Mills of Tarpon Springs. The commission will then deed the land to the county and then dissolve the company.  While certainly unorthodox, said county real estate manager Ellyn Kadel said, the method of purchase may actually have made it less expensive because there are some tax benefits to Mills.  As part of the agreement, Mills and his wife, Bonnie, will donate another 10 acres at the end of Ranch Road to the county to be added to the preserve. The property, now surrounded by the preserve, was purchased by Mills in 1986. Mills, who operates the property as a tree farm, estimates the land's value at $800,000.  The 190-acre property -- bounded on the west by East Lake Road, to the south by Trinity Boulevard and to the north by the Pasco County line -- is crucial to the county's long-range plan for the Brooker Creek Preserve, said Craig Huegel, Pinellas environmental lands division administrator.  The county has been buying up land in the Anclote River basin with an eye toward creating a connection to the Anclote River. Ultimately, Huegel said, the county hopes to connect the Brooker Creek Preserve to Pasco's Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park. Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

 

Editorial: Sabotaging Environmental Protections
Members of the state House are attempting to pull the legal rug out from under common citizens. State senators, we hope, will avoid this insidious scheme.  The House on Wednesday passed a measure that prevents people not directly affected by a development from challenging the project.  At present, citizens can legally contest permits granted by the state water districts and the Department of Environmental Protection under the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings.  Citizens who believe the government is not giving adequate attention to environmental concerns have an opportunity to make their case. But they must make that case. Lobbyists for developers assert that activists file administrative hearing challenges to harass projects. But abuse is exceedingly rare. Nuisance litigation is quickly dismissed.  And who - beyond state lawmakers and industry lobbyists - believes that developers have a hard time getting their way in Florida? Single-home construction is at its highest level since 1978.  Representatives did moderate the legislation some, but it still curtails an individual's ability to fight enterprises he believes harmful to state resources.  Citizens used the administrative hearing process to successfully fight plans by Florida Power & Light Co. to burn Orimulsion at its power plant in Manatee County. They successfully argued that the tarry fuel, which would have been shipped across Tampa Bay, would pollute the air and water.  Citizens have also used the process to challenge wellfield pumping and plans for the desalination plant on Tampa Bay.  Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

FGCU expected to award its biggest benefactor with honorary degree
Ben Hill Griffin III's name is etched onto a building at Florida Gulf Coast University and a road running alongside the school.  Now the 5-year-old school is expected to confer its first honorary degree on its largest benefactor.  Griffin and his agribusiness company, Alico Inc., have given FGCU $8.8 million as well as the land where FGCU sits.  FGCU's Board of Trustees will vote April 4 on a nomination to award an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to Griffin.  Griffin, the head of LaBelle-based Alico Inc., said he didn't expect the honor.  "I was very surprised and obviously, very pleased," Griffin said.  If trustees approve the degree, Griffin will receive it at FGCU's spring graduation on May 4.  Griffin in December donated $5 million to FGCU for the rights to name the school's basketball arena and athletic complex.  They'll be called Alico Arena and the Alico Athletics Complex.  Alico donated the 760 acres for the FGCU campus, plus another 215 acres to the school's foundation. At the time, the gift was recognized as the largest single contribution to Florida's university system.
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Lawmakers must listen to citizens: Legislature must let public speak during committee hearings
The increasing tendency of lawmakers not to let members of the public speak during committee meetings is disturbing, although not surprising.  The restrictions are not unprecedented, but people report more and more cases in which lawmakers allow only one person on each side of an issue to speak, or forbid public comment altogether.  This is extremely frustrating for citizens who have traveled to hard-to-reach Tallahassee from distant points like Southwest Florida. These committee meetings are just about the only chance an ordinary citizen has to participate in debate in Tallahassee. They have a reasonable expectation that they will get the chance to try to influence their legislators.  Barbara Peterson, president of the watchdog First Amendment Foundation and an expert on public access to government, says, "These are our elected representatives. How do they know what our interests are if they don't let us speak?"  She says legislative leaders should make certain people have an opportunity to speak and to schedule extra meetings if necessary to make that happen. We agree.  Keeping the public's voice out of the process is just one of several practices that make the legislative process less accessible and less transparent - less democratic when it comes down to it.  Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Court Upholds Species Deadline
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In a victory for environmentalists, a
federal appeals court ruled Thursday the government must determine within a year whether petitions seeking the listing of a species as endangered or threatened are
warranted. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service must make an initial finding on such petitions within 90 days if practicable, and a final finding within
12 months. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that those deadlines are firm, effectively reversing a lower court decision that said the service could make the initial finding at any
time.

 Copyright  © 2002  NY Times, AP online  All rights reserved.

Canal workers find themselves overwhelmed with trash-removal duties

Canals are a kind of Bermuda Triangle for shopping carts, which just
seem to disappear into them. Until Mike Baker's crew comes along.
Workers probe the Lake Worth Drainage District's 511 miles of canals
about three times a month for debris that can cause water to back up and flood
into streets and yards. They reach their hooked metal poles into the
slow-moving murk and pull out all kinds of stuff -- including lots of
shopping carts. From Publix, from Wal-Mart and from Target: "Our biggest complaint is
the shopping carts," said Baker, director of Aquatic Control and supervisor
of the district's canal cleanup work. Baker attributes the problem to
mischievous juveniles and others. Baker and his 12-person crew -- based in district headquarters west of Delray Beach -- want to shed their trash collection role, a job they
perform when not making rounds killing aquatic weeds and canal-bank vegetation
that can slow or block canal water.
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Toxin found in Lake Griffin, dead alligators

TAVARES — An algae researcher from Ohio has confirmed the presence of a neurotoxin in Lake Griffin's and in the bodies of dead alligators. Dr. Wayne Carmichael, of Wright State University, found that the harmful blue-green algae called cylindrospermopsis is known to produce not only a liver toxin but Anatoxin-A, which prevents nerve impulse transmission to muscles, causing complete paralysis. But University of Florida crocodile specialist Perran Ross said the lake's alligators haven't shown complete paralysis. "Rather, they have slow and dis-coordinated muscles," he said. However, its still not known whether this is the culprit that has killed 380 adult alligators on the algae-infested lake in four years. The toxin doesn't cause brain lesions, which is thought to have been a contributing factor in deaths. "Our conclusion is that we still can't establish a direct link between the toxic algae in the lake and what's happening to the alligators," Ross said. Ross made his presentation to the Lake County Water Authority on Wednesday. With this information in hand, the authority approved a request by Ross for $24,362 to support continued mortality studies.

Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Florida Legislature

As long as the legislative session drags out in Tallahassee, there is time for mischief to get in the way of the public's business. While entertaining shortcuts such as video gambling to fund education and abdicating sensible congressional redistricting to the courts, Florida lawmakers are poised to cut back on citizen input on development. Drawing most of the lawmakers' ire are environmental groups — with bothersome questions about water and wildlife, whose protection can damage profits. Muzzling them would be a mistake. Public watchdog groups belong at any and all development bargaining tables. In Southwest Florida, credible nature-conscious organizations have made public-minded contributions to progress around Estero Bay, Barefoot Beach Preserve, TwinEagles and Collier County's elusive urban boundary. Cutting them out of the action to any degree is a setback.

Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

21-Mar-02

Sewage reuse study advances
Designed with south Palm Beach County in mind, a proposed study of using canals to store and recycle treated sewage is gaining momentum in the Legislature. The House approved the study Wednesday, and the Senate may consider it as soon as today.  The study itself has aroused little controversy, but it has tapped into broader concerns about the state's growing enthusiasm for reusing water. Environmentalists are trying to persuade legislators to tie the study to establishing more specific standards for reclaimed water, where a recent state study found more incidences than expected of two disease-causing microorganisms.  State law encourages the use of treating wastewater for watering landscaping and crops and other purposes, though not for drinking. Between 1990 and 2000, the amount of water reclaimed in Florida roughly doubled to 1.1 billion gallons a day, according to a recent study by the state Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health. Florida has various requirements for the reclaimed water, including occasional testing for cryptosporidium and giardia, two tiny organisms  that can cause intestinal diseases.  The DEP reviews the results of the cryptosporidium and giardia tests but has not determined what level it considers too high, said agency researcher David York. Both microorganisms also occur in natural waters, and their presence in reclaimed water never has been linked to human health problems.  However, the DEP has been somewhat surprised to see more than half the samples come back positive for giardia, in some cases with almost 3,100 organisms per 100 liters, York said. The agency flags any amount more than 5 organisms per 100 liters, he said. Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Governor, Senate at odds on Everglades spending
 Gov. Jeb Bush scolded the Florida Senate on Wednesday for targeting $150 million set aside to buy environmentally-sensitive land to pay for what the governor labeled "unidentified" projects.  Bush said he wanted the chamber to avoid "raiding environmental funds for other purposes."  But Senate President John McKay said the money was shifted from a land-buying reserve fund and went to other budget projects - including a public school reading program and $50 million to increase technology research at the state's universities, both being touted by the governor. Bush said it was important lawmakers find a predictable source of cash to pay for the long-term Everglades restoration project free from the pressures of annual budget demands.  House members are also critical of the Senate plan.  "It's a sorry state of affairs when you have to sacrifice the environment to pay for education," said Rep. Ron Greenstein, D-Coconut Creek.  The House has already approved a bill to issue up to $100 million in bonds each year to buy land as part of the Everglades project.  That bill (HB 813) would give lawmakers an option to pay for its share of the restoration if they don't have money available in the budget. Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Satellite images show 'black water' progression, giving researchers some clues
While researchers around the state continued detective work Wednesday into what caused the mass of black water in Florida Bay, scientists from the University of South Florida were putting together a picture of its progression from satellite data. 
Dr. Frank Muller-Karger and Dr. Chuanmin Hu, of the university's remote sensing laboratory, said the pictures can't tell the whole story, but they might give clues about the source of the water. Hu said the black water first appeared on satellite images in mid-December about 30 to 60 miles north of the Keys. At its peak in early February, it was larger than Lake Okeechobee but began to diffuse into the surrounding Gulf of Mexico waters in recent weeks.  Other scientists with the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota are testing samples of the water to see if the chemicals, dissolved matter and organisms in it might point to a source.  Results from those tests should begin coming in today, said Beverly Roberts, research administrator for the institute.  Fish spotter pilots were the first to discover the black water in January. Though fishermen didn't find dead fish in its wake, they report an abysmal season for those waters and unusual behavior in the few fish they did find. While the images from the private company Orbimage's SeaWiFS and a NASA satellite show that the water might be coming from the Shark River, not all the pictures are consistent with that possibility, Muller-Karger said.  In some images, the water appears to be coming from the river, which has its outlet about 35 miles south of Marco Island. But Hu said the water doesn't quite behave like river runoff and settles to the bottom as it travels farther from the source.  "Why, only in the center, do (the particles) appear to sink?" Hu asked.  He said another possible source might be from some kind of underwater fountain spewing the black water from the seabed.  "That would explain the isolated black water mass," he said.  Hu is also looking at images from past years to see if the black water came and went before with no one noticing, though he pointed out that fishermen with decades on the water had never seen the phenomenon.  "The samples will tell more of a story than the satellite images," he said.  Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved

Legislature: Environmentalists say bill will make it harder to challenge permits
A bill limiting the ability of environmental groups to challenge questionable development permits passed out of the Florida House on Wednesday and is on its way to the Senate with two days left in the legislative session.  By a 71-46 vote largely along party lines, the House voted to raise the bar for individuals and environmental groups seeking to challenge permits by making them prove that they are being directly affected.  Backers of the measure say the legislation is an attempt to curtail frivolous and expensive challenges from distant citizens groups or environmental organizations opposed to a local development. "If a person swims in a body of water, if they go bird-watching there or if they canoe on that body of water, they are affected and will have standing," said Rep. Gaston Cantens, R-Sweetwater, sponsor of the House measure. "That will not change."  "What we are trying to accomplish is to (prevent) someone form Miami filing and initiating a complaint or litigation on a permit that is being issued in Pensacola," Cantens continued.  Opponents, a laundry list of groups including the Sierra Club's Florida chapter, say the legislation unduly insulates developers from public scrutiny.  "It's shameful that they are doing this," said Fran Stallings, director of the Florida Conservation Project for the International Wildlife Coalition. "They are doing their damnedest to prevent citizens from challenging the decisions of government."   Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved

Editorial: Manatee compromise has merit:  Measure adopted by Florida House should become law
A compromise manatee-protection bill adopted by the Florida House marks a major advance in balancing competing interests in this heated debate, and deserves to become law.  Now the Senate needs to adopt a similar measure.  Rep. Lindsay Harrington's original bill, which was strongly pro-boater, has been modified to accommodate environmentalists, especially the Save the Manatee Club.  The compromises sound sensible. If the bill becomes law, it will recognize that human interests have to be taken more carefully into account as the state tries to protect the lumbering marine mammals, which are vulnerable to collision with boats. We also hope their success in the Legislature this year will help the boating movement rein in some of its more extreme anti-manatee elements. The public wants manatees protected, and we believe most boaters do as well.  The bill makes counties where manatee rules are proposed set up a committee, divided evenly between water users and manatee advocates, to review those rules.  That helps ensure a place at the table for boating interests. They rightly felt excluded when environmentalists and government agencies settled lawsuits by proposing major new boating restrictions to protect manatees.  It was the sweeping restrictions in those settlements that triggered an angry counterattack by boaters and produced Harrington's legislation.  Boating interests agreed to give up on a process in the bill for reviewing existing manatee rules. That's good. This is no time for sweeping new restrictions, or the dismantling of existing ones.  We need better scientific information about the manatee population and how many losses it can sustain. By some measures, manatees appear to be increasing, but the counts fluctuate wildly.  Credit Harrington with pushing hard to right the balance between boater rights and manatee protection. The Punta Gorda Republican started out aggressively, pushing the the bill through the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Committee, which he chairs. But when the time came to give a little, he fostered a useful compromise.  Senators and the governor should support this bill or similar legislation. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Bills make environmentalists howl: The bills at issue tap the land buying fund and limit billboard rules and development challenges.
Environmentalists were crying foul Wednesday over several proposals moving forward in the final days of the legislative session. State House members passed a bill that bars people from challenging development proposals that don't directly affect them.  State senators have a budget proposal that critics say robs money from a popular environmental preservation program.  And a bill that could make it considerably more expensive for local communities to restrict billboards is headed to the governor.  Wednesday began with environmental leaders denouncing a Senate plan to divert $150-million in reserves from the Preservation 2000 land buying program and spend the money on public education. Floridians in 1998 overwhelmingly put the land buying program into the state Constitution, and critics of the Senate budget contend that even diverting reserve money from that pot amounts to a sellout.  "Environmental programs make up only 3 percent of the state's annual budget," said Stephanie Culp, lobbyist for the Trust for Public Land. "Land buying programs should not take this big a hit." It was the latest effort by the Senate to increase spending for education and social services, the subject of a standoff with the House. Supporters of the move say the money otherwise would sit in a bank.  "We're not sacrificing one for the other," said Sen. Ron Silver, D-North Miami Beach, who supports the move. "We've got to get the money from somewhere."  Gov. Jeb Bush said the Senate action jeopardizes his priority of setting aside a reliable source of money for the Everglades. "I urge the Legislature to reconsider," Bush said.  Later in the day, it was House members who were feeling the wrath of environmentalists, passing a bill, 71-46, to prevent people not directly affected by a development from challenging it. Supporters say it would, for instance, stop a gadfly in the Panhandle from thwarting development in the Tampa Bay area. Critics say the bill, which has made little progress in the Senate, makes it harder for Floridians to have a say on the environment.  "You're telling the people to 'shut up. You no longer have a right to speak,' " complained state Rep. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.  Established nonprofit environmental groups registered in Florida could challenge a development if the group had at least 25 members in the county where the development is proposed.  Also Wednesday, lawmakers passed a bill to require local governments to pay "just compensation" to billboard owners forced to remove signs. It also sets up an arbitration system.  Senate sponsor Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, called it "a property rights issue," and noted that 39 other states have similar laws.  The bill exempts local governments involved in litigation with billboard companies before January 2001, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, St. Petersburg, Tampa and Clearwater.
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Tax Dispute May Doom Growth Management Bill
Growth management legislation that Gov. Jeb Bush considers one of his top priorities may be doomed again this year because of a dispute over taxes.  A bill that cleared the House Thursday did not include a provision sought by the Senate that would give local governments new taxing power.  The House dropped that provision and sent the bill (CS SB 1906) back to the upper chamber on a 70-49 vote.  There is little disagreement over a provision that would require local governments to include schools in their comprehensive plans to remedy overcrowding.  The dispute centers on Senate President John McKay's insistence that the legislation let county governments and school boards levy local option sales taxes without referendums as required by existing law. The taxes pay for school construction and other infrastructure to keep with growth.  House Speaker Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, was just as adamant that such taxes should be imposed only by voters. Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

St. Petersburg Man Arrested for Killing Alligator
Authorities have arrested a 26-year-old man for catching an alligator in a local lake and killing it at a friend's house for food, officials said.  Gregory LaPrete, 26, of St. Petersburg, was charged Wednesday with unlawful killing of an alligator, a third-degree felony. He was released on his own recognizance late Wednesday from the Pinellas County Jail.  LaPrete's estranged wife videotaped him catching the 6-foot alligator in Viking Lake with a fishing pole on Sept. 15, 2000, investigators said. He reeled it to the shore where a friend helped him tie it up and tape its mouth, officials said. He brought it to a friend's house and slit the animals throat in the bathtub, then skinned it and split the meat with his friend, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday. Lisa LaPrete turned the tape over to authorities after their relationship soured.  Gregory LaPrete's mother, Debbie Preble, said her son would not kill an alligator.  "If anything, he'd want to own it and make a home for it with a pool," she said.  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that 4,000 alligators, which are classified as a species of special concern, are removed by nuisance trappers and 2,000 alligators are hunted each year.  

Note: "The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that 4,000 alligators, which are classified as a species of special concern, are removed by nuisance trappers and 2,000 alligators are hunted each year." Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune / Associated Press  All rights reserved.

Editorial: More Farm Subsidies Are Bad News

A n effort is under way in Congress to divert money from conservation efforts to provide more subsidies to Midwestern farmers.  Such a move would waste tax dollars, undermine market forces and jeopardize natural lands, particularly in Florida.  At issue is the Farm Conservation Fund, which compensates farmers who set aside environmentally valuable land. This is appropriate since the public benefits from such stewardship.  Since Congress included a conservation program in the 1985 farm bill, more than 36 million acres have been set aside for conservation purposes. Biologists say this has been critical to protecting many species, especially waterfowl. But Congress has cut back on the conservation effort in recent years. And this year Midwestern interests are mounting a furious campaign to increase subsidies for grain and soybean farmers. The additional payments would be taken from conservation funding.  The proposed subsidy boost would cause the nation to violate international trade agreements limiting agricultural subsidies and thus would badly damage free trade efforts.  Paying for land preservation, in contrast, does not count against the ceiling on subsidies.  The conservation funds can be used to protect habitat, improve water quality, restore wetlands and buffer farmland from development and are particularly important in states such as Florida, where farms are being squeezed off the landscape by development. Florida has $35 million in unmet requests for such funding.  Compensating farmers for preserving valuable resources has proved effective, economical and just. Members of Congress should protect this worthy conservation effort - and free trade - and resist the temptation to lavish tax dollars on a few select farming interests. Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

20-Mar-02

Fla. Negotiators Continue Water Talks

One day after saying negotiations had reached an impasse, Florida officials said Tuesday they would continue talks with Georgia and Alabama over a water-sharing agreement. Florida, Alabama and Georgia have been trying since 1997 to develop water-use proposals for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system to determine how much water is available to each for drinking, industry and recreation. Alabama and Florida officials argue that Georgia takes too much water from rivers flowing into neighbor states. But Georgia wants to make sure it has enough water for future growth. On Monday, Florida negotiators said the were pulling out of the talks.  Copyright  © 2002  NY Times, AP online  All rights reserved.

U.S. Acts to Shrink Endangered Species Habitats

The Bush administration, under pressure from lawsuits by real estate developers, is urging federal judges to roll back legal protections for nearly two dozen populations of endangered species around the country. In an effort to resolve as many as a dozen cases against them, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, two agencies that enforce the Endangered Species Act, are asking federal courts in California to rescind millions of acres of protected habitat for whipsnakes in the state's northern grasslands, rare birds in the scrublands to the south, fairy shrimp in shallow pools along the coast and salmon among the rivers, estuaries and shorelines of four Western states. The administration is also questioning whether to preserve the "critical habitat" designations that safeguard millions of acres for about 10 other endangered species, from the Mexican spotted owl to the California red-legged frog, signaling a widespread shift in environmental policy that has consoled developers and incensed environmentalists. "The Bush administration is voluntarily waving the white flag," said Joel Reynolds, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has intervened in a Los Angeles federal court on behalf of the California gnatcatcher, a tiny brush bird. "It is a significant step in the wrong direction for wildlife protection," Mr. Reynolds said, arguing that the administration's willingness to concede in these cases could indicate it is inclined to do so in future lawsuits. Copyright  © 2002  NY Times, AP online  All rights reserved.

Pro-boat manatee House bill mitigated
A revised version of a Florida House of Representatives manatee
protection bill will become the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act - if the
Senate passes an identical bill. Boating-rights advocates and manatee advocates hammered out a series of compromises that led Friday to the passage of the House bill by a
108-to-1 vote. In its original form, the bill, sponsored by Rep. Lindsay Harrington,
R-Punta Gorda, was strongly pro-boater and rankled manatee advocates.
"We flat told them, 'We're going to sit here and punch out a bill, and
you won't be on board, and we want you on board. If you come on board,
we can work this thing out,'" Harrington said, referring to manatee
advocates. "We've put in a lot of work on this. From the (March 2001)
meeting with Standing Watch to where we are today, we've come 1,000
miles, with hundreds of thousands of man hours, and travel, and
meetings."
 Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Scientists try to track down mysterious black water in bay
A mysterious mass of black water has been sighted off the Keys this week, perplexing fishermen and sending local scientists scurrying for their test tubes. "It's big, it's black and we have no idea what it is," said Brian Keller, science coordinator for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "It seems to resemble discolored water similar to that of water discolored by tannic acid from mangroves. Keller said it not a red tide bloom and there have been no reports of extensive fish kills. "Fishermen are saying this is something very different from anything they've ever seen," he said. The water mass, which was estimated to be about 40 miles by 100 miles when it was first sighted in January in northern parts of the Gulf of Mexico, has been reported by fishermen to be south of the Marquesas and in Sanctuary waters outside of Key West, Keller said. The water does not have the viscosity of an oil slick, but it appears to contain filamentous material, he said, adding that it could be a mass a dense bloom of phytoplankton, microscopic oceanic plants responsible for about 40 percent of the photosynthesis on the plant. Keller said a plane was sent out earlier this week to try and obtain an aerial sighting of the mass, but it could not be found, possibly due to the angle of the sun or wind conditions.

Copyright  © 2002  Keys news  All rights reserved.

 

'Bad' water in the Gulf still eludes scientists

A mysterious, gargantuan blob of black-tinged water is drifting west of the Florida Keys. That's the report from commercial fishermen, whose passages through a swath of what they indelicately describe as ''snotty water'' or ''sewer water'' staining the emerald Gulf of Mexico have scientists scrambling for answers and trying to confirm its existence. While it certainly looks and sounds ominous, alarming even the saltiest of Conch fishermen, the dark mass hasn't left an obvious trail of dead sea life, and one probable explanation points to something natural, if unpleasant -- an explosion of some variety of microscopic algae, something akin to red tide but apparently without the toxic effect on fish. ''I can only characterize it at this stage as a likely plankton bloom,'' said Brian Keller, science coordinator for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. ``We don't yet have an analysis that can tell us the type of plankton that are causing the bloom.'' Algae outbreaks, not well understood, are common problems in Florida Bay and along the Southwest Florida coast. But no one has seen anything like the mass first spotted in late January off Marco Island by a fisherman who described it as a large area of ``black water with gelatinous blobs at the surface.''

Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

Saunders hopes House will stop move to remove land funding

State Sen. Burt Saunders is looking to the Florida House of
Representatives to undo what his peers did Monday. The Senate
tentatively agreed to remove $150 million from the Florida Forever land
buying program in the state budget. "It's a major issue," said Saunders, R-Naples.
In Southwest Florida, the program and its predecessor, Preservation
2000, conserved thousands of acres, including: Cayo Costa State Park;
Much of the 24,000-acre Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed;
The 8,441-acre Estero Bay Aquatic & State Buffer Preserve, where the state spent nearly $32
million in 2000 to save more than 1,200 environmentally sensitive acres
from development; The 14,000-acre Charlotte Harbor Flatwoods; and Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. "We'd like to see the money go toward land acquisition as it was meant
to," said Kathalyn Gaither, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, the state agency that runs the program. Saunders was the only senator to speak against the amendment.
Copyright  © 2002  The News-Press. All rights reserved.

Experts to discuss regional stormwater management problems

Southwest Florida water experts are meeting today in Fort Myers to
discuss options for dealing with regional stormwater management
problems, including the possibility of resuscitating a utility tax.
The meeting will take place 2 p.m. at 2180 W. First St. and is being
coordinated by Southwest Florida Watershed Council. The Watershed
Council monitors local water resources and is made up of members from
environmental groups, government agencies, private business, research
science and the public. Presentations will be given by Florida Association of Stormwater
Utilities, Lee County, Environmental Protection Agency and South Florida
Water Management District. Sarasota County officials will also attend the meeting to discuss
Sarasota's stormwater utility. Property owners there are assessed a tax
that pays for flood control and water quality improvements. Lee County tried a similar approach more than a decade ago when commissioners implemented a stormwater utility. That effort failed after many residents complained about the utility tax. The county refunded the paid taxes and axed the utility.
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Researchers investigate 'black water' phenomenon

MARATHON — Researchers from Mote Marine Laboratory took samples Tuesday of what may be the black water phenomenon reported by Southwest Florida fishermen. Scientists speculate that the water held together when it was in deeper areas of Florida Bay but began breaking up and dissipating as it reached the shallows off the Keys. Samples researchers took Tuesday were in water they said was unusually dark.  "Goodness gracious," said Erich Bartels, a biologist with Mote, "seven feet of water and you can't see the bottom." That was in water that is usually postcard turquoise with clear water in the shallow parts. This was mostly blackish green and pea green at smaller depths. Fishermen who'd watched the mass of water hold together and move south from off Marco Island toward the Keys said it looked diluted to about 10 percent its original strength. At one point, fish spotter pilots estimated the black water covered at least 40 square miles in Florida Bay.

Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Florida Tech Lecture Explores Fish Habitats, Populations
MELBOURNE, FLA. March 20, 2002 - Catching magnificent fish like tarpon,
snook, largemouth bass and grouper is a goal and dream of every Florida
angler. While they may learn much about where to fish, what tackle to
use and how to entice the fish to bite, most people who fish know little
about the fish themselves. To better understand local sport fish, the Florida Tech College of
Science and Liberal Arts presents "Florida Tech Research on Sport Fishery
Species," a lecture on April 11, 7-8 p.m., in the F.W. Olin Life Sciences
Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public. Biological sciences faculty members Dr. Jonathan Shenker and Dr. Ralph Turingan will present an overview of their research and give participants the opportunity to look through some windows they have opened into the
lives and habitats of these fish. They will use live fish exhibits, demonstrations of lab and field techniques, and multimedia support to describe their research. Read more...
Florida Institute of Technology
http://www.fit.edu/

19-Mar-02

Editorial: 
Juggling of funds ill-advised Conservation, environmental money in jeopardy
The Legislature is about to conduct a sneak attack on two of Florida's most important conservation funds, and legislators need to be warned about it and urged to oppose this move.  Many lawmakers may not know about an 11th-hour budget amendment inserted into the budget in the Senate without notice or discussion. It would take $100 million from a debt reserve fund that secures bonds for Preservation 200 and and its successor Florida Forever, the state's successful and widely admired land-conservation programs. The money would be used to service debts other than conservation or the environment. So far the House does not have such a proposal in its budget, but a similar $75 million raid on debt reserves made into last year's state budget. This money is dedicated to securing bonds for the land purchases or ultimately for additional conservation purchases. It's conservation money, and should be used for that purpose, as promised to voters. The Senate also proposes a $20 million raid on the state's Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund, which pays for conservation land management and operations at the state's award-winning park system.  This is not normal juggling of money from one fund to the other in the budget process. It betrays a trust, a promise to the people to protect their land for them and future generations. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

President Bush backs tough curbs on off-road vehicles in Big Cypress
The Bush administration has sided with environmental groups in the fight over off-road vehicles at Big Cypress National Preserve, filing a forceful legal brief in favor of restrictions imposed under President Clinton.  The decision heartened environmentalists, who had feared the new administration would bow to the wishes of the conservative hunting groups that opposed the restrictions.  "It's terrific news," said Mary Munson, South Florida representative of the National Parks Conservation Association. "For a while, we weren't sure the new administration was going to stand behind the plan." But the hunters' groups that filed suit in federal court to overturn the restrictions are continuing the legal fight, saying the new rules have ruined their way of life.  "It's been virtually a ghost town in many areas of the preserve," said Barbara Jean Powell, spokeswoman for the Everglades Coordinating Council, which represents several hunting clubs. "The entire social fabric we have enjoyed for so many years has been destroyed by the ORV plan."  The use of motorized vehicles in wilderness areas has emerged as one of the most contentious environmental issues in years. There have been fights over snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, all-terrain vehicles in western deserts and personal watercraft along the coasts.  Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Editorial
Pass Everglades bond plan

The Legislature is about to do more for Everglades restoration than the governor who claims to be the Everglades' champion. Last week, the House unanimously approved a plan that would provide $100 million a year in bonds to help pay the state's share of the $8.4 billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The money, to be raised over 10 years, would go to buy land, the state's main responsibility under the plan, which over 20 to 30 years is to increase the water supply for the environment and new residents of South Florida. The Senate was supposed to pass similar legislation Monday, but the bill is caught up in wider budget negotiations with the House. Gov. Bush never has matched his stated commitment to restoring the Everglades with a financial commitment. He submitted a beg-borrow-and-steal formula two years ago, then replaced it this year with an equally unreliable proposal. Though a special South Florida Water Management District tax -- $10 per year for a $125,000 house with homestead exemption -- is allowing the water-quality phase of Everglades repair work to succeed, the governor opposed new district taxes for the water-quantity phase. He also opposed  bond money for land acquisition, saying that the water district has enough money and that the state can't afford to take on the debt.  Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

 

Senate boss diverts $150 million from land-buying fund
Supporters consider it a potential $150 million boost for ailing public schools. Critics call it short-term thinking that will reap ecological problems a decade from now. Either way, a move by Senate President John McKay to divert cash from a fund that pays for environmental land buying programs has a familiar ring. The Bradenton Republican diverted $75 million last year for the same area of the state budget. This year's transfer is subtler, but it's not making environmentalists or Gov. Jeb Bush any happier.  "It's not going to hit anybody this year," said Sue Mullins, a lobbyist for The Nature Conservancy. "Taking it now is going to be a big hit at the end of 10 years, when Florida land prices are going to be outrageous."  The Senate proposed diverting $100 million last week from a $286 million fund that was set aside to guarantee the state's minimum payment on $3 billion the state borrowed to buy environmentally sensitive lands under the Preservation 2000 program. On Monday, the Senate temporarily agreed to increase the transfer to $150 million after Sen. Charlie Clary, R-Destin, passed an amendment on a voice vote. Clary said he was certain the move could be done without violating any laws governing the bond payments.  "These were reserve funds," Clary said. "My understanding is that this does not violate any of these promises."  McKay and some of his top lieutenants want to take the cash and replace it with a type of insurance policy called "surety bonds." The surety bonds also would guarantee that the state will make its minimum payment on the debt but the surety bonds can be had for pennies on the dollar.
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Scientists eager to learn about big fish: They hope to track the path of the 40-year-old: a rare sturgeon found washed up Friday.
To the untrained eye, it is a large and strange-looking fish. To scientists, it is a gem.Marine biologists and others are dazzled over the discovery of the largest sturgeon found in the Tampa Bay area since 1897, and one of only a handful found here in the last century. "It's truly a living relic," said Daniel Roberts, a research scientist at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg, where a necropsy was performed Monday on the sturgeon. "Most people have never seen any of these fish. They're very rare." Now researchers are trying to learn how the fish got here. Did it take an incredibly bad turn, or are the prehistoric-looking creatures making a comeback in this region? Biologists do not know what killed the sturgeon, which washed up Friday in a Shore Acres neighborhood. The fish, a 40-year-old female, was plump with 10 pounds of ripe, black eggs -- high-quality caviar, which would have brought an estimated $6,500. Marine biologists are curious about the origin of this particular fish. They have long believed the sturgeon, plentiful in the Gulf of Mexico before 1900, disappeared from the Tampa Bay area. "We have been assuming that the Tampa Bay stocks are gone," said Roberts, 52, also director of a sturgeon habitat study by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "We just thought there weren't any more, that they couldn't live here anymore, and to find one, especially a big ripe female, is exciting." In the late 1800s, more flesh and caviar from sturgeon was harvested in Tampa Bay than any other fishery port in the Gulf of Mexico, including New Orleans. Since then, the sturgeon has been threatened with extinction, killed off by overfishing, dams and pollution. Sturgeon are known to migrate from January to April and spawn in freshwater -- the Mississippi, Pearl, Escambia, Yellow, Choctawhatchee, Apalachicola and Suwannee rivers. Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Miracle of life
Spring officially begins Wednesday, but you don't have to tell that to the wildlife in Savannas Preserve State Park. Several bird species are nesting in the park. Great blue herons, an hingas and egrets have eggs or hatchlings in their nests. This sandhill crane is caring for an egg in its nest near the park's center for visitors on Walton Rod. Sandhill carane usually lay one or two eggs per year and they usually hatch in Mach. Some hatchlings already have been spotted. [Note: This item is not available online.]
Savannas Preserve State Park, Port St. Lucie, Florida.
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/district5/savannas/index.asp
Savannas Preserve State Park - Photo Album
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/district5/savannas/info/photo.htm

Letter to the editor:
Jupiter decision may put Loxahatchee River at risk

The Loxahatchee River which once meandered 32 miles through a majestic
forest, has been reduced to a short but beautiful 4-mile stretch ending
in Jonathan Dickinson State Park. If developers' plans prevail
("Development in Jupiter raises questions," Feb. 16), even this meager remnant will be
sacrificed for the profits of a few corporations. The river's demise will be the town of Jupiter's authorization allowing WCI to build a massive 800-acre multipurpose development adjacent to the river on an area called Parcel 19. The water demands and polluted runoff
produced by a project of this magnitude so close to the river would all but
choke, poison and, in the end, kill the river.
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Judge sides with company in case involving Peace River

A state administrative judge sided with a phosphate mining company
seeking a permit to expand its operation on the Peace River. Lee County had signed on to a lawsuit against IMC Phosphates Company last June, citing concerns about how the mining operation would impact Lee's shoreline and fishing. "It's disappointing, but the process is not over yet," said Tom Wright, assistant Lee County attorney. Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David B. Struhs must now decide whether to accept the judge's recommendation and issue the permit. "We have felt all along that our actions were fully consistent with state laws and department rules," Struhs said. "At the same time, we constantly look at ways to do better in all areas." Struhs said DEP is doing an internal review of the phosphate mining process. The opposition to the mine expansion - Manasota-88 Inc., an
environmental group; Peace River and Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority; the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida; and Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties - claimed the state failed to adequately study the regional impact of the expansion.
Copyright  © 2002  The News-Press. All rights reserved.

 

Scientists eager to learn about big fish
They hope to track the path of the 40-year-old: a rare sturgeon found washed up Friday. Monday's necropsy did not reveal the cause of the sturgeon's death,
but scientists hope tissue samples will help determine its origin. ST. PETERSBURG -- To the untrained eye, it is a large and strange-looking fish. To scientists, it is a gem. Marine biologists and others are dazzled over the discovery of the largest sturgeon found in the Tampa Bay area since 1897, and one of only a handful found here in the last century. "It's truly a living relic," said Daniel Roberts, a research scientist at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg, where a necropsy was performed Monday on the sturgeon. "Most people have never seen any of these fish. They're very rare." Now researchers are trying to learn how the fish got here. Did it take an incredibly bad turn, or are the prehistoric-looking creatures making a comeback in this region? Biologists do not know what killed the sturgeon, which washed up Friday in a Shore Acres neighborhood. The fish, a 40-year-old female, was plump with 10 pounds of ripe, black eggs -- high-quality caviar, which would have brought an estimated $6,500.
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

18-Mar-02

Editorial: The public's business 
The Legislature, preoccupied with redistricting, not too busy to try to gut public records laws.
The Florida Legislature started out early and dangerously, battering the state's cherished tradition of open public records with 99 new bills to exempt records. With one week left in the session, the public's supposed representatives are scurrying to avoid the public's increasing awareness that lawmakers are trying to gut more than a century of state open-records policy. Not content just with the potential damage, lawmakers are going about their dirty work arrogantly. For starters, consider that there was no public testimony allowed before the Senate Governmental Oversight Committee last Monday, an order that came down from the committee's chairman, Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Miami. He also contributed an amendment to exempt any document that might reveal where public officials live. Because of redistricting, all political boundaries will shift this year, and some incumbents want to retain their seat without the annoyance of actually having to live in the district they represent.Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Editorial
Public must have say in development Citizens' challenges of building permits haven't hurt growth
An assault on citizens' ability to challenge government actions -  specifically the permitting of developments - has been blunted, but some bad legislation on the matter is still lurking in the Legislature. SB 270 and HB 819 would limit the number of challenges allowed to people seeking to stop an environmental permit. They would also make it more difficult for people or groups outside the area to challenge agency decisions on a permit. The bills are backing by the building and development industries, who say challenges are used to clog the process.  But the process is there to allow public scrutiny, debate and reaction in an area of critical importance to Florida. That process is hardly preventing development in Florida (look around you), and in fact a tiny percentage of permits are challenged.  Nope, the real reason for these bills is to restrict the citizen's right to take part in the governing process.  They are bad bills, even after being loosened a bit. Urge your legislators to vote against them.
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Crikey, northern most croc is in Sanibel
What a croc - 11 feet long, 500 pounds, maybe 30 years old, and because her home is at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, probably the northernmost American crocodile in the world.  She's also well-traveled.  When Bokeelia residents reported that a big crocodile was swimming around the area in May 1986, a state crocodile expert captured and moved her 70 miles south to Collier-Seminole State Park. Six months later, however, she was back in Lee County, hanging mainly around the refuge.  American crocodiles are an endangered species, and their entire population lives on Florida's Southwest and Southeast coasts.  "From the research I've done, she's the most northerly specimen of her kind," said Rob Loflin, Sanibel's natural resources director. "Nowhere on either coast do crocodiles go farther north. She really is in the vanguard of her species range." Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Will Everglades plan deliver all it promises?
The World's Biggest Restoration is still a gazillion documents on the Web, struggling to become more than virtual reality.  Hundreds of state and federal employees are at work, planning how to spend billions of your dollars to restore the Everglades and expand South Florida's water supply. They're holding enough public meetings every week to dizzy even the most dedicated eco-groupie. They've bought enough land to fill five Manhattans -- and have nine more to go. But when will the Everglades be saved? Not even the people in charge can say.  They're still trying to define what "saved" means.  It has been 16 months since the White House approved the $8.4 billion state-federal plan to restore the Everglades and South Florida's other waterways. But it will be four years until the project creates its first reservoir, and the full restoration won't be done until 2036. That's if all goes well.  For now, the groups that pushed the plan through Congress are feuding over what it will accomplish, and who will gain: Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Editorial
Development Is Killing Florida Keys
A team of scientists has concluded that a $6 million study on the impact of more development in the Florida Keys is unreliable.  The governor and Cabinet designated the Keys an area of critical state concern in 1974 and put some restrictions on construction. But the modest restraints did little to slow growth.  The state ordered the disputed study to determine the Keys' future development ``carrying-capacity.'' The National Research Council's review found the study's computer model used incomplete and outdated information and made inaccurate assumptions.  The study's chief flaw was that it did not accurately reflect the impacts of building and tourism on marine resources. The council found the study ignored the high levels of human waste routinely detected in canals and along beaches. The coral reefs, which underpin the Keys' billion-dollar tourism industry, are in grave danger. Some are dying.  Despite some modest conservation measures, development continues to pave over the Keys.  George Dalrymple, a Homestead biologist who was part of the review committee, put it well: ``I think the [council] recognizes the Keys are just about at or beyond thresholds for carrying capacity.''  The question is why state and local officials didn't recognize and do something about that fact long before now. Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

Editorial
Enlightened Water Strategy Is Working Fine In Brandon Area
So much water was pumped from public wellfields in Pasco County that private wells went bad, swamps dried up, lakes disappeared and property owners were outraged. Those mistakes are not being repeated, which explains the lack of controversy over the wells that have started producing water from deep beneath the Brandon suburbs.  Called the Brandon Urban Dispersed Wells project, the five wells will provide 6 million gallons a day without environmental harm. One well has been producing 2 million gallons a day for Hillsborough County, and two others recently started providing about 1 million gallons a day each to Tampa Bay Water, the regional organization that provides water to customers in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. Another Brandon well is in the testing phase and a fifth will begin producing water in a few months.  The old ``water ranch'' philosophy of pumping huge amounts from small areas has been discredited, says Michelle Robinson of the water authority. Now the approach is to draw smaller amounts from broader areas.  Close monitoring allows the pumping to be slowed or stopped at the first indication of environmental damage. The new wells are part of the solution to the growing area's increasing thirst, and their quiet arrival is evidence of a more enlightened approach to the management of limited water resources.  Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune / Associated Press  All rights reserved.

Heavy Fines Levied in First Tortugas Reserve Violations
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) attorneys have issued citations totaling $112,000 in the first eight cases against vessels charged with poaching in the protected waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Tortugas Ecological Reserve.  "We hope the substantial penalties in these cases send the message that NOAA will not stand by while an unscrupulous few raid the waters of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve," said sanctuary superintendent Billy Causey. "We thank our partners, the United States Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, for their assistance in ensuring that law abiding citizens will see the reserve's benefits become a reality."  Four of the eight cases involve shrimp boats observed by a United States Coast Guard cutter in the Tortugas North section of the reserve on January 22 and 24. More than four tons of shrimp were seized from the four boats and sold by authorities. On January 26 and February 1, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers made cases against four vessels fishing for reef fish such as snapper and grouper in the protected area. Over a ton of mixed reef fish were seized from these boats and sold.  "The Tortugas reserve was established through a collaborative process in which commercial fishermen played a major role. The commercial fishing industry has had plenty of time to learn about the regulations," said NOAA attorney Robin Jung. "These cases should serve as a warning. In the future, penalties will most likely be even higher." Regulations in the federal waters of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve took effect March 8, 2001, and rules in state waters followed on July 1, 2001. The entire reserve is closed to fishing and anchoring. Vessels may enter Tortugas North via a free, no-paperwork access permit. Visitors may dive in Tortugas North, and mooring buoys are available.  Vessels may enter Tortugas South only if they maintain continuous transit through the area with fishing gear stowed. Diving and snorkeling are prohibited.  For more information on the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, visit the sanctuary's website at: http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov Copyright  © 2002  Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved.

 

Mangroves a protected part of Florida's ecosystem
Unauthorized trimming can mean fines, or worse.
As director of the Southeast District office of he Department of
Environmental Protection, I have the unpleasant task of signing many
letters advising residents and business owners that they have broken an
environmental law. Regrettably, fines are required in some of these
cases. A DEP staff member recently placed such a letter on my desk suggesting a
$5,000 fine against new residents on the Loxahatchee River for trimming
mangrove trees. Unfortunately, these new residents didn't know that mangrove trees are
protected in Florida. "Why didn't somebody tell us?" they asked. While
they were provided information about garbage collection and told how to sort
their recyclable waste, they received no direct information about
regulations governing mangrove trimming. Sadly, the 30-year-old trees in
their back yards were dismembered with the necessary permits.
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

 

17-Mar-02

Ranches vanish fast
The hired hands are milling around the barn in the gray light of dawn,  getting ready for another day in the saddle, when Jennings Overstreet pulls up. In this rustic corner of Osceola County, miles from the rush-hour masses swarming to the north, morning is unfolding to an almost-forgotten rhythm  amid the smells of sweet hay, leather and damp earth. A dog barks at the stir of activity; the horses snort and shuffle impatiently. Down on Lake Tohopekaliga, in front of the house Overstreet's father built in 1935 for $800, a flock of sandhill cranes feeds noisily. The exuberant trumpeting all but drowns out the dripping of last night's rain from the live-oak canopy overhead.  Overstreet joins the other men to hurry the horses onto a trailer that will carry them south to Rough Island. He had hoped to round up all the cows there yesterday, but rain set them back.  The 67-year-old cattleman will be on his feet -- or in the saddle -- until well after dark, heading home, bone-weary, at about 9 p.m. Few men like Overstreet still roam the pastures of Central Florida, and the fourth-generation rancher knows he's playing out the last chapters of 125 years of family history in Osceola County.But so many things have changed. Florida lost nearly 5 million acres of agricultural land to development -- about 14 percent of the entire state -- between 1964 and 1997, when Orlando grew from cow town to theme-park metropolis. Another 1.3 million acres will be houses, office parks and strip centers by 2010.  Every year, the city creeps a little closer to Overstreet's faraway corner of Osceola. With metro Orlando gaining 115 residents a day, the suburbs are bulging onto vast stretches of open range that cattlemen have used for centuries.  And developers keep looking farther out, dangling multimillion-dollar offers in front of ranchers weary of mounting regulation, rising costs and the wild swings in beef prices.Copyright  © 2002 orlandosentinel.  All rights reserved. 

Okeechobee rising, recovering: Parts of lake healthy again after problems
Lake Okeechobee's recent history reads like an excerpt from "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."  First the lake was too high. Then it was too low. Now it's just right - or at least parts of it are getting there.  Take, for example, an eelgrass bed near the northwest shore of the lake, a 730-square-mile watery wonderland east of Fort Myers.  Two years ago, the water was so high that native plants died and muck carpeted the sandy soil, making the water milkshake-like and shooing away fish. The horizon was void of boats because anglers couldn't catch anything. Not a dragonfly was in sight. A year ago, the same spot was dry and barren. Water releases from the lake followed by a drought left it exposed. Nothing grew on the baked chocolate-brown dirt.  Now it's just right.  Eelgrass - a native plant also called wild celery - hovers below the surface. Bass use it for cover. Some waterfowl chow on it.  Insects chirp and buzz around. Boaters come to fish. Pockets of recovery like that found at the eelgrass bed southeast of Buckhead Ridge have scientists crowing about a Big O recovery. "This shows the resilience of the lake," said Don Fox, who for 20 years has ferreted out information about the lake and monitored it as a biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.  The lake, essentially, has had bypass surgery after a near-death experience. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Editorial
Growth Brings Real Challenges
Everyone knows Florida is a fast-growing state, but new projections suggest its population is rising much faster than experts thought possible. Coping with that growth will be an enormous challenge. The time to start was yesterday. New estimates from the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research chart the future with some startling numbers:  Now No. 4 in population among the 50 states, Florida is poised to pass New York for the No. 3 spot by 2024, behind only California and Texas.  Broward County will have the largest population increase of all 67 counties in Florida, adding almost 940,000 people from 2000 to 2030. That will boost it from 1.6 million to almost 2.6 million.  Miami-Dade County will have the second largest population increase by 2030, almost 895,000 people, boosting its population to 3.2 million.  And Palm Beach County will be No. 3 in growth, adding 728,000 people, for a total of 1.6 million.  The 780 new people coming to Florida every day for 30 years will have an enormous impact, pro and con. On the plus side, growth is a sign of community health. It means new workers, jobs, businesses, products and an expanding economy and tax base.  Many newcomers invigorate the community with their presence. They bring positive values, entrepreneurial talents, intelligence, dedication to community betterment, philanthropic generosity and religious faith. They make for good neighbors, co-workers and friends.  Growth means expanded political clout, in Congress and the Electoral College, and a larger share of federal funds linked to population.  But the newcomers bring tough challenges too. Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Editorial
Farm bill must be fair to Florida
In the critical final days of congressional horse-trading over a new farm bill, Florida could be one of the big losers. Here is why: Both political parties and both houses of Congress are competing to boost subsidies for commodity farmers in key Midwestern states, hoping to sway voters. To pay for their extravagances, they are cutting other agricultural programs, such as conservation spending, that are of more benefit to Florida farmers. In Florida, farmers are paid to retire some of their land from agriculture, give up development rights or use environmentally friendly farming practices. Such programs help the farmers and the state's fragile environment. The Democrat-controlled Senate would allocate $380-million for such programs in Florida, $125-million more than in the Republican- controlled House bill. The Senate bill also has conservation reforms that would help Florida, which is under heavy development pressure.  The Senate would seem to be in the driver's seat on the issue, but Democratic leaders appear ready to give too much. To increase payments to corn, wheat and soybean farmers, some Senate Democrats would cut the conservation programs and give up on reform. That would be costly to Florida. Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson should do what they can to maintain balance in the final farm bill. Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Dead in the Water: Enron's grab for Florida's water was factor in collapse

While Jeb Bush was running for Florida's governor in the summer of 1998, Enron Corp., a fast-growing Houston energy broker, was diversifying into a potentially lucrative new field — privatization of water supplies. Even as Bush's secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection was settling into his office in February 1999, top executives of Enron's new water venture, Azurix Corp., were seeking audiences with the new governor and his DEP chief David Struhs. Although Bush generally kept his distance from Azurix, his man Struhs stood on the sidelines like a cheerleader throughout Enron-Azurix's unsuccessful two-year attempt to privatize Florida's water market. Struhs promoted two ideas near and dear to Azurix: auctioning off blocks of water to the highest bidder, and boosting underground water and storing it there for later withdrawal, a process called aquifer storage and recovery, or ASR. By May 2001, as Enron was getting ready to junk Azurix and sell it for its parts, Struhs cooled on ASR, citing concerns by environmentalists and legislators. Enron's attempt to duplicate its success in energy brokerage with a free-market approach to water resulted in $900 million in Azurix debt — a factor in Enron's decision to seek protection from creditors in bankruptcy court.

Copyright  © 2002  Herald Tribune  All rights reserved.

Activists worry healing trend won't last

-- On Lake Okeechobee --
Dragonflies buzzed the surface of calm, tea-coloered water.
Black moorhens with red bills scurried across a sun-drappled channel and
ducked beneath a patch of thick bulrush. A slight breeze brushed the purple concial flowers of a pickerel weed against a yellow primerose willow. Forty miles west of the St. Lucie Estuary and 5 miles off the western shore of Lake Okeechobee, scientists Friday pointed out signs that the lake's ecosystem is returning to a healthy, balanced state. The lake's trend toward cleaner, clearer water and increased wildlife -- attributed to extended low water levels caused by drought -- has been a cause for celebration among St. Lucie Estuary activists, who say the
discharge of lake water has had catastrophic consequences. But despite the pride of water managers announcing the improved state of the lake, local environmentalist are also quick to say all is not well with the lake -- and that the Treasure Coast hasn't taking enough of the blame. Others worry the health of the estuary will be jeopardized in the future
for the benefit of the lake.
Copyright  © 2002  TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Still raising cane
George Wedgworth is a 40-year veteran of Florida’s sugar wars
By Susan Salisbury
© Palm Beach Post

George Wedgworth relishes talking about the time he decided to have a little fun with environmentalists who have opposed the powerful sugar industry in the Glades for decades. “I told them when the muck is all gone, we will build condos. They’ll be gated communities, and we will name them after you. I said it with a straight face. Then I see Charles Lee quoted in the newspaper saying, ‘We’ve got to stop this development.’ “I did it to aggravate him,” says Wedgworth, 73, who founded and heads the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. He succeeded. Lee, executive vice president of the Audubon Society of Florida, takes the idea seriously even today. “I’m not sure I agree with George Wedgworth on many things, but on the question of urban development being worse than growing sugar, we would agree on that,” he said recently. Wedgworth can’t be blamed for trying to bring some levity to the battles he’s fought as chief executive and president of the 54 grower cooperative he began in July 1960. As its chief, he has been on the front lines of the industry’s biggest political, environmental, economic and labor-related battles. Throughout, the co-op has been a stable group, with five of its original board members still serving today. Read more

16-Mar-02

Editorial
The same old song
Our position: Solving water problems but not roads and schools will
be disastrous.

Woe is Central Florida. A new study shows that within the next 30 years, Orange County will be home to as many people as now live in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties put together. And water managers are panicked -- for good reason. Unless local government officials responsibly manage growth, water resources will begin to run dry in as little as four years. Unfortunately, not a single decision-maker seems able or willing to make the connection between managing growth and staving off future water shortages. Oh, Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty and Kirby Green, who heads the St. Johns River Water Management District, recently convened a meeting of 200 elected officials and experts to discuss the pending water crisis. The focus, however, was on how to find and finance expensive new sources of drinking water, such as building a desalinization plant or purifying water from the St. Johns River. Nobody seemed much concerned about the ubridled growth such an approach encourages. Simply put, keeping the water spigot wide open without applying equal concern to adequate roads, schools and parks is courting disaster.Copyright  © 2002 orlandosentinel.  All rights reserved. 

 

Editorial:
Eye on the Everglades
A federal judge who has monitored Everglades cleanup work for more than a decade will hear Miccosukee Indian tribe claims that the state isn't meeting deadlines for the cleanup. Despite objections by the state and federal governments, U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler is correct to hear the tribe's dispute this summer. The Everglades cleanup is separate from the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration plan to replumb South Florida's water and drainage system. The cleanup story dates back to 1988, when then-U.S. Attorney Dexter Lehtinen sued the state for allowing polluted water to flow onto federal land, Everglades National Park. A 1991 settlement set deadlines for the state to remove enough phosphorus so that the water doesn't harm the Everglades. The 1994 Everglades Forever Act authorized the cleanup plan and provided the money.  The phosphorus comes from farm fertilizer and urban runoff, and the Everglades ecosystem is so sensitive that even tiny amounts of phosphorus and other nutrients can upset the balance. Too many nutrients, for example, can cause cattails to take over a wetland where marsh grasses once flourished, driving out microscopic water life, fish and birds.  Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Daltry ready to take helm of Lee's 'smart growth' effort
One resume entry tells a lot about Wayne Daltry, the longtime head of the Regional Planning Council, who recently accepted a job as smart growth coordinator for Lee County.  "Lapsed member, Mensa," it says. That Daltry would qualify for the geniuses-only organization is no surprise to those who've worked with him. That his membership lapsed is also no surprise. He's been involved in virtually every effort remotely connected to planning the future of Southwest Florida - the Regional Planning Council (RPC) he's overseen for 20 years covers the counties of Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota, Hendry and Glades - and is an active member of a long list of organizations.  It would surprise some to hear Daltry say he will no longer have to muzzle himself and can speak his mind. Though he's been plain-spoken at times, and effective in conveying the thoughts of the 34 elected officials and gubernatorial appointees that comprise the RPC, he says he's backed away from controversy.  "The best way to get an organization in trouble is for the leader to say things that are immediately unpopular," he said. And while he loves the RPC, he goes into his new job knowing his days are numbered. The job is designed to last for only two years.  "I already know I'm going to be fired," he said. "But then I'm already retired. I'm supposed to say the things that are supposed to be said."  Daltry had toyed with running for a Lee County Commission seat, but opted out of the race. His decision was part of the fallout of U.S. Rep. Porter Goss' decision to serve one last term. That meant Commissioner Andy Coy, in whose district Daltry lives, would not run for Congress but instead another term on the commission.  "I kind of like Andy," he said. "Andy's been interesting. I don't care what they say. You run against an incumbent because you don't like the incumbent." Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Lake health best in years

Lake Okeechobee Scientists with sate water and wildlife agencies agreed Friday the lake
at the hearth of South Florida' water system is the healthiest they've seen
it in almost two decades. Floating in a read airboat off King's Bar in the northwest section of
Lake Okeechobee, the environmental scientists leaned over the railing to
admire a patch of underwater pond weed  they thought no longer existed.
In the late '90s, we thought pond weed might have been eliminated from
the lake," said Carl Havens. Chief environmental scientist with the South
Florida Water Management District, "This is one of the surprises."
  Havens and Don Fox, a biological administrator with the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Commssion, said in the pst few weeks they've watched a comeback
of pond weed, which is considered one of the four most important nursery
habitats for birds, fish and insects in the area. Read more...

http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/stuart_news/

 

15-Mar-02

Citrus battle presses onward
State legislators made their decision in the bitter fight over citrus canker legislation Thursday, sending the governor a bill that gives state agriculture officials power to resume the destruction of citrus trees in South Florida. After an exhaustive debate on the rights of property owners vs. the value of protecting a key industry, the Florida House approved the measure on an 89-26 vote, with opposition coming mainly from South Florida representatives whose districts are Ground Zero in the war against canker.  The bill, which cleared the Senate earlier in the week, would authorize judges to issue search warrants for entire counties, allowing Department of Agriculture workers to go onto private property in search of citrus trees, ending a legal dispute over whether the department had that authority. Advocates defended the measure (SB 1926) as necessary to protect Florida's $9.1 billion citrus industry, which employs thousands of Floridians in jobs ranging from fertilizer truck operators to juice company executives. But many South Florida representatives characterized the bill as a dangerous step in giving government excessive access to private property.  Gov. Jeb Bush supports the bill. "This is a very serious disease to our citrus industry," said Liz Hirst, a spokeswoman for Bush. "While we have recognized the need to improve the communication with homeowners, the state must pursue stopping the spread of canker." Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Cleanup of toxic sites delayed
 Two heavily polluted industrial sites in South Florida may not be cleaned up for years because the federal Superfund program is running short of money.  It will cost an estimated $31 million to clean up cancer-causing chemicals at the old Trans Circuits site in central Palm Beach County and at the Anodyne Inc. property in northern Miami-Dade County. But funding for such cleanups has declined because the federal government has eliminated a tax on oil and chemical companies that financed the program. The Bush administration declined to reauthorize the tax in next year's budget, a decision that has drawn criticism from environmentalists.  "It almost certainly means that many hazardous sites that are abandoned will not be remedied," said David Ludder, general counsel of the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation in Tallahassee. "And there will continue to be threats to human health from these sites."  Most of the worst sites in South Florida are being cleaned up by the companies responsible for polluting them, said Jim McGuire, chief of the South Florida section of the Superfund program. The difficulty arises at abandoned sites where no responsible parties can be found to pay for the cleanup, forcing the federal government to rely on the Superfund, he said.  Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Legislature may undercut Palm Beach's move against exotic plants
Palm Beach County's efforts to root out more non-native plants could be stopped abruptly from the state Capitol.  State Rep. Richard Machek, D-Delray Beach, is proposing to make local governments statewide conform to a state list of undesirable plants, instead of setting their own.  He hopes to tack his proposal onto an agriculture bill the House already has tentatively approved. It could be up for a final House vote as soon as today. Palm Beach County already bans the planting of nine plant species and aims to eradicate them by varying deadlines. The idea is to stop the spread of plants that choke out native species and offer little benefit for wildlife -- especially in light of the county's $150 million investment in 26,000 acres of conservation land since 1990.  Many plants on the current list are widely considered pests, such as melaleuca, Brazilian pepper and Australian pine.  But now Palm Beach County staffers have proposed expanding the list to about 100 species, including popular plants like Surinam cherry, a widely used hedge, and wedelia, often used in road medians.  Existing plants would not have to be removed, but growers would be banned from selling them in the county, and property owners could be fined for planting them.  Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

 

14-Mar-02

Water Contaminants
A government analysis shows the nation's waterways are widely contaminated by traces of chemicals used in cosmetics, medications, cleaners and foods. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports. http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/me/20020314.me.05.ram

Florida's growth to hit 25 million by 2030
If you think Florida is crowded now, just wait. By 2030, the Sunshine State will be crammed with almost 25 million people, according to projections released Wednesday by the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. That's 1.5 million more people than demographers had predicted before the 2000 Census.  "We're going to see more growth more quickly,'' said UF demographer June Nogle.  Florida should replace New York as the third-largest state by 2024, she said.  Broward County is expected to have the largest population increase among Florida's 67 counties, growing by 940,000 people over the next three decades to more than 2.5 million people.  Palm Beach will grow by almost 730,000 people, to nearly 1.9 million. Miami-Dade will keep its No. 1 position with more than 3 million people, an increase of almost 900,000.  All told, South Florida will be home to more than 7.5 million people in 30 years, which is slightly smaller than the population of North Carolina.  Like it or not, accommodating so many people will be a big challenge.  Roads already are jammed. Housing prices are soaring. Schools are overwhelmed. Water resources are limited.  "It scares me to think about it,'' said Lester Goldstein, a longtime South Florida resident and president of the region's builders association.  Making sure everyone has a place to live may mean increasing densities so more people can be squeezed into developments; allowing taller buildings; and helping redevelop older, eastern areas where zoning is often haphazard and land is hard to assemble for bigger projects.Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

State bills restricted challenges to developers Conservationists defeat permit limits State bills restricted challenges to developers
Environmentalists said they hope they have staved off assaults on citizens' ability to fight developers as the 2002 session draws to a close.  Currently, any citizen can challenge a permit issued by a water management district or the state Department of Environmental Protection.   Two sets of bills would restrict who could intervene in the permitting process and make it more difficult to launch an administrative challenge to decisions by state agencies. Backed by home builders and developers, the bills were aimed at keeping anti-growth activists from gumming up the permitting process. They appeared certain until Tuesday, when sponsor Senate Majority Leader Jim King backed down, agreeing to leave the door open to some kinds of large-scale citizen appeals.  "It looks like we've blunted or stopped the worst bills," said Eric Draper, director of conservation for Audubon of Florida. "But we have to be on-guard because we can't trust the industry lobbyists. They may be able to sneak something past us."  The bills (SB 270, HB 819) would limit the number of challenges available to citizens seeking to stop an environmental permit. It also would require that opponents who live outside the area be "substantially affected" by a permit in order to challenge it.  King said he toned down the measure with a series of amendments after "three editorials, four articles and one hanging in effigy" when Sierra Club members picketed his Jacksonville office.  The bills were amended to allow environmental groups with more than 25 members in the affected county to intervene. They still prevent citizens from making a final appeal to the governor and Cabinet on decisions made by water management districts.  "The effect of this bill is the governor and Cabinet appeals route to citizens is completely cut off," said Charles Lee, a lobbyist who has represented Audubon of Florida for more than three decades.
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Panther price tag too costly
Gov. Bush and the Cabinet agreed to pay $35.4 million to Hilliard Bros. Inc. for 21,675 acres of land to help save the panther from extinction. With about 80 panthers still alive in South Florida, each panther will gain an additional 270 acres for his playground, while dreadfully poor migrant workers are living in squalid quarters, some nearly packed together like sardines. Imagine how far $35.4 million would go to relieve the misery of poor people.  During a year when our state government has experienced revenue shortfall and has had to lighten budgets, including allocations to schools, spending $35.4 million on panthers is near lunacy. Good environmental programs are highly necessary, but not illogical, irrational ones that are used to promote causes or political gain. 
GEORGE KIRKPATRICK
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

13-Mar-02

Appellate court hears Audubon challenge

 Combatants in a five-year battle over panther protection and property rights brought their battle to an appellate courtroom Tuesday as lawyers for both sides argued their cases before the 1st District Court of Appeal. Tuesday's action before the court pitted Florida Wildlife Federation and Audubon Society of Collier County against landowners and Florida Department of Community Affairs over whether the county is adequately protecting endangered habitat and wildlife in areas earmarked three years ago for special protection. State community affairs officials and landowners say the interim plan set up to protect wildlife in eastern Collier County does not limit agricultural uses. Under that scenario, the type of agricultural activity conducted on a particular parcel would not be restricted by the growth management plan Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet approved in 1999. Environmentalists counter that the plan requires local officials to regulate the intensity of agricultural use within the 140,000 acres designated for heightened environmental protection in eastern Collier County. If they can't, environmentalists claim, there is little they can do to protect endangered animals from adverse or overly intense agricultural use. 
 Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

 

12-Mar-02

WCI development company offering public shares beginning today
WCI Communities hits the New York Stock Exchange today, putting the Bonita Springs company on the prowl for investment dollars.  Craig Price of UBS Paine Webber, the firm guiding WCI Communities through the initial public offering, or IPO, confirmed that the company's management team was meeting Monday in New York to price the stock. It will trade under the symbol "WCI" beginning this morning.  In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company estimated it will raise $144 million with the release of 6.9 million shares. The pre-market estimated price per share is between $17 and $19.   The 6.9 million shares being released to the market today represents approximately one-sixth of the company.  WCI will use the majority of the proceeds to pay down its substantial debt. The company's December balance sheet lists a debt of $682.6 million. WCI Communities is the Bonita Springs-based developer of Pelican Landing, Pelican Bay, Tiburon and a dozen other communities between Estero and Marco Island. The developer, which began on Florida's east coast, has built 19 other communities throughout Florida. WCI initially announced its plans to go public last September after filing an application with the SEC. When Sept. 11 compounded the struggles of financial markets, company officials indicated they would wait to schedule the IPO until market conditions looked more favorable.  In the weeks immediately following the attacks, stock indicators fell precipitously. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the most widely used indicator of the overall condition of the stock market, fell to 8,235 from the 10,000 level. The markets have rebounded strongly in the past six months and surpassed pre-Sept. 11 levels on a string of positive economic news in 2002.  Mark Preston, a financial consultant with A.G. Edwards & Sons in Bonita Springs, said general market conditions are favorable to receive the WCI Communities' IPO.  "Home builders have all been doing pretty good," Preston said. "Pulte Homes is up to a new 52-week high ... we're pretty bullish on the industry."  Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Growers, environmentalists clash on plants ban
Two opposing arguments were presented Monday night before officials considering banning 106 aggressive plants from Palm Beach County. But both are rooted in money. One perspective came from the county's $400 million ornamental plant industry, concerned about losing business if many popular varieties are banned. The other side came from environmentalists concerned about the price of not banning the botanicals.  "There is this other economic cost which goes across the board to all citizens," said Bill Hutchins, who manages the 150-acre Pine Jog Center for Florida Atlantic University. "Taxpayers are paying millions of dollars a year to try to control this."  More than 100 people, many from nurseries, turned out Monday night to discuss the proposed prohibited plants with the county Department of Environmental Resources Management.  County officials have drafted an ordinance outlawing the sale or planting of 106 varieties of plants. Removing the plants won't be required. But selling or planting them could ring up fines of $5,000 a day.  The ordinance could come before county commissioners by the end of April. And a subcommittee of the Palm Beach County League of Cities has already recommended its passage. The league's board of directors will consider it Wednesday.  Matthew King, a county environment analyst, said plants on the list are invading lands set aside as natural preserves.  "These are plants that have on their own gone into natural areas and are spreading," he said.The 106 plants can be whittled to 31 controversial plants by subtracting those already prohibited by state or local government and those on a list developed by the nursery industry itself, he said. From there, only a handful are still grown and sold, King said.  But three of the plants -- lantana and two varieties of ficus -- would result in an annual $500,000 hit to Mike Kastenholz' business, Boynton Botanicals.  Many hedges seen all over Palm Beach are ficus microcarpa, he said.  "I would like to see the science," Kastenholz said.  Steve Homrich of Homrich Nursery suggested the ordinance should be done on the state level -- not by individual county.  Growers are being greedy, said Joanne Davis of the environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida. Many non-invasive alternatives exist, she said. "Are we willing to destroy the environment that people have worked to protect just because you want to make money?" she asked. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Editorial:
Kill payoff to polluters that cuts out the public
A bill that essentially would remove protections against harmful
development that the state put in place more than 30 years ago goes to the Senate
Natural Resources Committee today, facing the active and deserved opposition
of every environmental group in Florida. SB 270 and its House companion, HB 819, would prevent review of any decision by the state's five water management districts and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and would severely limit citizens' rights to
challenge development plans. This special-interest payoff, based on myth,
would give polluters a victory that they never could win outside the Legislature.
Under Florida law, any individual in the state, as well as environmental
and growth-management organizations, can challenge a water district or DEP
decision or a large development, based on its potential impact. Under SB
270, only a resident with a "substantial interest" could bring a challenge.

Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Manatee bills unnecessary

The Senate version of a bill that would essentially force local
governments to redo their regulations to safeguard manatees is sailing through
committees in both houses, unfortunately. Today, SB 1614 is before the
Comprehensive Planning Committee. This is a bad bill, for it proposes to
redo something that works fine as it is: the Florida Manatee Sanctuary
Act. Under that act, county commissions had to devise regulations over
boating and waterfront development that would protect the West Indian Manatee,
which is on the federal and state endangered-species lists. The counties have
no interest in repeating the process, which was long and painstaking in
every locality. Many public meetings were held where marine interests,
recreational boaters and environmentalists all had their say more than once.
Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

11-Mar-02

After Rocky Start, Whitman Attains Measure of Influence
For some, Christie Whitman, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is becoming the Joan of Arc of the Bush administration.  Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, last week portrayed her as riding a ''white horse'' and referred repeatedly to the ''battle'' for the environment she is waging within the Bush administration. At a hearing that seemed designed to embarrass the president, Mr. Lieberman heaped praise on Mrs. Whitman and asked for a status report on the battle.  She demurred, saying it was not a battle but a ''vibrant discussion."  Nonetheless, as the hearing ended, Senator Lieberman encouraged her to ''keep up the battle!"  The exchange revealed how times have changed for her. A year ago, she seemed to have little control over her own agency and little influence in the boys' club of former oil executives in the administration. The president had undercut her often enough that the question in Washington was how much longer she could be humiliated before she resigned.   
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

ARMY CORPS REFORM BILL AIMS TO AID ENVIRONMENT
Three U.S. senators have introduced a bill to reform the operations of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The legislation aims to increase the Corps' transparency and accountability, ensure fiscal responsibility, balance economic and environmental interests, and allow greater public involvement in the Corps' projects. Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, joined Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican, and Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, in introducing the Corps of Engineers Modernization and Improvement Act of 2002 (S 1987). "I want to make sure that Wisconsin and other states receive all of the benefits  the Corps could offer," Feingold said. "I want a reformed Corps of Engineers, one that no longer fails to produce predicted benefits, one that stops costing the taxpayers more than the Corps estimated, one that does not have unanticipated environmental impacts, and one that builds in an environmentally compatible way. This bill will help the Corps do a better job - the job that the taxpayers and the environment deserve."
Copyright  © 2002  Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved.

Less use of water delights district 
 Water conservation may be catching on.  Although Southwest Florida is no longer in the grips of the great drought of 2001, many residents are continuing to conserve.  That pleases water managers and gives relief to aquifers, which were critically low last year. At the same time, water shortage rules are changing, and the South Florida Water Management District wants residents' opinions.  The continued drop in water use may be due to the normal rainfall the region is getting this year.  "You're not sure if people were conserving to conserve or for weather reasons," said Kurt Harclerode, spokesman for the district.  But utility water usage numbers indicate that many people are indeed conserving.  Collier County found that in February its water users pumped about 2 million gallons less on days that lawn watering would have been banned under mandatory restrictions. "It has been like that consistently since Oct. 10 when the water management district lifted the Phase II water restrictions," said Paul Mattausch, director of the Collier County Water Department. "We really appreciate people continuing to conserve water and continuing to water on this same cycle.  "It's going to allow us to provide water for a lot of years into the future. If we don't overtax the resource, it's a renewable resource."  District Water Conservation Officer Bruce Adams has another theory.  "People didn't change their clocks," Adams said, referring to the timers on automatic sprinkler systems. Not resetting times when restrictions tighten is often the reason violators give for watering on the wrong days.  However, Adams said he has seen less water waste. Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

The South Florida Water Management District's Governing Board sets policy and direction for the agency. These nine individuals, each representing specific geographic areas within the District, are appointed by Florida's Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate.Board members serve without pay, generally for a four-year term. The Board elects its own officers, including a chairman and vice-chairman. The Governing Board appoints the agency's Executive Director, who is also confirmed by the Florida Senate. The Executive Director, Deputy Executive Directors and a staff of 1,650 employees carry out the Board's directives. Current Read More... 

 

 

10-Mar-02

Editorial
Save manatees, boaters
Martin County boaters don't want to slow down to protect manatees at the Crossroads, an area where the St. Lucie and Indian Rivers meet at the St. Lucie Inlet. State wildlife officials want to drop speeds to 25 mph in marked channels and 4-8 mph everywhere else in the busy area. The state is correct. The Crossroads, where boaters now can travel at 25 mph throughout the area, needs slower speeds to protect the endangered sea cow. And, as a few boaters admit, reduced speeds also would make boating safer for people. More than 75 people attended a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting at Hobe Sound Nature Center last week, most of them to protest lowering the speed limits. The commission, to settle a lawsuit with the federal government, agreed to "look at" several areas throughout the state with high manatee death numbers and propose reduced boat speeds. The Crossroads, where the state has recorded 11 boat-related manatee deaths in 21 years, is the first to receive official scrutiny. The boaters' laments are many, and manatee defenders are few. Under the new limits, getting to fishing grounds would take longer, fishing guides said, and they could lose time on half-day charters. Slowed boats would get caught by winds and tides, and navigating the treacherous St. Lucie Inlet would be more difficult.  Retirees complained that going out to fish takes too long at the idle speeds marked on some waterways already. Ted Guy of the Marine Industries Association suggested a compromise that several boat captains liked: Slow speeds -- but only on weekends and holidays. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Environmentalists, agriculture groups face off over growth bill
It's only one word inserted into a bill in Tallahassee, but it has caused a ripple of worry that has reached all the way to rural Collier County.  An amendment threatens to undercut environmental groups going to court to seek intensity limits on agriculture within the boundaries of Natural Resource Protection Areas around Immokalee. Oral arguments are set for Tuesday at the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.  Agricultural interests are behind the language change. Its supporters say it simply clarifies what courts already have decided: Local governments do not have the power to limit the intensity of agriculture.   The amendment to the state's Growth Management Act would have impacts statewide and has drawn the attention of growth management advocates as well as the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties.  Efforts are underway to reach a consensus among various interest groups about how to word the amendment, a lobbyist who has been pushing the original language said Friday.  "If we don't get it right, we're probably not going to do it, but we think we can get it right," said Chuck Littlejohn, an agriculture lobbyist and director of the Florida Land Council. The council includes members that also comprise the Eastern Collier Property Owners - a group of large landowners studying how growth should occur on some 200,000 acres they own around Immokalee.  The study was prompted by a 1999 order from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet that Collier County do a better job of protecting the environment. County commissioners are set to weigh changes to their growth plan around Immokalee later this year.  First, though, there's some old business to settle.  An attorney for the Florida Wildlife Federation and Collier Audubon Society is arguing in court this week that Collier County is dodging a state law the groups claim requires the county to impose intensity standards on agriculture with NRPA boundaries.  The groups are seeking standards to control the conversion of, for example, pasture land to more intense uses such as row crops or citrus groves in order to protect habitat for the endangered Florida panther. Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

 

09-Mar-02

Judge to take closer look at Everglades cleanup
The $867 million Everglades cleanup depends on a pollution limit that hasn't been chosen, research that is still unfinished and a December 2006 deadline that state officials have said they might not meet.  That prompted a federal judge Friday to decide to take a closer look at the cleanup, despite assurances from government and sugar industry lawyers that it is speeding ahead as planned.  The cleanup is separate from the $8.4 billion plan to restore the Everglades by overhauling South Florida's drainage system. U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler declined to appoint a federal overseer for the state-run project, as the Miccosukee Indian tribe had requested. Instead, Hoeveler said he will hold a hearing in June or July on the tribe's contentions that South Florida water managers are violating earlier pollution limits and can't possibly finish the project on time.  "We'll find out just how significant those points are," Hoeveler said.  During Friday's two-hour hearing, Hoeveler noted a recent report in which the South Florida Water Management District said "significant uncertainties" could threaten its ability to meet the deadline. The uncertainties include the research needed to choose a final cleanup method and the availability of money. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

1000 Friends of Florida annual awards
This month, 1000 Friends of Florida will honor conservationist Nathaniel P. Reed of Hobe Sound and Doug Coward of the St. Lucie County Commission with2002 Growth Management Awards. These annual awards recognize leaders who help manage the impact of this state's rapid growth in a wise and responsible manner. An awards ceremony and reception is planned for 6 p.m. March 20 at the R.A. Gray Building (Museum of Florida History) in Tallahassee. The public is invited.  "Reed is an avid conservationist, sportsman and defender of Florida's special places," said 1000 Friends President Allen Watts. "We are proud to recognize him for his many decades of dedicated service at the state and national levels." The recipient of the Bill Sadowski Award, Reed is a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and advocate for the protection and restoration of the Everglades. He was also instrumental in establishing the 1000 Friends of Florida and serves as chairman emeritus.  Coward will receive a Community Steward Award for promoting smarter growth and protecting the environment in St. Lucie County.  "We are pleased to recognize his (Coward's) many efforts to promote quality growth and compatible economic development," said 1000 Friends Executive Director Charles Pattison. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Metro Report: Government
Gov. Jeb Bush has reappointed Mike Collins and Pamela Brooks-Thomas to the board of the South Florida Water Management District. Collins, an  Islamorada fishing guide, joined the board in March 1999 and served as chairman until last year. Books-Thomas, a Lauderhill resident and treasury analyst for the workers compensation company NCCI, was named to the alone- year term last year. Both will be sworn in Wednesday at terms that end in 2006. Note: This item was not in the online edition of the newspaper.Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Judge to scrutinize cleanup of Glades
The Miccosukee Tribe and environmental groups charged Friday in federal court in Miami that the state was falling badly behind on reducing farm runoff tainting the Everglades.  Senior U.S. District Court Judge William Hoeveler denied their request to appoint a special judge to review progress toward a December 2006 cleanup deadline, but he did agree to take more testimony himself on pollution levels sometime this summer, potentially reviving a landmark lawsuit from a long-dormant state.  ''We'll find out just how significant these problems are,'' said Hoeveler,  over the objections of state, federal and agricultural attorneys, who argued efforts were on the court-mandated schedule. The decision could become important because it sets up a dual debate over water quality standards for the Everglades -- one argued in the original federal lawsuit that triggered the Everglades restoration effort, the other in state administrative hearings -- and possible legal and political clashes.  Attorney Dexter Lehtinen, who as a U.S. attorney first sued Florida in  1988for polluting the Everglades and now represents the Miccosukees in the 14-year-old case, said the South Florida Water Management District was already exceeding standards and not spending enough money on research.  The state, he said, also has repeatedly warned it is unlikely to meet deadlines for cleaning up some heavily tainted areas. Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved

 

 

 

08-Mar-02

Scientific experts blast Keys carrying capacity study
A team of experts put together by the National Academy of Sciences said the computer model at the heart of the $6 million Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Study is seriously flawed and will not be the groundbreaking tool expected for evaluating future development in the Florida Keys. Assumptions about hurricane evacuation, the impact of tourism, shifts in population and effects of growth on water quality are all inadequate and have "fundamental problems" that cause the computer model to be unusable in the manner it was intended, according to an NAS news release.Most significantly, the National Research Council panel of scientists, an arm of the NAS, determined the model that related growth to effects on nearshore water quality -- called the marine module -- was "more misleading than it is helpful," and probably could not be used without "drastic revision." Nancy Klingener, Keys representative of The Ocean Conservancy, said she and other Keys environmental advocates are "relieved," because test results drawn from the preliminary model concluded that growth had almost no impact on nearshore water quality. Copyright  © 2002  Keys news  All rights reserved.

 

Canker bill amendments blocked
The Florida Senate on Thursday rejected a last-ditch effort by South Florida legislators to revamp a bill that would allow the state to resume the controversial citrus canker eradication program halted by a Broward County lawsuit last year. Accusing the Legislature of putting the interests of the state's lucrative citrus industry ahead of those of individual homeowners, South Florida senators blasted the legislation as unconstitutional.  The Senate killed two amendments proposed by South Florida legislators. The bill is expected to come up for final passage in the Senate next week. A similar bill is headed to the House floor. The Senate proposal (CSSB 1926), would give the Department of Agriculture the power to get countywide warrants to survey and cut down any citrus tree within 1,900 feet of an infected tree, essentially making law an administrative rule that has been at the center of Broward's court battle with the agency.  "This is about justice and fairness," said Sen. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Weston, co-sponsor of an amendment that would have removed the 1,900-foot rule and required a judge to set the distance in each county before the state resumed tree-cutting.  Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Scientists find fault with analysis of growth in the Keys
A $6 million study intended to assess the impact of more growth on the fragile ecosystem of the Florida Keys is too riddled with flaws to be  reliable, a team of scientists said Thursday. The National Research Council, in a review of a computer model that is key to the joint state-federal study, found numerous problems, including one particularly glaring defect for a string of small islands bordered by the sea grass beds and mangrove islands of Florida Bay and North America's only living coral reef. The study failed to adequately address the impacts of building and tourism on the marine environment, notably ignoring the high levels of human waste and pathogens routinely detected in canals and along beaches. More important perhaps is something that might be lost in esoteric criticism of the difficulties of analyzing growth: The study, despite its flaws, underscores serious threats to the scant remaining unspoiled land in the Keys and the struggling reef system. ''I think the academy recognizes the Keys are just about at or beyond thresholds for carrying capacity,'' said George Dalrymple, a biologist from Homestead who served on the nine-member review committee. Environmentalists, who had been critical of a draft of the study released last year, said the comments of the council, which is an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, echoed their concerns. ''Here was a $6 million federal study saying there wasn't a water quality problem from developing on land. That was a huge problem,'' said Nancy Klingener, a former Herald reporter who is Florida Keys program coordinator for the Ocean Conservancy. Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

07-Mar-02

Collier EAC votes in favor of North Belle Meade rural growth plan
A plan to guide rural growth in North Belle Meade took hits Wednesday from county environmental advisers, who criticized it as a sell-out that has escaped county scrutiny. Despite the criticisms, the county's Environmental Advisory Council voted 4-2 in favor of the deal, one vote shy of the five-member majority needed to forward a formal recommendation to Collier County Commission.  Wednesday's debate about the North Belle Meade agreement came two days after county commissioners already had endorsed the deal as part of a set of growth plan changes headed to the state Department of Community Affairs for review.  The growth plan changes are part of the county's response to a 1999 order from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet. The order requires Collier County to do a better job protecting wetlands and upland wildlife habitat. A final vote is set for June 17. The advisory council's approval was conditioned on county officials having a chance to fine-tune the North Belle Meade agreement between now and then. That is too little too late for advisory council member Michael Coe, who rallied fellow board members in e-mail exchanges last month to put the North Belle Meade deal on Wednesday's agenda. "This is what I call jamming something through, greasing the skids, call it whatever you want," Coe, a retired stockbroker, said after the meeting. Coe said the advisory council was kept purposely out of the loop until Wednesday because the deal makers knew "there would have been a battle." Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Bill pulls $5-million from conservation fund: The money taken from a state trust fund would help pay for economic development in five counties, including Hillsborough.
In what environmentalists call the second raid on state conservation dollars this year, the Florida House is proposing to shift $5-million from state parks to economic development in five counties, including Hillsborough.  The money would pay for such things as roads and sewer and water lines. Last month, environmentalists fought off a measure to allow money from the Florida Forever land buying program to transfer treated wastewater from one community to another.  Now, an item in the House budget would take money out of the state's $96-million Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund, which normally pays for state park projects.  The money in the fund comes from two sources: a tax on real estate transactions and a $1.30 tax on each ton of phosphate mined in Florida. Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Warm weather blamed for reduced manatee count : Ninety-eight manatees were counted in Collier County waters.
The ever-fluctuating yearly Florida manatee count kept true to its lack of consistency last week when nearly 1,500 fewer sea cows were counted in 2002 than the previous year.  During a March 1 survey, 1,796 manatees were counted statewide, far less than the record 3,276 tallied in January 2001. Warm weather not conducive to counting is being blamed as a reason for the lower numbers. Lee County accounted for more than 40 percent of all manatees counted on the west coast of the state with 387. As a whole, 936 manatees were recorded along the west coast of Florida and 860 on the east coast. Ninety-eight manatees were counted in Collier County waters.  Each year Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission coordinates at least one statewide manatee count. The counts are performed by various agencies, such as the state Department of Environmental Protection and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, during aerial surveys.  This year's numbers are the lowest in more than a decade, when 1,465 were counted in 1991. Since then, numbers have varied from year to year.
  Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Editorial
An EPA Regulator's Warnings Merit Washington's Attention
A federal employee's resignation is usually not noteworthy. But when a top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulator claims the administration is undermining pollution controls, the charges deserve scrutiny.  Industry officials and the administration depict the departing official as a bureaucrat threatened by new ideas. Perhaps, but Eric V. Schaeffer, a 47-year-old lawyer, has a solid reputation. He joined EPA while the elder Bush was president. Prior to that he worked for a Republican member of Congress. Schaeffer eventually became director of the office of regulatory enforcement, a role that put him on the front lines of the effort to curtail industrial pollution. But he says the administration has all but thrown in the towel.  His letter of resignation reflects his ``frustration,'' but it is not a rant. It is specific and detailed. His key complaint is the administration proposal to weaken a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires power plants to clean up air emissions when those plants undergo a major renovation.  If the administration eliminates the requirement, utilities will be able to simply patch up their plants and keep on polluting for generations to come. Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune / Associated Press  All rights reserved.

Corps of Engineers' Civilian Chief Ousted
Michael Parker, the recently appointed leader of the Army Corps of Engineers, was abruptly forced to resign yesterday for failing to defend President Bush's proposed budget cuts.  Parker, a former House member from Mississippi who was confirmed as assistant Army secretary for civil works five months ago, was the first major administration official ousted since Bush took office. He had made no secret of his disdain for the Office of Management and Budget's efforts to rein in the Corps, and recently told a sympathetic House committee that he had requested $2 billion more than the OMB proposed in the president's budget. At a Senate hearing, he questioned the administration's decision to fund no new Corps projects, adding that he did not have a "warm and fuzzy feeling" for OMB officials. White House officials described the ouster of Parker, a close ally of Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), as a clear sign that the president will not tolerate open defiance by his appointees. It was also a sign of confidence in OMB Director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., a frequent target of congressional ire who had battled Parker over the budget. And it could mark a milestone in the ongoing battle over the future of the Corps, which is often criticized by other agencies for wasting money and harming the environment but has always enjoyed strong support in Congress.  "The president's budget is the president's agenda, and administration officials should not be questioning the president's agenda," one official said.  The Defense Department and the Army issued short statements announcing Parker's resignation and wishing him well. Parker did not return calls seeking comment.  But the move was hailed by fiscal conservatives and environmentalists who support major changes at the Corps, something Parker had made clear he opposed.  He was always enthusiastic about Corps projects and openly skeptical of wetlands rules.  "This is one of the best things that's happened for the environment since God separated the heavens from the earth," said Scott Faber of Environmental Defense. Copyright  © 2002  Washington Post  All rights reserved.

ARMY CORPS SECRETARY STEPS DOWN
Michael Parker has resigned as assistant secretary of the Army of the Office of Civil Works after disagreeing with the Bush administration over the president's budget request for the Corps. The White House said today that Parker's resignation was his owndecision, though some sources have characterized his departure as being fired by President George W. Bush.  Asked whether the president believed it was a good idea for Parker to "step down," White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said that while President Bush "welcomes a diversity of views in his administration," he "does think it's appropriate for his staff to support the administration's policy."  "The President welcomes a healthy debate," on budget issues, Fleischer added. "But there's also a matter of once the debate is settled and the President has proposed a budget, the President does think it's reasonable for the people who work for him to support the budget."  Conservation groups were glad to see Parker go.  Copyright  © 2002  Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved. 

Forced out
The assistant secretary of the Army resigned under pressure yesterday after he criticized the Bush administration's proposed spending cuts for Army Corps of Engineers water projects, members of Congress told the Associated Press. The Defense Department issued a brief statement saying Mike Parker, a former U.S. representative from Mississippi, had resigned.  "The department appreciates Mr. Parker's contributions and wishes him the best in his future endeavors," the Pentagon statement said, not saying why Mr. Parker left.  "Apparently, he was asked to resign," said Rep. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, a member of the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee. It oversees the Corps budget.  Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat and chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, also said Mr. Parker had been dismissed. Howard Marlowe, a lawyer and lobbyist on waterway issues, said Mr. Parker was given a choice around noon yesterday of resigning or being fired and was told he had 30 minutes to decide. He then resigned, according to Mr. Marlowe and congressional officials.  Mr. Parker, 52, was a Mississippi congressman from 1989 to 1998, when he resigned to run an unsuccessful campaign for governor. He switched to the Republican Party in 1995. http://www.washtimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm

BUSH ADMINISTRATION ASSAULTS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS

The Bush administration has declared war on environmental protections, charged the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in testimony before a U.S. Senate committee today. Warning that the administration is now weakening long established public health and public lands safeguards, the environmental advocacy group presented the Government Affairs Committee with copies of its new report, "Rewriting the Rules: The Bush Administration's Unseen Assault on the Environment." "The Bush administration is quietly subverting federal agency rules in ways that will mean more pollution, greater health risks, and a reduced quality of life for all Americans," said Gregory Wetstone, NRDC's director of advocacy. "This regulatory assault is the most serious threat ever to America's landmark environmental protection programs. The NRDC documents scores of anti-environmental actions by the Bush administration, many of which were put in place after the terrorist attacks of September 11. The more than 80 administrative actions highlighted in the report span the spectrum of the nation's most important environmental programs, including those protecting clean air, water, forests, wildlife and public lands. The report details all post September 11 anti-environment actions, and also lists all environmental assaults since the administration took office in January 2001. Copyright  © 2002  Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved. 

 

06-Mar-02

Water Managers Decide Against Lake Releases
To the relief of river advocates, regional water managers Tuesday decided against releasing more than 2 billion gallons of water this week from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Estuary. Paul Millar, director of the South Florida Water Management District's Stuart office, said officials from the district and the Army Corps of Engineers agreed discharging pulses of fresh water would not improve the health of the brackish estuary. It was the first time in two years water managers seriously considered using the St. Lucie canal, instead of the Caloosahatchee River to the west or canals to the south, to move water from the lake, Millar said. Just the discussion upset those active in local water-quality issues. "We have problems when we have unnatural intervention," said Ed Fielding, a member of the Martin County Conservation Alliance and the Rivers Coalition. "I sometimes feel we're beating our heads against the wall." District scientists said Monday the discharges might be a "win-win" situation because they would allow the water level of Lake Okeechobee to drop while helping the reproductive cycles of oysters in the estuary.Copyright  © 2002  TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Manatee lawsuit settlement halts Lee dock construction business
Workers at Nelson Marine Construction in Bonita Springs spend their days preparing sea walls for future repairs and installations at a time when building new boat docks in Lee County has slowed to a halt. Owner Ben Nelson said it's about all his company can do now that new dock permit applications for the county have been put on hold while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finishes its yearly report and maps related to manatee protection and speed zones throughout the county. Building new docks accounts for more than half of Nelson's business, he said. The lack of newly issued dock permits for Lee County stems from a lawsuit settlement between the state and federal government and conservation groups such as Save The Manatee Club. The groups filed suit saying the state and federal government were not doing enough to protect the endangered manatee. Nelson doesn't see the correlation between building docks and boat-related manatee deaths. "Not allowing single-family docks is like not allowing garages because there is too much road kill," Nelson said. "If it goes on another six months, it could cripple the (marine construction) industry in Lee County."
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Case against county land management plan begins  
A legal challenge pitting the county against a local conservation group got under way Tuesday as an administrative law judge heard opening statements about recent changes to the county's Comprehensive Growth Management Plan.On one side, attorneys for the Martin County Conservation Alliance argued that changes made to the Comp Plan's sections governing land use and the optional economic element were designed so commissioners could more easily approve commercial development. On the other side, county attorneys maintained that the changes approved in September reflect a shift in county commissioners' "desires and policy directions for the county."  The hearing, conducted at Stuart City Hall, is on the conservation alliance's administrative challenge seeking to rescind approval of the disputed amendments by the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA).  At issue, according to the Conservation Alliance's petition, is a dispute over the number of acres county officials included in an inventory of commercial land available for development. The alliance argues it was inaccurate to insert language into the Comp Plan that indicates there is a 112-acre deficit of commercial land, because corrected data show a surplus of hundreds of acres.  Senior Assistant County Attorney David Acton insisted the changes complied with the Comp Plan and state laws. But he also acknowledged the weeklong hearing will put the amendments "under a microscope," and could reveal potential flaws in the supporting data. Copyright  © 2002  TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Metro Report (Excerpt)
GOVERNMENT
The Florida Wildlife Federation has formally warned water managers it   plans to sue them for polluting Lake Okeechobee through their   floodgates and pumps. The suit, to be filed under the Clean Water Act,   would include demands that the South Florida Water Management District   get federal permits for runoff that enters the lake from Belle Glade,   Okeechobee and other locations. Last month a federal appeals court said   the district must get permits for the runoff it pumps into the   Everglades near Weston. The federation sent its notice to the district Feb. 22, and by law must wait 60 days before suing. Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

05-Mar-02

Corps Reform Bill Helps the Environment and Taxpayers

New legislation designed to rein in an out-of-control U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received accolades today from the National Wildlife Federation, the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation. Acknowledging that too many Corps projects are economically unjustified and environmentally destructive, the Corps of Engineers Modernization and Improvement Act of 2002 introduced by Senators Robert Smith (R-NH), Russ Feingold (D-WIS) and John McCain (R-AZ) would raise the bar, helping to assure that approved water projects are a good investment for the economy and for the environment. The bill will also help prevent Congress from channeling limited funds to their home districts to finance water projects that fly in the face of the Corps' responsibility to restore, not degrade, the environment. With the level of support for reforming the Corps mounting higher across party lines, this is an issue taking on increased importance in Congress.

Copyright © 1996-2002 National Wildlife Federation. All rights reserved

01-Mar-02

   MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
             among
   THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
   OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
             And
   NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
             And
   FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
             And
   UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
             For
   INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH, PLANNING AND INTERAGENCY COORDINAITON
   SUPPORTING EVERGLADES RESTORATION ACTIVITIES

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is made and entered into among the Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary ("DOI"), the National Park Service ("NPS"), the United State Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS"), and the United States Geological Survey ("USGS"), collectively referred to as the "Parties."  Read more . . .

04-Mar-02

SFWMD Staff Elected to Board of Hispanic Human Resources Council, Inc.
In January, the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Human Resources
Council, Inc. elected Julio Fanjul as their President for a two-year term
starting in January 2002. At the same meeting the HHRC Board decided to expand the
number of Board members and elected to invite Sandra Hammerstein,
Outreach Coordinator, to serve a two-year term on the board. [Julio is the Lead
Policy Coordinator, Governing Board Operations at SFWMD --
http://www.sfwmd.gov/gover/wrac/contact.html ] Both Fanjul and Hammerstein had previously been active in the agency. Fanjul was the vice president of the Board and Hammerstein once served as Chairperson of the Children's Fund, a project of HHRC. Read more...
 http://www.sfwmd.gov/misce/cyber/index.html

article with links

Revised:  12/06/03