News - October   2002 

 

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31-October-02

Alerts: Mining, Lack of Independent Review Threaten Everglades Restoration

"The Everglades is a test," said the late author and activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, known for her tireless efforts to protect Florida's unique wetlands. "If we pass, we get to keep the planet." [Note: Joe Podgor, former president of Friends of the Everglades, is the correct source of this quote.]  If the Everglades is a test, it appeared we might get a passing grade when, in 2000, a $7.8 billion plan to restore the south Florida ecosystem was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The goals of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan included purchasing and protecting additional wetlands acre-age and restoring a more natural water flow to the Everglades. It was heralded as the largest environmental project in American history and a national model for future restorations.  Read more . . . 
Copyright  © 2002  Sierra Club Planet Newsletter All rights reserved.

                Related Link,

                Sierra Club
                Florida Chapter

Bronson Spends; Nelson Contends
Charles Bronson is finding out that money can't buy you love -  or an election. Bronson, appointed last year as commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is beloved by Florida farmers and ranchers. But he remains virtually unknown to most state voters despite spending $1.5 million on television advertising. Recent polls show Bronson tied with Democrat David Nelson, a Miami middle school librarian. Nelson, who runs his campaign out of his living room, can barely afford copying fees for fliers he hands out on the rubber chicken circuit. A poll published Sunday by the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times showed Bronson and Nelson each with 38 percent, and 24 percent of the respondents remain undecided. That mirrored the findings of a Tampa Tribune/WFLA, News Channel 8, poll conducted a week earlier. Though the race has attracted little interest outside agricultural circles, it holds huge implications for both political parties.   
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Practical Steps To Husband Water
If Hillsborough County commissioners are serious about solving water problems, they'll give serious attention to some conservation measures endorsed by the city-county planning commission and previously recommended without success by the county staff. The proposals could significantly reduce water consumption and provide relief to a community plagued by chronic water shortages. Water regulators, threatening hefty fines, forced the commission to impose an outdoor watering ban in south Hillsborough this past summer to prevent pumping at the area's wellfield from violating its permit.  That Talk Of A Moratorium: The necessary move outraged residents, and commissioners quickly sought to blame others, including the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which regulates water use in the region, and Tampa Bay Water, the regional water supplier.  
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

Proposals to settle rural growth plan challenges rebuffed
Landowners pleaded during a mediation session Wednesday that they deserved a break from a new plan for rural growth in Collier County, but they didn't get very far. Collier County representatives, backed by the state Department of Community Affairs and environmental groups, rebuffed proposals to settle challenges the landowners filed in September to the new plan. The plan, adopted by county commissioners this summer after three years of study, is the county's answer to a 1999 slow-growth order from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet. It affects some 93,000 acres on the edges of Golden Gate Estates and includes a Transfer of Development Rights program intended to compensate landowners in preservation areas. The primary focus of Wednesday's session was whether to allow rock mining to take place in areas the plan sets aside for preservation in the North Belle Meade, a huge, largely undeveloped tract north of Interstate 75 and east of Collier Boulevard. 
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

New reports may ease dock permit gridlock
The federal agency responsible for a moratorium on boat dock permits in parts of Lee County is expected to release two long-awaited manatee protection reports in the next week. Under a federal judge’s threat of contempt of court, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will issue a manatee refuge and sanctuary plan Friday and a manatee protection plan on Tuesday. Both reports are positive steps in a process that may help relieve Lee County’ s boat dock permit problems. “We hope they will provide for permits to go forward,” said Sam Hamilton, southeast regional director of Fish and Wildlife. “However, I think Southwest Florida will still see some challenges. It will be a center of interest for us.” The reports, however, are just plans. They could not be implemented until May, after a six-month period for public comment. Fish and Wildlife recently has become the target from both sides of the manatee issue. 
Copyright  © 2002  News-Press. All rights reserved.

Editorial: Land buy opportunity too good to pass up
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet can make a small but valuable addition to preserve lands around Estero Bay on Nov. 13 if they agree to buy the property known as Estero 60. A land trust represented by Andy DeSalvo has agreed to sell the 60 acres, which abut the state’s Estero Scrub Preserve. The price was not available Wednesday, but DeSalvo said he understood it was less than state appraisals. That’s nice, especially since the taxpayers paid a whopping $32 million for the 1,300-acre Estero Scrub after county commissioners doubled the allowed density of a proposed development there. This time, commissioners had declined to double density on DeSalvo’s property. In the meantime, the state finally began to show interest in acquiring it. The state has dithered way too often over the years on land that could have buffered Estero Bay from development, losing the land or running up its price. 
Copyright  © 2002  News-Press. All rights reserved.

Environmental worries on proposed I-4 beltway explored
A new task force began meeting Wednesday to look for a compromise on a plan to build a beltway that would loop north from Interstate 4 around Orlando between Sanford and the Disney resorts. The beltway would make it easier for motorists to avoid the often congested downtown Orlando area but would cross the sensitive Wekiva River basin between Sanford and Apopka. The Wekiva, a tributary of the St. Johns River, is one of only two rivers in Florida to be designated a national "Wild and Scenic River" and also is an Outstanding Florida Water. Plans for the proposed beltway have been stymied for years because of environmental concerns. Earlier this month, Gov. Jeb Bush created a task force with representatives of key government agencies and the environmental community to try to resolve the issues. The 16-member task force met for the first time Wednesday.    
Copyright  © 2002  Daytona News-Journalonline All rights reserved.

                Related Links,

                The Friends of the Wekiva River

                Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park

                American Rivers - Wekiva RIver

                Subsurface Characterization of Selected Water Bodies in the St. Johns River basin . . .

There's still hope to restore the lake
Even though it seems bleak, there is still optimism that the restoration project at Lake Trafford will begin within the next six months. According to spokespersons with the fisheries department, the original bids came in way above the $17.5 million that Immokalee residents and nature advocates have raised together over the past six years. The South Florida Water Management District advised Collier County commissioners that bids for dredging muck from Lake Trafford are 50 percent higher than projected and that new criteria would have to be implemented before new bids could be sought. Officials said that, because of the wording, project bidders were assessing potential problems and adding cost into their bids for worst case scenarios. 
Copyright  © 2002 Newszap All rights reserved.

St. Johns River Summit to Held in January
An environmental summit which Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney described as the first step in a vast effort to restore the health of the St. Johns River will be convened in January.  "This obviously is going to be a multibillion-dollar effort. But just because it's big, doesn't mean it isn't doable," Delaney said Tuesday.  The St. Johns River Summit will be held Jan. 13-14 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville. The meeting is designed as a follow-up to a smaller 1997 event that helped focus public support for programs to repair the effects of pollution and development on the waterway that splits northeast Florida.  The first summit addressed issues only within the lower St. Johns, but organizers of the new event said it would deal with the entire 310-mile-long river. 
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

Wekiva task force pressed for time
A newly formed task force agreed Wednesday to gather three more times to solve the complex challenge of connecting an expressway around Orlando while not destroying the treasured and endangered Wekiva River wilderness.  The compressed schedule left some in the 16-member group wondering if they could give more than brief consideration to intricate matters of road design, environmental protections and suburban sprawl.  "Frankly, I'm troubled by the lack of time," said Florida of Audubon Senior Vice President Charles Lee, speaking to the group shortly after it convened for the first time.  The group's goal is to recommend by Jan. 15 -- in time for the next legislative session -- how and where to build an expressway that connects Interstate 4 near Sanford to State Road 429 in Apopka.  Issues they will tackle include where to elevate the road, where to place interchanges and what to do with State Road 46.   
Copyright  © 2002  Orlando Sentinel  All Rights Reserved.  

30-October-02

News Release: District and USGS Team up on Hydrologic Studies
The Southwest Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) have agreed to jointly fund hydrologic data studies throughout the District. The data collected from these studies will support a wide range of activities including water supply development, flood management, natural systems protection and water quality.  The proposed funding agreement requires the USGS to collect continuous and periodic data from: 130 sites along the District's lakes and streams, 164 groundwater wells, and 40 stations measuring surface water quality.  In addition to shared data, the District and the USGS have conducted joint hydrologic studies for several decades. Under the agreement, 10 ongoing and two new multi-year projects will be funded.  Read more . . .
Copyright  © 2002  Southwest Florida Water Management District  All rights reserved.

Relentless growth alarms Floridians
Rows of barrel-tiled roofs march across the landscape. Earth-moving equipment lumbers through old farm fields, building houses for the thousands of newcomers arriving each year for sunshine and golf. Once considered a quiet alternative to bustling southeast Florida, the state's southwest side has seen an explosion of growth. Traffic backs up on Interstate 75 and Tamiami Trail, as the morning rush hour brings thousands of workers from Lee County to the resorts and hotels of wealthier Collier County. Each year, the tourists seem to arrive a bit earlier and leave a bit later. "Every single aspect of our lives has been changed," said Elaine Christman, a retired teacher who moved to Naples from Pennsylvania 11 years ago with her husband, Ed. "The wealth is here. If they build one more brick I'm going to scream. It's not a rural town any more. When the holidays come, you can't get around. We stayed put in the last hurricane. There's no way to evacuate. We're growing so rapidly." 
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Estero 60 parcel may be added to Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve buffer area
First the state wouldn't buy the 60-acre Estero tract Andy DeSalvo's land trust owned, then Lee County wouldn't increase its density. Now, years later, the state may buy the land after all. The property known as Estero 60 is located at the western end of Pine Avenue, nestled against the Estero Scrub Preserve. That land itself was once destined for development before the state stepped in and paid $32 million for the 1,300-acre parcel. In that case, the state could have had the land for half the cost but refused to buy it. Lee County commissioners approved a land use change that doubled the allowable building density, and then the state bought it at double the original price. If Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet agree on Nov. 13, the state will add the Estero 60 piece, expanding the Estero Bay Buffer area that protects the state's first aquatic preserve and provides habitat for the birds, tortoises and occasional deer that call the area home.   
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Concerns about Lake Hicpochee
When South Florida Water Management representatives unveiled their proposed site map for creation of the C-43 Basin Storage Reservoir, part of the Lake Hicpochee restoration project, at the Glades County Board of County Commissioners regular meeting Monday, county officials were alarmed to lean that much of the land targeted for acquisition falls in the county's Enterprise Zone west of the lake. SFWMD Governing Board Vice Chairman Leonard Lyndale assured the commissioners that it was still early in the process and the district will work with the county to avoid adverse impacts as a result of the project. "We're aware you're concerned, we don't want to go into areas where you have economic development activities planned. We hear your concerns about displacement of business and residential areas and we want to minimalize the impacts," Mr. Lyndale said, adding that the district hopes to acquire much of the land through easements, to avoid removing property from the county's tax rolls. 
Copyright  © 2002 Newszap All rights reserved.

Everglades Restoration
NPR's Phillip Davis reports on the $8-billion project to restore Everglades National Park. The effort in Florida will be the largest environmental restoration project in the nation's history, but there are serious questions about whether it can work. (6 minutes)  Read more . . . 
Copyright  © 2002 NPR All rights reserved.

                Related Links,

               http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20021030.atc.04.ram

                National Public Radio

                All Things Considered

Residents: ’Glades work is just talk
More studies needed to determine bay’s natural state
All the talk about restoring the Everglades and Florida Bay has generated little more than talk, Florida Keys residents told project managers Monday.  "I see a lot of studies but I don’t see any bricks and mortar," said Tavernier resident Jerry Wilkinson at a presentation in Key Largo.  "Take the C-111 canal and shut it down," said Key Largo crab fisherman James McDowell, worried about "a chemical soup" from the waterway that he believes is destroying marine life in Blackwater Sound and Barnes Sound.  "If we all threw a cement block in the canal, we could do better," McDowell said.  Fred Tooker, a Tavernier conservationist, said he fears that increasing water flows into Florida Bay without removing agricultural pollutants, such as phosphorous, will threaten the marine ecosystem.   
Copyright  © 2002  Florida Keys Keynoter  All rights reserved.

Tommie Barfield students in Panther Posse track the big cats 


Ricky Pires leads Tommy Barfield Elementary 
School students in the "panther growl" during 
a Panther Posse rally at the school last week. 
Dan Wagner/Staff

For a growling good time, panthers beat birds, believes 10-year-old Tommie Barfield Elementary School student Kelsey Parsons. "Birds aren't as cool," Kelsey said. They don't stalk other animals. They don't weigh over 100 pounds when grown. They don't change the color of their markings as they age. And, added 9-year-old Alex Rafferty, "Panthers can eat birds."  Until the end of the school year, Alex, Kelsey and their fellow intermediate multi-age classmates will track and trace the movements of their own particular panther, through the Friends of Florida Panther refuge and Florida Gulf Coast University's community outreach program Wings of Hope. Much better than birds. And, Kelsey said, much better than reading about a panther in a book. "We're actually tracking a real panther," she explained. "It's not like it's on a computer."    
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

29-October-02

Pesticide kills mosquitoes, birds, lawsuit claims: EPA accused in suit by wildlife advocates
A chemical used to kill disease-spreading mosquitoes in Lee and Collier counties also kills endangered birds, charges a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in federal district court Monday. The Florida Wildlife Federation, American Bird Conservancy and Defenders of Wildlife said by allowing the registration of the pesticide fenthion the agency is violating the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. "Fenthion is basically a known bird-killer. It was formulated specifically to kill birds," said Gavin Shire, a spokesman for American Bird Conservancy. "It’ s still used in Florida in a few counties against mosquitoes. But it’s still extremely lethal to a few birds." Shire cites a die-off of piping plovers on Marco Island. "Lee and Collier counties are the counties that use the most," Shire said. Lee County Mosquito Control Director Bill Opp said the accusations are not called for.  
Copyright  © 2002  News-Press. All rights reserved.

Commentary: Halloween begins the sugar season
Hampton Roads, Virginia- The origins of Halloween are often debated around this time of year, with some arguing the night of wearing costumes and begging for sweets began as part of a harvest ritual, others claiming that it all started as a way of paying respects to ancestral spirits. But those explanations were merely part of a hugely successful cover-up operation, as Halloween actually was invented by a cabal of greedy conspirators bent on one goal: the sale of sugar. Decades ago, the sugar cane conglomerates, otherwise known as Big Sugar, became aware that the Everglades were not being drained quite so quickly during the fall months. They deduced that a slump in sugar consumption tended to occur after the beginning of the school year, as children were no longer at home to steal spoonfuls of the substance from the sugar bowl while Mom was hanging out the wash or looking through the medicine cabinet for tranquilizers.   
Copyright  © 2002 Daily Press All rights reserved.

Environmentalists suing to suspend use of mosquito-fighting pesticide


An immature Reddish Egret forages in the 
shallow waters off Tigertail Beach on Marco 
Island on Monday. The area has become a 
battleground over fenthion, a pesticide used
 to keep mosquito populations in check that 
may also be killing birds. Environmental groups 
are suing to order the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency to consult with the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service  about devising new 
rules for spraying fenthion. 
Michel Fortier/Staff

Environmental groups filed suit Monday asking a judge to suspend the use of a mosquito-fighting pesticide used in Collier and Lee counties and to order the EPA to work with federal wildlife officials to devise new rules for spraying it. Fenthion, sold as Baytex, is suspected in the deaths of hundreds of shorebirds on Marco Island beaches in 1998 and 1999, including birds protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. A federal investigation is ongoing. The lawsuit was filed by the American Bird Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife and the Florida Wildlife Federation against Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. The suit charges that the EPA is ignoring warnings about fenthion and is breaking the law by not consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Martin seeking funds for Blueways purchase
Martin pushes to buy Blueways Officials are working to  find new funding sources to purchase the environmentally  sensitive waterfront property. Martin County officials have a new strategy to acquire prime real estate along the Indian River Lagoon that has been on the county's conservation wish list for years. Instead of waiting for South Florida Water Management District officials who are bogged down in Everglades restoration efforts county planners say they're willing to take the lead to find new partners for the project. Named in the county's 1998 Healthy Rivers 1 percent sales tax referendum, the 474 acres of waterfront property known as the Indian River Blueways have fallen far behind efforts to acquire the other named properties in the law. Now, county officials, with the help of activists with the Nature Conservancy, have begun efforts to lobby the state and begin a search for new funding partners.   
Copyright  © 2002  Stuart News -TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Real Florida: Pink power

The wild flamingo keeps eating as observers 
pass.  Flamingos eat  little things, but they 
are fond of blue-green algae.  It's what gives 
them their pink color. [Times photo: Ken Helle]

Florida loves flamingos. Even though they may not be from here. And plastic ones outnumber wild ones. And they are a bit strange. If flamingos were not real birds, we would have to invent them. Ugly and beautiful, clumsy and graceful, they represent everything nerdy and cool about our state. So speaketh a man who knows that flamingos may not even be native Floridians. As a Chicago-born guy who has been known to decorate his lawn with plastic flamingos, I can live with the contradiction. Whether the flamingos I see so rarely in the Florida wild are actually escaped zoo birds hardly matters to me. As a lifelong member of what I call the cult of the flamingo, I'll take my flamingos however I can get them. I saw my first live one in the early 1950s at a Miccosukee Indian village near Miami. The tame flamingos pranced, stretched their wings and honked. Mainly, they looked like weird, pink, upside down croquet mallets from Alice in Wonderland.   
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

28-October-02

Press Release:  Groups Sue EPA to Protect Florida Wildlife from Bird-Killing Pesticide
Three environmental groups today filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today over the use of a highly toxic pesticide that is killing federally protected species in Florida. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal district court by Defenders of Wildlife, American Bird Conservancy, and Florida Wildlife Federation, charges EPA with violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) by its registration of the pesticide fenthion. Fenthion has been documented to cause severe ecological impacts and is exceptionally toxic to birds.  "Fenthion is one of the most dangerous bird-killing pesticides in use in this country," said Dr. Patti Bright, Director of American Bird Conservancy’s Pesticides and Birds Campaign. "It is not necessary to bear the extreme ecological costs of fenthion when there are equally effective pesticides available for mosquito control that won’t kill birds, don’t wreak environmental havoc, and are in use to combat mosquitos in 49 other states and even most of Florida," Dr. Bright added.  Read More...
Copyright  © 2003  Defenders  All rights reserved.

Related Links,

Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization  recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. 

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit dedicated to the conservation of wild birds and their habitats in the Americas. 

Florida Wildlife Federation is a dynamic, statewide organization made up of Floridians from all walks of life who share a common goal of conserving Florida's wildlife and wildlife habitats.

Local magnet school to build tortoise preserve  
Two ailing gopher tortoises that can't be released into the wild might move to Sawgrass Springs Middle School if state officials approve a plan to create a special preserve. "It's a great community outreach," said science teacher Judie Woods, who runs a popular after-school "Critter Club" with 150 members. "It enhances the students' understanding, and it makes them more enthusiastic about science." The tortoises need a special home because they suffer from upper respiratory tract disease, a pneumonia-like ailment that is contagious and requires isolation. However, "Butch" and "Scar" are asymptomatic, could live for decades and need somewhere to stay. Plans are to move Butch and Scar to a grassy stretch next to the school's 130-seat outdoor environmental classroom sometime in the next two months, said Joan Kohl, founder of the Sawgrass Nature Center, a nonprofit organization that will soon construct a wildlife hospital next to the environmental magnet school.    
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Watchdog: Growth Plans Need Updating
A "smart growth'' group wants the state to crack down on cities and counties that have failed to update their comprehensive growth plans as required by Florida's 1985 growth-management law. The group, 1000 Friends of Florida, said letting local governments slide on the required plan modifications is a sure recipe for sprawl, the unplanned development that eats up rural areas and costs taxpayers money. "If you've got land plans that don't have current natural resources protection or current policies on how your infrastructure - schools, roads, water - is to be paid for, and you're looking at new development approval, how are you going to make informed decisions on what's best for the public?'' asked Charles Pattison, executive director of 1000 Friends. Every seven years, local governments are supposed to update their plans, looking at changes in population, growth patterns and encroachment on natural resources.      
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

                Related Link,

                1000 Friends of Florida .... 1000 Friends of Florida's mission is to protect and improve Florida's quality
                of life by advocating responsible planning for the state's population growth ....

Marjory told you so 
"There are no other Everglades in the world. "They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth, remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them: their vast glittering openness, wider than the enormous visible round of the horizon, the racing free saltness and sweetness of their massive winds, under the dazzling blue heights of space... " So began Marjory Stoneman Douglas' book, The Everglades: River of Grass, published 55 years ago and now reissued in a special facsimile edition by Val Martin of Port Salerno in his Florida Classics Library. The republication could hardly be timelier. Half the Everglades are gone, drained and replumbed to suit the needs of an exploding population, and a vast federal and state project to restore them might or might not work. The whole region has gone from unique to endangered to probably lost. Much  of what Douglas predicted 55 years ago has come devastatingly true.     
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

USDA Announces $153 Mil. CREP Program for Florida
USDA today announced a voluntary program being launched with the state of Florida restore up to 30,000 acres of environmentally sensitive Florida land, including the Everglades. Through the Florida Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), USDA, farmers and Florida will work together to protect Florida's diverse ecosystem by providing financial incentives to farmers to retire cropland and marginal pastureland via this $153 million program.. The Florida CREP aims to reduce phosphorus runoff through constructing wetland treatment systems and riparian buffer strips. CREP will increase water storage capacity in the Lake Okeechobee watershed through wetland restoration. Also, the program will reduce agricultural pollutants in the lower St. Johns River and the Ocklawaha and Indian River Basin. Overall, the program will help improve lands from the northeast corner to the southern tip of the state.    
Copyright  © 2002 Agweb All rights reserved.

                Related Link,

               Questions and Answers on the Florida CREP announcement.

Federal program to pump $153 million to Florida sensitive lands
Hundreds of farmers in Florida can volunteer to plant native grasses and vegetation in place of crops through a new program designed to restore environmentally sensitive lands. Federal and state agriculture officials announced the $153 million project Monday on the banks of the ailing Lake Tohopekaliga near Kissimmee. The program will pay farmers who volunteer to plant native vegetation that will stop pollutants from running into Florida waters and create more wildlife habitat. Lands and waters across the state, from the Ocklawaha River in northeast Florida to the Everglades, are expected to be improved with the project, said Leslie Palmer, an administrator for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The initiative will include rehydrating wetlands, improving water quality and storage, creating and restoring habitat for birds and other wildlife and planting native trees, grasses and vegetation.   
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

                Related Link,

                Farm Service Agency

Environmentalists Intervene in Clean Water Challenge
Environmentalists hope to help defend aspects of the Clean Water Act before the Supreme Court this term in a case in which developers are challenging the law's application to wetlands and streams. The environmental law organization Earthjustice submitted a brief on Friday asking the Supreme Court to uphold the Clean Water Act against industry attempts to weaken it. Addressing one of the most crucial environmental cases on the Supreme Court's docket this term, the Earthjustice brief opposes attempts by agricultural, mining, and roadbuilding interests to accelerate unpermitted destruction of wetlands and streams around the nation. "Three decades after the passage of the landmark Clean Water Act, our nation continues to lose tens of thousands of acres of wetlands each year, and hundreds of miles of streams as well," said Howard Fox of Earthjustice, attorney for the conservationists. 
Copyright  © 2002  Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved.   

Editorial: Bronson Is The Clear Choice For Agriculture Commissioner
The commissioner of agriculture and consumer services is one of the most important elected offices in Florida. The commissioner wields considerable influence over the agriculture industry and environmental initiatives and in January will be one of three votes besides the governor on the reconstituted Florida Cabinet. Yet many people are unaware of the responsibilities of the office and are surprised to learn it is a Cabinet-level position. Besides promoting and protecting agriculture, the department's employees bust unscrupulous mechanics, conduct controlled burns to minimize the danger of forest fires, inspect food markets and, when necessary, halt the sale of dangerous products. They certify weights and measures and validate gasoline pumps. There is only one candidate this year who has the qualifications, background and work experience for this job - incumbent Commissioner Charles Bronson, a Tallahassee Republican.    
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

27-October-02

Estuary recovering from Lake O releases
What a difference a couple of weeks make. Thanks to the tapering off of the rainy season and the cessation of a summer long series of freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie River estuary is showing signs of recovery, experts say. Water-quality tests are coming back with encouraging results, oysters are feeding and sea-grass beds are looking good -- all of which are positive indicators for the delicate inlet where freshwater current meets salty tide. "Last week we had a great surprise," said Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society. "The water quality is improving and it seems like everything is starting to stabilize." The estuary had been on the decline since June, when heavy rains fell, pushing Lake Okeechobee over 15.5 feet above sea level. That's when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started flood-control measures, spilling lake water into the St. Lucie River in intermittent bursts called "pulse" releases.   
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Rampant growth is good? 
No way during an otherwise solid performance in last Tuesday's gubernatorial debate, Jeb Bush blurted something so wacky that I could hardly believe eyes.
In trying to paint a rosy portrait of Florida's economy, the governor cited as evidence the fact that the state's population is still soaring at a net gain of nearly 900 new residents every day. Bush actually was smiling as he said this -- a sign of either grossly misplaced pride or a warped sense of humor. Either way, his media advisors must have been diving for the Maalox. The last thing a front-running candidate ought to do is remind voters that their beloved home state is rapidly transforming into an urban pit. No place in the country has swollen more recklessly than Florida during the last 50 years, and no place has seen such stark social and environmental consequences.    
Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

Scientists keep eyes on refuge survival
The beam of light swung left and right across the dusk-covered water. In the 200,000-candle-power throw of her spotlight, Laura Brandt was looking for something. Here and there she found it: small sets of eyes that flashed back in quick semaphore, glinting like tiny red bicycle reflectors from the sides of the L-40 canal. Alligator eye-shine. Brandt, a senior wildlife biologist, was counting alligators on Wednesday evening inside the eastern rim canal of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. From her elevated airboat seat, she cruised a 6.2-mile run of the canal west of Boynton Beach. During the 10-kilometer search she found gators drifting slowly across the sky-glow-lit open water; gators floating motionless amid green mats of water lettuce and water hyacinth and gators peering out from gaps in the cattail and willow that grow as solidly as subdivision walls along the canal banks.      
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Election 2002: Greenspace tax proponents include some developers
A rematch of sorts is under way between greenspace tax foes and tax backers as the Nov. 5 election draws nearer. A measure on the ballot would authorize Collier County to issue up to $75 million in bonds to buy land for preservation. The bonds plus interest would be paid back with a property tax that would cost up to $25 per $100,000 of taxable property value. Voters defeated a drastically different land acquisition program in 1996, but this time around, a few things have changed. Opponents, who formed an anti-tax political action committee in 1996, are less organized this year. Tax supporters, bedeviled by dissension in their ranks in 1996, have come together behind the new greenspace proposal and are well-funded. The leader of the 1996 anti-tax PAC said last week that the new playing field could put greenspace advocates on top on election night.        
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

State plan fails lagoon by ignoring top pollutant
St. Lucie River advocates say a state plan to ensure healthy waterways won't do much for the Treasure Coast where quantity  of fresh water is a bigger concern than quality. Last week, members of the Rivers Coalition met with representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection to learn about a program to identify the rivers, lakes and streams that do not meet certain water-quality standards. Although the St. Lucie River, the Indian River Lagoon and their tributaries and canals have not been placed on a list of unhealthy waters, some coalition members said it doesn't even matter. "This is working as a smoke screen to the issue of quantity," said Karl Wickstrom, publisher of Florida Sportsman magazine and a member of the Coastal Conservation Alliance, a boaters' rights group. "An estuary has a degree of brackishness. Unless you address the quantity issue there's a problem."    
Copyright  © 2002  Stuart News -TC Palm  All rights reserved.

26-October-02

Migrating Whooping Cranes Have Made Little Progress
Sixteen whooping cranes and their ultralight chaperons haven't had good luck weather- wise. Wind and rain in Wisconsin have grounded the endangered birds all but three days since their migration began two weeks ago. The cranes have flown 91.8 of the more than 1,200 miles in their journey from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in western Citrus and Hernando counties. This is the second year pilots have led the birds in an effort to build a second migrating population in the United States. The birds last flew Sunday.     
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

                Related Link,

                You can follow their progress on the Internet at www.bringbackthecranes.org

Governor Talks to Audubon Members: 
He tells them the class-size amendment could force program cuts.
Passage of the class-size constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot could force cuts in environmental programs, Gov. Jeb Bush told Audubon members Friday. "There's a real debate about priorities," he said, warning that across-the- board cuts to pay the estimated $2.5 billion annual price tag to implement the amendment would come from a pool of about $4 billion in the state's general fund that's not already devoted to education. "That's not going to happen; I won't let it happen," Bush said. He made his comments at a luncheon talk on the second day of the annual Audubon Assembly, which drew conservationists from all over the state. Bill McBride, Bush's Democratic opponent, is scheduled to address the group today.       
Copyright  © 2002  The Ledger All rights reserved.

Dredging firm faces state fines for oil, grease, foam spills
Department of Environmental Protection officials plan to fine the dredging company that worked on the St. Lucie Inlet more than $28,000 for spilling oil, grease and plastic foam pieces into the water. Phil Wieczynski, chief of the DEP's Bureau of Emergency Response, said Friday that the official letter will be sent to the Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredging next week, giving corporate officials the opportunity to pay the fine or request an appeal hearing. Great Lakes officials would not comment Friday. The company was contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers for $12.6 million to dig a 20-foot-deep impoundment basin in the rock just south of the northern jetty and dredge the navigational channel, which was filling with sand. Work ended in September, just three months after dredging began with the introduction of the Texas, a 365-foot, maroon dredge machine anchored at the tip of Sailfish Point.       
Copyright  © 2002  Stuart News -TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Canker decision key, agriculture chief says
Florida's commercial citrus industry isn't all that's at stake in the upcoming court hearings over the citrus canker controversy, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said Friday. Speaking at the Indian River Citrus League's annual meeting in Vero Beach, Bronson said what's decided at the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach could impact agricultural producers across the nation. A decision that bars the state from removing trees that are infected with canker or that have been exposed to the bacterium could set a precedent that keeps government from being able to control crop diseases, livestock illnesses and pests, he said. "What happens in the 4th DCA case is going to have the power to either save or destroy the industry in this state," Bronson said. "No one will be safe in any agricultural industry where pest and disease is a potential problem."     
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Did cement deal pour money into GOP? 
Paving firm gave $190,000 to Republican Party accounts after N. Florida deal was sealed
A year after Gov. Jeb Bush canoed down Florida's beloved Ichetucknee River and vowed to protect it, he shocked environmentalists by allowing construction of a cement plant nearby that they claim could pollute surrounding air. Now, a Herald analysis reveals new information about the controversial episode: Executives and lawyers representing Anderson Columbia Inc., the big paving firm that sought approval for the plant, poured nearly $190,000 into state and national Republican Party accounts over the two days after a key part of the deal was concluded. At the same time, a Herald review of public records shows that one critical component of the deal -- the $23 million price the state paid to buy a lime rock mine from Anderson Columbia -- was based on an unusual appraisal process.  
Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

New facility will test controls for invasive plants
University of Florida Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources Michael Martin hosted groundbreaking ceremonies on Oct. 23, for a new $3.8 million Exotic/Aquatic Quarantine Facility at UF's Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce. Other officials participating in the ceremonies, which began at 10 a.m., include Walter Tabachnick, professor of entomology and nematology, center director of the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory and interim center director at IRREC; Connie Riherd, representing Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson and the Florida Department of Agriculture Consumer Services; and Ronald D. Cave, IRREC assistant professor of entomology and nematology, whose appointment will be with the new facility. State Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, was be in attendance and was recognized for his leadership in supporting funding for the facility.    
Copyright  © 2002 Newszap All rights reserved.

                Related Link,

                Indian River Research and Education Center

Letters to the editor: 
Election 2002 Part of the solution
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida encourages eligible voters to say "yes" to Conservation Collier, the last item on the ballot. Your vote will preserve water, wildlife and our quality of life. We've all heard the old adage, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." With our diverse support, we need to look at it from another viewpoint: "If we're not part of the solution, then we've got a problem." Thanks again to everyone who has contributed.
— Kathy Prosser
President and CEO, The Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Copyright  © 2002  News-Press   All rights reserved.


The Orchid Rescue: The Native Orchid Restoration Project seeks to rediscover and restore lost orchids of the region.


Lee Hoffman attaches a rescued orchid in 
its native habitat.  
Photo courtesy Lee Hoffman

Where do those beautiful orchids that decorate homes and stores throughout the area come from? Originally, they came from species found growing in the wild all over the world. Since the first wild orchid was discovered more than a century ago, these wild orchids have been collected, cultivated, hybridized and sold to the public. Florida is home to more than two thirds of all native orchids in the United States. Naples alone supports, or once supported, more than 40 species, the highest concentration in the United States. For example, outside of Cuba, the exotic ghost orchid (Polyradicion lindenii), grows only in South Florida. The rarity of these orchids causes some people to go to any lengths to possess them, including poaching them from their native swamps, despite the fact that they will not survive outside their native habitat.    
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Glades activists eye candidates with suspicion
Whoever wins the race for South Florida's U.S. House District 25 won't be representing just people. The new representative also will be the voice for alligators and ibises, sea trout and snakes, sawgrass and swamps.  District 25, newly carved out of several other congressional districts, includes almost the entire Everglades and a large part of Big Cypress National Preserve.   It's considered one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the nation and is the focal point of a multibillion-dollar federal restoration effort expected to take decades to complete.  But environmentalist activists worry that neither candidate, Republican Mario Diaz-Balart or Democrat Annie Betancourt, is truly committed to the environment. They point to both candidates' low rankings among legislators by the Florida League of Conservation Voters.    
Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

Seminoles get a royal visit
A small group of women shuffled into an impromptu receiving line, traditional Seminole patchwork skirts brushing against each other in the lobby of the tribe's Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum. One showed what she had to give the prince, a pillow she'd stitched with Seminole-style design. Another showed what she had, a small sweet grass basket. "I've got me!" said tour guide Mornin Osceola with a laugh, before a friend passed her a book of Seminole legends.  Just then, Crown Prince Albert of Monaco, emerged from his museum tour and Osceola, 34, composed herself with the help of a few  forced exhales.  Prince Albert, sporting a satin Seminole jacket in Monaco red and white, had requested the visit with the tribe while in South Florida to promote the World Olympians Association.   
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

25-October-02

UM School of Law Celebrates the Life of Prof. Robert Waters (1926-2002)

Law School Institute He Founded to be Renamed in His Honor

The University of Miami School of Law will celebrate the life of beloved Professor Robert H. Waters, who died September 2 after a long battle with cancer, with a service at 3 p.m. October 25 in the Student Lounge at the School of Law, 1311 Miller Drive, in Coral Gables.  Serving on the School of Law faculty for 30 years, Professor Waters was an integral part of the School of Law, and was an outstanding teacher and mentor to countless students. At UM, he helped found the Woodson-Williams-Marshall Association for black faculty and administrators and began an enrichment program for black students entering law school.  He also founded the James Weldon Johnson Summer Institute at UM Law School.  Read More...
Copyright  © 2002  University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Commentary: Everglades Restoration: A Long Haul
Over the past few months the Everglades restoration program has come under criticism from The Washington Post and other newspapers. As former chief environmental adviser to Govs. Bob Graham, Bob Martinez, Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush, let me give my perspective on this issue.  Everglades restoration was initiated in 1983 by Gov. Graham. The "Save Our Everglades" program had many notable accomplishments, including Kissimmee River restoration, Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve expansion, Florida panther recovery, and restoration of natural water flow. However, we realized that the state alone could not restore the entire Everglades system; successful restoration would require major modifications to a massive federal water project, with 1,700 miles of canals and levees, stretching from Orlando to the Florida Keys.   
Copyright  © 2002  Orlando Sentinel  All Rights Reserved.   

Sugar Industry Expert: Set Phosphorus Limit at 15.6 ppb ; Blame Airboats
The Sugar Industry staked out its stand today on what number should end up in the phosphorus criterion rule required by the Everglades Forever Act. Duke University Professor Curtis Richardson, hired by the sugar industry to make a 5 hour presentation to the state's Environmental Regulation Commission, recommended that the standard be set at 15.6 parts per billion - contrasting with the 10 part per billion standard recommended by the Department of Environmental Protection. Richardson also threw in another twist, suggesting that "disturbances" such as airboats in the Everglades Conservation Areas are a greater cause of the conversion of natural Everglades wetlands from sawgrass to cattails than phosphorus pollution from agricultural fields, raising the specter that the sugar industry may call for limitations on recreational use of Everglades lands as an alternative to a strict water quality standard.  Read more . . . 

Letter to the Editor: 
Judge state's Everglades stance by interests supporting it
In his response to The Post's Oct. 13 editorial "Make rules, not promises," Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs mischaracterizes the issues ("State must keep the flexibility to give Everglades the water it needs," Tuesday). The adoption of clear restoration planning goals would make it harder for the state to cheat the Everglades out of the water it needs in favor of water for future economic interests. Florida officials oppose putting such goals into new federal regulations that will guide restoration. Because the state can provide no compelling reason why these goals shouldn't be in the law, the secretary resorts to mischaracterizing them. He calls them "inflexible" and "destructive." That's hogwash.     
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Swiftmud deal to help restore part of wetlands:
The project will affect 550 acres of wetlands in the eastern section of Potts Preserve. Work will take one to two months. State environmental officials Thursday announced an agreement that clears the way for a $61,000 project to restore 550 acres of wetlands in the eastern section of Potts Preserve. The deal, which does not cover a more controversial area in the western part of the 9,300-acre preserve, gives the Southwest Florida Water Management District the right to work in state land overseen by the Department of Environmental Protection. DEP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Swiftmud dredge and fill permits last year, but the larger agreement was worked out only recently. The work involves removing sections of dike roads and filling in ditches created decades ago to drain wetlands for agricultural or cattle use.      
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

                Related Links,

                Map WC-1 Potts Preserve Trail
                Potts Preserve is located northeast of Inverness. From US 41 ...

                Florida's Trail Guide-Central West Region-Potts Preserve/Flying ... 

                Ken's Page - Potts Preserve

                Potts Preserve... The Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes, which encompasses much of the 
                Potts Preserve is an important part of the Floridian aquifer's hydrologic system....

                Trails.com :
                Potts Preserve Trail The Potts Preserve was originally known as the Dee River Ranch and contains 
                over 8,000 acres. 

                Potts Preserve

                * pdf file (must have Acrobat Reader to open)

Lake plan has yet to reach nutrient goals
The proposed 2002 Lake Okeechobee Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Plan is in its final stages of the most recent update. Originally adopted in 1987, its goal was to reduce the amount of nutrients  -- primarily phosphorus -- that was entering Lake Okeechobee. While some reductions were realized through the years, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has yet to realize the legislative- mandated goal for the amount of tonnage of phosphorus that enters the lake. Now, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) have implemented new regulations for the amount of phosphorus that can be contained in inflows to the lake. The state has passed the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act to help reduce the nutrients.      
Copyright  © 2002  Newszap All rights reserved.

Commissioners delay vote on Ag Reserve
County commissioners Thursday delayed a decision expanding an Agricultural Reserve development of million-dollar homes by using a former sand mine as required open space. Developer Kenco Communities already has approval to build 405 homes in a project called The Oaks of Boca Raton on land northeast of Clint Moore Road and State Road 7. The developer was asking to add 88 homes. Developers can build only one unit per acre in the Ag Reserve, 21,000 acres west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. Also, they must condense projects to 40 percent of the land while leaving the rest as open space. Part of the open space used to justify additional units in The Oaks comes from property originally used to excavate sand and is now mostly a lake. The move is allowed, but some environmental advocates say it twists open- space intentions.     
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

In-lake restoration measures necessary to achieve recovery from phosphorus
A large component of the proposed 2002 Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Plan from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is the Lake Okeechobee Sediment Management Feasibility Study. It is estimated at the present time, more than 51,600 metric tons of phosphorus are in the mud sediments of Lake Okeechobee. The material is often re-suspended into the water column by wind and waves on the shallow lake. This transports phosphorus into the water column at a magnitude equal to external loading from the watershed, scientists have determined. Because of the high internal loading, the lake may not respond to external phosphorus reductions and some studies have concluded in shallow lakes, in- lake restoration measures are necessary to achieve recovery.   
Copyright  © 2002  Newszap All rights reserved.

Everglades pits Lennar against state
A pivotal legal battle signaling whether state bureaucrats bear sufficient political will to buy land necessary to support the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration was scheduled to enter a new phase Oct. 24. Four national environmental groups, Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) and the South Florida Water Management District filed proposed orders Thursday with Florida administrative law judge Robert E. Meale, who is expected to rule by late December whether the district erred in April when it granted Lennar a permit to build 3,300 homes on sensitive wetlands near Biscayne Bay. Stakes run high, since the turf tussle's outcome will likely set precedent, lawyers for Lennar and environmental groups agree. Meale will decide whether the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) required the district on April 11 to instead reject Lennar's bid to build Lakes by the Bay South on 516 acres.   
Copyright  © 2002 SouthFloridaBizjournal All rights reserved.

Water Management District hopes to handle more local permitting
There are a few new faces in the South Florida Water Management District office in Fort Myers and more employees are expected to migrate to the west coast office soon. The year started off with the addition of Service Center Director Carol Wehle, who replaced current Deputy Executive Director Chip Merriam. Carla Palmer joined the staff recently as regulatory section leader. Both moved to Fort Myers from the St. Johns River Water Management District.  Review personnel for permits are expected to start flowing through the door next month. Trudi Williams, district board chairwoman, said the district hopes to eventually perform all permitting out of the Fort Myers office.  "We're moving all the consumptive use permits and the environmental permits here so all Southwest Florida permitting will be done in Southwest Florida," Williams said.     
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Put Everglades first, scientist says
Get involved in the restoration of the Everglades today because it will affect your quality of life in the future, a wildlife and wetlands ecologist told a Fort Myers crowd Thursday. Write a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or show up at a South Florida Water Management District meeting, urged Frank Mazzotti, a well-known Fort Lauderdale-based scientist who spoke at Community Breakfast 2002. The fifth annual breakfast at the Hall of Fifty States gathered 100 of Southwest Florida’s environmentalists, conservationists, developers, politicians, biologists and others who came to network and share ideas.  People each year bring their own coffee mugs. Nobody lays out linen tablecloths, and environmentally friendly beans are used in the morning brew.  Event sponsors are the Southwest Florida Council for Environmental Education and Audubon of Southwest Florida.    
Copyright  © 2002  News Press  All rights reserved.

Proposed greenspace tax opponent says ballot question is misleading
A leading opponent of the proposed greenspace tax on the Nov. 5 ballot sent a letter Thursday to the Florida Division of Elections, saying the ballot question is misleading. Taxpayers Action Group President Tom Macchia complains in the letter that voters could interpret the ballot question to mean that the proposed greenspace acquisition program would be funded with existing tax revenues — when in fact program supporters have made no secret of the fact that they envision an increase in the property tax rate.  Macchia's letter appears to amount to little more than an empty exercise, though. Division of Elections Director Ed Kast said Thursday that Macchia is looking in the wrong place to address issues of confusing ballot language.  "We have no statutory authority over that," Kast said.  "They'd have to challenge that in the courts."   
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

24-October-02

Further delay sought for hearing over rural fringe growth plan
The two sides in a challenge of a plan to control rural growth in Collier County have something else to disagree about: when they should have their day in court. The 15,000 Coalition and Century Development of Collier County filed a petition in September for an administrative hearing on a sweeping new plan for growth on 93,000 acres on the edges of Golden Gate Estates. The petition charges that the plan is based on bad science and won't protect property rights. Collier County attorneys thought they had a deal with coalition director and Century President Don Lester to put off the hearing until Dec. 3, 4 and 5 to give Lester more time to prepare after his attorney withdrew from the case because of a dispute over fees. The hearing had been set for Oct. 31 and Nov.1.But on Tuesday, the same day Administrative Law Judge J. Lawrence Johnston signed the order setting the new hearing dates, Lester called Johnston's office in Tallahassee to inquire about a further delay until the end of January.  
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

New Program Offers Adventurous Classes
No student wants to spend his winter break in class, right? What if the class were entitled “Downhill Skiing” or “Intro to Whitewater Canoeing?” If rock climbing, canoeing and kayaking, snow skiing, hot air ballooning and scuba diving sound like a great way to spend winter break, then George Mason University’s Department of Health, Fitness and Recreation Resources has the perfect winter programs for Mason students. The department will sponsor an intersession Everglades canoe expedition entitled “Florida Everglades: Studying the Ecosystem by Canoe” Jan. 3-17, 2003. This 12-day trip, which is worth three credits, will combine a multi-day canoe expedition with the environmental study of what is hailed as the largest and most unique sub-tropical ecosystem in the U.S. Students interested in these programs may find specific dates and times of course offerings by checking the course listing on the Registrar’s Web site: http://registrar.gmu.edu/schedule/.  Read more . . . 
Copyright  © 2002 George Mason University All rights reserved.

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COMMITTEE (EAC) MEETING NOTICE
Wednesday, November 6, 10:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Conference Room 2A, second floor, Bldg. B-1 District Headquarters, 3301 Gun Club Road West Palm Beach, Florida
AGENDA
I. Florida Earth Foundation (FEF)……………...Stan Bronson     
(See www.FloridaEarth.org)                                                   
II. Palm Beach County Issues……………...…   Rosa Durando
III. Martin/St. Lucie County Issues ……………  Members/TBD
IV. Public Comment/Non-agenda Issues..……………All
V. Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes…..….....Members
VI. Next Meeting: …………………...December 6 at SFWMD  Read more . . .

California Panel Bans Fishing Around a Marine Sanctuary
After four years of study and debate, the California Fish and Game Commission today approved a network of marine reserves around the Channel Islands, creating what amounts to a network of underwater parks where fishing is off limits. The commission, which was faced with several alternatives ranging from doing nothing to closing as much as 34 percent of the state waters in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, chose a plan that bans fishing in 19 percent of the state waters that surround Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara Islands, covering some 175 miles. The commission passed the measure on a 2-to-1 vote, with two members absent. Mike Chrisman, vice president of the commission, voted against the measure, saying he supported creation of the marine reserves, but believed that a better means of assessing their success in preserving the marine environment was needed before action was taken.  Read more... 
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times, AP online  All rights reserved.

County turns up nose at manure plan
With the polo set returning soon for the "season" in Wellington, officials are again saying they don't want Martin County to become the Palm Beach County town's equine latrine. County commissioners say a renewed proposal to import horse manure and other stable products to a western Palm City ranch isn't any rosier now than when it was offered five months ago by the Martin County Soil and Water Conservation District. "If that's a pilot project to solve Palm Beach County problems, then it should be a pilot project in Palm Beach County," Commissioner Lee Weberman said. "You can't tell me you can't find a farmer there that would like to try the pilot project in Palm Beach County if it's that great a deal with no environmental impact."  Commissioner Michael DiTerlizzi said the district should use manure piling up at equestrian communities throughout Martin County rather than spreading Palm Beach County's problem across local ranches.          
Copyright  © 2002  Stuart News -TC Palm  All rights reserved.

23-October-02

Renaissance Village on hold
Hoping to allow more time for an alternate site to be found for the Rev. Leo Armbrust's proposed facility for at-risk children, the Palm Beach County Commission voted Tuesday to postpone discussion on the Renaissance Village project until Nov. 12. "I don't think that there's anyone here that's opposed to Renaissance Village," said Lisa B. Interlandi, senior attorney with the Environmental & Land Use Law Center in West Palm Beach. "Likewise, I don't think that there's anyone here that's opposed to the Loxahatchee River." Armbrust, a Catholic priest and chaplain for the Miami Dolphins, has proposed building Renaissance Village, featuring a 300-bed boarding school for troubled teens and a golf course, on a 576-acre portion of the Cypress Creek property, an environmentally-sensitive site north of Indiantown Road and east of Mack Dairy Road.  Read More...
Copyright  © 2002  Stuart News -TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Everglades legislation reaches halt in House, Senate
The legislation St. Lucie River advocates had hoped would be the first step toward funding $1 billion in Treasure Coast Everglades projects apparently is dead for this year. The Water Resources and Development Act stalled in the House of Representatives and the Senate before legislators returned home to campaign for November's elections. When they return on Nov. 12, only six weeks will remain in the session, and Everglades specialists say there are too many hurdles to overcome for the legislation to be approved before Congress adjourns. "There is no action pending at this point," said Dave Hewitt, a Washington-based spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, which had requested project approval and funding from Congress. The bill would have been the first step toward providing $1 billion in reservoirs, stormwater treatment facilities and conservation land on the Treasure Coast.     
Copyright  © 2002  Stuart News -TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Commissioners approve Immokalee-area rural growth plan 
The new plan sets the stage for growth and environmental preservation in the county's most remote stretches of natural areas and farmland. 
A groundbreaking plan for rural growth around Immokalee won unanimous support Tuesday from Collier County commissioners, putting an upbeat ending on a three-year process that began amid distrust and low expectations. In 1999, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet ordered Collier County to do a better job of protecting the environment and, taking a cue from the county's largest landowners, gave the county until 2002 to do it through a "community-based and collaborative" study. Over environmental advocates' objections, county commissioners gave landowners control over a study of almost 200,000 acres around Immokalee and appointed a citizens oversight committee. Landowners hired powerhouse engineering and planning firm WilsonMiller Inc. to do the job.     
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Keys jetboat transportation service launched   
Visitors to Islamorada and the Upper Keys have a new transportation option with the start of four-day-a-week shuttle jetboat service between Coconut Grove and Islamorada. Dubbed First Lady of the Keys Express, the 50-foot catamaran with jetliner- type seating for 49 passengers will depart Dinner Key Marina on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning and make the three-hour run down the Inland Waterway, docking at Holiday Isle. The jetboat will make the return trip over the same route each day. Mark Rosandich, a 15-year veteran of the excursion boat business who runs a 159-passenger shuttle boat operation in Cancun Mexico and a catamaran sailing excursion boat in Puerto Rico, has teamed up with Miami's Michael Dudek and the Floribean Hospitality Group to market and operate the Florida Keys trips.     
Copyright  © 2002 Community Newspapers All rights reserved.

Toxic Fertilizers Challenged by Lawsuit
Farm, consumer and environmental health groups have filed a lawsuit to overturn a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule allowing hazardous wastes to be used in fertilizers. Under the rule, toxic heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium may be recycled into zinc based fertilizers. The hazardous waste derived fertilizers would not be labeled as such, and may be applied to farm lands and home gardens without further restrictions. While industries have long been disposing of their hazardous wastes through fertilizers, the practice was not officially authorized until this rule. Many of the heavy metals that will be recycled into fertilizers are toxic substances. Lead has been known to cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities, seizures and even death. Mercury may cause neurological abnormalities, including cerebral palsy in children and severe deformations in animals. 
Copyright  © 2002  Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved.

                Related Links,

                U.S. Environmental Protection Agancy
                Wastes: Waste-derived Fertilizer

                Safe Food and Fertilizer

Sediment removal of lake's tributaries considered
The Lake Okeechobee Protection Program was adopted by the Legislature in 2000 and committed the state of Florida to restore and protect the lake. The law establishes a long-term program and requires significant involvement and cooperation between a myriad of state and federal agencies to implement major public treatment projects that will protect and restore Lake Okeechobee. According to the law, all structures discharging into Lake Okeechobee from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) are to achieve the 140-ton Total Maximum Daily Load Limit (TMDL) by Jan. 1, 2015. That translates into a 40 parts per billion target unless the TMDL for the water body is different.  The integrated watershed and lake-management strategies will have activities at many levels.  There will be implementation of Best Management Practices (BMP) and technologies at the parcel level.  There will be development of in-lake remediation projects.      
Copyright  © 2002 Newszap All rights reserved.

22-October-02

Editorial: The Clean Water Act at 30
The Clean Water Act of 1972, one of the most successful and popular of all the environmental laws enacted under Richard Nixon, turned 30 last Friday. What should have been a celebratory moment, however, was instead an occasion for grumbling, mostly directed at President Bush. His administration has done little to broaden the reach of the law, and there are those in the environmental community who fear that he is now plotting to weaken it in fundamental ways, chiefly by narrowing its scope.  Thirty years ago the nation's waters were in terrible shape — Lake Erie on its deathbed, Ohio's Cuyahoga River bursting into flames, lakes, streams and beaches closed to fishing and swimming. There has been great progress since then, almost entirely the result of the 1972 law.   
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

New Map Shows Human "Footprint" Covers Most of Earth

A team of scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) has produced a new, comprehensive map of the world, showing how human beings directly influence more than three quarters of the earth's landmass.  Published in the latest issue of the scientific journal BioScience, the map should serve as a wake-up call that humans are stewards of the natural world, whether we like it or not - something that should be viewed as an opportunity, the authors say.  The map adds together influences from population density, access from roads and waterways, electrical power infrastructure, and land transformation such as urbanization and agricultural use.  It reveals that 83 percent of the land's surface is under human influence, while a staggering 98 percent of the area where it is possible to grow rice, wheat or maize is directly influenced by human beings.  Read more . . . 
Copyright  © 2003  Wildlife Conservation Society  All rights reserved.

                Related Article,

                October 22, 2003
                The Last of the Wild

                Related Links,

                World map*

               Atlas of the Human Footprint

            About the Data

                * pdf file (must have Acrobat Reader to open)

News Release: Conservationists Applaud Forest Service Action to Control ORV Damage
The partial closure today by the U.S. Forest Service of approximately 7,000 acres to Off Road Vehicles (ORVs) in Florida’s Ocala National Forest is a positive if overdue step, according to Defenders of Wildlife.  "Until today the U.S. Forest Service in Florida has been unable and unwilling to bring the ecological damage caused by ORVs under control and we applaud them for doing something about it.  The closures in the Ocala National Forest are a step in the right direction" says Christine Small, Habitat Conservation Associate with Defenders of Wildlife.  Illegal trails in the areas of the Ocala National Forest known as Paisley Woods and Lake Delancy have increased by 20% over a period of 11 months. Beginning November 4, 2002, motorized vehicles will be restricted to designated roads in approximately 7,000 acres.  Read more . . . 
Copyright  © 2002  Defenders  All rights reserved

                Related Article,

                November 2, 2002
                Report: Out of Control

Grow organic, grow business?
M&M Groves in Fort Pierce isn't growing just run-of-the-mill Florida oranges. The 3,000-tree grove is certified organic by Florida Organic Growers of Gainesville. "It's a tough thing to do," says M&M's co-owner Vicki Miller, who began organic citrus growing with her husband, Walter, about seven years ago. "We don't use any pesticides or herbicides. We mow our weeds. The fruit can't be put in a truck that has had fruit with pesticides on it." The Millers and other 120 or so certified organic growers of fruit, vegetables, sugar cane and rice in the state are hopeful that U.S. Department of Agriculture national organic standards that took effect Monday will boost their business.  "That is the hope of everyone. The good thing about this is the standardization," said Marlon Sequeira, organic program manager for West Palm Beach-based Florida Crystals Corp. "Now we have one playing field and it gives us a competitive edge.      
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Plan to treat waste a half-baked idea?
From the toilet to the farm field, Palm Beach County wants to market its waste-water sludge as a bumper crop. The county plans to start construction next year on a $25 million aste-water treatment plant at 45th Street and Jog Road that would bake sludge into pellets the size of buckshot. The crumbly nuggets could be sold as plant food to fertilizer companies, retail stores and golf courses. County waste-treatment plants now produce a wetter and more disease-laden sludge that is trucked out of town and slopped on farms. Last year, the county produced 18,730 tons of sludge that cost about $244,000 to haul away.  The sludge farms, however, are rapidly diminishing. Environmental rules are getting stricter. Dumping and trucking costs are rising. Some places, such as Martin County, have decided they don't want to be Palm Beach County's dumping ground.    
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Governor held stock in oil firm
At a time when his brother was deciding whether to allow oil rigs off Florida's coast, Gov. Jeb Bush's personal portfolio included stock in a politically connected Texas company seeking to drill in the Gulf. At some point in 2001 -- as the White House was mulling over drilling rights in the eastern Gulf with the governor playing a role in negotiations -- the trustees who oversee Gov. Bush's finances purchased shares in Longleaf Partners Fund, a mutual fund with major investments in the Pioneer Natural Resources Co.  Pioneer, whose largest single shareholder is former George W. Bush business partner Richard Rainwater, was bidding for a lease in waters off Florida.  Had Pioneer been granted a lease by the president's administration, its investors, including the Florida governor, would have been in line to reap the benefits.           
Copyright  © 2002  Miami Herald  All rights reserved.

State must keep flexibility to give Everglades the water it needs
In the Oct. 13 editorial "Make rules, not promises," The Post advocates an inflexible water allocation formula for the Everglades natural system that would lock in unnatural water releases into the Everglades. The state of Florida holds the position that there will be enough water for both nature and people, but we must take care of nature first. And nature, which is dynamic, not static, would be destroyed with invariable, steady-state flows. An enforceable agreement was signed in January, which requires the natural system to receive the water it needs for restoration, nothing less. The president and Gov. Bush represented the equal interests of federal and state taxpayers with their signatures. This is the best approach because it sticks with the original intent of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan that calls for delivering the right amount of water of the right quality at the right place at the right time.   
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Helicopter rescues uncle, 6-year-old from disabled airboat
It was to be an afternoon airboat ride in the Everglades, to fish and just spend some time together. Thirteen hours later, Steven Messier and his 6-year-old nephew, Josh, tired and sore from dozens of mosquito bites, were pulled from the dark swamp by a Coast Guard helicopter. They had run aground on a dry grass bed off Loxahatchee Road and had blown the engine trying to get unstuck. Mechanical and fuel problems with the rescue helicopters had delayed their return, but they finally walked in the door of their home about 3:30 a.m. Monday. "He headed right for the shower," said Messier's wife, Sharon Messier. On Monday, a day after their ordeal, Steven Messier finally found his boat after searching all day with friends. At noon Sunday, Steven Messier had pulled away from the Lox Road ramp with his nephew in the airboat he has owned for two years.    
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

On Environment, Bush, McBride Come Up Dry
Floridians who worry about disappearing rural areas, rampant development and fouled waterways may be wishing they had more choices in this year's race for governor. Though Gov. Jeb Bush insists his record on protecting the land and water is ``a great one,'' environmentalists disagree. Under Bush's stewardship, they say, the Department of Environmental Protection has become a rubber stamp for developers and polluting industries. Bush has signed laws that make it harder for citizens to challenge harmful permits, and easier for the state to build toll roads into rural countryside. Democrat Bill McBride, on the other hand, has no environmental record, unless one counts his leadership of a law firm that has consistently represented some of Florida's worst polluters. McBride waited until just three weeks before the election to reveal an environmental platform, and it was sketchy at best, critics say.   
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

21-October-02

Professor Mary Doyle
Director of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy Professor, has had extensive government experience in environmental work, serving as Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and more recently as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. She was instrumental in drafting and securing Congressional passage of the legislation authorizing Everglades restoration. Professor Doyle also chaired the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force made up of federa