September 1999

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

  News  

February 11, 1999

Miccosukees Persistent in Fight for Everglades Restoration

A century and a half after soldiers chased them deep into the Everglades, the Miccosukee Indians are still at war. This time, their weapons include lawyers, consultants and expert witnesses, paid with proceeds from bingo, tobacco and tourism. Their opponents are the state and federal agencies that rule what remains of the Everglades. And this time, the Indians expect to win. Among their recent milestones: In October, Congress and President Clinton finally guaranteed the Miccosukees' right to live forever in a 5-mile swath of Everglades National Park. The Indians had been living there under a 50-year lease due to expire in 2014 - and under the thumb of the National Park Service, which long blocked the tribe's plans to build 65 houses south of U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail). Soon, the Miccosukees expect the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant them the right to set tough pollution standards for their lands. That could let the tribe dictate how strictly the state must clean runoff from sugar farms, at least in part of the northern Everglades. And in September, a judge in Miami agreed with the tribe that the state's $763 million plan for cleaning the Everglades is so lenient it violates federal law. The plan stands for now, but the judge told federal regulators to review it. In a half-dozen other legal challenges, the Miccosukees blame state water managers and federal engineers for polluting the tribe's land and drowning their cypress hammocks. It's a high-profile role for a tribe of fewer than 400 members. Read More...
Copyright  © 2003 Gambling Magazine All rights reserved.

 

September 22, 1999

EPA: Glades' cleanup program complies with federal pollution law

The controversial state law that governs the Everglades cleanup program has won the approval of federal regulators.  After a yearlong review, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that Florida's Everglades Forever Act of 1994 is in compliance with federal water pollution law.  EPA's review allows the state to adhere to an often-criticized December 2006 deadline for achieving a five-fold reduction of phosphorus flowing into the northern Everglades from the sprawling agricultural area near Lake Okeechobee.  Conservationists have been critical of the state law as being too easy on farm interests and too slow to reduce pollution that is fueling vegetation changes in the Everglades, which is damaging to wildlife.  The Miccosukee Tribe, whose reservation in the Everglades is being damaged by the farm pollution, sued EPA in U.S. District Court in Miami in 1995, arguing that the agency was allowing the state to violate the federal Clean Water Act by allowing pollution to continue.  
Read more... 
Copyright  © 1999  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

September 15, 1999

Gambling and 'gators
As alligators silently glided among stands of sawgrass in nearby waters, the Florida Turnpike slowly discharged more than 12,000 guests making their way to the parking lot of Florida’s newest gambling mecca. The grand opening was a Media Event, and sure to be exciting. Those too eager to wait in traffic simply abandoned their cars along the Tamiami Trail and walked. If there had been naysayers of the 302- room Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center, they were silenced on June 15 by the stellar success of its grand opening. Miccosukee Tribal Chairman, Billy Cypress, signaled that it was time to begin the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and after the enormous red sash that had festooned the entrance to the resort fell, Congressman Larry Smith read a letter of congratulations from Senator Connie Mack. Miami-Dade Mayor, Alex Penelas, followed with some special words of his own as Billy Cypress stood proudly nearby. Marketing experts had planned a gala event in every sense. Food and drink were plentiful, and as guests strolled from one lavishly decorated room to the next, showgirls and performers entertained them in true Las Vegas style. Headliners, Hootie and the Blowfish, Little Richard, and Rick Springfield wowed the crowds from three stages. Read More...
Copyright  © 2003   CasinoGuru All rights reserved.

 

Florida Tribe Shakes Up Everglades
Environmentalists fear casino, resort threaten wetlands
They once were one of this nation's most reclusive Indian tribes, a small band of 400 who lived so deep in the Everglades that few outsiders ever saw them. But this week the Miccosukee tribe will host what amounts to a coming-out party in its wetland home, and everyone is invited. To mark the opening of a $50-million, 300-room resort and convention center, the Miccosukees are presenting free concerts by Hootie & the Blowfish, Little Richard and Chuck Berry; a series of professional wrestling matches and plenty of fireworks. More than just a sign of casino-fueled prosperity, the hoopla in the Everglades also is a celebration of newfound political clout that led to unprecedented federal legislation giving the tiny tribe sovereignty over 680 acres in Everglades National Park, along with permission to expand its traditional village into a small town. Dozens of modern four-bedroom houses have replaced palm-thatched huts. Under construction are a three- story high school, a tribal courthouse and a drug rehabilitation clinic. Plans are being drawn up for a new visitors' center. Read More...
Copyright  © 2003 Gambling Magazine All rights reserved.

Credit:
Everglades photograph courtesy Philip Greenspun

 

Revised:  05/25/03