November 7, 2001

MICCOSUKEE TRIBE SEEKS INJUNCTION TO PROTECT TRIBAL EVERGLADES ASKS COURT TO FORCE CORPS TO OPEN GATES AND COMPLY WITH NEPA

Today, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, who live in the Florida Everglades, announced that they have filed a Second Motion for Preliminary Injunction and a Supplemental Complaint in federal court asking that the Corps be required to open the S-12A gates to move water south off of Tribal lands. The Motion and Supplemental Complaint filed in Case No. 00-33-CIV-MOORE allege that the Corps has initiated a deviation from the lawful Water Control Plan
without conducting the environmental reviews required by law. The Water Control Plan contains a regulation schedule that regulates how high water can get on Tribal Everglades lands in Water Conservation Area-3A before the flood gates must be open to let water out. The Water Control Plan requires that the S-12 flood gates be open when the water elevation in WCA-3A is 10.5 feet. The Tribe contends that the Corps closed the S-12A flood gates on November 1, 2001, even though the water was over 11 feet, and the gates remain closed today even though the water has reached 11.19 feet. They also contend that unlike the previous four annual so-called "emergency" deviations that the Corps conducted, and which the Tribe contested, this time the Corps has not sought, nor obtained, permission for an "emergency" from the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to deviate from the regulation schedule before complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The Tribe contends that the Corps' past and current deviations from the regulation schedule are causing irreparable harm to the tree islands and vegetation in WCA-3A, which is the designated critical habitat for the endangered Snail Kite. They claim that by closing flood gates in violation of the lawful regulation schedule, the Corps has abrogated their solemn trust responsibility to protect Miccosukee Tribal Everglades lands. According to Tribal Chairman Billy Cypress , "The continuing mismanagement and destruction of hundreds of thousands of acres of Tribal Everglades not only hurts the "River of Life" of the Miccosukee people, it hurts all people who love and cherish the River of Grass as we do."

The Tribe notes that the Magistrate's Report pending in this case concluded that the Corps acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" by failing to complete an environmental analysis of a previous deviation. The Tribe is asking the Court to enjoin the Corps from closing the gates in the current deviation, because they have still not complied with NEPA. They say operating the system in a way that causes significant environmental destruction to WCA-3A, harms not only the Tribe's interests, but the public interest, as well. Dexter Lehtinen, Tribal General Counsel, says: It seems as far as the Corps is concerned, No-Look = No Harm. Despite the fact that preservation of WCA-3A is vital to the success of the multi-billion dollar Everglades restoration effort, the Corps continues to stack water in this historic area of the Everglades. Their deviations from the regulation schedule in WCA-3A are causing serious environmental harm, but the Corps ignores the damage by refusing to do the environmental analysis required by law. We are asking the Court to order them to take a "hard look" under NEPA, so they will be forced to admit, and stop, the irreparable damage they are causing to the Tribal Everglades.