Shaw Opposes Off-Shore Drilling Compromise
June 21, 2006
Contact: 202-225-3026
Gail Gitcho/Press Secretary
Shaw Opposes Off-Shore Drilling Compromise
WASHINGTON, D.C. - South Florida Congressman Clay Shaw today released the following statement after the House Resources Committee voted to pass the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006:
"I have carefully reviewed the off-shore drilling legislation that was passed out of the Resources Committee today. I believe that the measure does not go far enough in offering protection for Florida's coastlines. I cannot support a plan that leaves our coastlines vulnerable. I stand firmly against the plan, and will vote against when it is considered by the House of Representatives.
"I believe that Congress needs to be more forward-thinking in the way we address alternative energy sources. I am currently working on legislation aimed at enhancing alternative energy sources, which will lower our dependence on foreign and domestic oil production."
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(c) 2008 Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc.
U.S. Senate Documents ~ UNITED STATES SENATE ~
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Jan. 17, 2008
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WASHINGTON ~
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008 ~
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12 February 2008 ~
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February 12, 2008 ~
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Thursday, February 07, 2008 ~
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WASHINGTON ~
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4 February 2008 ~ US Fed News ~
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., ~ Rep. Alcee. L. Hastings, D-Fla. (23rd CD), issued the following news release:
U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) today reacted to President Bush's Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget request which reflects a continuati...read more
ARMY CORPS: Proposed budget offers an 'awkward kiss on the cheek' for Everglades
(02/04/2008) ~ Daniel Cusick, E&ENews PM reporter ~ Environmentalists were heartened today by the Bush administration's continued support of coastal restoration projects in Florida and Louisiana, but the modest increases in spending fall far short of what is needed to significantly advance the proje...read more
Survey state rock supply, task force tells legislature
February 03, 2008 ~
Rock mining is key to ensuring people have buildings to live and work in and roads to get there.
But there's only a limited supply of rock, and no one has a handle on just how much is beneath Florida's soil, where all of it's located or how easy it will be to get out...read more
Growers, users in NAFTA faceoff
By LARRY LIPMAN ~ Palm Beach Post ~
February 03, 2008 ~
WASHINGTON — Fourteen years after approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a behind-the-scenes struggle is being waged over one of its last provisions - the unrestricted trade of sugar between the Uni...read more
GOV. CRIST, LT. GOV. KOTTKAMP 2008-09 BUDGET REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO FLORIDA'S ENVIRONMENT
31 January 2008 ~ US Fed News ~
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 31 -- The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued the following news release:
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael W. Sole today applauded Governor Charlie Crist and Lt. Governor Jef...read more
Audubon Applauds Governor's Budget for Emphasis on Conservation
January 31, 2008 ~ Despite a challenging budget outlook for 2008-2009,
Governor Charlie Crist's budget released today underscored his commitment to
the environment.
In addition to providing $300 million for conservation land acquisitions and
restoring crucial alternative wate...read more
Obey Says '09 Bills May Be Held Back Pending Outcome of Presidential Election
February 28, 2008 ~ Regulation & Law / Appropriations ~
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) is warning Bush administration officials that Democratic leaders may elect to hold back a number of the FY 2009 appropriations bills until after the presidential election in ...read more
Don't dump sewage in ocean
29 February 2008 ~ The Miami Herald ~
Re the Feb. 17 story Lawmakers: Quit flushing into the Atlantic : In South Florida, we are overdue to clean up our act and stop dumping sewage into the ocean. Biscayne National Park is a national, natural treasure in our backyard. But it constantly faces thre...read more
Lawmakers want presidential types pressed on Great Lakes cleanup
By KEN THOMAS ~ 28 February 2008 ~
Associated Press Newswires ~
WASHINGTON (AP) - Seeking to build support for the ailing Great Lakes, lawmakers from the region are urging voters in their states to let the presidential candidates know how critical the issue is to them.
Democr...read more
Birds winter at stormwater treatment area near Clewiston
By WILLIE HOWARD ~ Palm Beach Post ~
February 28, 2008 ~
CLEWISTON — Driving the desolate roads winding through the Hendry County sugar cane fields south of Clewiston, visitors to Stormwater Treatment Area 5 begin to realize they're a long way from the traffic and conven...read more
State to Dade: Don't move development boundary
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR AND CURTIS MORGAN ~ Worried about water and traffic, state growth planners urged Miami-Dade to reject a Lowe's home-improvement store and other developments outside the county's Urban Development Boundary.
The hot-button applications now come back to ...read more
McCain to Tyler crowd: 'We have to secure the borders'
FROM STAFF REPORTS ~ 27 February 2008 ~
Cox News Service ~
Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain took questions Wednesday morning from among hundreds of people who attended a town hall meeting at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. Here are some of the questions he responded to:
...read more
TAX DOLLARS MORE AT WORK
OPINION ~ 26 February 2008 ~
Why should the state need so many consultants to help restore the Everglades?
The state shouldn't. So, by the end of the year the South Florida Water Management District's new board members hope to cut the district's ties to Jacobs/MWH Joint Venture, r...read more
Disney exec seeks seat on water board
By ROBERT P. KING ~ Palm Beach Post ~February 26, 2008 ~
A Walt Disney executive is applying for a spot on the board that makes
decisions about drought.
Robert G. "Jerry" Montgomery, senior vice president for conservation and
environmental sustainability for Walt Disney Parks and ...read more
Collier debate brews over town, panthers
February 24, 2008 ~ By Mary Wozniak
A classic confrontation between the pressure for more development in Southwest Florida and the protection of the endangered Florida panther is brewing in the corridors of power in Collier County.
The showdown will be over a proposed new town of 9,000 r...read more
Corps Slams Florida for Violating Water Quality Standards
> Army Corps Refuses to Share Costs of Deficient Everglades Clean Up Projects ~ Washington, DC ~ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refuses to contribute a dime to Florida water projects to reduce high levels of pollution flowing into and out of Lake O...read more
New development plan set for Mirasol near Collier-Lee line
By ERIC STAATS ~ Naples Daily News ~ February 17, 2008 ~
A new version of a controversial golf course community in northern Collier County is raising new questions as it goes back through the county review process.
The Mirasol project already is at the center of a long-running legal ...read more
Speech of HON. RALPH REGULA of Ohio in the house of representatives
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, the Everglades National Park plays a major role in preserving an important ecosystem in the State of Florida. The Everglades act as a natural filter that helps provide fresh water to major cities in Florida. In a time when water is becoming an in...read more
Come celebrate "Save the Florida Panther" Week March 8 - 16 with Collier County Residents!
Once a year, various organizations, residents, and businesses gather resources to help get people out into the habitat that the Florida Panthers depend on. The biggest threat facing one of the most endangered mammals in the world, is apathy - so we hope to inspire people to take action. Get out in...read more
Spoonbills may be in danger
By ROBERT P. KING ~ Palm Beach Post ~ March 06, 2008 ~
A pathetic nesting season for Florida Bay's roseate spoonbills points to a "monumental ecological collapse" looming for the southernmost tip of the Everglades, an Audubon of Florida study warned Wednesday.
The bay's d...read more
Researchers say spoonbill decline signals Florida Bay problems
March 06, 2008 ~ By DINAH VOYLES PULVER ~ Environmental Writer
Guardians for some of the state's showiest residents want state lawmakers to take action soon to save their flamboyant friends and their home in Florida Bay.
The nesting season for the brilliant pink roseate spoonbill was the wo...read more
Spoonbill's struggles worrying researchers
FLORIDA BAY AND THE EVERGLADES
An Audubon official said that the spoonbill's shrinking numbers indicate the Everglades is in dire need of water and help can't come soon enough.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
Roseate spoonbills are becoming a rare sight in the Everglades and Florida Bay.
The roseate spoonb...read more
If drought worsens, Everglades may be tapped to supply cities
By Andy Reid ~ South Florida Sun-Sentinel ~
March 19, 2008 ~
If drought conditions worsen, water managers plan to stick with a proposal to take more Everglades water than usually allowed to restock supplies in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
That would lower the Everglades water conserv...read more
Everglades mining on fast track
By Joel Engelhardt ~ Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer ~ Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Palm Beach County residents and politicians may have thought that they still had some control over whether the Everglades Agricultural Area will be converted into a major rock-mining region, but the state acts as if t...read more
County to probe rock mining's effect on Everglades
By MITRA MALEK ~ Palm Beach Post Staff Writer ~March 20, 2008 ~ Calls to look at the big picture when it comes to rock mining in Palm Beach County were answered Wednesday.A cumulative study of mining's effects isn't a sure thing, but county commissioners have directed staff to look into ...read more
Everglades rock mining concerns still unanswered
Summit on possible risks in Everglades yields no direction for county officials
By Andy Reid | South Florida Sun-Sentinel ~ March 20, 2008 ~
Almost two years and a 3 1/2 -hour summit later, Palm Beach County commissioners on Wednesday still couldn't get a straight answer wheth...read more
Spoonbill's struggles worrying researchers
An Audubon official said that the spoonbill's shrinking numbers indicate the Everglades is in dire need of water and help can't come soon enough. ~
The Miami Herald ~ BY CURTIS MORGAN ~
Roseate spoonbills are becoming a rare sight in the Everglades and Florida Bay.
The roseate spoonbi...read more
Roseate spoonbill nesting hits record low
Lack of birds a signal of unhealthy Everglades ~
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA ~ Key West Citizen ~
Declining numbers of bird nests for a species that indicates the health of the southern Everglades and Florida Bay has Audubon scientists saying the ecosystem is suffering signs of ecological co...read more
EDITORIAL: Corps' Glades fix too little, too late: ELIMINATING TAMIAMI TRAIL BLOCKAGE IS BEST LONG-TERM REMEDY
The Miami Herald ~ McClatchy-Tribune Regional News ~ 6 March 2008 ~ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' latest proposal to unclog the Tamiami Trail's water blockage in the lower Everglades has only a faint resemblance to the logical solution for this long-festering problem. The Corps pla...read more
Florida Bay: Spoonbill Nesting Decline and Algae Blooms Indicate Potential for Ecological Collapse
Audubon Tavernier Science Center, March 5, 2008 – Audubon raised concerns today that this year´s poor nesting season of Roseate Spoonbills—an important indicator species of Everglades restoration success—and the algae blooms in Florida Bay, persisting since 2006, are seriou...read more
HOUSE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES REPS. HASTINGS, DIAZ-BALART EVERGLADES RESOLUTION: BILL COMMEMORATES 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
4 March 2008 ~ US Fed News ~
WASHINGTON, -- Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. (25th CD), issued the following press release:
The United States House of Representatives unanimously passed H.Res.845, a resolution today honoring the 60th anniversary of Everglades National Park, introduced by U...read more
House of Representatives - RECOGNIZING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
House Proceedings ~ 4 March 2008 ~ 110th Congress - Second Session
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 845) recognizing the 60th anniversary of Everglades National Park, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text o...read more
BUDGET: Approps bills should wait for presidential election
Feinstein, Stevens (March 5, 2008) ~ Katherine Boyle and Alex Kaplun, E&E Daily reporters ~
Congress should wait to approve the fiscal 2009 spending bills until a new president is in office, two key Senate appropriators said yesterday.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal...read more
A good job nearly done
Palm Beach Post Editorial ~ March 02, 2008 ~
Last year, newly elected Gov. Crist shook up the South Florida Water Management District board in a good way. With one more good shake this year, he'll get the board just about right.
One move should be to choose a Walt Disney executive ...read more
Public Comment Period Opens for Winsberg Farm Wetlands Restoration Draft PIR
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, has made available the Winsberg Farm Wetlands Restoration Project Draft Project Implementation Report/Environmental Assessment (PIR/EA) for public review and comment. The 45-day comment period begins March 3 and ends April 16, 2008.
The pro...read more
Revamped Tamiami Trail-Glades project lightens costs
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed an affordable compromise on mitigating Tamiami Trail's impact on the Everglades: More than cleaning out the culverts but a lot less than an 11-mile skyway.
Mar. 03, 2008 ~ BY CURTIS MORGAN ~ The Miami Herald ~
It won't deliver anywhere near the am...read more
Congressman wants national designation for lagoon
By Gabriel Margasak ~ March 19, 2008 ~
STUART — The Indian River Lagoon would receive more federal protection and national attention — along with possible new rules on public use — under a plan from U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney to designate the waterway a National ...read more
COUNTY SEEKS IN-DEPTH LOOK AT MINING'S EFFECT ON EVERGLADES
By MITRA MALEK ~ 20 March 2008 ~ The Palm Beach Post
Location of the Everglades
Calls to look at the big picture when it comes to rock mining in Palm Beach County were answered Wednesday. A cumulative study of mining's effects isn't a sure thing, but county commissioners have direc...read more
EDITORIAL ~ Our position: Orange County should drop its attempt to draw down Kissimmee River
Orlando Sentinel ~ March 22, 2008 ~Orange County stepped up its reckless and wrongheaded attempts this week to drain more water from area rivers. At the behest of Mayor Rich Crotty and county staff, commissioners approved more than $1 million for a legal team to fight the South Florida Water Manag...read more
REPS. ROS-LEHTINEN/HASTINGS RESOLUTION HONORING LONG TIME FLORIDIAN & CONSERVATIONIST STONEMAN DOUGLAS APPROVED ON MARCH 4 BY THE HOUSE
4 March 2008 ~ US Fed News
MIAMI, -- Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. (18th CD), issued the following news release:
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior member of the Florida Congressional Delegation, along with her friend and colleague Co-Chair of the Florida Congressional Delega...read more
LAND ACQUISITION BENEFITS INDIAN RIVER LAGOON, ST. LUCIE ESTUARY
13 March 2008 ~ US Fed News ~
STUART, Fla. -- The South Florida Water Management District issued the following news release:
Restoration of the Indian River Lagoon received another boost today with the approval by the South Florida Water Management District's (SFWMD) Governing Board to purchas...read more
INNOVATIVE EFFORT AIDS LAKE OKEECHOBEE
OpEd ~ By Chip Merriam ~ 23 March 2008 ~
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The good news from an environmental restoration project in Lake Okeechobee has been unnecessarily tainted by erroneous reporting in a recent South Florida Sun-Sentinel article.
While lake levels were...read more
Decision on South Bay Quarry postponed
By ANDY REID | Sun-Sentinel.com ~ March 24, 2008 ~
WEST PALM BEACH - Palm Beach County commissioners on Monday postponed a decision about whether to allow a 3,800-acre rock mine on sugar cane fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area.The South Bay Quarry would be located 10 miles ...read more
It's showtime in the Everglades as an influential member of Congress visits
It's crunch time for Everglades restoration: A visit is due by a member of Congress who is key to federal funding. ~
By WILLIAM E. GIBSON | Washington Bureau Chief ~ March 26, 2008 ~
In the sugar fields of Palm Beach County, engineers are about to begin building 22 linear miles of levee to con...read more
SECRETARY OF INTERIOR KEMPTHORNE APPLAUDS PRESIDENT'S INTENTION TO NOMINATE ONLEY FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WATER AND SCIENCE
26 March 2008 ~ US Fed News ~WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of the Interior issued the following news release:
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today applauded President Bush's intention to nominate Kameran L. Onley for the position of Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Wa...read more
Funding may dry up for Glades restoration
Sun-Sentinel, 3/28/2008 ~
TALLAHASSEE - Restoration of the Everglades could come to a grinding halt under a House plan to slash $200 million from the project because of the state's dropping revenues.
In the budget being written for 2008-09, the House has axed all funding to clean up the River ...read more
Growth OK, but balance it with nature, survey reveals
By ERIC STAATS ~ Thursday, March 27, 2008 ~
Sunsets on the beach and birdies to win on the 18th hole are big crowd pleasers in Southwest Florida.
Audubon of Florida has another one to add.
The environmental group released survey results Thursday that show 91 percent of Southwest Florida resi...read more
FIX FOR AGING DIKE TO GET FIRST TEST REPAIRS INTENDED TO PREVENT BREACH
By Andy Reid Staff Writer ~ 28 March 2008 ~
South Florida Sun-Sentinel / Palm Beach ~
While South Florida politicians push for more money to strengthen Lake Okeechobee's aging dike, engineering crews and scientists are closing in on a critical review to see if their pricey fix will work...read more
2.7-FOOT DISPUTE COULD COST ROCK-PIT FIRM $1.5 MILLION
By ROBERT P. KING ~ 27 March 2008 ~
The Palm Beach Post ~
Water managers are withholding a final $6 million payment to Palm Beach Aggregates until they resolve a 2.7-foot discrepancy about the depth of a reservoir the mining company created for the Everglades restoration.
Th...read more
Urgent: Keep State Funds for the Everglades and Florida Forever
Leaders of the Florida House propose to eliminate funds for the Everglades and Florida Forever in the Appropriations Act PCB PBC 08-01 for fiscal year 2008-09.
The Everglades was slated to receive $200 million in state funds in 08-09. Half would pay for the state’s share of the ...read more
Opinion ~ We've waited long enough to restore the lagoon
Rich Campbell ~ Treasure Coast Newspapers ~ 30 March 2008It was impossible to miss the irony.
About 100 residents and a dozen members of the media gathered Wednesday afternoon at Leighton Park in Palm City to attend a news conference held by Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens.
There was ...read more
Don't cut Everglades spending, area Congress members warn
By LARRY LIPMAN ~ Monday, March 31, 2008 ~ WASHINGTON — Members of South Florida's congressional delegation Monday warned legislative leaders not to eliminate spending next year for Everglades restoration.
In a bipartisan letter to state House Speaker Marco Rubio and other key leader...read more
DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE FLORIDA STATE LEGISLATURE'S PROPOSAL TO CUT EVERGLADES FUNDING
28 March 2008 ~ US Fed News ~
WASHINGTON--Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla. (22nd CD), has issued the following news release:
Today, Congressional Democrats Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar), Robert Wexler (D-Delray Beach), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Weston), Kendrick B. Meek (DMiami) and Ron Klein (D-Boca...read more
Environmental Groups Challenge Army Corps of Engineers Permit for Residential Development in Endangered Wood Stork Habitat and Historic Flowway
National Wildlife Federation Audubon of Florida/National Audubon Society
Collier County Audubon Society
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Florida Wildlife Federation
For Immediate Release FT. PIERCE, FL—A coalition of five environmental organizati...read more
Court upholds protection for endangered Key Deer
Miami, FL (April 1) – A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld an injunction protecting eight federally listed species and their habitats in the Florida Keys. The court denied an appeal by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)...read more
Everglades restoration could be hurt by state's money woes
By Gabriel Margasak ~ Wednesday, April 2, 2008 ~
Cutting state money for Everglades restoration now would stifle congressional momentum to pay for the project and hamper the economy, U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney said this week.
The Democratic legislator, who represents parts of Martin...read more
Budget cuts could impact Florida environment
By Bruce Ritchie • FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU • Tallahasee Democrat April 2, 2008 ~ The state's conservation land-buying program and Everglades restoration would receive no money under the House proposed 2008-09 budget.
The proposed $65.1 billion budget is nearly 10 percent less...read more
New lawsuits filed against Mirasol development
By ERIC STAATS ~ April 2, 2008 ~ A pile of lawsuits over plans to build new homes and golf courses in the Cocohatchee Slough in northern Collier County got taller Wednesday.Since 2000, environmental groups and developers have scored victories in their fight over development in wetlands a...read more
Everglades, Fla. Forever face budget guillotine
April 2, 2008 ~
State House budget proposal axes $500 million for the environment~ By Bruce Ritchie, news-press.com Tallahassee bureau and Kevin Lollar, klollar@news-press.com
~ TALLAHASSEE –– The state's conservation land-buying program and Everglades restoration would receive no ...read more
OPINION: DON'T STRIP MINE CONTROL
2 April 2008 ~ The Palm Beach Post ~
State legislators don't know how much rock Florida needs for road-building or how much rock lies underground. They admit as much in a bill to be heard today. But that ignorance hasn't stopped legislators from adding to the bill a terrible condition that w...read more
Kottkamp: Mines are a local matter
Lt. governor says Lee officials’ argument valid ~
By Ryan Hiraki • news press • April 3, 2008 ~
TALLAHASSEE –– The decision to approve or deny mine applications should remain under local control, says the Florida's second-in-command.
"It is a local issue," ...read more
MAHONEY CALLS ON FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO PRIORITIZE EVERGLADES RESTORATION
1 April 2008 ~ States News Service ~
The following information was released by the office of Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney:
Congressman Tim Mahoney (FL-16) issued a letter yesterday calling on the state of Florida to protect the historic federal/state partnership to restore the Everglades. ...read more
OPINION: WRONG TIME TO BECOME EVERGLADES DEADBEATS
5 April 2008 ~ The Palm Beach Post
The Legislature should kill a proposal that would eliminate the total Everglades restoration budget of $400 million as part of statewide spending reductions, and the state's congressional delegation should back off its threats.
The suggestion to slash Ever...read more
EDITORIAL: Martinez: My record is strong on environment
U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, Special To The Sentinel ~
6 April 2008 ~ Orlando Sentinel ~
Last week, a question was posed on these pages asking where I am on the environment. The answer is that I am in favor of protecting, preserving and restoring our environment, and my public record bears ...read more
Pythons pose threat to Everglades, region
27 March 2008 ~ News-Press ~
by ryan hiraki ~
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK — The 8-foot Burmese python hissed and flapped its mouth open, apparently wanting to clamp onto one of the nearby humans who surely was bothering the powerful snake by crowding around it, one a photographer just a...read more
GOVERNOR CRIST APPOINTS TWO TO THE GOVERNING BOARD, SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
APRIL 7, 2008 ~
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today announced the following appointments: Governing Board, South Florida Water Management District (Senate confirmation required) . Paul C. Huck Jr., 41, of Coral Gables, attorney, Colson Hicks Eidson, succeeding Nicolas J. Gutierrez, appoin...read more
Proposal pits land swap vs. mining
By JASON SCHULTZ ~ Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
~ April 08, 2008 ~
State water managers could get 2,200 acres worth about $53 million in western Martin County for free to help clean water from Lake Okeechobee.
But in return, the county and the state would have to allow the property ow...read more
Massive reservoir is intended to help restore the Everglades
Sarasota Herald-Tribune ~ By BRIAN SKOLOFF, The Associated Press ~
April 8, 2008 ~
IN THE EVERGLADES — Out here, where turtles lumber across two-lane highways, sugar is king and alligators own the swamp, the silence is broken by the sound of rumbling trucks and earthen expl...read more
Proposed budget cuts threaten Everglades conservation, beach renourishment funds
By DWAYNE ROBINSON ~ Palm Beach Post Staff Writer ~
April 07, 2008 ~
TALLAHASSEE — Critical funding that helps restore eroded beaches and provides clean drinking water to 5 million South Floridians is at risk this year.
State lawmakers are prop...read more
The Corps LRR's preferred alternative plan has been issued and the comment period ends on May 9
The Corps LRR's preferred alternative plan has been issued and the comment period ends on May 9. Here is the website for the LRR announcement:
http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/dp/mwdenp-c111/index.htm
The Corp's recommendations for after the one mile bridge can be found by...read more
Money for environment endangered
BY EVAN S. BENN ~ 9 April 2008 ~
The Miami Herald ~ TALLAHASSEE ~ Looming budget cuts are threatening to affect two of Florida's greenest programs: Everglades restoration and land preservation.
House lawmakers have proposed suspending money next year for the Everglades and...read more
EDITORIAL Our position: State Rep. Cannon isn't doing enough to strengthen growth law
Orlando Sentinel ~ April 10, 2008 ~
What's the state's growth-management chief, Tom Pelham, getting in return for his needed push to reinvigorate laws regulating use of land in Florida?Well, from the House of Representatives and Central Florida's Dean Cannon, who heads a committee overseeing grow...read more
Land purchase program needs tweaking
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board ~ April 9, 2008 ~
ISSUE: Land purchase program could use tweaking.As the Florida Legislature slashes billions of dollars from necessary programs just to make ends meet, state lawmakers should take the time and rethink efforts to preserve land for conserv...read more
Protect Growth Control
April 11, 2008: House Republicans may think they would do bad developers a big favor by gutting the state's growth-management law. In fact, they would cause a citizen uprising that could backfire on all developers.
Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham has suggested reasonable wa...read more
Florida to buy ‘missing link’ of Everglades for $1.7 billion
June 24, 2008: (CNN) -- The state
of Florida has agreed to buy nearly 200,000 acres of land from a major sugar
producer in a $1.7 billion deal to help restore the Everglades, Gov. Charlie
Crist announced Tuesday.
Crist said the purchase
provides "a critical missing link" that will restore...read more
U.S. Sugar Sale Called Turning Point in Glades Cleanup
Tue, Jun. 24, 2008: WELLINGTON -- The
state of Florida and the nation's biggest sugar grower Tuesday unveiled the
details of what would become the largest environmental acquisition in state
history, a $1.7 billion buyout of 187,000 acres of farmland that Gov. Charlie
Crist call...read more
Conservationists Hail Deal for U.S. Sugar
Tuesday, June 24,
2008: The largest
conservation land deal in Florida's history could provide enough acres to store
325 billion gallons of water, keeping it from being wasted out to sea.
It could replenish
farmland, provide wildlife habitat and virtually halt the massive w...read more
Florida to Buy Chunk of Everglades from Sugar Firm
June 24, 2008: LOXAHATCHEE
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Fla., June 24 (Reuters) - The state of Florida
announced on Tuesday it intends to spend $1.75 billion to buy a large chunk of
Everglades land from U.S. Sugar, one of a number of sugar companies blamed for
polluting the prec...read more
Florida to Pay U.S. Sugar $1.75-billion for 187,000 acres in Everglades
Tuesday, June 24, 2008: Farmland like this, where workers shred sugar cane near Lake
Okeechobee this month, could be converted into reservoirs and water-filtering
areas under a deal between the state and U.S. Sugar. The surprising deal is to
be announced today.
In a surpri...read more
Booting US Sugar from the Everglades
June 24, 2008: Florida governor Charlie Crist could be turning his
constituents into sugar barons. And he's about to set the stage for the
Everglades to come back from the dead.
At a news conference Tuesday morning near the imperiled
"River of Grass," Gover...read more
Crist Makes Major Everglades Announcement, Contributor: Associated Press
June 24, 2008: THE EVERGLADES, FL -- "Today we're here to announce a
strategy to save America's Everglades," said Florida Governor Charlie
Crist, proudly.
It is being hailed as a watershed agreement that one
environmentalist even called the "Louisiana Purchase" of our time. A
$1.75 billi...read more
Sugar Buyout Hailed as Glades `Gift'
Wed, Jun. 25, 2008: A landmark deal
would secure the 'holy grail' of land to help revive and clean up the
Everglades. But the trade-off could be years of additional delays in
restoration projects.
Two sides that
rarely agree on anything celebrated Tuesday a...read more
Florida Buying Big Sugar Tract for Everglades
June 25, 2008: LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. —
The dream of a restored Everglades, with water flowing from Lake Okeechobee to
Florida Bay, moved a giant step closer to reality on Tuesday when the nation’s
largest sugarcane producer agreed to sell all of its assets ...read more
Crist's Bold Step Toward Restoring the Everglades
Wednesday, June 25, 2008:Gov. Charlie Crist has changed the game in the Florida
Everglades. If his deal to buy out U.S. Sugar Corp. comes to fruition, he will
have provided a 292-square-mile cleansing link to the River of Grass and
leapfrogged decades of arduous restor...read more
In 'Huge' Everglades Win, State To Buy U.S. Sugar
June 25, 2008:TAMPA -
Environmentalists for decades have demonized the sugar industry, accusing it of
simultaneously polluting and robbing precious water from the Everglades.
On Tuesday,
they found themselves contemplating the previously unthinkable: the end of U.S.
S...read more
Florida to Buy Out Sugar Land for Everglades Restoration
June
25, 2008: WEST PALM BEACH, Florida -- The largest U.S. producer of cane sugar, U.S.
Sugar Corp., would close up shop in a $1.75 billion deal to sell its 292 square
miles of land to Florida for Everglades restoration, the company
president and Florida Governor
Charlie Crist said Tue...read more
A Chance for the Everglades
June 26, 2008:The languishing
effort to revive and restore the Everglades — one of the most ambitious
environmental initiatives on the planet — received an unexpected and
potentially spectacular boost on Tuesday when Gov. Charlie Crist announced that
Florida had agreed in pri...read more
THE U.S. SUGAR DEAL: It's Just Jaw-Dropping and It Won't Be Easy
Thursday, June 26, 2008: For sheer audacity, it's hard to beat the state's proposed
buyout of U.S. Sugar. It's grand. It's bold. In one extraordinary move, it
could change the dynamic of Everglades restoration. It answers the wildest
dreams of environmental groups....read more
U.S. Sugar Land Purchase Will be Worth It
June 26, 2008: ISSUE: State to buy out U.S. Sugar to restore
Everglades.
It's not quite the
Louisiana Purchase, but for those wanting to restore the Florida Everglades,
the possibility of acquiring U.S. Sugar's vast land holdings comes pretty...read more
A Sweet Deal? Region's Environment Could Benefit from U.S. Sugar Buyout
June
28, 2008: The
shock waves from Florida’s proposed buyout of U.S. Sugar south of Lake
Okeechobee rippled all the way to Mike and Anita Buff’s backyard in Alva.
“Hallelujah,”
Anita Buff, 63, remembered thinking when she read abou...read more
We Think: Crist Needs Strong Follow-Through on Everglades Blockbuster
June 29, 2008: With
apologies to Thomas Jefferson, the government that governs
best doesn't always govern least.
Rejuvenating
the anemic but badly needed restoration of the Everglades wasn't going to happen by
tweaking it. Getting it moving again required a gran...read more
Fla. Board OKs Talks for US Sugar, Everglades Deal
July 1, 2008: WEST PALM BEACH,
Fla. (AP) -- A historic conservation deal for Florida to acquire some 300
square miles of land for Everglades restoration moved forward Monday when water
managers approved a negotiation process for the potential $1.75 billion
purchase.
The S...read more
Acuerdo Con Los Azucareros Podría Revivir Restauración de Everglades
24 de junio
del 200: El estado de la Florida trata de comprar una porción
sustancial de tierras del sector azucarero de la Florida, la poderosa industria
agrícola cuya contaminación de los Everglades ha provocado que durante d&eac...read more
WMNF Audio Clip of US Sugar Land Acquisition
To View the WMNF Audio Clip of US Sugar Land Acquisition, Click Here...read more
Farm Buy Helps Save Estuaries
June 25, 2008: The state's pending purchase of about 185,000 acres from
U.S. Sugar Corp. fills a huge hole in the Everglades restoration plan and
offers Southwest Florida the best hope yet of protecting its estuaries from
polluted farm runoff.
It also thr...read more
Everglades Rescue "Out on a Limb" Without Federal Aid
July 3, 2008: Florida's proposal
to buy farmland to help restore clean water to the Everglades could be
seriously hampered unless the U.S. Congress follows through on a commitment it
made almost 20 years ago, some environmentalists say.
In 1989 Congr...read more
2nd Firm Holds Key to Glades' Sweet Deal
Fri, Jul. 04, 2008: If the state's
buyout of U.S. Sugar succeeds, the powerful Fanjul sugar barons could end up
holding the key to Everglades restoration.
The State of
Florida announced it would buy the US Sugar Corp located in Clewiston, Fl. With
the...read more
NY Times Blog
The nation's largest sugarcane producer agreed to sell its assets and 187,000 acres of land to Florida for Everglades restoration. To view the video, click here...read more
Florida's Planned Buy-out of Sugarcane Farmers Offers Hope for a Threatened Ecosystem
July 12, 2008: A changing China challenges its health care system ... a new source for
biofuels ... and Florida's planned buy-out of sugarcane farmers offers hope for
a threatened ecosystem ...
11 July 2008
Our World - 12 July 2008 (64k, ~12mb) - Downl...read more
Conservation 'Hero' Now at Everglades Foundation
Posted on Sun, Jul. 20, 2008: After 12 years with the Audubon Society, Mark Kraus is now helping lead the
Everglades Foundation.On family trips growing up, Mark Kraus trekked across the lower 48 states and
some half dozen Canadian provinces. His father, an avid bird watcher, led the
vacations,...read more
Environmental Elites are a Force Behind Glades
Posted on Sun, Jul. 27, 2008: The little-known but
well-connected Florida Everglades Foundation is a major player in the
restoration of the Florida Everglades.
Early in the hush-hush negotiations to buy U.S. Sugar, Gov. Charlie
Crist dropped by a fundraiser for the small but...read more
Judge: EPA turned 'blind eye' to Everglades
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S Environmental Protection Agency
has turned a "blind eye" to Florida's Everglades cleanup efforts, while
the state is violating its own commitment to restore the vast
ecosystem, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.In a stinging ruling
from Miami, U.S. District...read more
Environmental Groups Want to Enact Development Protections with U.S. Sugar Deal
July 31, 2008: In the midst of the state's buyout negotiations with U.S. Sugar, a
coalition of environmental groups on Wednesday called for a moratorium
on development that could create new obstacles to Everglades restoration.
The state by November hopes to finalize a $1.75 billion deal to...read more
Environmental Groups: Halt changes in Glades while U.S. Sugar Details Still Murky
Wednesday, July 30, 2008: Two
major environmental organizations called today for blocking new
development or mining projects in the Glades until the state decides
how to use the 187,000 acres it's buying from U.S. Sugar Corp. to
restore the Everglades.
...read more
Lake Okeechobee Releases Begin:
Thursday, September 4, 2008: PORT MAYACA — The flood gates at Port
Mayaca opened Thursday for the first time in over two years,
discharging water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Canal and St.
Lucie River.
South Florida residents concerned about the integrity of the Herbert...read more
Activists Warn Lake O Levee May Break
September 5, 2008: The approach of three storms from the east, coupled with the surge in
Lake Okeechobee's water level following Tropical Storm Fay, poses a
serious threat to the integrity the massive earthen levee that protects
40,000 Glades residents and the rest of South Florida from flooding,...read more
Concerns in Sanibel Over Lake Okeechobee Water Release
September 4, 2008: SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. - Because of record rainfall from Tropical Storm
Fay, the Army Corps of Engineers will soon start releasing water from
Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River. And that's a big concern
for some city leaders on Sanibel Island. "What it does is ...read more
Algal Blooms along Lee Coast Feared from Lake O Releases
September 4, 2008: Water releases scheduled to begin this morning from Lake Okeechobee
could cause a repeat of the algal blooms that plagued Lee County's
coastline from 2004 to 2006. The releases were set to begin at 7 a.m. and continue for 11 days.
They are necessary because water continues to f...read more
Army Corps Starts Draining Lake Okeechobee
Friday, September 5, 2008: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun releasing water from Lake
Okeechobee after record-breaking rainfall and ahead of future storms
looming in the Atlantic Ocean.The corps says the releases are needed to relieve pressure on a 70-year-old earthen dike and protect se...read more
Lake O Releases Begin Again
September 04, 2008: LAKE OKECHOBEE:
The Army Corps of engineers started releasing water from Lake
Okeechobee Thursday. The move was prompted by recent heavy rains and
Tropical Storm Fay which pushed the water to an alarming level.
At 7 a.m. Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers started slo...read more
US Sugar agrees to sell farmland to Florida
Originally published 5:51 p.m., Tuesday, November 25, 2008. Updated 7:35 p.m., Tuesday, November 25, 2008: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ U.S. Sugar Corp., the nation's largest producer of cane sugar, has agreed to sell its nearly 300 square miles of farmland to the state of Florida for Everglades res...read more
US Sugar agrees to sell farmland to Florida
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The nation's largest producer of cane sugar has agreed to sell nearly 300 square miles of farmland to the state of Florida for Everglades restoration.Under the proposal announced Tuesday, Florida would buy 180,000 acres from U.S. Sugar for $1.34 billion.The company...read more
Water Managers have 3-week Deadline to Ssign $1.34 Billion U.S. Sugar Deal
Tuesday, November 25, 2008: South Florida water managers have just three weeks to sign off on their contract to buy nearly all of U.S. Sugar's farmland for $1.34 billion - the centerpiece of Gov. Charlie Crist's plans to restore the Everglades and the most expensive conservation land purchase in Flo...read more
U.S. Sugar, Florida Agree on Contract for Land Buy
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- U.S. Sugar Corp. and Florida agreed on the terms of a contract in a historic land deal meant to help revive the Everglades.The deal must still be approved by the boards of U.S. Sugar and the South Florida Water Management District.Details of the proposed contract and lease a...read more
State, U.S. Sugar Reach Agreement on Sugar Cane Land to Help Everglades
Tuesday, November 25, 2008: U.S. Sugar Corp. and the state of Florida announced agreement Tuesday on a much-anticipated deal to purchase sugar cane land with taxpayer dollars to revive the Everglades.The proposed contract marks the culmination of five months of closed-door talks and deviates little ...read more
Florida, U.S. Sugar Corp. Reach Deal on Sale of Land for Everglades Restoration Project
November 26, 2008: U.S. Sugar Corp. and the state of Florida announced agreement Tuesday on a much-anticipated deal to purchase sugar cane land with taxpayer dollars to revive the Everglades.The proposed contract marks the culmination of five months of closed-door talks and deviates little from term...read more
Everglades Restoration
With negotiations wrapped up, water managers face a critical vote to finalize purchase of choice sugar fields. Take it or leave it. That's essentially the choice water managers face next month when they meet to consider Florida's $1.34 billion bid to buy 181,000 acres of U.S. Sugar's fields for Ever...read more
Florida Approves, Amends $1.34 Billion U.S. Sugar Deal
Tue Dec 16, 2008 6:32pm EST: MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida regional water board on Tuesday approved a $1.34 billion agreement to buy more than 180,000 acres of land from U.S. Sugar Corp, a deal meant to help restore Florida's fragile Everglades wetland. But the South Florida Water Management District'...read more
Historic Sugar Land Buy Gets OK
Tuesday, December 16, 2008: Congratulations, South Florida taxpayers: You are buying a swath of canefields south of Lake Okeechobee nearly the size of New York City.Supporting Gov. Charlie Crist's ambitious but costly plan for Everglades restoration, water managers agreed in a 4-3 vote Tuesday to bu...read more
Water Managers Risk Losing Deal to Buy Land from U.S. Sugar Corp.
5:12 PM EST, December 16, 2008: South Florida water managers this afternoon risked losing a deal to buy 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration by countering a $1.34 billion purchase proposal for one with more price protections for taxpayers.Instead of approving the deal en...read more
Everglades Sugar-Land Purchase Approved
Posted on Tuesday, 12.16.08: Water managers on Tuesday narrowly approved a $1.34 billion deal to buy a sprawling swath of sugar fields -- a landmark purchase with promise to dramatically reshape Everglades restoration and surrounding farming communities.A deeply divided South Florida Water Managemen...read more
Florida Water Board, Voting 4 to 3, Approves U.S. Sugar Deal in the Everglades
Published: December 16, 2008: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida’s water managers agreed to buy nearly 300 square miles of land from United States Sugar on Tuesday, approving a $1.34 billion deal that could reshape the Everglades, the sugar business and several small towns that have relied ...read more
Everglades Deal OK’d Dfter Daylong Debate
December 17, 2008: A gamble to spend $1.34 billion on Everglades restoration got narrow approval Tuesday by state water managers who still could face financial issues and conflicts with nearby farmers.The debate lasted about eight hours and included input from more than 20 members of the public, a m...read more
U.S. Sugar Land Deal is Approved -- with an Escape Clause
Posted on Wednesday, 12.17.08: Water managers on Tuesday narrowly approved the $1.34 billion acquisition of U.S. Sugar's sprawling fields -- but added a crucial ''out'' clause that buys time to see if they have enough money to complete the deal.
The land buy could revive and dramatically reshape ...read more
Water Managers OK Purchase of U.S. Sugar Land for Everglades Restoration
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008: Water managers on Tuesday narrowly approved the $1.34 billion acquisition of U.S. Sugar's sprawling fields - but added a crucial "out" clause that buys time to see if they have enough money to complete the deal.
The land buy could revive and dramatically reshape troubled E...read more
Editorial: Florida Needs Sugar Acreage
U.S. Sugar should follow through on its agreement to sell 181,000 acres south and east of Lake Okeechobee to the state for Everglades restoration. That deal is fair to shareholders, and in the public interest.The attempt by a Tennessee-based farming company to acquire the land, if successful, migh...read more
Everglades Land Deal Stays Alive, Still Faces Financial Hurdles
December 17, 2008: The largest public land buy in state history survived grim financial forecasts Tuesday when South Florida water managers narrowly passed a counteroffer that includes more taxpayer protections in the $1.34 billion deal.
Soon after, U.S. Sugar Corp. agreed to accept th...read more
Glades Deal is Approved, with an out
Published: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 1:00 a.m. , Last Modified: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 9:15 a.m: WEST PALM BEACH - Gov. Charlie Crist's $1.34 billion landmark Everglades restoration plan, touted as the answer to decades of environmental abuse of the unparalleled ecosystem, barely su...read more
Florida Attaches Condition to Big Cropland Purchase
DECEMBER 17, 2008: By PAULO PRADA
Officials in Florida voted to keep alive a state plan to purchase $1.34 billion worth of environmentally sensitive cropland from U.S. Sugar Corp., but only with the condition that the deal can be canceled if the final cost to taxpayers rises too high.
The South...read more
Fresh Hope for the Everglades
Published: January 9, 2009: People who care about the Everglades have had little to cheer about over the last eight years. An $11 billion federal-state plan signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000 to rescue this once vibrant ecosystem has made almost no progress, not least because Washington has fa...read more
Congresswoman Promises to Jump-Start Washington's Commitment to Everglades Restoration
Saturday, January 10, 2009: MIAMI — Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz pledged to make jump-starting Washington's floundering commitment to restore the Everglades her "personal responsibility" as she takes hold of Congressional purse strings for the second year in a row.Wasserman-Schultz, ...read more
Advocates: Hope for Everglades Restoration Rests with Obama White House
Everglades restoration has fallen years behind and costs have spiraled billions beyond original estimates. But for leaders of the Everglades Coalition, which Thursday evening opened its 24th annual conference in Miami, prospects for reviving the struggling River of Grass look the brightest in years....read more
Everglades Foundation Adds Senior Director of Communications As New Team Member
Palmetto Bay, Fla.--(January 13, 2009)— Richard Gibbs, a public relations professional with more than 15 years of experience in the field of communications, has joined the Everglades Foundation as senior director of communications. In his new role, Gibbs will be responsible for advancing the o...read more
Stimulate Everglades Work
Thursday, January 15, 2009: The pitch is simple and direct: Help the economy recover while helping the Everglades recover. Florida's congressional delegation must make that bipartisan pitch to their colleagues.Pretty soon, the line of pleaders in Washington will be like the line of those wanting fav...read more
Everglades Land Initiatives Approved By Senate
POSTED: 1:23 pm EST January 15, 2009: WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate approved two initiatives Thursday related to Everglades restoration and Everglades National Park.One of the measures expands the boundaries of the Park in the Florida Keys; the other approves a land exchange to complete all acquisit...read more
Parks Have Been Shoveled Aside for Ages
January 21, 2009: Given that our national parks were created to preserve their natural wonders — the geysers of Yellowstone, Hawaii's volcanoes, Florida's serene River of Grass, and 388 others — we don't necessarily associate such pristine places with that economic buzz phrase, shovel-...read more
Everglades Restoration Could Benefit from Federal Economic Stimulus
6:46 p.m., Wednesday, January 21, 2009: NAPLES — Everglades restoration planners are eyeing money from the federal economic stimulus to revive a sputtering rescue of the River of the Grass. The South Florida Water Management District, the state agency leading the restoration, is asking for $1....read more
Analysis of U.S. Sugar Land Buy Criticized
Posted on Thursday, 01.29.09: A new economic analysis argues that a controversial lease-back included in the $1.34 billion U.S. Sugar land buy for Everglades restoration isn't the sweet deal that rival growers say it is.The report concludes the $50-an-acre rate the company will pay to farm its own ...read more
Economist: U.S. Sugar Deal is ‘reasonable’
Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 4:59pm EST | Modified: Thursday, January 29, 2009, 8:48am: The $1.34 billion price the state has agreed to pay U.S. Sugar Corp. for 180,000 acres for Everglades restoration is “reasonable” and “at or above prevailing market norms,” acc...read more
U.S. Sugar Land Deal is Fair, Economist Says
5:10 p.m., Wednesday, January 28, 2009: BONITA SPRINGS — Buying out U.S. Sugar and then leasing the land back to the company at $50 an acre is a good deal.That’s the word from Henry Fishkind, an economist hired by the Everglades Trust to study the proposal. The governing board of the Sou...read more
Study: Sugar Land Lease in Line with Market Rates
Wednesday, January 28, 2009: Taxpayers would get a fair bargain from a controversial lease that's at the
heart of the state's proposed $1.34 billion land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.,
according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental group that supports
the purchase.
Orlando economist...read more
Everglades Foundation Pushes Stimulus Package
Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 11:47am EST: The Everglades Foundation joined a coalition of cities, business, trade and environmental organizations that are supporting an amendment to the federal economic stimulus package designed to increase funding for ‘shovel-ready’ environmental ...read more
Federal Stimulus Money Sought for Everglades, Jobs
11:21 AM EST, February 4, 2009: WEST PALM BEACH - Environmentalists and contractors say they are hoping to get funds through the federal government's economic recovery plan to jump-start Everglades restoration and create jobs.Everglades Foundation CEO Kirk Fordham said Tuesday the money would benefi...read more
Statement by: Kirk Fordham, Chief Executive Officer, Everglades Foundation Regarding Economic Stimulus Package for Florida
February 4, 2009: Palmetto Bay – “The Everglades Foundation joins a broad coalition of municipalities, national business, trade and environmental organizations in supporting an amendment being offered by U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) to the economic stimulus package. "As Con...read more
Florida Glide
Published: January 30, 2009: WE were paddling atop an expanse of shin-deep water, and our guide was in the middle of a long recital of facts about the old Seven Mile Bridge, the decaying concrete structure we had just passed beneath. Yes, about seven miles long, he said, replaced by a new bridg...read more
Everglades Cleanup Threatened by Financial Crisis
February 9, 2009
Despite financial uncertainties and legal challenges, Florida officials are proceeding with a U.S. $1.34-billion plan to restore the Everglades to something approaching its natural state.
The plan, to be decided by September, would see the state buy farmland, some of which woul...read more
We think: The stimulus could do more than fix what ails today's economy
As the nation's lawmakers work to settle their differences on the economic-stimulus package, a couple of things already seem clear:
Despite the package's nearly trillion-dollar price tag, it won't come close to funding all the shovel-ready projects vying for some of the money.
And despite a likely...read more
U.S. Sugar Land Vital for Everglades
Published: Friday, February 6, 2009 at 12:10 a.m.
Florida is positioned to take a giant leap forward in our effort to protect the Everglades. On the table is a deal that would allow the state to purchase more than 182,000 acres of property in the Everglades Agricultural Area that is owned by the Un...read more
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz makes pitch for stimulus plan in D.C.
WASHINGTON -- Miami Mayor Manny Diaz led a phalanx of mayors to the White House and Capitol Hill Wednesday to push Congress for speedy passage of an economic recovery plan.
The mayors have their own massive wish list for the package -- much of which won't make the cut -- but Diaz, who heads the U.S...read more
Florida lawmakers question Everglades land deal
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida lawmakers Tuesday questioned the cost and other aspects of a proposal being pushed by Gov. Charlie Crist to pay $1.34 billion to U.S. Sugar Corp. for land to help restore the Everglades.
Some members of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committe...read more
Next Stimulus Fight will Focus on Slices of the $787 billion
Friday, February 20, 2009: Now that President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan is law, questions abound about how that money will benefit South Florida.The politics of getting the economic stimulus package passed may pale compared with the politics of getting a piece of the legi...read more
Lawmaker Fights U.S. Sugar Deal
Published: February 18, 2009: TALLAHASSEE - A Tampa Bay area lawmaker has filed legislation that could stall or even stop Florida from sealing its historic deal with U.S. Sugar to purchase the Everglades for restoration.Gov. Charlie Crist heavily promoted the $1.35 billion purchase of 180,000 acres ...read more
Two Governors and the GOP Future
February 20, 2009: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is mooted as a GOP presidential contender. During the stimulus debate he told President Barack Obama, to his face, that the Palmetto State wanted no part of a spending blowout that would be harmful to the economy, to taxpayers, and to the dollar. H...read more
Tracking the Green Ttrail of Stimulus Bill to Our Own Backyard
Posted: 02/20/2009 01:05:39 AM EST: The presidential ink authorizing the $787 billion, approximately 1,400-page Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly called the stimulus bill, was hardly dry on Tuesday when one shovel-ready bridge building project funded by the bill had commenced somewhere...read more
Treasure Coast Federal Lawmakers Comment on the Stimulus Package
Originally published 05:27 p.m., February 13, 2009 and Updated 05:27 p.m., February 13, 2009: Comments by federal lawmakers who represent the Treasure Coast on the $789 billion economic stimulus package:Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar“This recovery package invests in our nation during its great...read more
Everglades Foundation Urges Lawmakers To Create Economic Plan for Glades Area
Wednesday February 18, 4:07 pm ET:TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Environmental leaders today urged Florida lawmakers to bring a greater sense of urgency to protecting the water supply for millions of residents and ensuring the economic health of a 16-county area. The Everglades Foundation belie...read more
Everglades Foundation Bash Brings Estefan to Palm Beach, Big Money to the Cause Tonight
Thursday, February 12, 2009: PALM BEACH — Nonprofits are taking a bath in today's economy. The Everglades is in near-irreversible decline. Still, the Everglades Foundation will celebrate in high style Friday night.And for good reason.The scrappy foundation is halfway to what would be its great...read more
Everglades Cleanup Threatened by Financial Crisis
February 9, 2009: Despite financial uncertainties and legal challenges, Florida officials are proceeding with a U.S. $1.34-billion plan to restore the Everglades to something approaching its natural state.The plan, to be decided by September, would see the state buy farmland, some of which would be ...read more
Proposed Law Could Scuttle Everglades Deal
February 11, 2009: State legislators could use a bill filed Tuesday to try to cut off the money needed for Gov. Charlie Crist's $1.34 billion Everglades land buy.If approved, the bill would require that South Florida residents vote on whether to allow the South Florida Water Management District to b...read more
Florida Crystals Joins the Bidding for Glades Acres
Monday, February 23, 2009": As the state strives to close on Gov. Charlie Crist's land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp., a competing bidder has emerged - the company's chief rival, Florida Crystals. Florida Crystals officials toured their competitor's facilities last week, and the two companies signe...read more
House Bill Would Fund Everglades Restoration
Posted 6:36 PM: The Everglades would get $183.4 million for restoration work this year under a spending bill unveiled today by House Democrats. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said the funds would ``go a long way toward fulfilling the federal go...read more
“Breathtaking” Everglades Mail Assault
Monday, February 23, 2009 at 3:13 p.m: How worried are environmentalists that the Legislature may scuttle Gov. Charlie Crist’s $1.3 billion plan to buy U.S. Sugar and restore the Everglades? Well, it’s the middle of February and there are already campaign-style mail pieces seeking t...read more
Senator Muddies Everglades
Published: February 24, 2009: Bradenton Sen. Mike Bennett has come up with a slippery way to kill Everglades restoration. He's demanding the state's plan to purchase 180,000 acres in the Everglades from U.S. Sugar be put to a vote by affected taxpayers. He knows that is impossible. The $1....read more
U.S. House Bill Due for Vote Would Address Travel to Cuba, Everglades Restoration
February 24, 2009: WASHINGTON - The House plans is to vote this week to roll back restrictions on Cuban-American travel to Cuba and to provide the first federal money for comprehensive Everglades restoration. Both provisions are tucked into a $410 billion spending bill that would fund the feder...read more
Conservation Forum examines U.S. Sugar purchase and its local impact
Sanibel, FL – (February 20, 2009) -- South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board Vice Chair Shannon Estenoz will be on Sanibel on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 to participate in the Annual Conservation Lecture at BIG ARTS sponsored by the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation ...read more
Forum To Examine Sugar Purchase, Impact
Feb. 27, 2009: District (SFWMD) Governing Board Vice Chair Shannon Estenoz will be on Sanibel on Wednesday, March 4 to participate in the annual Conservation Lecture at BIG ARTS.The event is sponsored by the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), BIG ARTS and Everglades Foundation. This is ...read more
U.S. House Approves Big Money for Everglades
Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 5:46pm EST U.S: Everglades restoration proponents are praising the Wednesday budget vote in the U.S. House of Representatives that approved more than $180 million for seven core Everglades projects. Among the bigger projects in the bill are $74 million for restoration o...read more
U.S. Sugar's 'poison pill' clause blocks takeovers
Posted on Tuesday, 02.24.09: The boardroom and backroom drama continues to churn behind Gov. Charlie Crist's $1.34 billion land deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp.The sugar giant's board of directors, controlled by foundations and the descendants of its founder, adopted a ''poison pill'' provision on Mon...read more
Don’t Let Sugar Get Away
February 26, 2009 : Florida could blow a historic opportunity to repair grievous damage to its environment, damage that threatens Southwest Florida’s economy.That’s if the state does not move aggressively to close its deal on 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. crop land in the Everglades....read more
Prospects Brighter for Everglades Restoration
Posted on Wednesday, 02.25.09: After years of tepid support, Washington appears primed to jump-start stalled Everglades restoration.The House on Wednesday approved a giant budget bill with $183 million for Everglades projects, including $60 million for bridging the Tamiami Trail. Also tucked into th...read more
Cambean Hospitality Partners With Everglades Foundation
Feb 25, 2009: Miami Beach-based Cambean Hospitality has formed a partnership with the Everglades Foundation to support the company's recently formed Cambean Earth environmental initiative. The Cambean Earth Environmental Fund, the contribution arm of the Cambean Earth initiative, will contribute to ...read more
Lack of Financing Imperils Fla. deal
February 26, 2009: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A historic land deal aimed at helping restore the dying Everglades, and lauded by Governor Charlie Crist as "monumental as the creation of our nation's first national park," may end up dead in the water. The state of Florida is working to secure financing s...read more
Florida Lawmakers Seek to Streamline Environmental, Growth Regulations
Sunday, Mar. 01, 2009: Two lobbying heavyweights will square off over the Florida's controversial Big Sugar land buy, but another battle in the legislative session opening Tuesday could have broader impacts.Call it jobs vs. environment.To light a fire under the frozen economy, some lawmakers are s...read more
Feds Finally Help Everglades
March 2, 2009: After almost a decade of foot-dragging, Congress may finally be ready to pay its promised share of Everglades restoration.It matters deeply to Southwest Florida, because restoring the natural water system of South Florida can help protect Lee County’s river and coastal w...read more
Wrong U.S. Sugar Response
Monday, March 02, 2009: When Gov. Crist found a way to buy U.S. Sugar without approval from the Legislature, many legislators didn't like it. Rival landowners didn't like it, either. The result is a braying of objections from legislators driven by special interests and jealousy.Foremost among them i...read more
Florida Legislature Set for Clash on Economic Stimulus
Posted on Sunday, 03.01.09: TALLAHASSEE -- With taxes or fees likely to rise and some state services facing the ax, this is a year lawmakers will have little to brag about.That's especially true for Republicans, who have controlled the state's power structure for more than a decade.Now their core be...read more
Stuart environmentalist proposing using U.S. Sugar's Everglades property as 'restoration reserve'
Originally published 06:12 p.m., February 28, 2009, Updated 06:12 p.m., February 28, 2009: If the purchase of 180,000 acres of sugarcane between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades goes through as planned, the restored “River of Grass” will recharge groundwater systems, reduce phosphorous...read more
Legislative Session 2009: Answers to Some Questions
Published: Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 7:50 p.m., Last Modified: Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 11:45 p.m: EDITOR'S NOTE: Ledger Tallahassee Bureau reporters Joe Follick and Lloyd Dunkelberger answer questions about the 2009 legislative session that starts Tuesday.
Q. So how bad is the state's b...read more
Everglades Foundation Adds Water Quality Scientist As New Team Member
Palmetto Bay, Fla.--(March 2, 2009)— G. Melodie Naja, Ph.D., an environmental scientist with extensive experience as both a private sector consultant and academician in the field of water quality science, has joined the scientific staff of the Everglades Foundation. In her new role, Naja will ...read more
Florida lawmakers seek to streamline environmental, growth regulations
Florida lawmakers seek to streamline environmental, growth regulations
Two lobbying heavyweights will square off over the Florida's controversial Big Sugar land buy, but another battle in the legislative session opening Tuesday could have broader impacts.
Call it jobs vs. environment.
T...read more
Florida lawmakers seek to streamline environmental, growth regulations
Florida lawmakers seek to streamline environmental, growth regulations
Two lobbying heavyweights will square off over the Florida's controversial Big Sugar land buy, but another battle in the legislative session opening Tuesday could have broader impacts.
Call it jobs vs. environment.
T...read more
Florida Legislature set for clash on economic stimulus
Florida Legislature set for clash on economic stimulus
When lawmakers return to Tallahassee on Tuesday, they'll face a divisive session with federal stimulus money at center stage.
With taxes or fees likely to rise and some state services facing the ax, this is a year lawma...read more
Stuart environmentalist proposing using U.S. Sugar's Everglades property as 'restoration reserve'
Stuart environmentalist proposing using U.S. Sugar's Everglades property as 'restoration reserve' If the purchase of 180,000 acres of sugarcane between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades goes through as planned, the restored “River of Grass” will recharge groundwater systems, reduce ph...read more
Everglades funds could bring 'hundreds' of jobs
Advocate says $183.4 million in Everglades funds for projects will create hundreds of jobs HOLLYWOOD - New federal money for the Everglades was announced Monday with a new twist, as two members of Congress emphasized the impact the funding could have on South Florida's ailing economy. U...read more
Water Quality Upgrades Planned for Northern Everglades Estuaries
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, March 2, 2009 (ENS) - In support of watershed protection plans for Florida's Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board has approved a contract with the University of Massachusetts to study changes in nutrient levels i...read more
Wading birds vanishing in Everglades National Park
Wading birds vanishing in Everglades National Park Miami -- March 1, 2009 -- It seems even Mother Nature is going through a recession. After three years of enjoying increases in the wading bird population, the number is down in Everglades National Park. From 2007 to 2008, the park's total wading b...read more
Congress might scrutinize South Florida's stimulus wish list
Congress might scrutinize South Florida's stimulus wish list Washington, D.C. -- March 3, 2009 -- Households across the country are slicing their budgets and going without, but Congress managed to set aside tens of millions of dollars for pet projects in a massive spending bill up for debate in th...read more
Winter drought boosts fire risk
Winter drought boosts fire risk West Palm Beach, Fla. -- March 2, 2009 -- Amid one of South Florida's driest winters ever, no part of the region endured a more parched February than suburban West Palm Beach. For the second month in a row, rain gauges at Palm Beach International Airport measured a ...read more
Gov. Charlie Crist: We must spend to jolt economy
Gov. Charlie Crist: We must spend to jolt economy Tallahassee, Fla. -- March 4, 2009 --In a short and perfunctory State of the State speech, Gov. Charlie Crist urged the Legislature on Tuesday to rally behind his plan to spend billions in federal stimulus money as ''a bridge to better economic tim...read more
Forever the Everglades
Forever the Everglades From Society Scene | A marketing publication of the Sun-Sentinel Company West Palm Beach, Fla. -- March 4, 2009 -- The Everglades Foundation raised $2 million from the more than 620 attendees at its fourth annual "For Everglades Benefit," held recently at The Breakers Palm B...read more
What caused the recession? Wetlands
The Miami Herald What caused the recession? Wetlands OUR OPINION: Growth-management, environmental laws under siege, again Miami -- March 4, 2009 -- It's a stretch, but some Florida lawmakers are blaming the state's growth-management and environmental laws for the recession. Their logic? If we had...read more
Anglers digesting Everglades park proposals that were just released, two Keys hearings are planned
Anglers digesting Everglades park proposals that were just released, two Keys hearings are planned kwadlow@keynoter.com Everglades National Park staffers return to Key Largo twice this spring to learn what Keys residents think about new proposals to manage Florida Bay. After the latest set of alte...read more
Drift algae appears in Pine Island Sound
Drift algae appears in Pine Island Sound Sanibel, Fla. -- March 5, 2009 -- According to Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Marine Lab scientists, mats of drift algae were witnessed and photographed in Pine Island Sound off Punta Rassa on Feb. 24. SCCF's Marine Lab scientists have been observi...read more
South Floridians warned to cut water use
South Floridians warned to cut water use Unusually dry season straining water levels, managers say West Palm Beach, Fla. -- March 5, 2009 -- Lack of rain during the start of 2009 has South Florida water managers warning residents to cut back. The South Florida Water Management District plans to ho...read more
Judge says EPA ignored law, failed to protect Everglades
Judge says EPA ignored law, failed to protect Everglades March 12, 2009 -- A federal judge struck down key parts of a controversial state Everglades cleanup law Tuesday and slapped the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to enforce the federal Clean Water Act. Miami U.S. District Judg...read more
HydroMentia Is Green and Back Cleaning
HydroMentia Is Green and Back Cleaning 3/1/2009 Ocala-based HydroMentia wants to play a role in cleaning up the Everglades. The good news for the company is that its pilot water treatment project north of Lake Okeechobee has been able to remove more than 800 pounds of phosphorus per acre, al...read more
Everglades restoration eyed as an engine for up to 3,000 jobs
Everglades restoration eyed as an engine for up to 3,000 jobs March 13, 2009 -- Decades-old ideas to restore the Everglades have been given new life these days because of interest in creating jobs. But, one big project has generated controversy and a clash between a federal judge and Congress. Pot...read more
Back bonds for sugar deal
Monday, March 16, 2009
If the opponents of the South Florida Water Management District's $1.34 billion purchase of U.S. Sugar's land get their way, the three-day trial that begins today in Palm Beach County will be the debate that taxpayers never got.
In challenging the district's right to b...read more
Senior director of communications for the Everglades Foundation
February 11, 2009 Senior director of communications for the Everglades Foundation Richard Gibbs has been hired as senior director of communications for the Everglades Foundation, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Everglades. Previously, he was public relations and public af...read more
Projected tax loss imperils Florida deal to buy U.S. Sugar
TALLAHASSEE — March 10, 2009 --South Florida's steep drop in property values threatens to claim another victim: the governor's $1.34 billion plan to buy U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration. Property values are expected to drop 12 percent statewide in the 2009-10 budget year, bu...read more
Crist opposes 'raid' on prepaid tuition
Crist opposes 'raid' on prepaid tuition Tampa Bay.com March 10, 2009 -- Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday shot down a proposal being discussed by lawmakers to tap the reserves of the Florida Prepaid College Tuition program to patch budget holes. "I don't think that's a great idea," he told reporters. ...read more
Governor Crist Receives National Wildlife Federation Conservation Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 10, 2009 CONTACT: GOVERNOR’S PRESS OFFICE (850) 488-5394 Governor Crist Receives National Wildlife Federation Conservation Award ~ Award recognizes Governor Crist’s leadership in addressing climate change, environmental preservation ~ TALLAHASSEE – Mar...read more
'Restoration reserve' another reason for Florida to acquire U.S. Sugar land
Editorial: 'Restoration reserve' another reason for Florida to acquire U.S. Sugar land March 11, 2009 -- Imagine an Everglades ecosystem that is not just environmentally friendly, but also user-friendly. This is the vision being articulated by Karl Wickstrom. It's a concept that merits far greater...read more
Record dry start to 2009 worries farmers, firefighters
March 11, 2009 -- The first two months of 2009 are the driest start of any year since the USA began keeping records over a century ago, leading to severe drought in Texas, dipping reservoir levels in Florida and a surge in wildfires across the nation. Farmers, cattlemen, firefighters and others wo...read more
Builder Of Infrastructure Looks Forward To A Little Federal Stimulus
March 10, 2009 --Tetra Tech (TTEK) works in fields that are in fairly high demand these days: water resources, infrastructure and the environment. And its top customers in the federal government have money to spend. "They're at the right place at the right time," said James Ragan, an analyst at Cr...read more
Weldon, Feeney still bring federal bucks to Brevard
Former U.S. Reps. Tom Feeney and Dave Weldon have been out of office for more than two months, but they're still bringing federal money home to Brevard County. The spending bill approved Tuesday by the Senate includes more than $17 million for projects requested by the two Republicans -- incl...read more
Hendry Benefits From SFWMD Works
Hendry County Environment Improvements Underway CLEWISTON, Fla.. -- Tuesday, March 10, 2009-- In an ongoing effort to improve Everglades water quality, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is renovating Stormwater Treatment Area 5 (STA-5) in Hendry County to enhance its water-...read more
LETTER TO EDITOR: Bridge to Everglades revival
Saturday, March 7, 2009 The proposed bridge would elevate the Tamiami Trail roadway to allow water to flow freely into the Everglades. The article " 'Bridge to nowhere' OK'd for Everglades" (Page 1, Tuesday) fails to adequately address the importance of Tamiami Trail bridging to reviving America's...read more
Bills would hurt environment
March 20, 2009 -- During this legislative session, developers are using the financial crisis to weaken rules on permitting. A number of bills are directed at eliminating impact fees that protect taxpayers from having to pay for roads, sewers and schools needed for growth. Others will attempt to cu...read more
Consultant report: saving Everglades could cost more than $9 billion
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Thursday, March 19, 2009 — Forget $3 billion, $4 billion or even $5 billion. It could cost the South Florida Water Management District as much as $9.1 billion to make use of the 180,000 acres of farmland that Gov. Charlie Crist has proposed buying from U.S...read more
Guest column, Mike Bennett: U.S. Sugar deal too costly
By SEN. MICHAEL S. “MIKE” BENNETT - R-Bradenton March 19, 2009 -- In an environment of reduced spending, the U.S. Sugar deal is being touted by Gov. Charlie Crist as a sweet deal for Florida. Under “normal” circumstances, I would wholeheartedly agree with the governor, alth...read more
South Florida District OKs Treatment Wetlands Expansion
South Florida District OKs Treatment Wetlands Expansion March 19, 2009 --The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board approved on March 12 an 8,800-acre expansion of treatment wetlands in southeastern Hendry County to further improve water quality flowing into the Florida Ev...read more
From space exploration to Cuba policy, issues important to Fla. will get a new look from Obama
Washington --March 19, 2009 -- The Everglades, Cuba, NASA, a national insurance backup fund, offshore drilling, climate change, the Apalachicola River — all issues important to Florida that the state's Washington representatives say will get a different look under President Barack Obama. Flo...read more
Macy’s Hosts Second Earth Week Charity Shopping Day; 2008 Effort Marked the Single-Largest Fundraising Event in National Park Foundation History
NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-March 18, 2009 - Macy’s (NYSE: M) and the National Park Foundation (NPF) will renew the partnership that raised more than $2.9 million in 2008 – marking the single-largest fundraising event for NPF. The One Good Turn™ national charity shopping day seeks t...read more
Long-term cost is focus of challenge to land deal for Everglades restoration
Mar 17, 2009 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Reconnecting Lake Okeechobee water flows to the Everglades could cost as much as $5 billion for construction -- in addition to $1.34 billion to buy the land, a top water management official testified Monday. A court...read more
State defends its plan to buy U.S. Sugar land
Published: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. The battle over Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration legacy landed in court Monday, as the state defended its plan to purchase 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar land from challenges by Florida Crystals, a Clewiston citizens group and the Miccosukee ...read more
Land buy worthy
Will we ever restore the Everglades? Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2009 -- Last summer when Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sugar Corp. unveiled the state purchase of 187,000 acres to help reconnect Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, hopes soared that maybe, just maybe, the long-delayed restoration project woul...read more
AP source: Everglades land deal may be scaled back
March 26, 2009, 1:21PM WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The tanking economy could force Florida to scale back its $1.34 billion deal to purchase land from U.S. Sugar Corp. to help restore the Everglades, a person close to the negotiations said Thursday. The state had been working to secure financing ...read more
Gov. Charlie Crist to downsize Everglades-U.S. Sugar deal
March 26, 2009
His hand forced by a failing economy, Gov. Charlie Crist is poised to dramatically downsize his proposed Big Sugar buyout -- and his vision for Everglades restoration.
The new agreement with the U.S. Sugar Corp., which Crist hinted Wednesday could come within days, is intended t...read more
Economy forces governor to scale back ambitious land buy to save Everglades
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Gov. Charlie Crist is scaling back considerably his extraordinary bid to save the Everglades, as a worsening economy has rendered the $1.34 billion deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. unaffordable, people familiar with the negotiations say. Crist has yet to announce details, ...read more
GOVERNOR SHARES PROPOSAL TO ACHIEVE EVERGLADES RESTORATION VISION IN TOUGH ECONOMIC CLIMATE
~~ ~Strategy cuts initial investment by 60 percent, provides ready access to land, preserves jobs ~ ~~ April 1, 2009 Contact: GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE 850- 488-5394 www.sfwmd.gov/riverofgrass TALLAHASSEE – After gathering key input from the public, legislators and South Florida’s commun...read more
Budget forces Fla. Everglades deal to shrink
April 1, 2009 -- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Charlie Crist's celebrated $1.34 billion deal to buy 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land to help restore the Everglades is being scaled back by more than half because the state can't afford the original deal, the governor announced Wednesday....read more
New sugar deal: Crist announces 72,500 acres for $533 million
Wednesday, April 01, 2009 TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist this morning announced a new deal to buy 72,500 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. for $533 million, a downsized version of his previous $1.34 billion plan to acquire all the company's farmland to restore the Everglades. The new deal includ...read more
Now that there's a new deal with U.S. Sugar, can we get on with the Everglades restoration?
April 6, 2009 The new deal to buy land to help restore the Everglades may not stem controversy, but it should spur state leaders to finally get on with completing one of Florida's more important public works projects. For $533 million, the state will purchase 72,500 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. prope...read more
Land-purchase option is key to scaled-down U.S. Sugar deal
April 8, 2009 -- Gov. Charlie Crist's revamped deal with U.S. Sugar has become much cheaper -- whacking the price tag and acreage by more than half -- but it contains a critical provision that may ultimately determine its value to Everglades restoration. The key is an option that gives the South F...read more
Cost-cutting Everglades deal raises questions about environmental benefits
Is it worth it to buy half the acreage originally sought for restoring water flows? April 2, 2009 Dialing back an environmental dream to deal with economic realities, Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday announced a scaled-down, $533 million bid for 72,500 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land to help restore...read more
Little time left for Everglades restoration plan
April 6, 2009--There is about a month left for involvement in making long-term plans for waters of Everglades National Park. Anglers, paddlers, bird watchers and campers have just over one month to get involved in the development of a long-term plan for managing the marine waters of Everglades Nat...read more
No better time than now to buy land for conservation
APRIL 6, 2009 That's the good news. The bad news is that the preliminary state budget released last week did not include funding for the $300 million-a-year land conservation program, which led conservationists from several counties to hold an emergency meeting with lawmakers. It would be a sad ti...read more
'Inland port,' Fanjul land change get Palm Beach County's initial OK despite environmental objections
Monday, April 13, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH — County commissioners this afternoon gave initial approval to two land-use changes that could allow an industrial complex to be built near the southern end of Lake Okeechobee. Palm Beach County is competing with several other counties to be chosen as t...read more
Sweeter Glades deal
In Print: Friday, April 3, 2009 The state of Florida has addressed the most troubling aspects of its deal to buy U.S. Sugar land to replumb the Everglades. The proposal, unveiled Wednesday, is fairer to taxpayers and more affordable. And it balances phasing in Everglades restoration while phasing ...read more
Everglades questions grow as deal shrinks
Published: Friday, April 3, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. Gov. Charlie Crist's shrunken $533 million Everglades land deal will not restore the River of Grass and would leave the state with thousands of acres of low-value orange groves. The disjointed, 72,500-acres of U.S. Sugar property spans three counties a...read more
Editorial: Keep full U.S. Sugar buy alive
APRIL 3, 2009 -- Now that the state has scaled its U.S. Sugar land purchase back for the time being to less than what's needed for full Everglades restoration - and to protect the Caloosahatchee River system - future purchases are vital. The cutback to 72,500 acres of sugar cane and citrus t...read more
EDITORIAL: Smaller deal, better deal?
Thursday, April 02, 2009 -- With criticism growing and resources dwindling, Gov. Crist cut in half his signature Everglades land deal and made it sound as big and grand as ever. It's not clear, however, that the new proposal to buy U.S. Sugar farmland for Everglades restoration is any better than ...read more
The Dean of Green
Apr 6, 2009 3:59 PM, -- Brian Scheinblum’s drive to turn a weary hotel belle in South Beach into a laboratory for the latest in environmentally sensitive operations has been lonely, but it seems he’s no longer a voice in the wilderness. While change comes slowly in this trendy se...read more
Worsening drought sparks Lake Okeechobee water fights
LAKE OKEECHOBEE April 13, 2009 -- Water for a river and fish in Southwest Florida, or for farms and cities in the Southeast? Drought and dropping lake levels trigger a debate over a dwindling resource. Lake Okeechobee sits at the center of a conflict over the dwindling regional water supply, one t...read more
Editorial: Scaled back sugar deal sweeter than initial Save The Everglades plan
Friday, April 10, 2009 -- The deal is getting better by the day. In June 2008, Florida was prepared to spend $1.75 billion to purchase U.S. Sugar's entire Clewiston-based operation for Everglades restoration. In December, a new deal was negotiated: The state would purchase only the land — 18...read more
Smaller deal, smarter bet
Thursday, April 09, 2009 In March, as the $1.34 billion deal to buy U.S. Sugar's land unraveled, two company executives approached South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Carol Wehle in the state Capitol and suggested a new approach. As it turned out, half a deal would be better...read more
Dry skies have water managers running low on options to protect faucets
Friday, April 10, 2009 -- WEST PALM BEACH — An unprecedented shortage of rain has water and utility managers pondering how to weather what could soon go down as South Florida's worst dry season ever recorded. All records, which stretch back to 1932, will be shattered if less than an inch of ...read more
Water levels dropping, fueling Lake Okeechobee and U.S. Sugar land deal debates
April 9, 2009 -- Key water supplies already are in worse shape than during the past two years of drought, heightening concerns about how to use Lake Okeechobee to help meet South Florida's needs. Water levels in the Everglades water conservation areas, relied on to supplement drinking water suppli...read more
$533 million Everglades land deal gets initial go-ahead
3:45 PM EDT, April 9, 2009 -- South Florida water managers today gave the initial go-ahead to Gov. Charlie Crist's scaled-down, $533 million land deal for Everglades restoration. The South Florida Water Management District now must negotiate the final details with U.S. Sugar Corp. for the purchase...read more
EDITORIAL: On sugar deal, it's try, try and try again: State's revised land buyout offers a better compromise
Apr. 12, 2009 -- Maybe for Gov. Charlie Crist the third time in his dance with U.S. Sugar will be the charm. The latest version of the governor's proposal to buy land for Everglades projects is much improved over the previous two offers. The price is about a third of the $1.75 billion first offer,...read more
Kirk Fordham: U.S. Sugar's land deal saves jobs, restores Everglades
April 15, 2009 -- The world's largest ecosystem restoration took a decisive step forward when Gov. Charlie Crist announced an amended proposal to purchase more than 70,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration. The governor's proposal provides land to address the biggest water-...read more
Boaters can learn online how not to damage ecosystem
April 30, 2009 MIAMI – As captain Rob Clift motored his 19-foot bay boat over a sea grass meadow in Florida Bay last week, he asked his three passengers what color wake his boat was trailing astern. "White," they replied, looking at the foamy bubble trail. Clift responded with a rhyme. "If y...read more
Rainy Days Ahead for S. Fla.: Forecasters Predict a Solid -- If Not Timely -- Wet Season, Extending Concerns About Wildfires and Water Supply
Apr. 30--The summer rainy season is shaping up as a wet one, the National Weather Service said Wednesday, raising hopes of snuffing out a winter marked by plummeting water levels and smoky wildfires. Unfortunately, relief from South Florida's record-busting dry spell also appears likely to arrive ...read more
Everglades projects to get $96M from feds
April 30, 2009 Everglades restoration will get a boost from about $96 million in federal stimulus funds coming to Florida for the work. Florida officials say the long-awaited investment is a welcome sign that President Barack Obama is committed to following through on a federal commitment to share...read more
South Florida's dry season worst on record
May 01, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- South Florida is sweating. Our dry season is hitting historic levels and water managers are feeling the heat. A photo, seen in Friday morning's edition of the Sun-Sentinel, sets the scene. The photo shows the drought conditions at a fishing camp in Suburban Boca...read more
Drought raises Lake O stakes
May 01, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH — We're nearing the end of the driest dry season on record. Since the start of the season, which runs from November through late May, only 4.47 inches of rain have fallen across South and Central Florida - less than in any other dry season since records began in ...read more
More federal money is coming for Everglades restoration
May 01, 2009 More federal money is coming to the Everglades for restoration projects, which means more jobs, money and water flowing for Florida’s economy. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced April 28 that about $100 million in federal stimulus dollars will be spent on Everglades rest...read more
Everglades National Park is getting $13.2 million in federal stimulus
May 04, 2009 • Everglades National Park is getting $13.2 million in federal stimulus funds -- the lion's share going to repair two failed dams near Flamingo that were supposed to prevent saltwater intrusion into interior marshes. The dams on East Cape Canal and Homestead Canal failed in 1997...read more
Ken Burns PBS series to highlight South Florida's national parks: Filmmaker Ken Burns has explored South Florida's two national parks -- and spoke with the people who helped create them -- for a PBS series
May 05, 2009 Everglades National Park is a short drive from Miami, yet most of its visitors come from out of the state or country. And on a typical weekend, many Biscayne Bay boaters don't even know they're cruising through Biscayne National Park. To renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, it's ...read more
$65 billion deal is set on budget
May 05, 2009 TALLAHASSEE - Floridians could face some $2 billion in taxes and fees and the Bright Futures scholarship program may be fundamentally changed under a final budget deal reached Monday by legislative leaders. Agreement on the $65 billion-plus spending plan clears the way for lawmakers t...read more
Everglades land deal could be delayed 6 months
May 06, 2009 Financial concerns could delay Gov. Charlie Crist's blockbuster Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. until next year. The South Florida Water Management District released more details Wednesday about the proposal to buy U.S. Sugar farmland that would be used to build reservoirs ...read more
Past six months driest in southern Florida since 1932, water official says
May 06, 2009 The level of Lake Okeechobee dropped below 11 feet this week with no rain in sight and parched southern Florida continues to be tinder-dry. “This is unprecedented,” said Susan Sylvester, hydrologist for the South Florida Water Management District. “We can go all the ...read more
Are your wells going dry?
May 07, 2009 SEBRING - When one of his wells quit pumping last Friday, Chuck Domm had no drinking water. Five days later, the 250-foot well was still not functioning. The Lorida resident blames the water table levels being sapped dry by the current drought for his water woes. He called Pete Evelet...read more
Glades funds at last
May 07, 2009 OUR OPINION: Federal stimulus money will jump-start stalled cleanup projects By most measures, $20 billion is jaw-dropping sum, but it's a drop in the bucket in the big picture funding cost of the entire Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Nevertheless, the $279 million ...read more
Lake O level drops; pumps needed to keep water flowing to South Florida
May 07, 2009 PALM BEACH COUNTY - Water levels in Lake Okeechobee are dropping so low that pumps will be installed Monday to keep sending flows to South Florida for irrigation and water supplies. In addition, worsening drought conditions today prompted tougher watering restrictions for southern Mia...read more
Water Restrictions Imposed Amid Dry Conditions / Stricter Watering Rules Apply To Southwest Miami-Dade, Monroe
May 07, 2009 MIAMI -- Recent dry conditions have led to an emergency order from the South Florida Water Management District.
People who live south of 216th Street in southwest Miami-Dade County and everyone living in Monroe County can water only one day per week.
Residents with odd-numbered ad...read more
EDITORIAL: Fair vote on U.S. Sugar deal
April 30, 2009 -- Gov. Crist continues his attempts to stack the South Florida Water Management District board, which will vote next month on his proposal to buy a heaping dose of U.S. Sugar. When the board voted 4-3 in December to pay $1.34 billion for 180,000 acres, the seat representing th...read more
U.S. help on horizon for Everglades, beaches
May 08, 2009 President Barack Obama's proposed 2010 federal budget boosts spending on efforts to restore the imperiled Everglades and includes money for shoring up beaches. The $45 million for beach renourishment nationwide marks the largest amount that a president has proposed in more than a deca...read more
New Watering Limits For S. Miami-Dade & Monroe Co.
May 07, 2009 New one-day-a-week watering restrictions are now in place for residents of South Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The South Florida Water Management District says due to critically low levels in wells that tap into the Biscayne Aquifer more restrictive modified Phase III restrictions a...read more
Dealing with other buyers could help state get all of U.S. Sugar's land
May 07, 2009 Bringing in another buyer could help lock up the 180,000 acres of farmland Gov. Charlie Crist covets for Everglades restoration. The state's economic woes forced Crist last month to scale down his $1.34 billion proposal to use U.S. Sugar Corp. land to restore water flows from Lake Oke...read more
Water restrictions tightened in South Florida
May 08, 2009 The Associated Press A severe water drought is forcing officials to tighten water restrictions in South Florida. That means lawn sprinkling for homes in parts of Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys is limited to once a week. Other parts of Miami-Dade are under twice-weekly restrict...read more
Business coalition supports U.S. Sugar purchase
May 08, 2009 A new group of South Florida businesses has been formed to support the state buyout of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration. The group, called the River of Grass Coalition, formally launched Friday afternoon with a press teleconference. The coalition is urging the South Fl...read more
Guest commentary: Convergence of opinions on rural land preservation is good for all
April 15, 2009 Audubon of Florida, Collier County Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife and Florida Wildlife Federation endorse the recommendations of the Rural Lands Stewardship Area Five-Year Review Committee relating to the future utilization of 179,000 acres of privately owned land in eastern...read more
Earth Day Walk
April 16, 2009 Aveda is sponsoring a 6K walk at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Cambier Park, 755 Eighth Ave. S., Naples. Walks will be taking place around the world to raise money for Clean Water Rights. The money raised in Naples will go to the Everglades Foundation to reverse damage inflicted to Florida...read more
Water releases will hopefully continue past deadline, Lee officials say
April 17, 2009 Lee County officials met with Army Corps of Engineers Col. Paul Grosskruger on Thursday, trying to make sure the freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River continue past Monday. The environmental pulse releases Grosskruger ordered April 10 are scheduled t...read more
Might The Obama Administration be More Invested in Everglades Restoration Than Its Predecessor?
April 19, 2009 Different administrations in Washington have different sets of priorities. That's understandable. For instance, while the Bush administration talked about helping restore the massive Everglades ecosystem, the Obama administration is sending signals it will work harder to push the pr...read more
Everglades projects get $103M from stimulus
April 28, 2009 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that at least $103 million in federal stimulus dollars will be spent on Everglades restoration projects. The corps would receive $6 million to purchase rock that would be used to rebuild the Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee, $40.8 mill...read more
Funding for the Florida Forever Land Program May End
April 29, 2009 TALLAHASSEE | Funding for Florida Forever, the state's $300 million-a-year environmental land-buying program, was put into serious jeopardy Tuesday when the House rejected the Senate effort to support the program by closing a tax loophole. Lawmakers failed to fund the program, the n...read more
River of cash: Stimulus aid for Glades
April 29, 2009 Consider the sluggish effort to save the Glades officially stimulated. The Obama administration announced Tuesday it would pour $96 million of stimulus money into building a handful of key Everglades restoration projects. Combined with $183 million in a spending bill that Congress a...read more
Everglades invaders
April 28,2009 During an unplanned hiatus from this blog (and most other endeavors), I had occasion to read a disturbingly fascinating article on invasive wildlife in the April 20 issue of The New Yorker. The piece, written by Burkhard Bilger, details the explosion of introduced animals in Florida,...read more
Everglades money included in $4.6 billion Army Corps stimulus bundle
April 28, 2009 The Everglades will receive about $96 million in restoration work as part of the $4.6 billion that the federal stimulus package sets aside for a nationwide slate of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, the corps announced today. The Everglades money is part of $250.7 m...read more
Upcoming Events - New Everglades Land Deal Could Ease Restoration: Changes in the Pending Land Deal With U.S. Sugar Could Clear the Way for Faster, Easier Land Swaps With Rival Growers for Everglades Restoration
May 12--If water managers approve the smaller, cheaper version of Gov. Charlie Crist's Big Sugar land deal Wednesday, they won't be done dealing. New tweaks in the $536 million offer to buy 73,000 acres from the U.S. Sugar Corp. would give water managers more time and flexibility to cut follow-up ...read more
Proposed restrictions in Everglades worry some boaters, fishing enthusiasts
May 12, 2009 Concerned that powerboats are tearing up seagrass in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park has proposed a range of possible restrictions on boaters to protect a vast, shallow estuary that supports sea turtles, fish and clouds of wading birds. The proposals have generated deep concern ...read more
Everglades land deal Includes $50 million option to buy more
May 11, 2009 Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. comes with a $50 million gamble for South Florida taxpayers. Included in the $536 million price for 73,000 acres is a $50 million provision that would for three years freeze the per-acre-price on buying an add...read more
Democrats Expect Filibuster of Interior Nominee
May 12, 2009 Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) has placed a hold on the nomination of David Hayes to be deputy secretary of the Interior, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, and Democrats predicted Tuesday night that Republicans would support Bennett’s filibuster of the nomination in a procedural vo...read more
Crist's session scorecard mixed
May 13, 2009 TALLAHASSEE As Gov. Charlie Crist begins his quest for a U.S. Senate seat, his performance as governor will be a key campaign issue. That performance, some critics charged during the recent legislative session, didn't look so good: "Absent," "disengaged" and "ignored" are among words ...read more
Coming to grips with drought's dry reality
May 13, 2009 Floridians can always rely on year-round sunshine, but rainfall is highly unpredictable in the Sunshine State. This makes water resource management one of Florida's greatest challenges, but also one of its greatest rewards. Water sustains more than 16 million residents, supports multi...read more
Judge: Miami-Dade County Commission wrong to expand UDB for Lowe's: A year after Miami-Dade commissioners amended the Urban Development Boundary for two projects on the county's western fringe, a judge ruled one was unlawful.
May 13, 2009 In twin rulings marking the newest chapter in the long fight over sprawl in Miami-Dade County, an administrative law judge ruled that county commissioners wrongly expanded the western development boundary for a Lowe's Superstore but properly approved a separate request to move the lin...read more
EDITORIAL: Buy the U.S. Sugar land
May 12, 2009 There's an admittedly high price to pay for buying large swaths of U.S. Sugar land. It's worth paying, however, because the South Florida Water Management District - not private sugar growers - would control the future of the Everglades. The governing board will decide today whether t...read more
Progressing early bite looks fine by the weekend
May 13, 2009 There is really only one major feeding migration during the daylight hours for the rest of this week, and it occurs from 4-8 p.m. and works well with aquatic plant oxygen production and wind-produced oxygenation of surface water. So find lake areas that have a little of each plus a sh...read more
Key vote expected today on U.S. Sugar land dea
May 13, 2009 PALM BEACH COUNTY - After a year of negotiations and closed-door deal-making, South Florida water managers are expected to decide today whether to move forward with Gov. Charlie Crist's $536 million Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. Because of the state's struggling economy, ...read more
Everglades proposals: An easy-to-understand Q & A
May 13, 2009 Editor's note: We prepared this easy-to-understand question-and-answer guide to proposed changes in Everglades National Park's management plan based on published information and attendance at two comment sessions in the Upper Keys. Q: Why are new regulations being considered for much ...read more
Coalition focuses on FPL plan for new U.S. 1 transmission line
May 13, 2009 A group of municipal leaders in South Miami-Dade County have banded together to discuss their concerns about the future of the U.S. 1 corridor. Transportation and future development are their core issues. But lately, the group, known as the South Dade Coalition, has focused on Florida...read more
Fla. Water Managers Approve $533M Everglades Deal
May 13, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- South Florida water managers have approved Gov. Charlie Crist's deal to buy farmland from U.S. Sugar Corp. for use in Everglades restoration. The South Florida Water Management District voted 6-1 Wednesday to pay $536 million bill for 73,000 acres of land...read more
Water managers OK scaled-down Everglades restoration land deal
May 13, 2009 PALM BEACH COUNTY — Making history, tempered with a dose of economic reality, South Florida water managers Wednesday approved Gov. Charlie Crist’s scaled-down $536 million Everglades restoration land deal. The deal orchestrated by Crist provides 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar ...read more
U.S. Sugar Everglades land deal approved -- but obstacles remain
May 14, 2009 Gov. Charlie Crist's bid to buy a massive swath of farmland for Everglades restoration won final approval Wednesday, with water managers endorsing a smaller, more affordable version of the controversial deal. It would pay U.S. Sugar Corp. $536 million for 72,800 acres of sugar fields ...read more
Crist on vote for Everglades land deal: 'God Bless you'
May 14, 2009 PALM BEACH COUNTY - Gov. Charlie Crist stopped by to say "Thank You" today to the South Florida water managers who Wednesday approved his history-making $536 million Everglades restoration land deal. Crist came to the West Palm Beach headquarters of the South Florida Water Management ...read more
Crist praises water managers for support of Big Sugar land buy
May 14, 2009 A day after winning approval for his landmark Big Sugar land buy, Gov. Charlie Crist thanked water managers in person. The governor, on his way to a hurricane conference in Fort Lauderdale, paid an impromptu visit Thursday to the South Florida Water Management District in West Palm Be...read more
South Florida Water District: Water supply has reached critical low levels, pray for rain
May 14, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH — The bad news: South Florida's water supply has reached a critical level amid the driest November-through-May dry season on record, as vast swaths of the Everglades are now dry to the touch and Lake Okeechobee, South Florida's backup water source, has fallen bel...read more
Worsening drought leads to second-guessing water decisions
May 14, 2009 Like wildfires flaring up in the Everglades, worsening drought conditions Thursday sparked South Florida water fights over new restrictions as well as how to divvy up strained backup supplies. Even as improving forecasts suggested the arrival of the wet season, the South Florida Water...read more
Wildfires threaten state
May 15, 2009 It's a race between rain and lightning. As wildfires ignite across bone-dry South Florida, there are signs that the rainy season may have started early. But with rain comes lightning, and state officials say South Florida remains so parched the risk of fires is extreme. Gov. Charlie C...read more
Conference stresses water conservation, enforcement
May 15, 2009 Officials from the South Florida Water Management District reached out to local law and code enforcement personnel on Wednesday in an effort to raise awareness about the phase three water restrictions currently in place. SFWMD Florida Keys Service Center Director Tom Genove...read more
Miami officials ready to tighten water rules
Mau 15, 2009 Miami commissioners gave unanimous preliminary approval Thursday to adopting tougher water restrictions. The ordinance, passed on first reading, means the city would follow rules set by the South Florida Water Management District if the agency limits water usage to two days a week or ...read more
South Florida suburbs, not farms, spared new water restrictions
May 15, 2009 At least four groundwater monitoring wells in South Miami-Dade County have hit the highest salt concentrations ever. The marshy water conservation areas at the western fringes of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties have gone bone dry. Lake Okeechobee has dropped so low that w...read more
EDITORIAL: Everglades progress flows slowly
May 15, 2009 A promising breeze is blowing over the "River of Grass." Earlier this month, Congress and the White House loosened federal purse strings to allocate almost $280 million for Everglades restoration projects. This is the largest commitment of federal dollars to the 50-50 U.S.-Florida com...read more
Florida Bay proposals would restrict boating
May 17, 2009 Reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Concerned that powerboats are tearing up seagrass in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park has proposed a range of possible restrictions on boaters to protect a vast, shallow estuary that supports sea turtles, fish and wading birds. The proposal...read more
Sen. Nelson swings through Naples in rare stop
May 15, 2009 In a rare visit to Southwest Florida, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he has worked hard to get some attention focused on the Everglades, news that was music to the ears of environmentally minded locals. He received a bipartisan round of applause and cheers when Collier Commission Chairwom...read more
EDITORIAL: A better Glades deal
In Print: Saturday, May 16, 2009 The scaled-down proposal for restoration of the Everglades that South Florida water managers approved this week shows that pragmatism is not always the enemy of the ideal. The state was forced to cut its buyout of U.S. Sugar farmland because of declining tax revenu...read more
Bill would halt python imports
MIAMI, May 18 (UPI) -- A bill before the U.S. Congress would ban importation and breeding of the Burmese python and some other non-native species, Florida Everglades officials said. The giant pythons are reproducing in the Everglades at an alarming rate, said Randy Smith, a spokesman for the South...read more
Florida Land Donation to aid in Restoring Everglades Sets Land Partnership Standard for Local Governments
Mon, 18 May 2009 20:47:50 -0700 PDT by Aria Munro WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Okeechobee Land Dev. announced a land donation worth $53 million and 2,256 acres near Lake Okeechobee that will eventually help clean up polluted runoff flowing into local waterways has set a new standard in public-pri...read more
COMMENTARY: Everglades restoration plan is sweet and sour
May 19, 2009 -- Again. We now are in the third remake of a plan to save the nation's most imperiled swamp. It's a smaller version of a smaller version of a grandiose plan announced by Charlie Crist last June. Charlie says it's still plenty big, just not as big. Originally, he was going to pay a wh...read more
Bill aims to weaken water managers' say on permits
Monday, May 18, 2009 TALLAHASSEE — An amendment quietly tacked onto a bill during the last days of the legislative session would strip water managers' authority to control permits, seriously altering 37 years of the state's efforts to control one of its most precious resources. Instead of go...read more
Water in South Florida -- What Were/Are We Thinking?
May 24, 20009 It rained. It rained hard. Yep, old Mother Nature came through in the end! Against the backdrop of the recent wet weather we have been having, some things stand out, at least to me. First of all, sometimes Mother Nature decides it's time for the Everglades to burn off in a healthy ro...read more
HOT TOPIC: EVERGLADES REPAIR
May 24, 2009 Opponents may call it the environmental bridge to nowhere, but raising Tamiami Trail is a bridge to the future and a critical first step to restoring the Everglades. Imperiled by a century of re-plumbing, this world ecological treasure has shrunk to half its original size. What remain...read more
Guest commentary: Everglades land buy critical to restoration effort
ERIC BUERMANN / Miami / Chairman, South Florida Water Management District Governing Board 5:00 p.m., Saturday, May 23, 2009 Everglades restoration has been a priority at the South Florida Water Management District for more than a decade. That priority was underscored this month with a landmark dec...read more
FPL's power-line plan in South Miami-Dade faces opposition
May 26, 2009 When Elizabeth Gonzalez wanted to protest against Florida Power & Light's plan to install new high-voltage transmission lines in South Miami, she turned to Facebook. She created a group, ''Residents against FPL transmission lines,'' and provided links to FPL's project website. In Cora...read more
State: Bigger bridge needed for canal maintenance
May 27, 2009 MIAMI-DADE COUNTY -- The new $22 million C-111 canal bridge will have eight feet of additional clearance to accommodate cranes and maintenance vehicles used to dredge the waterway, according to spokesmen for two state agencies. The elevated bridge, located at mile marker 116 on U.S.1,...read more
Land buy boosts restoration
May 26, 2009 Everglades restoration has been a priority at the South Florida Water Management District for more than a decade. That priority was underscored this month with a landmark decision by the district's Governing Board to invest $536 million in the largest land buy in the agency's history ...read more
Rain makes dent in South Florida drought; more storms expected
May 27, 2009 The wicked weather that washed out much of the Memorial Day weekend is going to hang around to make rush hour miserable for the next few days, as well. But there is a silver lining to the daily dark clouds: The storms have put a significant dent in South Florida's drought. The last tw...read more
Interior Secretary visiting Everglades
May 28, 2009 EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla. -- A member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet is making his first official trip to the Everglades. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar joins Governor Charlie Crist and Senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson in visiting the swampland Thursday. They're schedul...read more
Gov. Charlie Crist: Florida budget is best it can be - Miami Herald
May 27, 2009 TALLAHASSEE -- Breaking a pledge against raising taxes, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Florida's $66.5 billion budget into law Wednesday and barely used his veto pen. Crist vetoed only two items in the massive budget: a small pay cut for some state workers, and a measure to take $6 million...read more
Wrong place, time to loosen the rules
May 27, 2009 Picture this: -- Developers in Florida's most congested urban counties want to build more housing without paying for road improvements now required by county or city growth management rules. -- Regional planning boards, created to police concurrency beyond one community's borders, wou...read more
Rain means vehicles, airboats again allowed in parts of Everglades
May 27, 2009 WESTON - Vehicles, motorcycles and airboats are welcome again in parts of the Everglades where they had been banned because of drought conditions, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said today. Recent rainfall has increased water levels at Everglades wildlife manage...read more
EDITORIAL: Keep water decisions public
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 Imagine if a county administrator in Florida could make development decisions in secret, without asking the county commissioners. Only if the administrator denied a request would the commissioners have a say. Lousy, right? Hiding public business from the public, right? So, ...read more
Interior secretary promises to revitalize Everglades
May 28, 2009 Saying the federal government had ''not kept its end of the bargain,'' the Obama administration on Thursday promised to pay its fair share of an Everglades restoration effort now estimated to reach $22.5 billion and to make long-stalled projects a top priority. ''We are committed to i...read more
Interior secretary treks to Everglades
May 29, 2009 THE EVERGLADES - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made his first trip to the Everglades on Thursday, gliding through the swamp on an airboat and pledging to protect the "natural wonder" with the help of millions in federal dollars. The governor and senior state senator joined Salazar, d...read more
FPL gets tentative OK for rock mining near Biscayne Bay
May 28, 2009 Miami-Dade commissioners on Thursday kept alive Florida Power & Light Co.'s bid to dig rock pits less than two miles from Biscayne Bay to provide landfill for two new nuclear reactors planned at Turkey Point. But several commissioners who voted in support said a host of questions must...read more
U.S. interior secretary tours Everglades, champions federal funding
May 28, 2009 Top White House aides acknowledged Thursday that the federal government had ''not done its job'' in supporting Everglades restoration over the last decade and pledged to make the effort a priority. Calling his first glimpse of the Glades ''awesome,'' U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salaza...read more
Have you had enough rain yet? It could be the wettest May ever
Sunday, May 31, 2009 Just a little over two weeks ago, a water shortage crisis seemed all but inevitable. Vast swaths of the Everglades had run dry. Wildfire had charred more than 30,000 acres of Big Cypress National Preserve. Emergency pumps were installed to suck what little remained in Lake Oke...read more
Miami-Dade’s uncontrolled urban sprawl hurts us all
Before 1927, landowners could decide what they wanted to build on their land without the need to obtain the consent of any government agency. Sprawl was okay. Little consideration was given to the need for public transportation, more schools or the need for more law enforcement to cover the much l...read more
The Environmental Senator
June 01, 2009 State Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, has earned the praise of one of the state's biggest land conservation groups for his pursuit of environmentally friendly legislation. The Everglades Trust Inc., committed to a watchdog role in the Everglades restoration, recognized Baker, along with ...read more
Editorial: Awesome start for Everglades restoration
June 03, 2009 Lake Okeechobee's dike will finally be repaired to prevent flooding. The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County will be improved. And sewer improvements will protect the Florida Keys from polluting the clear turquoise waters. Those are among dozens of projects that...read more
Crist signs controversial growth-management bill
June 02, 2009 TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday approved changes to Florida growth laws that supporters say will strengthen the economy and opponents predict will increase urban sprawl and traffic gridlock. The bill rewrites Florida's 25-year-old growth management law, principally by all...read more
Water Managers From Around The World At Usf Listen
June 01, 2009 This morning at the University of South Florida, 20 water managers from around the world exchanged ideas about that essential resource with people from the Tampa Bay area. The internationals are students from the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft, The Netherlands. USF...read more
Big Cypress National Preserve in the Everglades is undergoing rebirth
June 3, 2009 A red-shouldered hawk perches on the blackened limb of an oak tree. Sprays of dagger-like leaves grow from charred saw palmetto trunks. In a pool of greenish water, an alligator's eyes scan the surface. Along a distant tree line, two adult deer and a fawn pick their way through grass ...read more
National Parks Waive Fees for 3 Weekends This Summer
June 04, 2009 National parks, including Everglades National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park in South Florida, will drop fees for three summer weekends. The parks will lift admission fees June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16. About half the parks charge entrance fees. Everglades charges $10 ...read more
South Florida's Best Fishing Hole, the L-67A Canal, Falls Victim to Environmentalists
June 02, 2009 Iron wires dangle from a boat in a cool brown river deep in the Everglades. On this breezy April morning, a few hundred volts crackle through the metal strands into the water. Barron Moody sweeps a net through the murk and pulls up six bass stunned by the electricity. The fish shimmy...read more
The C-111 Canal poses huge challenge in Everglades restoration: It's an essential part of fixing Florida Bay
June 06, 2009 Everglades Foundation scientist Tom Van Lent pointed to the 50-yard-wide expanse of the C-111 canal, a deep channel brimming with fresh water amid a parched ecosystem. "All this fresh water is dramatically in the wrong place," Van Lent said. "And this canal is the culprit." Restoring...read more
Flood fears in South Florida: Huge levee needs repairs; insurance costs may rise
June 07, 2009 A 105-mile-long mound of dirt and rock helps stop the Everglades from flooding South Florida communities sitting on former swampland. Now, after 60 years of holding back the water, the East Coast Protection Levee needs help. Tropical Storm Fay last year exposed vulnerable sections of...read more
Florida DEP continues restoration of rivers, lakes and estuaries
June 01, 2009 TALLAHASSEE – Florida has marked another milestone in its comprehensive strategy to address waterbody restorations around the state. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael W. Sole has signed three orders identifying waterbodies for water quality ...read more
Federal appeals court ruling could mean more polluted water for Southwest Florida
June 05, 2009 When water is pumped out of canals circling cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake, it takes with it heavy doses of nutrients. When the lake swells and flooding threatens, water is released into the Caloosahatchee River. Down the river comes not just the water but th...read more
Judges: South Florida water managers did not violate Clean Water Act
June 05, 2009 ATLANTA - A federal appeals court has reversed a Miami judge's ruling that Florida water managers violated the Clean Water Act by pumping contaminated water from farmland into Lake Okeechobee. The decision hinged on what a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals t...read more
Court: Florida Water Managers Need No NPDES Permit
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, June 8, 2009 (ENS) - The South Florida Water Management District will not have to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NPDES, permit for its S-2, S-3 and S-4 pumping stations located in Palm Beach County. On appeal, the district Thursday won its case ...read more
Everglades national preserve sees rebirth after massive fire
June 07, 2009 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | A red-shouldered hawk perches on the blackened limb of an oak tree. Sprays of daggerlike leaves grow from charred saw palmetto trunks. In a pool of greenish water, an alligator's eyes scan the surface. Along a distant tree line, two adult deer and a fawn pick ...read more
Rainy season getting wetter
Monday, June 8, 2009 In less than a month, South Florida made a dramatic transformation from bone dry to soggy wet. Get used to it. The National Weather Service long-range outlook calls for more rain than normal through August. Potentially, this rainy season, May through October, could produce up ...read more
Washington dollars flowing to Glades
June 09, 2009 Say what you will about the federal stimulus plan, but thanks to it Washington finally is keeping its pledge to share the costs of the Everglades restoration project. Washington and Florida officials agreed in 2000 to partner in the effort to restore the Everglades, where natural wat...read more
Panel offers mixed views on Everglades land buy
Monday, June 08, 2009 EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK -- Representatives of the Everglades Foundation and the Florida Park Service say a revised U.S. Sugar Corp. purchase proposal will help restore the "River of Grass." But an attorney representing the Miccosukee indian tribe says it will further delay r...read more
Collier County may drop legal challenge against water management district
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 COLLIER COUNTY — A knot over Everglades restoration money for a Collier County project is a step closer to getting untangled this week. Tens of millions of dollars of federal money for a restoration project in Picayune Strand have been on the line as Collier County has...read more
EDITORIAL: Crist Should Block Bad Water Bill
Jun. 12--No long ago there would have been little doubt that Gov. Charlie Crist would veto legislation that limits public involvement in water-use decisions. After all, he has been a proponent of both open government and environmental stewardship. But he has also been a proponent of growth managem...read more
Wellington wetlands area to clean storm water before it goes to wildlife refuge
June 14, 2009 Work has begun on a multimillion-dollar wetlands area in Wellington. The area, known as Section 24, will clean storm water before it makes its way to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The project is expected to be completed by June 2010. Section 24, which is more than 300 acr...read more
EDITORIAL: A national priority - The Times - Picayune
Monday, June 15, 2009 Louisianians have been trying for years to raise awareness about the need to restore our coast and to make the effort a national priority. A new coalition of conservation groups from across the country could help us accomplish that. More than 100 conservation leaders were in ...read more
Florida Keys agency to discuss Everglades, Florida Bay
Monday June 15, 2009Florida Keys Keynoter Resolutions on issues affecting Everglades restoration and possible Florida Bay management will be considered at Tuesday's meeting of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. The panel, meeting in Marathon, also will hear a report on ho...read more
Selling public land, to buy more, planned to help Everglades
June 13, 2009 Even as South Florida water managers push for their largest land deal ever, they are also trying to unload thousands of acres taxpayers already own. During the past year, the South Florida Water Management District made record setting land buying in the name of Everglades restoration...read more
New colonel named to lead Army Corps of Engineers' Florida operations
Friday, June 12, 2009 Col. Al Pantano will take command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Florida headquarters this year, just as a wave of federal money rolls in for Everglades restoration projects and repairs to Lake Okeechobee's Herbert Hoover Dike, the corps said today. Pantano, who replace...read more
Water limits loosen this week
Posted - Saturday, June 13, 2009 11:00 AM EDT Some of South Florida's wettest weeks on record have washed away a one-day rule for Florida Keys landscape watering. Beginning Thursday, Monroe County residents can return to a two-day-per-week schedule, say South Florida Water Management District offi...read more
Water rules eased after wettest May
Saturday, June 13, 2009 The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board has eased emergency water restrictions after the wettest May on record. The emergency restrictions allowed watering only one day a week in the Florida Keys. Starting next Thursday, residents can water two days a we...read more
Federal-Florida dispute holds up Everglades money
June 16, 2009 The Obama administration has pledged to spend nearly half a billion dollars on Everglades restoration over the next two years, a record amount, including $103 million set aside for stimulus projects picked because they are ``shovel-ready.'' The shovels are indeed ready to go in place...read more
Bird vs. builders: Endangered stork's status called 'an albatross'
June 16, 2009 Although the recession is the chief obstacle to the construction of new houses in Florida, the building industry has taken aim at a more humble opponent: the endangered wood stork. The Florida Home Builders Association has petitioned the federal government to knock the wood stork dow...read more
International visitors learn about improving environment
June 15, 2009 They came from all over the world - Mexico, India, Thailand, Serbia - to a quiet corner of Annapolis where purple coneflowers bloom and switch grass sways in the breeze. For the second time in two weeks, the Chesapeake Ecology Center hosted an international delegation of environment ...read more
Watering limits set to be eased in South Miami-Dade, Keys
June 11, 2009 It's not like any lawn in South Florida needs watering, but starting Thursday the residents of Homestead, Florida City and the Florida Keys will get back an extra day to do it. After a month of record rain, water managers are poised to lift the emergency once-weekly irrigation restri...read more
Florida DEP Continues Restoration of Rivers, Lakes, Estuaries
June 11, 2009 TALLAHASSEE - DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole has signed three orders identifying waterbodies for water quality improvement goals. The waters identified for restoration include waters in the Group 5, Group 1, and Group 2 basins. Florida's 52 major basins have been divided into five gro...read more
South Florida water managers won't increase tax rate despite plummeting revenues
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 The South Florida Water Management District will not hike its property tax rate, despite plans to finance the state's priciest-ever conservation land purchase amid a historic plunge in real estate values, leaders said today. The agency expects revenues to drop some $340 mi...read more
'Top to bottom' rainfall means no tightening of sprinkler limits, water managers say
June 10, 2009 You can thank the rain for preventing water managers from imposing even stricter limits on your sprinklers. Had this spring's severe drought continued, the one-day-a-week restrictions might have been extended north into Broward and Palm Beach counties, leaders of the South Florida Wa...read more
Polluted Water Can Be Pumped Into Fla. Lake
June 10, 2009 (CN) - Transferring polluted water from one body of water to another without a permit does not violate the Clean Water Act in light of a new Environmental Protection Agency regulation, the 11th Circuit ruled. The ruling allows a water district to pump agricultural runoff into Lake Ok...read more
Groups: Federal Court Gives Big Agriculture a "Free Pass" to Pollute
June 11, 2009 Turn on the water tap and get - pollution? That's what several Florida groups warn can be expected after a new federal appeals court ruling that clears the way for "back-pumping" from drainage canals into South Florida's Lake Okeechobee. A previous court had ruled that federal Clean ...read more
EDITORIAL: Governor Crist should veto SB 2080
June 17, 2009 Our views: Veto this disaster Crist should kill water board measure that would prevent public input Water wars are erupting across Central Florida, and Brevard County is no exception. That’s because the Floridan Aquifer — the underground well that has long supplied the re...read more
Global warming study: US has already started changing
June 16, 2009 WASHINGTON -- A new government study of global warming confirms that climate change caused by carbon dioxide is already having a "visible impact" on the United States, and severe problems are on the way -- including longer droughts, more floods and an increase in pests like mosquitoe...read more
Judge OKs Tamiami Trail bridge to help Everglades
June 18, 2009 A Miami federal judge has cleared the path for a long-delayed plan for a new long bridge on the Tamiami Trail, an asphalt dam across the River of Grass for nearly 80 years. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro lifted an injunction she had issued in November when the Miccosukee Tribe con...read more
Tamiami Trail bridge injunction thrown out
June 17, 2009 A federal judge has cleared the way for construction of a controversial $60 million bridge along Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) in the Everglades west of Miami. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro, on Wednesday, set aside an injunction she issued last year in a lawsuit filed by the Mi...read more
Judge rules against Miccosukee in Glades bridge work dispute
Published: June 18, 2009 MIAMI - A federal judge in Miami has lifted an injunction that prevented the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from building a 1-mile bridge on a road through the Everglades. The corps says the bridge is needed to help restore the Everglades' natural water flow. The work was ch...read more
UPDATED: Judge lifts roadblock for Tamiami Trail project aimed at restoring flow to Everglades National Park
June 17, 2009 A federal project aimed at elevating a stretch of the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County, helping restore water flows to Everglades National Park, got a big boost this week from a judge in Miami. But does this mean the long-debated Tamiami Trail project will go forward anytime soon? ...read more
Ex-Corps of Engineers supervisor gets probation for taking bribes
June 19, 2009 A former U.S. Corps of Engineers employee from Miami who admitted taking bribes to allow illegal farming on land slated for Everglades restoration has been sentenced to five years' probation. Gregory C. Wagner, 59, who was a longtime construction supervisor for the Corps, also will s...read more
Opinion: Next senator has huge boots to fill in replacing Pruitt
Friday, June 19, 2009 Plain and simply, Ken Pruitt stands alone. No elected official in 50 years — perhaps even longer — has accomplished more or done more good for the people of the Treasure Coast. Just watch. History will bear me out on this. Ken was a flickering candle when elected ...read more
EDITORIAL: Tamiami Trail bridge hurdle lifted
June 19, 2009 Twenty years ago Congress approved a project to improve water flow in Everglades National Park. Integral to the project is elevating some of Tamiami Trail for better flow into Northeast Shark River Slough, the park's headwaters. But lawsuits, plan revisions, interagency turf wars and...read more
Army Corps has cash and plan to strengthen Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee
Thursday, June 18, 2009 Bite by bite, a giant clam-shell-style scoop lowered by a crane chomps into the 30-foot-tall earthen mound that for seven decades has guarded South Florida against getting swamped by Lake Okeechobee. Into the freshly dug trench goes a soupy mix of sand, stone and grout that...read more
Palm Beach galas cut costs, donations fall
Saturday June 20, 2009 PALM BEACH — The island's glitzy gala season is over. The tux is back from the cleaners. The tiara is in the vault. And the bottom line does not look good. Only two of a dozen well-known charities that hold annual fund-raising galas in Palm Beach reached their goal, ac...read more
One year later, Everglades land deal shrinks to stay alive
June 19, 2009 One year ago, Gov. Charlie Crist surprised the state with a blockbuster land deal aimed at restoring the Everglades' "missing link" through sugar cane country. More water would flow from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, thanks to Crist's $1.75 billion bid to buy U.S. Sugar Corp.'s ...read more
Everglades bridge can move forward - EVERGLADES: Injunction is lifted, but Miccosukee Tribe will keep fighting
June 22, 2009 Construction on a controversial bridge project in the eastern Everglades could begin as early as September, after a federal judge lifted an injunction imposed on the project last November. The $212 million project supported by environmental groups and opposed by the Miccosukee Tribe ...read more
All Eyes Are on Sweeping Water Measure in Governor's Hands
Jun. 20--Environmentalists hold as one of their main strengths the ability to rally grass-roots supporters and raise a formidable protest at public hearings. That's why they detest a key part of the water bill that Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to sign or veto in the coming week. The bill would s...read more
Parks aim to reduce visitor emissions, their own
June 23, 2009 MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. -- Karen Lasch and her family recently pulled over their car near a glacier-fed creek in Mount Rainier National Park, piling out for a glimpse of the snowcapped peak in the distance. But she hadn't given much thought to the impact that she, millions...read more
Wood stork population flying higher in Everglades
June 23, 2009 MIAMI (AP) -- Officials say wood storks have been breeding at their highest rate in decades in the Everglades. Preliminary surveys estimate that 3,500 of the ungainly ducklings will leave South Florida nests this year. The wood storks are the only Florida wading bird on the federal l...read more
Everglades' wood stork enjoys a rebirth - A boom in breeding by the rare wood stork has added fuel to developers' argument that the bird no longer belongs on the endangered list.
June 23, 2009 The wood stork, an ungainly duckling among the Everglades' elegant wading birds, has been breeding in numbers unseen in decades. Rain in the last crucial month of nesting season took a toll, leaving half the weakened fledglings prey for waiting gators. But even with that loss, prelim...read more
EDITORIAL: Don't let farms pollute Lake Okeechobee
June 23, 2009 The practice of "backpumping" used irrigation water from the farm fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake eventually damages the environment here in Lee County. We have always opposed the practice. We also thought it had been brought well under legal control and nearly aba...read more
Obama Administration to request Everglades be put back on endangered sites list
Wednesday June 24, 2009 Two years after a Bush Administration official removed Everglades National Park from a United Nations' list of endangered world sites, Obama Administration officials are seeking to put it back on. "Hallelujah," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said in response. Nelson has bee...read more
Tamiami project gets go-ahead
June 24, 2009 SOUTH FLORIDA -- A federal judge has cleared the way for work to begin on a $212 million Tamiami Trail project that should benefit Florida Bay. Construction on the project -- a 1-mile bridge that officials expect will increase water flow from the north into Everglades National Park b...read more
EDITORIAL: Restore Everglades reality
Tuesday June 23, 2009 An editorial in Tuesday's Post called for Gov. Crist to veto Senate Bill 624, which makes it harder to discipline police officers and sheriff's deputies. The governor signed the bill last week. The mistake resulted from a misreading of communication from the governor's office...read more
Interior czar: 'Glades wrongly stripped from list of world's endangered sites
June 23, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. – After two years of pushing and with a change in U.S. administrations, Florida Democrat Bill Nelson has won the support of the nation’s lands czar for putting the Everglades back on a United Nation’s list of the world’s most treasured and end...read more
What others say -
June 26, 2009--The practice of "backpumping" used irrigation water from the farm fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake eventually damages the environment here in Lee County. We have always opposed the practice. We also thought it had been brought well under legal control and nearly ab...read more
Crist may face opposition on water bill
June 26, 2009---TALLAHASSEE — Florida's water management districts are poised to act quickly if Gov. Charlie Crist signs a controversial bill that would give staff members working behind closed doors even more power to grant lucrative water rights.
The South Florida Water Management Distric...read more
Palm Beach County Commissioners delay decision on expanding rock mining operation
June 29, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County commissioners this morning delayed a decision on whether to allow a rock mining operation to expand in the county's rural Everglades agricultural area.
The commission, sitting as the county's zoning board, said it will wait until Sept. 29 t...read more
Infill development will help hold line
June 29, 2009--Last month's court ruling halting the planned development of a Lowes superstore outside Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary was an important victory in the ongoing battle against westward sprawl in our community. But the more pressing issue going forward is whether reside...read more
Endangered wading birds making a comeback
June 29,2009--An hour later, five more appeared about 100 yards away, loping in a line through the watery saw grass of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. At various times, the storks - all less than 2 months old - briefly took to the air, as if to test their wings in thes...read more
State still lets Central Florida's sludge foul Everglades, critics say
June 29, 2009--The foul waters of Lake Okeechobee, the failing health of the Everglades and even sick dolphins along the South Florida coast might seem like troubles so distant they could hardly be the Orlando area's responsibility. Yet a Florida law — which environmentalists say is being th...read more
Bad water, good turtle protection
June 29, 2009--The practice of "backpumping" used irrigation water from the farm fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake eventually damages the environment in Lee County.
The News-Press has always opposed the practice and thought it had been brought under legal control and nearly aband...read more
Everglades progress
June 30, 2009--We may not like how the Obama Administration is constantly tossing out another Big Government idea, but it does deserve credit for defending Florida's Everglades. So does Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who raised the alarm when the Bush Administration removed the Everglades National Park...read more
Endangered wading birds making a comeback
June 30, 2009--It was a rare sight: three young wood storks, perched awkwardly atop two tree islands deep in the Everglades. An hour later, five more appeared about 100 yards away, loping in a line through the watery saw grass of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. At vari...read more
County delays vote on rock mining permit
June 30, 2009--PALM BEACH COUNTY - County Commissioners today held off on deciding whether to allow more rock mining on former Everglades land. Instead, on Sept. 29 they will continue the debate over Star Ranch's proposal to dig in 592 more acres in southwestern Palm Beach County. The mine, which ...read more
Endangered wading birds making a comeback
June, 30 2009--It was a rare sight: three young wood storks, perched awkwardly atop two tree islands deep in the Everglades. An hour later, five more appeared about 100 yards away, loping in a line through the watery saw grass of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. At...read more
County delays vote on rock mining permit
June 30, 2009--PALM BEACH COUNTY - County Commissioners today held off on deciding whether to allow more rock mining on former Everglades land. Instead, on Sept. 29 they will continue the debate over Star Ranch's proposal to dig in 592 more acres in southwestern Palm Beach County. The mine, which ...read more
A bridge to the Everglades
July 1, 2009--Though most attention has been focused on the deal to buy U.S. Sugar's land, Everglades restoration just got another big boost. It's the ruling by U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro in Miami that the 20-year-old plan to build a bridge near the eastern end of Tamiami Trail can proceed....read more
Lessen The Impact of Climate Change - Go NativeA healthy ecosystem requires a delicate balancing act among all species.
July 1, 2009--Florida's sometimes fragile ecosystems are poised on a balance beam as a growing population and changing climate challenge wildlife managers. Florida's environment complicates the issues, because it is a welcoming host to invasive plant species. It also covers two climate zones - sub...read more
Gov. Crist signs bill stripping public access on state water decisions District directors don't need board OK to grant 50-year pacts.
July 1, 2009TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that, among other things, strips public access from state decisions about who controls Florida's precious water resources. The new law takes effect Wednesday. "It is surprising," said Charles Lee of the group Audubon of Fl...read more
U.S. money going for reefs Federal stimulus money will go to help restore coral reefs.
July 1, 2009--An underwater nursery project to restore the struggling coral reefs along Florida's southern coast and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive $3.3 million in national stimulus funding, according to an announcement Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The nonp...read more
Environmentalists decry bill giving state more control over water resources-District directors don't need board OK to grant 50-year pacts.
July 1, 2009--TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that, among other things, strips public access from state decisions about who controls Florida's precious water resources. The new law takes effect Wednesday.
"It is surprising," said Charles Lee of the group Audubon of...read more
South Florida Business Journal
July 1, 2009--Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080 into law Tuesday, which renews Florida’s water management districts as well as encourages more water conservation-based landscaping. Crist is asking governing boards and executive directors of the districts to continue to include surfa...read more
Endangered Everglades
July 1, 2009--Salazar urges U.N. to place Florida's Everglades on list of threatened sites You know a park is in trouble when the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar calls on the United Nations for help. This week, Salazar will petition the U.N. at a World Heritage Committee meeting in Spain to include...read more
Wood stork bevy stirs hopes for survival
July 6, 2009--MIAMI - The wood stork, an ungainly duckling among the Everglades' elegant wading birds, has been breeding in numbers unseen in decades. Rain in the last crucial month of nesting season took a toll, leaving half the weakened fledglings as prey for waiting gators. But even with that l...read more
Gov. Charlie Crist put the future of Florida's water resources in the hands of five people.
July 6, 2009--With a stroke of his pen last week, Gov. Charlie Crist put the future of Florida's water resources in the hands of five people. Now the five — four men and one woman — are trying to figure out how to wield their significant new power over development and water-use permits...read more
Governor Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, relating to water resources, into law
July, 6, 2009--On June 30th, Governor Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, relating to water resources, into law. Although the bill is not perfect, it is my firm belief – a belief that I expressed to the Governor – that this bill should be signed for the many benefits it provides to ...read more
Federal stimulus money for Florida's reefs a sound investment-OUR OPINION: Stimulus money to restore state's corals, seafood beds
July 7, 2009--Federal stimulus money is paying for more than roads and bridges during this economic downturn. Ecological projects are part of the mix -- and that bodes well for Florida. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received $167 million in February from the American Recovery...read more
Deny 9 rock mining permits in Miami-Dade-The Environmental Protection Agency said it isn't looking to block mining in Miami-Dade, but its concerns could force the industry to scale back its plans for new mines.
July 8, 2009--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has waded in against
the rock mining industry's plans to expand into 6,800 acres of wetlands
bordering Everglades National Park and Miami-Dade County's biggest source of
drinking water.
The EPA, in a letter sent last week to the ...read more
Letters to the Editor: Working to preserve, enhance water resources
July 8, 2009--On June 30, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law Senate bill 2080,
relating to water resources. Although the bill is not perfect, it provides many
benefits to the environment and people of Florida.
The new law requires the governing boards of the state's five
water-management distr...read more
Charlie Crist should never have put the control of Florida's water resources
July 8, 2009--Gov.
Charlie Crist should never have put the control of Florida's water resources —
which belong to all Floridians — into the hands of just five unelected,
little-known bureaucrats. But that's what he did when he signed Senate Bill
2080 into law, giving power over...read more
Water managers revamp permit process
July 8, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — South Florida water managers have voted to delegate their authority to issue water use and wetlands destruction permits to their executive director and to start a new process for taking public input. The 4-3 decision by the South Florida Water Management Distr...read more
Delays could scrap Everglades deal
July 9, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- South Florida water managers are calling out the Obama administration over long-stalled Everglades restoration and are threatening to scrap a state and federal partnership aimed at saving the famed River of Grass. The South Florida Water Management District's b...read more
Endangered wading birds making a comeback
June 30, 2009--It was a rare sight: three young wood storks, perched awkwardly atop two tree islands deep in the Everglades. An hour later, five more appeared about 100 yards away, loping in a line through the watery saw grass of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. At vari...read more
County delays vote on rock mining permit
June 30, 2009--PALM BEACH COUNTY - County Commissioners today held off on deciding whether to allow more rock mining on former Everglades land. Instead, on Sept. 29 they will continue the debate over Star Ranch's proposal to dig in 592 more acres in southwestern Palm Beach County. The mine, which ...read more
Public comment sought on study of unique Gladesmen culture through Aug. 28, 2009
July 1, 2009--*** Five historic sites recommended for protection *** The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District is seeking public comment on a study of the Gladesmen, a unique folk culture of the Everglades. The study recommends five sites used by the Gladesmen for listing on the Nati...read more
A Walk on the Beach
July 1, 2009--Built in the early postwar years, the Clifton Hotel South Beach is characteristic of Miami Beach’s distinctive art deco style. The hotel cost $80,000 to build, and its original 1948 art deco vernacular is evident in its small scale, stucco surface, plain parapet, horizontal ban...read more
Building a Bridge for Everglades Survival
July 2, 2009--TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Everglades has been called the River of Grass, but conservation groups say it may be in danger of drying up without immediate bridging along the Tamiami Trail between Miami and Naples. Rebecca Garvoille, Everglades environmental policy consultant to the Nation...read more
Delays could scrap Everglades deal
July 9, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- South Florida water managers are calling out the Obama administration over long-stalled Everglades restoration and are threatening to scrap a state and federal partnership aimed at saving the famed River of Grass.
The South Florida Water Management District's ...read more
Third day of lawn watering might be added, but not in Miami-Dade--Water managers decided to pursue three-day watering limits instead of the current twice-weekly restrictions. Miami-Dade will keep the twice-weekly limit.
July 10, 2009--Since imposing emergency sprinkling restrictions during a drought two years ago, South Florida water managers have been moving toward making the twice-weekly limits permanent. On Thursday, they backed away. Under pressure -- and lawsuit threats -- from utilities worried about rising...read more
Water Management Boards Lose Vote, but Will Ensure Openness
July 10, 2009--On June 30, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, relating to water resources, into law. Although the bill is not perfect, it is my firm belief - a belief that I expressed to the governor - that this bill should be signed for the many benefits it provides to both to the enviro...read more
Water managers ponder relaxing sprinkler limits for 5 years, despite calls for conservation
July 10, 2009--It may seem strange, but in its effort to promote water conservation, the South Florida Water Management District could move water restrictions from two to three days a week. The reason: Most of the region has been under an emergency, two-day-a-week restriction order for the past tw...read more
Everglades Foundation Welcomes New Board and Advisory Committee Members
Everglades Foundation Welcomes New Board and Advisory Committee Members Palmetto Bay, Fla.--(July 13, 2009)—The Everglades Foundation recently welcomed new board and advisory committee co-chairs to help the organization advance its mission of Everglades restoration. Joseph “Joe” ...read more
Mighty moth may become Everglades' new weed eater--A moth from Hong Kong emerges as a powerful weapon against an exotic fern that threatens the Everglades by draping native plants in a cloak of death.
July 13, 2009--Compared
to kudzu, the infamous vine that ate The South, Old World climbing fern may be
an obscure pest plant. But they're a lot alike.
The
fern just has a slightly smaller appetite. It's only eating South Florida.
It's
been doing it at an alarming pace, smothering mor...read more
Clam calamity in Caloosahatchee has scientists baffled
July 16, 2009--It’s a molluskan mystery: What’s killing thousands of clams in the Caloosahatchee River? In June, Rick Bartleson, a research scientist at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Marine Laboratory, discovered piles of dead clams along the shoreline near Beautiful Island; Sunday,...read more
Water managers shaking up staff, reducing number of senior employees
July 16, 2009--South Florida's largest and most powerful environmental agency is thinning its management ranks in its largest staff shake-up in years. The South Florida Water Management District — the largest of Florida's five water management agencies and the one charged with leading the mu...read more
Moth may be the secret to curbing fern’s growth – Bradenton Herald
July 20, 2009--MIAMI — Compared to kudzu, the infamous vine that ate The South,
Old World climbing fern may be an obscure pest plant. But they’re a lot alike.
The fern just has a slightly smaller appetite. It’s only eating
South Florida.
It’s been doing it at an...read more
EDITORIAL: Corps needs to get moving
July 20, 2009--The Army Corps of Engineers should have
gotten the message that its draft Category 5 hurricane protection study has
glaring deficiencies -- Louisiana officials have been saying so for some time.
But now the National Academy of Sciences has
published its final peer review of the...read more
OPINION: COLUMN: Martin's watershed moment
July 20, 2009--Every once in a while, politicians listen to the people. Martin County had
such a moment last week.
Environmentalists stood beside developers and Realtors to plead for a common
cause: Clean river water. County commissioners voted 4-1, with only Doug Smith
dissenting, to join 38 ...read more
More than $300 million could be coming for Indian River, Everglades restoration
July 20, 2009--WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House
Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill approved Friday includes
$342 million for projects directed at the Treasure Coast, ranging from the St.
Lucie River and Hutchinson Island shoreline restoration to repairing the
Herbert Hoover ...read more
EDITORIAL: Work out Everglades glitch
July 20, 2009--Despite complaints that Gov. Crist's buyout of U.S. Sugar is slowing
Everglades restoration, the truth is just the opposite: Federal money is
beginning to flow and projects stalled for years are moving. Only now a
bureaucratic snafu threatens to stop the work before it begins.
A...read more
Guest Column - Nathaniel Reed: Big-time developers control Martin County's Future Group
Nathaniel
Reed
July 20, 2009--Having spent my 76 years of
life in Martin County, I have an abiding love of our communities and the land
that supports so much sustainable agriculture. We are so lucky to have a
comprehensive plan that insures slow, wise growth and keeps large area...read more
Blog: Restored Everglades and Kissimmee River lands as Wall Street collateral?
July 17, 2009--Several people including Carol Wehle, executive director at
the South Florida Water Management District, reacted to this
week’s story about a quarter-million acres of state-owned lands being
offered to Wall Street as collateral to finance Gov. Charlie Crist’s land deal
...read more
OPINION: Letter: New law takes South Florida, state two steps back in water protection
July 17, 2009--Having Michael Sole, secretary of the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection, tell us it is a good idea to
have Carol Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management
District, make all final decisions regarding water permits is about as credible
as having t...read more
Everglades land swap may be key to FPL plans to expand in West Miami-Dade-Everglades and FPL managers are evaluating a compromise so the power company can add much-needed transmission lines in West Miami-Dade.
July 17, 2009--Florida Power & Light bought a ribbon of Everglades marl
prairie 40 years ago, envisioning it as an isolated place to some day run power
lines.
Some day has come. FPL has filed for state permits to run three
high-voltage power lines along the 7.4-mile strip.
But the surro...read more
OPINION: Water bill not perfect, but does benefit environment
July 17, 2009--On June 30, Gov. Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, which The Post had
editorialized against. Although the bill is not perfect, I expressed to the
governor that this bill should be signed for the many benefits it will provide
to the environment and the people of Florida.
Although th...read more
BLOG: Estenoz: Bureaucrats blocking Obama from funding Everglades
July 17, 2009--Break out the Twizzlers and popcorn! It’s South Florida
Water Management District movie night!
Tonight’s film: Nameless, faceless Washington bureaucrats are blocking
President Barack Obama and his administration from getting money to the
Everglades. That’s acc...read more
Heat may have killed fish in Florida Bay
July 23, 2009--Thousands of fish popped up dead this week in Florida Bay --
possible victims of what might be described as a marine version of heat stroke.
The fish kill was unusually large for the waters of Everglades
National Park, with floating redfish, snook and other species covering n...read more
test
testing...read more
UDB upheld
July 31, 2009--Score one for good planning. Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet rejected the Miami-Dade County Commission's approval of a Lowe's Superstore to be built on 52 acres outside the Urban Development Boundary. The 3-1 vote Tuesday mirrored a ruling by Judge Bram D.E. Canter in an ...read more
OPINION: Water conservation's the loser
July 31, 2009--Call it the South Florida Water Giveaway District. That's because any pretense on the water management district's part that it's carefully watching over its 16-county water supply is now gone. It's truly astonishing what the South Florida Water Management District is now planning to...read more
Sam Poole: Editorial wrong about chief source of Lake O pollution
July 29, 2009--You are right to warn your readers about the pollution of Lake Okeechobee with phosphorus-enriched stormwater; the rapidly declining condition of the Lake is one of Florida's critical environmental problems. However, your June 23 editorial and cartoon attributing the pollution to ba...read more
What the Netherlands can teach Florida--Court rejects Lake Okeechobee backpumping ban
July29, 2009--A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed a Miami judge's ruling that Florida water managers violated the Clean Water Act by pumping contaminated water from farmland into Lake Okeechobee. The decision hinged on what a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ter...read more
Florida Cabinet thwarts plan to alter Miami-Dade development boundary--Infill development will help hold line
July 29, 2009--Last month's court ruling halting the planned development of a Lowes superstore outside Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary was an important victory in the ongoing battle against westward sprawl in our community. But the more pressing issue going forward is whether reside...read more
EPA: Regional posts key as Obama admin reshapes agency
July 29, 2009--Those 10 posts are seen as critical to the Obama administration's efforts to reshape the agency, whose morale was said to have sagged under President George W. Bush. In its first months, the Obama EPA has shifted Bush-era policies on climate change and air pollution, and the White H...read more
Florida Tour Spotlights Invasive Plants in the Everglades
July 27, 2009--A recent fact-finding tour of the Florida Everglades highlighed collaborative efforts that are underway to preserve and restore natural ecosystems. It is clear that integrated weed management using a variety of control techniques is instrumental in preserving fragile aquatic ecosyst...read more
New science study findings have been reported from S.M. Smith et al
July 27, 2009--"Anthropogenic phosphorus (P) inputs to the Florida Everglades have produced dramatic changes in the wetland vegetation of this otherwise oligotrophic system. While the proliferation of undesirable plant species in response to enrichment has been well documented, nutrient-related ch...read more
Hold the line on development--OUR OPINION: Crist and Cabinet should reject both plans to expand the UDB
July 24, 2009--With empty land available to build stores and homes in Miami-Dade County's designated urban area and with thousands of vacant homes waiting to be bought in this recession why would commissioners push for development out in the western fringes? And why would Gov. Charlie Crist and th...read more
EPA recommends denying Lake Belt mining
July 24, 2009--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends denying nine mining applications affecting 6,800 additional acres of wetlands in Miami’s Lake Belt region. In a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in early July, EPA expresses concerns about the environmental im...read more
Fla. utilities and activists clash on conservation
August 10, 2009--TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's major power companies are at odds with environmentalists over setting new energy conservation goals. Utility lawyers Monday told the Public Service Commission that goals sought by environment groups would result in higher power bills for those who ca...read more
State, feds reach a truce on Everglades spending
August 3, 2009--Have Florida and the federal government ended their long-running squabble-fest on how to pay for the multi-gazillion-dollar Everglades restoration plan? Looks like it, according to this article from The Miami Herald: After eight years of bickering, the state and the federal governm...read more
Federal-state bickering over Everglades money resolved after eight years
August 3, 2009--After eight years of bickering, the state and the federal government have finally shaken hands on how to split the massive bill to restore the Everglades. The dispute was more than a mere bureaucratic snit. It shut the spigot on something the struggling River of Grass needs almost ...read more
Everglades outposts struggle to keep 'swamp culture' alive
August 3, 2009--Two miles down the levee, where the bumpy gravel road gives way to sawgrass, sits the last outpost in Southeast Florida of an Everglades world almost forgotten. Here, going for a swim means plunging into the canal from a rope swing. Travel is by airboat. And alligators swim right u...read more
Land deal could aid Everglades restoration
August 3, 2009--MIAMI, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A land deal proposed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist could potentially help water managers find better ways to restore the Florida Everglades, an official says. Carol Ann Wehle, South Florida Water Management District executive director, said if the state's off...read more
Senate confirm's Sam Hamilton as Director of USFWS
August 3, 2009--WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today praised the Senate's confirmation of Sam D. Hamilton as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Sam is a veteran manager, innovative leader, and strong advocate for sound science," Salazar said. "His three deca...read more
EPA calls for denial of rock mining permits near Everglades - Miami Herald
August 3, 2009--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has waded in against the rock mining industry's plans to expand into 6,800 acres of wetlands bordering Everglades National Park and Miami-Dade County's biggest source of drinking water. The EPA, in a letter sent last week to the U.S. Army Co...read more
OPINION: Roland Loog: Offshore drilling risks offset rewards, By Roland Loog - Gainesville Sun
August 4, 2009--With our economy facing many challenges, offshore oil drilling has become an increasingly important topic for Floridians. Supporters of offshore drilling claim the potential economic benefits of offshore drilling are significant. Energy Information Administration estimates projecte...read more
Letter To Editor: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
August 4, 2009--As manager of Florida’s fish and wildlife resources, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is diligent in protecting native species and habitats. When an exotic species invades our natural landscape, it is our duty to do everything possible to ensure tho...read more
Florida Bay's ecology on the brink of collapse
August 5, 2009--ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) - Boat captain Tad Burke looks out over Florida Bay and sees an ecosystem that's dying as politicians, land owners and environmentalists bicker.
He's been plying these waters for nearly 25 years, and has seen the declines in shrimp and lobster that use the ba...read more
Senate May Vote on Guzy Nomination
August 5, 2009--The Senate could vote the week of Aug. 3 on the nomination of Gary Guzy to be the deputy director of the Council on Environmental Quality, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Aug. 4.
Boxer, the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told BNA, “If my co...read more
Leatherback Sea Turtle Nest on Sanibel -- First Ever Documented in Lee & Collier Counties
August 5, 2009--Leatherback Sea Turtle Nest on Sanibel -- First Ever Documented in Lee & Collier Counties On the night of August 2, a nest of leatherback sea turtles hatched on Sanibel’s East End; this is the first known documented leatherback nest in Lee and Collier counties. Volunteer Lind...read more
Everglades land deal lawsuit set for closings
August 6, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Closing arguments begin in a lawsuit that could undo Florida's historic planned $536 million deal to buy land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration. South Florida water managers plan to buy 73,000 acres of farmland from the company to constru...read more
OPINION: Don't block historic chance to restore Everglades
August 6, 2009--Former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne called the South Florida Water Management District's purchase of land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration a "historic turning point for the largest watershed restoration project in the world." Environmental groups and newspaper...read more
OPINION: Andrew Hill: Everglades land buy good deal for Florida economy
August 6, 2009--The acquisition of U.S. Sugar Corp. property by the state of Florida has been viewed favorably by most conservation-minded organizations, yet there has been limited analysis of the financial benefits of the transaction. There is no better opportunity to apply "eco-economics" theori...read more
EDITORIAL: In the flow on St. Johns — don't let the river run dry
August 6, 2009--For the first time, regional managers warn that groundwater supplies will not meet demand. That may seem hard to believe, given the torrential downpours that waterlog Florida on an almost daily basis this time of year, But, all too often, storm water simply cascades into the Indian...read more
$536 million Everglades restoration plan up for debate in Palm Beach County court today
August 6, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Closing arguments are set for this afternoon in a high-stakes legal challenge to Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed $536 million land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. aimed at restoring the Everglades. Attorneys for the South Florida Water Management District, the stat...read more
Gov. Charlie Crist may cancel summit on climate change
August 7, 2009--Gov. Charlie Crist said he wasn't sure if he would host another climate-change summit and is backing away from his cap-and-trade energy policy.
Herald/Times Tallahassee BureauRepublican backlash brews
A Republican backlash is brewing against the state and national party as they a...read more
Months of hearings end with no ruling on water managers' $2.2 billion borrowing plan for U.S. Sugar deal
August 7, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH- — Lawyers expect a judge to pare down the state's request to issue $2.2 billion in bonds to finance Gov. Charlie Crist's land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.
The question: By how much?
Palm Beach Circuit Judge Donald Hafele is expected to rule in the next two we...read more
EDITORIAL: Time's running short for Everglades and Florida Bay
August 7, 2009--New Everglades land deal could ease restoration If water managers approve the smaller, cheaper version of Gov. Charlie Crist's Big Sugar land deal Wednesday, they won't be done dealing. New tweaks in the $536 million offer to buy 73,000 acres from the U.S. Sugar Corp. would give wa...read more
Crist Defends Everglades Plan
August 7, 2009--Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday defended a $536 million plan with U.S. Sugar Corp. to purchase 73,000 acres in the Everglades as critics wrapped up arguments in their effort to overturn the deal. As the governor touted the program, competitor Florida Crystals and the Miccosukee Indi...read more
Judge to rule on Everglades land deal in 2 weeks
August 7, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A Palm Beach County judge says he'll make a ruling in about two weeks on whether Florida's planned $536 million deal to buy land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration can move forward. District Judge Donald Hafele announced his decision Thurs...read more
Judge to decide next step for U.S. Sugar land deal
August 7, 2009--Water managers had hoped their plan to borrow as much as $2.2 billion to bankroll Gov. Charlie Crist's land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. would get fast judicial approval. The initial hearing in February was only scheduled for three hours. Then the Miccosukee Tribe and rival grower Fl...read more
Closing arguments end in lawsuit against Everglades land deal
August 7, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - Opponents to a half-billion-dollar Everglades land buy Thursday called for a judge to kill the deal they say sprang from political pressure applied by Gov. Charlie Crist and survived "misrepresentations" by South Florida water managers. Months of on-again, off-aga...read more
Judge to decide next step for U.S. Sugar land deal--The Miccosukee Tribe and Florida Crystals delivered a blistering attack on the governor's $536 million land deal with U.S. Sugar.
August 7, 2009--Water managers once hoped their plan to borrow as much as $2.2 billion for Gov. Charlie Crist's land deal with U.S. Sugar would breeze through judicial approval, setting aside just three hours for the hearing seven months ago. On Thursday, the arguments finally ended in what turned...read more
Oyster reef restoration project under way
August 7, 2009--STUART — Truckloads of cultchfossilized shells, coral and other biogenic materials used to make oyster beds are making their way to Martin County this week. The Oyster Reef Restoration Project will restore oyster reef habitat in the St. Lucie and Loxahatchee estuaries. The pr...read more
Is Gov Crist ending commitment to Climate Summits listen
August 10, 2009--Florida Governor Charlie Crist says he doesn't know if he will hold another Climate Summit. Charlie Crist said yesterday that he has not yet decided whether to hold another Climate Summit this year. In his first two summers as Florida’s Governor, Crist was applauded by envir...read more
Lehigh Acres: Florida's lesson in unregulated growth
August 10, 2009--Hoping to jump start the economy, Florida lawmakers have eased the rules on developers. Many won't have to pay for their projects' impact on roads. It will be easier to get approval to destroy wetlands. Next up: a study of whether developers should have to prove there's a need for...read more
EPA plan may prevent algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee
August 25, 2009--Local scientists and environmentalists say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to set limits on nutrients entering Florida's waters will help prevent algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee River. The EPA's decision settled a lawsuit filed last year by the Sierra Club, ...read more
EDITORIAL: EPA water clean-up deal overdue--OUR OPINION: The EPA finally agrees to put limits on state's water polluters
August 25, 2009--Sometimes it pays to get mad. In 2008, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported that half of the state's rivers and more than half its lakes had poor water quality. But the agency had been foot-dragging for years on setting limits on the nutrient runoff from agr...read more
Good for You, Martin County
Board for Everglades FoundationAugust 26, 2009--The Everglades Foundation recently welcomed new board and advisory committee co-chairs to help the organization advance its mission of Everglades restoration. Joseph “Joe” Zachary Duke III, president of Jacksonville-based Off Road Holding...read more
In the Florida Keys, staghorn, elkhorn coral making a comeback
August 24, 2009--Every August or September on nights following a full moon, divers descend into the dark, warm waters off the Florida Keys to watch group sex -- a fascinating reproductive eruption known as the annual coral spawn. It's akin to an underwater snow flurry as colonies of polyps -- flow...read more
Black Palm Beach County officials pushing plan to build "inland port" in Everglades
August 24. 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - A coalition of black elected officials is using its political muscle to push a controversial plan to build an "inland port" in the Glades. For the first time in its nine-year history, the Palm Beach County Caucus of Black Elected Officials has formally take...read more
EPA sets legal limits for water pollution in Fla
EPA: Deny 9 rock mining permits in Miami-Dade
August 24, 2009--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has waded in against the rock mining industry's plans to expand into 6,800 acres of wetlands bordering Everglades National Park and Miami-Dade County's biggest source of drinking water.
The E...read more
EDITORIAL: Water Rights Denied
(August 24, 2009)--Aug. 23--Cry us a river. Cry us a river because talking about a river, or arguing about a river, or even challenging governments about their possible failure to protect a river no longer are options anymore in Central Florida. Or so it appears. The St. Johns Riverkeeper, a nonpr...read more
Oyster reef restoration project under way
Agust 11, 2009--STUART — Truckloads of cultchfossilized shells, coral and other biogenic materials used to make oyster beds are making their way to Martin County this week. The Oyster Reef Restoration Project will restore oyster reef habitat in the St. Lucie and Loxahatchee estuaries. The pr...read more
Black officials' group headed by former Palm Beach County Commissioner Addie Greene supports 'inland port' for the Glades
August 21, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — A coalition of black elected officials is using its political muscle to push a controversial plan to build an "inland port" in the Glades. For the first time in its nine-year history, the Palm Beach County Caucus of Black Elected Officials has formally take...read more
EDITORIAL: Which is it? Pollute or clean Everglades
While billions are spent to restore the Florida Everglades, pollutants are still allowed to be pumped in. August 20, 2009--Taxpayers in Florida and across the nation are spending billions of dollars to restore the Everglades. At the same time, the state and federal governments are spending additio...read more
Miami-Dade to hold public meetings over FP&L plans
August 20, 2009--Miami-Dade County managers announced Wednesday they will host two public meetings to give people a chance to learn more about Florida Power & Light Co.'s plan to install four high-voltage transmission lines within the county by 2012. The overhead power lines -- three in western Mi...read more
Fla. Governor's Moves Scrutinized for Clues to U.S. Climate Debate
August 19, 2009--Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is getting intense heat from his party's right wing over his support of climate legislation, fueling speculation that the popular politician may move away from "pro-green" positions that have been praised by top Democrats and environmentalists. The p...read more
Draper Pulls Plug on Agriculture Commissioner Campaign
August 19, 2009--Saying it was too difficult to divide his attention between an underdog campaign for Agriculture Commissioner and his day job at one of the state’s most influential environmental groups, Democrat Eric Draper said Monday he was dropping out of the race. Draper, deputy directo...read more
End sugar's sweet deal
August 18, 2009--A food fight has flared up again between U.S. sugar growers and food manufacturers. The manufacturers have had their fill of restrictions on lower-priced sugar imports. And it's hard to blame them. The Sweetener Users Association — which includes companies such as Kraft Food...read more
Sugar farms continue cutting phosphorus
August 18, 2009--Farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area achieved a 68 percent reduction in phosphorus (fertilizer) levels in water leaving their fields, according to a news release from Florida Crystals Corp. Although is occurs naturally in soil, phosphorus is considered a pollutant in high l...read more
EDITORIAL: Back on Everglades track
August 18, 2009--When it comes to restoring the Everglades, an agreement on science may be only as good as an agreement on finances. For years, Florida and the federal government had agreed on the science. They agreed to split the cost of restoring the Everglades, now estimated to be a $10.9 billi...read more
Corps suspends releases from Lake Okeechobee as estuaries receive fresh water from local rainfall
13.87 [ Archive ] August 12, 2009--Corps suspends releases from Lake Okeechobee as estuaries receive fresh water from local rainfall JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ended pulse releases from Lake Okeechobee Aug. 3. At this time the Corps is not making releases from Lake...read more
Can Florida Bay Be Saved Before It's Too Late?
August 12, 2009--The ecology of Florida Bay is imperiled, and saving it depends largely on the health of the Florida Everglades. How can the bay be revitalized? Florida Bay Hangs By a Thread With its unique ecosystem supporting a range of flora and fauna, and fishing and tourism industries worth m...read more
The Future of Florida Bay,
August 12, 2009--Can Florida Bay be restored? Yes. But we are twenty or thirty years beyond the time where nature's resiliency might have proven shortly. Florida Bay is heavily damaged. Its water quality bears little resemblance to what sustained remarkable biodiversity. Today, scavenger species r...read more
Lake Okeechobee Dumping Stops, but Future Dischargers Expected
Aug. 12--PALM BEACH COUNTY -- Water managers stopped draining Lake Okeechobee water out to sea, but the dumping from South Florida's back-up water supply will likely resume to ease flooding concerns, the Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday. Summer rains boosted lake levels and prompted the corps ...read more
South Florida water managers agree to hold off on selling public land
August 13, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - Environmental concerns and questions about the transparency of real estate deals prompted South Florida water managers Wednesday to hold off on selling thousands of acres of taxpayer-owned land.
The South Florida Water Management District in June approved ...read more
Florida, federal government declare truce in Everglades money war
August 13, 2009--After eight years of wrangling, the state and federal government have come to terms on how to split the multibillion-dollar cost of restoring the Everglades, clearing the way for the money that President Obama has pledged to the effort.
The consensus, which officials and envi...read more
South Florida Water Management District finally has full board as three new members are sworn in
August 13, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Gov. Charlie Crist's three new appointees to the governing board of South Florida's largest environmental agency were sworn in this afternoon.
The appointees mean that for the first time since June 2008, a full nine-member board presides over the South Flori...read more
OPINION: U.S. Sugar land deal is good for South Floridians
August 13, 2009--Florida stands at a critical turning point in its stewardship of water management issues. For those of us who enjoy the recreational benefits of fishing or boating in Florida Bay and visiting Everglades National Park , it would seem quizzical that the future of the very ecosystem th...read more
U.S., Florida OK ‘milestone' Everglades restoration deal
August 13, 2009--The state and the federal governments Thursday approved a crucial contract that promises to deliver a much-needed infusion of federal dollars to the Everglades.
The agreement resolved years of dispute over how to split a staggering Everglades restoration bill projected to top $22 b...read more
State, Feds endorse new deal intended to jumpstart Everglades restoration
August 13, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - South Florida water managers today approved a new deal with federal officials intended to jumpstart stalled Everglades restoration.
The agreements, stuck in bureaucratic limbo for eight years, lay out how the state and federal governments would split the multib...read more
Neither dry nor drowned, Lake Okeechobee's ecosystem is sound for the first time in years
AUGUST 17, 2009--From the deck of an airboat floating atop Lake Okeechobee, Paul Gray can see all the way to the bottom, through 5 feet of crystalline water where bass, crappie and swarms of minnows dart through a wavy lattice of lush hydrilla.
"This is just gorgeous - it's what you hope the l...read more
Obama appointee helps end Everglades funding flap
Dispute over Everglades funding finally settled
August 17, 2009--After eight years of bickering, the state and the federal government have finally shaken hands on how to split the massive bill to restore the Everglades.
The dispute was more than a mere bureaucratic snit. It shut the spigo...read more
COMMENTARY: Once-in-a-lifetime chance to restore Everglades
August 17, 2009--There is no mistaking the groundswell of support for the South Florida Water Management District's purchase of land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration. Leaders in national, state and local governments have publicly endorsed the acquisition, calling it, in the words of ...read more
Everglades Restoration Could Begin Soon--Deal could jumpstart things
August 14, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - South Florida water managers and federal officials have reached a deal that promises to jumpstart stalled Everglades restoration.
The agreement reached Thursday ends years of dispute over how to split the costs of the restoration project - expected to t...read more
U.S., Florida reach Everglades restoration deal--After years of negotiations, water managers and the White House reached a deal that will finally have federal money flowing to Everglades projects.
August 14, 2009--Water managers and the White House signed a crucial contract Thursday that promises a much-needed infusion of federal dollars for the Everglades.
The agreement ends years of dispute over splitting up a ballooning restoration bill, which is expected to top $22 billion, and clears th...read more
Cabinet Approves Florida Forever List, Calls For More Oversight
August 26, 2009--Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet approved the state’s environmental land
buying priority list on Tuesday but not before ordering agency officials to
explore legislation to give the Cabinet more say over which projects get
funded.
Following up on a recommendation from F...read more
Palm Beach County gives Big Sugar, new industry a boost in Glades Environmental groups warn of threats to Everglades restoration
August 26, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - By
opening more former Everglades land to new industry, Palm Beach County
commissioners Tuesday decided the lure of jobs was worth a likely legal fight
with environmentalists.
The commission voted to change its development rules and allow industrial uses
on ...read more
Palm Beach County commissioners endorse 'inland port' on Florida Crystals' site near South Bay
August 26, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County commissioners signed off this morning on
a proposal that could allow an "inland port" to rise on about 318 acres
south of Lake Okeechobee.
The commission voted 6-1 for changes to the county's long-term growth plan
that could allow the ...read more
Judge OKs Florida's Financing Plan for Everglades Restoration Land Purchase -
August 28, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, August 27, 2009 - The financing plan for Florida's land deal with U.S. Sugar was approved by a circuit court judge on Wednesday, but only for a portion of the land the state wishes to acquire.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele ruled that ...read more
EDITORIAL: Victory for the Everglades
August 28, 2009--Both sides declared victory after Wednesday's ruling that the South Florida
Water Management District can issue bonds to buy a large portion of U.S.
Sugar's land.
One side is wrong. It's not the water district.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele's decision is a cl...read more
Cabinet Approves Florida Forever List, Calls For More Oversight
August 26, 2009--Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet approved the state’s environmental land
buying priority list on Tuesday but not before ordering agency officials to
explore legislation to give the Cabinet more say over which projects get
funded.
Following up on a recommendation fr...read more
Florida's growth management boss fends off developers' criticism
August 26, 2009--TAMPA
— All summer, Tom Pelham has been Public Enemy No. 1 for developers unhappy
with his interpretation of a law passed this year designed to ease regulation
of growth.
He
has said it did not eliminate local rules requiring that builders pay for road
improvements.
...read more
Palm Beach County commissioners endorse 'inland port' on Florida Crystals' site near South Bay
August 26, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County commissioners signed off this morning on
a proposal that could allow an "inland port" to rise on about 318
acres south of Lake Okeechobee.
The commission voted 6-1 for changes to the county's long-term growth plan
that could allow the ...read more
Palm Beach County gives Big Sugar, new industry a boost in Glades Environmental groups warn of threats to Everglades restoration
August 26, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - By
opening more former Everglades land to new industry, Palm Beach County
commissioners Tuesday decided the lure of jobs was worth a likely legal fight
with environmentalists.
The commission voted to change its development rules and allow industrial uses
on ...read more
New water-depth evaluation system will aid Everglades research, study shows
New water-depth evaluation system will aid Everglades research, study shows
PhysOrg.com
September 17th, 2009
In this photo released by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, spatial ecologist Ikuko Fujisaki visits one of the more than 200 monitor...read more
EDITORIAL: Firm stand on 'need' for growth
EDITORIAL: Firm stand on 'need' for growth
News Journal Online (AP)
Sept. 17, 2009--Florida's governor and Cabinet withstood heavy statewide pressure by influential development and business interests to strike a blow Tuesday for responsible growth management. Their resolve in the 4-0 vote...read more
Legal Petition Filed With Feds to Protect 3 Million Acres for Florida Panther
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
For Immediate Release, September 17, 2009
Contacts:
Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 534-0360Jeff Ruch, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, (202) 265-7337Ann Hauck, Council of Civic ...read more
Many dead fish are seen in Snake Bight
Many dead fish are seen in Snake Bight
MIAMI DADE/BROWARD
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
For the second time in 1 ½ months, a major fish kill has been reported in Florida Bay.
Kendall's Dr. Lloyd Wruble, an avid angler, reported seeing thousands of dead ladyfish, mullet, p...read more
Florida Cabinet should deny subdivision
Florida Cabinet should deny subdivision
OUR OPINION: As with Lowe's, Marion County project should be rejectedSept. 15, 2009
Judge: Miami-Dade County Commission wrong to expand UDB for Lowe's
In twin rulings marking the newest chapter in the long fight over sprawl in Miami-Dade County, an admini...read more
EDITORIAL: Big Oil is Back
EDITORIAL: Big Oil is Back: Cf,Gtm Pro-Drilling Group Applying Cash and Pressure to Open Florida's Waters to Exploration
The Miami Herald
Sep. 14 -- The well-financed campaign to open Florida waters in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling should be greeted with great skepticism by stat...read more
Efforts to set pollutant levels stalled
Efforts to set pollutant levels stalled
By Fred HiersStaff writer
Published: Friday, September 11, 2009 at 5:58 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, September 11, 2009 at 5:59 p.m.
GAINESVILLE — A state environmental regulator’s plan to establish maximum allowable pollutant levels that woul...read more
$12 million to ditch Everglades reservoir was good deal, water managers contend
$12 million to ditch Everglades reservoir was good deal, water managers contend
By PAUL QUINLAN The Palm Beach PostFriday, September 11, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH — South Florida water managers say they struck a good deal when they agreed to pay a contractor $12 million to walk away from a mas...read more
Mine expansion plan worries Everglades restorers
Mine expansion plan worries Everglades restorers
By PAUL QUINLAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
WEST PALM BEACH - South Florida water managers are raising concerns about a proposal to expand a rock mine that borders future Everglades restoration land.
The South Florida Water Ma...read more
South Florida water managers pull plug on planned Everglades reservoir
South Florida water managers pull plug on planned Everglades reservoir
BY ANDY REID South Florida Sun-Sentinel
WEST PALM BEACH — Sept. 10, 2009 -- South Florida water managers Thursday agreed to pay another $12 million of taxpayers’ money to pull the plug on an unfinished Everg...read more
EPA demands standards for Highlands lakes
Published: August 30, 2009
SEBRING - A consent decree signed last week by the EPA and Florida Wildlife Federation will require farmers and cities to tightly monitor the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus that run into lakes, creeks, rivers and the ocean.
The decree settled a July 2008 lawsu...read more
Delays are not helping Everglades
POSTED: August 29, 2009
Not many people realize that the actual headwaters of the Everglades are just south of Orlando.
The vast sheet flow of water slowly works its way south into Lake O, then south again through the "river of grass" and marshes, being purified along the way befor...read more
COLUMN: Which Martin will be heard?
Sunday, August 30, 2009
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the rewrite of Martin County's growth plan gets a final public airing before the county commission votes to send it to the state.
Unless residents convince commissioners Doug Smith, Patrick Hayes and Ed Ciampi to vote differently, Martin's 190,000 ...read more
COMMENTARY: Watershed moment for the Everglades
Sunday, August 30, 2009
For the Florida Everglades, 2009 is the year everything is coming together.
It started in 2008, with Gov. Crist's game-changing proposal to buy U.S. Sugar. Last week, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Donald Hafele ruled that the South Florida Water Management District ...read more
Florida Plans $650 Million Everglades-Land Bond Sale by March
Aug. 31, 2009 -- (Bloomberg) -- Florida will sell $650 million of bonds by March to buy Everglades land for restoration after a judge denied water officials the full $2.2 billion of borrowing authority they had sought.
“Bond buyers should see a $650 million sale between now and March,&r...read more
Campaign to drill off Florida's coast has cash, confidence
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sep 02, 2009 -- A secretive group of powerful legislators, business groups and Texas oil companies has been laying the groundwork since December to win legislative approval to open Florida waters to oil exploration and end the 20-year drilling moratorium.
Florida Ene...read more
CLIMATE: Changes predicted for iconic parks in face of warming atmosphere
Sept. 3, 2009 -- ESTES PARK, Colo. -- Climate change threatens the very existence of some of America's most treasured national parks and could dramatically alter the landscapes and ecosystems for which others are famous, unless steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the cons...read more
Wet? Yes, but not as wet as Southwest Florida should be
SEPTEMBER 4, 2009 -- As Southwest Florida heads toward tourist season, water managers are concerned the area has received below-average rainfall during the rainy season.
South Florida's rainy season runs May through October. Average rainfall at Page Field from May through August is 31.7 inc...read more
Everglades cleanup, Glades cities in tug of war over site for new Palm Beach County landfill
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Environmentalists warn that Palm Beach County's preferred location for its next landfill could slowly poison a nearby artificial marsh, hobbling Florida's 15-year, $1 billion-plus effort to clean water that flows into the Everglades.
The site - a 1,493-acre, $54 millio...read more
Keys to Success on U.S. 1
Sept. 8, 2009 -- Once known as the Overseas Highway, U.S. 1 spans 127.5 mi. (205 km) through the Keys.
Reconstruction of what is known as the “Stretch” of U.S. 1 between Key Largo and Florida City began in April 2005 under the direction of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)...read more
Butcher's Big Cypress documentary debuts Sept. 26
SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 -- The work of internationally known photographer Clyde Butcher will be featured prominently in a new documentary series on America’s national parks by director Ken Burns.
“The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” is a six-part documentary film that tells t...read more
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Florida Crystals can help restore Everglades
In a recent letter to the editor, Gaston Cantens of Florida Crystals Corp. touts the sugar industry's interest in pollution reduction, suggesting this is a long-standing objective of that business.
Cantens fails to note that the principal reason there is less pollution today from sugar-cane farming...read more
South Florida water managers OK budget containing Everglades restoration land deal
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH — South Florida water managers Wednesday approved a $1.5 billion budget plan that avoids a property tax increase next year while including a half-billion-dollar Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.
Residents in Broward and Palm B...read more
National Parks: Director nominee seen as providing big boost for science-based decisions
The National Park Service's on-and-off relationship with science is on again.
Jon Jarvis, a 33-year agency veteran and a research biologist, is in line to become the first scientist to lead the agency.
It's about time, advocates of science-based decisions say. They point to the Park Service's need...read more
Mine expansion plan worries Everglades restorers
WEST PALM BEACH -- Sept. 11, 2009 -- South Florida water managers are raising concerns about a proposal to expand a rock mine that borders future Everglades restoration land.
The South Florida Water Management District executive director, Carol Wehle, raised concerns in a letter to Palm Beach Count...read more
Everglades money pit: $280 million for what?
Taxpayers have invested mounds of cash in a reservoir once deemed key to revitalizing the River of Grass. Now it's on hold.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thundering explosions that shook the earth and stopped traffic on U.S. 27 once signaled progress in South Florida's long-stalled struggle to provid...read more
Construction to begin on Tamiami Trail bridge
Monday, September 28, 2009, 4:04pm EDT
A Sunrise company has been awarded an $81 million contract to replace one mile of Tamiami Trail with a bridge, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday.
Kiewit Southern Co. is expected to begin construction in early November, with completion expected...read more
LeMieux: Project Critical to Everglades Restoration Moves Forward
For Immediate Release
Monday, September 28, 2009
Contact:
Ken Lundberg 202-228-5957
Erin Sayago 202-228-5113
LeMieux: Project Critical to Everglades Restoration Moves Forward
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator George LeMieux (R-FL) today commended the Army Corps of Engineers for advancing project...read more
Wetlands are slowly returning to area that was blocked for decades
Sept. 29, 2009 -- ALACHUA – Restoring land to its natural state does not come easily or quickly.
“Just look at the Everglades or the Kissimmee River,” said Richard Owen, Florida Department of Environmental Protection District II Water Coordinator for the Bureau of Parks.
Owen was...read more
NEWS RELEASE: BRIDGING THE DAM AND RESTORING WATER FLOW
NEWS RELEASE: BRIDGING THE DAM AND RESTORING WATER FLOW
Corps awards Tamiami Trail contract
Jacksonville, Fla. – Sept. 29, 2009 -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today the award of a construction contract that will replace one mile of Tamiami Trail with a bridge. This will remove...read more
What’s Wrong With the National Parks?
Sept. 29, 2009 -- On Sunday, the first episode of Ken Burns’s 12-hour history, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” aired on public television. Last week, the independent National Parks Second Century Commission, led by former senators Howard H. Baker, Jr. and J. Bennet...read more
The Future of Our Parks
Published: September 26, 2009
This week, PBS will broadcast Ken Burns’s new six-part series on the national parks, a chronicle of the rich 158-year history of what the series calls “America’s Best Idea” — setting aside remarkable places and landscapes for future genera...read more
New Everglades monitoring system collects water levels
Friday, September 25, 2009 5:41 AM EDT
New Everglades monitoring system collects water levels
By ANDREW NORRIS, Alligator Contributing Writer
From The Swamp to the Everglades, new UF research could help scientists who are exploring Florida's expansive wetlands.
In a recent study, UF researchers ...read more
OPINION: Investment in Everglades restoration not wasted
Saturday, September 26, 2009
A recent Palm Beach Post article focused heavily on the costs associated with halting construction of an Everglades restoration project. However, the article did not fully convey the difficult and bold steps taken by the South Florida Water Management District to protec...read more
Battle over Everglades land continues
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians is not ready to give up its legal fight to block bonding for the state’s purchase of Everglades agricultural land from U.S. Sugar Corp.
The tribe has filed a notice of appeal to the Florida Supreme Court in the battle over the issuance of $650 million in bonds ...read more
COLUMN: Watch Everglades on TV, then go
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Alligators, crocodiles and legendary clouds of mosquitoes already give Everglades National Park a reputation as an edgy wilderness. With wildlife officials hunting giant Burmese pythons and now the aggressive African rock python, I wondered whether park officials are worr...read more
Tropicalia wild file: Snail Kite
SEPTEMBER 27, 2009
NewsPress.com
Snail kites are what naturalists call charismatic fauna - easy and fun to watch - and what wildlife managers call difficult. Their numbers in the U.S. are plummeting, down in recent years from about 3,000 birds to around 700 today.
Snail kites have been documented...read more
Everglades canal overhaul faces obstacles
Posted on Sun, Sep. 27, 2009
Of the many engineering atrocities inflicted on the Everglades, the C-111 ranks high on the list. The canal was cut across deep South Miami-Dade in the 1960s for the Aerojet Corp., which was then building moon rocket engines so big they had to be barged.
The rock...read more
Where the Money’s Going Right Now
Sept. 24, 2009 -- Federal stimulus funds in action on the water and the land in Florida
Keys research diver analyzing corals
October 2009 Web Xtra Coverage. In the October 2009 Conservation Front section of Florida Sportsman magazine, David Conway takes a close look at the recent advances made in ...read more
Polluted Lake Okeechobee getting dirtier
Sept. 24, 2009 -- Water managers, environmental agencies and conservation groups have been talking about cleaning up Lake Okeechobee for decades.
The water quality has only gotten worse. Much worse.
Two environmental groups on Wednesday released an e-mail from the U.S. Environmental Protection Age...read more
Wetlands
Sept. 23, 2009 -- Some residents in an environmentally sensitive area of South Florida say they think Miami-Dade County is out to take their property. Investigative reporter Carmel Cafiero is On the Case.
WSVN -- It's called the 8.5 square mile area and it borders the Everglades in western Miami-Da...read more
Bad News For Lake Okeechobee
Pollution levels very high
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The amount of phosphorus pollution in Lake Okeechobee has reached more than four times the level that state agencies hope to reach six years from now.
State and federal data show that 656 tons of phosphorous flo...read more
Hurdles Ahead for Broward, Palm Beach County Water-Sharing Reservoir: Push for Additional Reservoir West of Royal Palm Beach
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Sept. 23, 2009 --Political fights and environmental worries over a push for a new reservoir could swamp a water-sharing plan for Broward and Palm Beach counties.
A coalition of Broward and Palm Beach County utilities for more than two years pushed for building an additional...read more
2010 SFWMD Budget Reflects Continued Commitment to Ecosystem Restoration
September 22, 2009
CONTACT:
Randy Smith
South Florida Water Management District
Office: (561) 682-2800 or Cellular: (561) 389-3386
2010 SFWMD Budget Reflects Continued Commitment to Ecosystem Restoration
$1.5 billion budget dedicates 75 percent to restoration
West Palm Beach, ...read more
New, Nastier Python Enters Everglades Fray
Sept. 21, 2009 -- New, nastier python enters Everglades fray
Discoveries in West Miami-Dade have scientists worried about a new, potentially more troublesome species of python establishing itself in the Everglades.
As if one giant python wasn't enough, a cluster of captures in a single square mile...read more
Scientists find evidence of casuarina hybrids
Published on Friday, September 18, 2009 2:46 PM MDT
Hybrids of the invasive Australian plant species Casuarina exist in Florida, Agricultural Research Service scientists and university cooperators have found.
These fast-growing, pine-like trees were historically planted widely as ornamentals and a...read more
Groups seek a critical habitat protection for areas prowled by Florida panthers
Sept. 21, 2009 -- Groups seeks a critical habitat designation for rare cats that could make it more difficult to develop in some parts of South Florida.
Environmental groups have upped the pressure on the federal government to designate critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther, a move th...read more
Project to map Everglades water levels aims to protect wildlife
Sept. 21, 2009 -- Humans have so disturbed the natural system with roads and canals that restoring the Everglades means trying to get the flow of the water and its depth as close as possible to its original state.
Now, a joint project of Florida Atlantic University, the University of Florida and th...read more
Some get it right, some get it wrong on local growth decisions
Sept. 21, 2009 -- Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet got it right last week when they flatly rejected a project in the middle of Ocala horse country. They recognized the insanity of approving an unplanned subdivision that won't be needed for at least 45 years.
Yet everyone hasn't gotten the message...read more
County Commissioners delay vote on allowing rock mining
Environmentalists say expanded operation would lead to pollution
5:44 p.m. EDT, September 29, 2009
PALM BEACH COUNTY - A Palm Beach County Commission vote on whether to allow rock mining in an area targeted for Everglades restoration was delayed Tuesday until Oct. 22.
Star Ranch, mined by...read more
Life-giving water to flow into Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park got some extremely good news yesterday, September 28, 2009.
One mile of Tamiami Trail will be replaced with a bridge. This will remove a key portion of the most formidable barrier to fresh water flows to northeastern Everglades National Park, resulting in enormous benefits ...read more
Shovels Ready to Break Down the "Asphalt Dam" and Restore Everglades Water
September 30, 2009
MIAMI, Fla. - It's been 20 years in the making, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is awarding an $81 million contract this week to a south Florida firm to break open what some call the "asphalt dam" across the Everglades - a portion of the Tamiami Trail. The project would repl...read more
Q&A: Ken Burns on Climate Change, Wolf Hunting and Why Yellowstone Isn't "Geyser World"
Posted: September 28, 2009 06:00 PM
Filmmaker Ken Burns has explored baseball, jazz, the Civil War and more. Now, in a six-part series that premieres Sunday on PBS, he turns his lens on national parks, which Burns calls "America's best idea." He spoke to OnEarth magazine about his m...read more
Work set to begin on Tamiami Trail bridge over Everglades
Sept. 29, 2009 -- The Sierra Club's long-term vision: an Everglades Skyway
It’s just about ready to begin: The long-awaited conversion of a 1-mile segment of Tamiami Trail into a bridge that will allow water to flow more freely and naturally south through the Everglades.
After 20 years of li...read more
EDITORIAL: Don't dump on taxpayers
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, October 05, 2009
In choosing a landfill site, Palm Beach County commissioners once again are asking for a legal battle that the commission may not win.
If commissioners on Wednesday accept a staff recommendation to build the landfill on 1,500 acres of farmland ow...read more
Bronson, Environmental Groups Battle Over Water Treatment
The state’s agriculture commissioner and environmental groups are at odds over a potential plan to implement nutrient standards for bodies of water in Florida.
Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charlie Bronson is intervening in a proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed by ...read more
US Sugar, Shareholders Settle Lawsuit
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Sugar Corp. and employee shareholders of the nation's largest cane sugar producer have agreed on a settlement to a lawsuit that claimed the company's board failed to inform shareholders of two lucrative buy-out offers, then rejected the deals.
U.S. Di...read more
Time to decide: Should county buy new landfill spot or swap for it? And which spot should it pick?
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Palm Beach County commissioners will decide today whether to move forward with the purchase land for a new landfill or wait and see if they can swap property they already own for the dump instead.
After months of delays, the county commission is slated to pick between t...read more
Decide on a dump: Palm Beach County set to vote where to put landfill or dump plans for continued delays
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Neighborhood objections and environmental fights keep pinballing potential sites for a new landfill all over Palm Beach County.
After decades of indecision, county commissioners on Wednesday are expected to decide between the two newest alternative locations - or opt for ...read more
Landfill site decision delayed at least one year, bids rejected
Commissioners hope for land swap with water management district
Palm Beach County commissioners unanimously rejected bids today from owners of two controversial sites under consideration for a future landfill.
Instead, commissioners hope to save tens of millions of dollars by waiting a yea...read more
All-terrain vehicle park in Everglades
Sun, 10/11/2009
All-terrain vehicle park in Everglades prompts delight, concern
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
Unless you ride one, which is a blast, all-terrain vehicles can seem annoying.
Knobby tires turn pasture into mud pit. Some engines howl like angry tomcats. And since driving off the beaten pa...read more
Movers
10/12/09
Movers
High-level promotions and new hires in South Florida
ECOLOGY
• Wetland ecologist Stephen E. Davis III has joined the science team at the Everglades Foundation. Davis was most recently an associate professor at Texas A&M University.
This column lists high-level p...read more
SOUTH FLORIDA ENTERS THE SUSTAINABLE SPOTLIGHT
Multiple High-Profile Environmental Events Hit South Florida in November
DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Oct. 14, 2009 – Despite housing one of the world’s most significant eco-systems in the Florida Everglades and the critical threat of rising sea levels, South Florida has not historically b...read more
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Protect Big Cypress
10/13/09
Authorizing the Big Cypress Preserve was one of the few things that Richard Nixon got right during his presidency (ATV park in Everglades prompts delight, concern, Oct. 11). Proposing to construct an all-terrain vehicle course adjacent to the Miami-Dade-Collier jetport...read more
Breakthrough reached in long-delayed Everglades restoration
Breakthrough reached in long-delayed Everglades restoration
October 12, 2009
After two decades, numerous changes of plans and multiple lawsuits, the federal government is finally ready to break open the asphalt dam across the Everglades called the Tamiami Trail.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers t...read more
Palm Beach County industrial plans could conflict with Everglades restoration, state regulators say
10/12/09
Palm Beach County's push to create a job-producing "inland port" on western agricultural area targeted for Everglades restoration faces new hurdles from state environmental regulators.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection considers the proposed Palm Beach County location for...read more
Ecosystem Advocates Plot Push for Restoration Cash
Published: October 12, 2009
Environmental groups are considering a major push to wring cash for ecosystem restorations from global warming legislation.
Leaders of more than 30 advocacy groups are working on creating what is being called "America's Great Waters Coalition." Among the players: the Na...read more
Delayed canal overhaul OK'd
10/15/09
Fixes to a canal in South Miami-Dade were approved, representing a milestone for one water management board member and for Everglades restoration efforts.
Back in the 1970s, when Mike Collins was a young flats guide in the Keys, old-timers like legendary fly-fishing pioneer Jimmie Albrigh...read more
Long-stalled project to help Florida Bay, Everglades finally getting started
October 15, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH - A vital Everglades restoration project, intended to fix decades of environmentally destructive draining, got a long-awaited go-ahead from South Florida water managers on Thursday.
The South Florida Water Management District's board approved construction contracts...read more
Port of Palm Beach refuses state request to halt inland port work
Thursday, October 15, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH — Port of Palm Beach commissioners have dismissed a request by top state transportation and environment officials to halt efforts to develop an inland port.
In a letter sent Thursday, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sol...read more
Water district pays U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed permits
Thursday, October 15, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH — With some grumbling, South Florida water managers agreed to keep paying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dedicate a staffer to expedite its permits.
The South Florida Water Management District governing board voted unanimously Thursday to pay t...read more
House approves more than $660,000 for local projects
10/16/09
MARTIN COUNTY - A bill that includes hundreds of millions for South Florida ventures, and about $666,000 for Martin County-specific projects, passed the House with strong bipartisan support on Oct. 1.
The 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes two Martin County projects.
In i...read more
Florida Keys wellfields get more monitoring
Posted - Saturday, October 17, 2009 10:56 AM EDT
South Florida water managers and Florida Power & Light have reached an agreement that will increase monitoring of saltwater intrusion in the area of the mainland Turkey Point nuclear power plant.
The agreement is good news for Keys residents, wh...read more
Long debate over Lake Worth water ends with groundbreaking for treatment plant
10/19/09
LAKE WORTH — The city will break ground Wednesday on a $16.9 million treatment plant that ends a long-standing debate over how to meet the city's future water needs.
Scheduled for completion in August 2011, the reverse-osmosis plant will be capable of producing 4.5 million gallons o...read more
Two recent panther deaths confound biologists
10/19/09 9:05 PM
COLLIER COUNTY — A case of a Florida panther found dead in an orange grove east of Ave Maria has been turned over to federal investigators.
The cause of death is unknown, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Dave Onorato said Monday.
Onorato said he c...read more
AUDUBON SANCTUARY RECOGNIZED FOR INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida Named Vital Wetland by Ramsar Convention
Naples, FL, October 19, 2009 - Audubon of Florida's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, home of the largest stand of Bald Cypress trees in the world, has been listed as a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Conventio...read more
Two recent panther deaths confound biologists
10/19/09 9:05 PM
COLLIER COUNTY — A case of a Florida panther found dead in an orange grove east of Ave Maria has been turned over to federal investigators.
The cause of death is unknown, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Dave Onorato said Monday.
Onorato said he c...read more
AUDUBON SANCTUARY RECOGNIZED FOR INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida Named Vital Wetland by Ramsar Convention
Naples, FL, October 19, 2009 - Audubon of Florida's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, home of the largest stand of Bald Cypress trees in the world, has been listed as a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar C...read more
OPINION: Exploiters, and proud of it
Thursday, October 29, 2009
How dare 1000 Friends of Florida demand that Palm Beach County commissioners stop promoting economic exploitation of the Everglades Agricultural Area - that vast expanse of sugar cane fields - just to protect the Everglades ?
Who do those tree-hugging liberals think ...read more
Environmental journalist to talk about politics and the Everglades
GAINESVILLE , Fla. — The Fall 2009 Samuel Proctor Florida History Lecture Series at the University of Florida continues Tuesday with a lecture by Michael Grunwald, a prize-winning national reporter for Time magazine.
Grunwald will present “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida , and the Politics o...read more
Forever isn't political
This week, gubernatorial candidates Alex Sink and Bill McCollum seemed the last people capable of agreeing on anything, given their freewheeling attacks on each other for failing to stop rogue debt collectors from threatening Floridians.
But there they were on Tuesday, singing a duet on the need ...read more
Why The Everglades Owns My Heart
Writer Annette Thompson has traveled to the Florida Everglades more than a dozen times. Here, mindful of the fragility of one of the South’s last wild places, she describes the things she treasures most.
Pa-hay-okee Overlook
The low horizon spreads as far as I can see. A light taste of salt t...read more
Everglades at mercy of county, group says
Are decisions at local level undermining the state's investment?
Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
WEST PALM BEACH - A high-profile growth watchdog group called on the state of Florida Wednesday to rein in the Palm Beach County Commission, whose land use decisions, they fear,...read more
Scientists recommend improvements after reviewing Panther protection plan for eastern Collier
(AP) – 10/28/09 8:02 PM
COLLIER COUNTY — A team of scientists is calling for improvements to a plan to protect the endangered Florida panther in eastern Collier County.
In an 80-page report — chock full of number-crunching tables, aerial images and detailed maps — the scientists issue a grou...read more
McCollum, Sink Agree on Funding for Florida Forever
Oct 28th, 2009--For a mere $15 million, Florida lawmakers can secure $300 million for the state’s Florida Forever program, a bargain even during cash-strapped times, the top contenders to replace Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday in a bit of campaign camaraderie.
Funding for the state’s premi...read more
Editorial: Mirasol ... judge’s order a victory for watchdogs, wildlife
Posted October 28, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
For years, environmental protectors have petitioned in vain for a thorough environmental impact review of a proposed development called Mirasol in Collier County , where it abuts the southern border of Lee County east of Interstate 75.
A federal judge in Mi...read more
Smalltooth Sawfish Critical Habitat Designation
Smalltooth Sawfish Workshop Scheduled for November 16 in Fort Myers
The smalltooth sawfish was listed as endangered on April 1, 2003, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service’s final rule to designate critical habitat for t...read more
Judge revokes permit for Mirasol development
10-27-09--A federal judge has revoked an environmental permit for a controversial golf course community in northern Collier County.
Wetlands and endangered wood storks that roost at nearby Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary have been the focus of a twisting decade-long legal fight over the permit for th...read more
Guest commentary: We must grab this chance to restore Everglades water flow
Oct. 26, 2009 -- My family connection to South Florida and the Everglades began with my grandparents, so when Nathaniel Reed asked me to join the Everglades Foundation to help with restoration, I was honored to say yes.
Albert Gammage, my grandfather, was a circuit preacher in South Florida . In ...read more
CLIMATE: Senate panel to examine warming effects on national parks
(Monday, October 26, 2009)
With Florida's Everglades threatened by rising seas and Glacier National Park losing its glaciers to warming temperatures, senators will delve this week into the current and future effects of climate change on national parks.
The National Park Service's director, alo...read more
Everglades restoration needs growers to collaborate
Palm Beach Post Letters to the Editor
Monday, October 26, 2009
While The Post accurately reported overwhelming public support for the state's historic U.S. Sugar land acquisition (Oct. 20), the story incorrectly asserted that we seek to "boot sugar companies out of the Everglades Agricultural Ar...read more
South Florida Counties Form Environmental Coalition
Oct. 24-- FORT LAUDERDALE -- With a flourish of the pen, leaders from South Florida 's four counties on Friday created a regional force that they hope will obtain federal funding to protect drinking water, enhance mass transit and encourage the use of alternative fuels.
"The theme today is unity," ...read more
Are commissioners pushing us closer to Everglades again?
10-26-09--The Urban Development Boundary (UDB) is under pressure again. The UDB is a legally drawn line, running north to south along the western edge of our homes and commercial development ultimately swinging east at the southern end of development, just south of Florida City.
The UDB was creat...read more
COLUMN: Waters need their watchdog
Sunday, October 25, 2009
George Jones spent 34 years in government before becoming the Indian Riverkeeper, charged with protecting and restoring the Indian River Lagoon. It was perfect preparation.
Once head of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection parks district from Fort Pierce to...read more
Water Management District, partners plan projects to protect river, estuary
10-23-09 -- The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board last week approved cooperative agreements that fund a suite of projects to restore and protect Florida’s first federally designated “National Wild and Scenic River,” the Loxahatchee River.
The projects to benefit the river an...read more
Environmental concerns fail to stop expanded rock mining in Everglades Agricultural Area
October 22, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH - Rock mining that environmentalists say threatens to pollute water supplies and hamper Everglades restoration can expand to more western farmland, Palm Beach County commissioners decided Thursday.
Star Ranch, mined by Broward County businessman Ron Bergeron's ex...read more
MINING FOR MONEY:
MINING FOR MONEY: 10/22/09--Miami-Dade is looking to enter the mining business. Commissioners voted at an Airport and Seaport Committee meeting last week to allow Miami-Dade Aviation to negotiate an agreement with Collier Resources Co. and any others who hold mineral rights to land at Dade-Collier T...read more
Port commissioners hold off on choosing inland port partner
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Port of Palm Beach put off choosing who will develop the inland port Wednesday, bowing to pressures from Tallahassee and South Florida 's two larger ports.
Port of Palm Beach commissioners voted 4-1 to ask the four companies vying for the potentially lucrative d...read more
Inland port plan delayed; officials want business plans from competing sites
Vote is off until Dec. 17, while environmental objections are raised
October 22, 2009
RIVIERA BEACH - Growing environmental concerns and economic questions on Wednesday delayed a decision on where to build an industrial distribution center that could bring thousands of jobs to struggling Glades...read more
South Florida's dry season has arrived
10-21-09 -- The brisk weekend brought more than a welcome break from the heat. It also signaled that South Florida 's annual dry season has arrived.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday pronounced the rainy season officially over, after five months that brought a little more rain regionally ...read more
Most of Central Florida to be under once-a-week watering restrictions starting Nov. 1
October 21, 2009
The most restrictive limits ever on lawn watering will kick in soon for people who live in the St. Johns River Water Management District, which covers most of Central Florida . On Nov. 1, when daylight saving ends, residents will be allowed to water their grass only once a week...read more
Poll: Majority favor 'Glades restore
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:33 AM EDT
Floridians of all political hues agree on at least one issue: Save the Everglades.
So says a poll of 600 residents throughout the state that was commissioned by the Everglades Foundation and released Tuesday morning.
"There is near universal support f...read more
Survey favoring land deal takes aim at Crist critics
10-21-09 -- A poll found strong support for the governor's sugar land deal and limits on development in Everglades farmland -- results that rankled a sugar grower with hopes of building a transportation hub.
The latest volley in the political battle over Gov. Charlie Crist's controversial $536 mi...read more
New center transports visitors to heart of Everglades
10-20-09 -- PALM BEACH COUNTY - The building brings the world around it inside: cypress trees, marshlands, Florida deer, alligators, airboats. It's the entire Everglades experience, all under one roof.
The new Visitor Center at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, which op...read more
Polls says Floridians back Everglades land deal
October 20, 2009 11:40 AM
The Everglades Foundation released a poll today that says Floridians statewide overwhelmingly support state purchase of sugar land to help preserve the Everglades .
The unsurprising results are intended to fend off any late attempts to derail the land deal.
“I think it...read more
Poll supports U.S. Sugar deal for Everglades restoration
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Three-quarters of Floridians support Gov. Charlie Crist's $536 million bid to buy farmland from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration, according to a poll commissioned by the deal's backers.
The Everglades Foundation's poll of 600 likely Florida voters found that ...read more
Survey: Everglades support remains strong
10-20-09 -- Any future efforts to derail Everglades restoration projects would be unpopular with the Florida voting public, a nonprofit environmental group said Tuesday.
The group, Everglades Foundation, polled 600 voters around the state about restoration in general and specific projects such as...read more
Ways to the Glades
11/02/09
Exploring the wetland by foot, airboat, canoe, and more, dispelling myths along the way
EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. - As we slogged waist-deep into a soup of black water, the Cypress dome closed in, a wet garden of epiphytes and silvered tree trunks so magical, I almost forgot the cottonmouth w...read more
Swamp creatures
October 31, 2009
Peter Needham goes kayaking in the Florida Everglades
FLORIDA'S Ten Thousand Islands region is a world of water. Fresh water flows south through the shadowy cypress swamps, vast sawgrass marshes and eerie blackwater bogs of the Florida Everglades, growing brackish as it mingles wi...read more
SFWMD, town work to improve water quality, flood protection
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board recently approved a cost-sharing agreement with the Town of Cutler Bay to treat stormwater runoff, which will improve water quality in Biscayne Bay and upgrade flood protection for residents.
“Given its location at the edge o...read more
Miami-Dade commissioners consider cashing in on old Glades jetport
11-03-09 Facing a half-billion-dollar shortfall, Miami-Dade aviation managers are pitching oil drilling and rock mining as options for squeezing money out of an Everglades jetport abandoned 35 years ago.
Faced with a looming half-billion-dollar deficit from the expansion of Miami International Airp...read more
EDITORIAL: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades
OUR OPINION: Everglades jetport best for environmental mitigation bank
Miami Herald
11-03-09
In search of money to help pay off Miami International Airport's expansion, officials want the county to consider drilling for oil and gas at an old jet port that's now part of the Big Cypress National Wi...read more
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Water-use labels wave white flag on pollution
11/03/09 -- Florida's Department of Environmental Protection should not turn its back on the national goal of swimmable, fishable waters defined by the Clean Water Act. Florida should reject new reclassification efforts to downgrade our rivers, lakes and streams.
While Congress is busy restoring pr...read more
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: U.S. Sugar deal serves Everglades, economy
11-04-09 -- Despite opposition like that from the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, it makes sense to purchase land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for restoration of the Florida Everglades.
Biscayne Bay and Everglades National Park need the restoration of water flow from a restored Everglades ecosy...read more
Contract awarded for Picayune Strand restoration
11-04-09 -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $53 million contract to begin the next phase of the Picayune Strand restoration in eastern Collier County.
The contract to build a pump station on the Merritt Canal, plug 14 miles of canals and remove 95 miles of roads was awarded to Harry ...read more
Harry Pepper lands $53M Everglades project
Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 2:50pm EST
A Jacksonville general contractor has won a $53 million contract to help restore the Everglades in Collier County.
Harry Pepper and Associates Inc. will build a pump station, plug nearly 14 miles of the Merritt Canal and remove 95 miles of crumbling roads as...read more
State can't let Florida Forever die
Posted: Thursday, November 5, 2009 ; Updated: 12:35 AM on Thursday, November 5, 2009
Florida Forever, the state's outstanding land conservation purchase program, is on the ropes again. It didn't get funded this current year by the Florida Legislature because of the declining economy. Its supporters...read more
Naples Botanical Garden Set to Open
Posted on: Wednesday, 4 November 2009, 08:56 CST
NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Executive Director Brian Holley has announced that Naples Botanical Garden will open to the public at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2009.
"This is the world's first significant tropical botanica...read more
Miami-Dade Mayor Alvarez says no to drilling at Everglades airport despite earnings potential
11-05-09 -- Despite its revenue potential, drilling for oil at a Miami-Dade County-owned training airport in the Everglades is off the table, Mayor Carlos Alvarez says.
Aviation officials in June pitched selling oil and natural gas drilled from land at the Dade-Collier Training & Transition Air...read more
Water Restrictions Could Soon be Permanent
November 04, 2009 6:07 PM
Dry conditions are a big problem throughout south Florida.
Looking at the drought index nearly every county in our area is about 500.
Anything over that level is high.
Because of these dry conditions we are still under year 'round water restrictions.
Water managers say...read more
Feds approve key Everglades restoration project
November 4, 2009
Long-stalled Everglades restoration took a welcome step forward as the Army Corps of Engineers today announced the approval of a construction contract to turn a failed development back to its natural state.
The $53 million Picayune Strand project in Collier County becomes the firs...read more
Everglades group closes office
11-06-09 -- An advocacy group started by Everglades icon Douglas has closed its Miami office for financial reasons, but leaders vow to continue their mission.
A landmark environmental group founded by Everglades icon Marjory Stoneman Douglas is closing its Miami office, citing declining membership ...read more
Inland port supporters rally for Palm Beach County site
Friday, November 06, 2009
RIVIERA BEACH — Palm Beach County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor teamed up with leaders from the Glades region on Friday, vowing to use their political muscle to make sure an inland port is developed on the south side of Lake Okeechobee.
The group, which included the...read more
Let state shape Everglades
Friday, November 06, 2009
Letting the Palm Beach County Commission continue to make decisions that shape the Everglades is like letting the Los Alamos (N.M.) County Commission design the nation's nuclear weapons.
Commissioners allow themselves to be used by large landowners and rock-mining interes...read more
Editorial: Promises on Open Space
November 9, 2009
In 1965, Congress came up with an elegant idea: Use some of the royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to buy and conserve open space threatened by development. The dollars raised from depleting one natural resource would be used to protect another. Since then, the Land and W...read more
FWC approves draft rule changes for imperiled species listing
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) heard draft rules for endangered and threatened species in Florida at the meeting in Clewiston on Wednesday. After listening to the proposed rules and comments from 16 stakeholders, the Commission directed staff to finalize the draft rules ...read more
Tamiami bridge hailed as key restoration step
MIAMI-DADE -- A menagerie of officials hailing from Washington, Tallahassee and South Florida descended upon the Tamiami Trail last Friday for the groundbreaking of a project being called the most significant one yet in the effort to restore the Everglades.
But just 15 miles up the highway sits a r...read more
America's Great Waters Coalition launched
America's Great Waters Coalition was launched today in our nation's Capitol. An alliance of more than 30 national, regional, state and local organizations working together to protect, preserve and restore America's Great Waters include, but are not limited to Coastal Louisiana, Chesapeake Bay, the E...read more
County Road 951/Collier Boulevard extension likely postponed again
COLLIER COUNTY — A couple decades and $30 million later, the plans for a County Road 951/Collier Boulevard extension to Alico Road could be shelved.
Lee and Collier counties began working together on a north-south connection in the early 1990s. The project - some recent estimates put the cost...read more
Bridge over Tamiami Trail an Everglades milestone
Today's groundbreaking of a 1-mile bridge over Tamiami Trail paves the way to recovering the abundant colonies of roseate spoonbills, other wading birds, and healthy wildlife populations that once flourished in the Everglades.
Audubon, whose scientists have studied wading birds and ecological condi...read more
New Coalition Could Mean 10.5 Billion Dollar Restoration to Florida Everglades
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - In a move that could bring billions of dollars to Florida, four of the state's environmental groups joined forces with nearly 30 other organizations this week to form the "America's Great Waters Coalition." Their goal is to protect, preserve and restore the nine largest water eco...read more
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Build the entire Everglades Skyway
What happens at Rock Reef Pass, on the outskirts of Shark River Slough -- the Everglades' largest freshwater tributary -- will determine if South Florida stays or goes. Shark River Slough has lost up to three feet of soil, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A single inch of Ever...read more
Ground breaks on Tamiami bridge: Increased natural water flow is expected for Florida Bay
Even when complete in 2013, a new one-mile bridge now under construction on the Tamiami Trail cannot by itself provide the water flow needed to restore Florida Bay, local scientists caution.
But the bridge celebrated at Friday's groundbreaking on U.S. 41, about 60 miles north of where the Florida m...read more
Construction set to begin on Tamiami Trail bridge project
Decades in the planning, construction is finally scheduled to begin on the 1-mile Tamiami Trail bridge.
After years of study and a long legal fight, the $81 million project to restore some of the historic water flow to the lower Everglades should begin at the end of December or the first part of Ja...read more
Everglades restoration advocates hail beginning of Tamiami Trail bridge
How big was Friday's Tamiami Trail bridge ground-breaking for Everglades restoration advocates and managers?
The words ``significant'' and ``momentous'' flowed. There were Everglades-themed cupcakes, iced in stripes of blue and green.
VIPs from Washington and Tallahassee, topped by U.S. Interior S...read more
Construction to begin on major Everglades project
A contentious Everglades restoration project that a judge once called an "environmental bridge to nowhere" kicked off Friday with a visit from the interior secretary, two decades after Congress authorized it.
"Today we have reached an historic milestone in the restoration of the Everglades," U.S. I...read more
Everglades Restoration Project Begins
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday for a project to build a bridge in the hope of restoring water flow to the Everglades.
The Tamiami trail was built in 1928 with the hope of connecting Miami to Tampa, but the road cut off important water flow in the river of grass. ...read more
One big leap for Everglades restoration: The Tamiami Bridge headlines a rash of cleanup projects going forward
Dec. 6, 2009 -- As projects go, the Tamiami Bridge, while not cheap at $81 million, is modest compared to, say, the $515 million stadium for the Marlins or even its adjacent parking garage, now priced at $135 million. Then there's the Miami Seaport tunnel, which rings up at around $1 billion for con...read more
Everglades Restoration Project Finally Breaks Ground
This past week, state and federal officials broke ground on a long-awaited project key to the restoration of the Everglades. The project is part of a plan passed by Congress in 1989. It's long overdue and could be important in getting water back to the parched Everglades National Park
LIANE HANSEN,...read more
Bridging the dam and restoring water flow
BLACK PR WIRE) Jacksonville, Fla. – It was a jubilant afternoon as several-hundred Everglades restoration supporters joined federal and state partners today at Tamiami Trail, Miami-Dade County, to celebrate a key restoration project and a new era of ecosystem restoration initiatives.
Attendee...read more
Salazar: Tamiami Trail a Major Milestone in Restoration of Everglades and in Vision for America’s Great Outdoors
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland today joined officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District to break ground today on a 1-m...read more
Tamiami bridge project marks end of long road
When completed in 1928, the Tamiami Trail was hailed as an engineering milestone, a narrow stretch of blacktop that took 13 years and 2.6 million sticks of dynamite to carve out of forbidding swamp.
It has taken much longer to repair the damage the Trail inflicted on the Everglades. Today, U.S. Int...read more
State admits violations, seeks more Everglades cleanup time
Water managers and environmental regulators have acknowledged the state is in violation of a landmark legal agreement requiring Florida to halt the flow of polluted water into the Everglades. At the same time, however, they're urging a federal judge overseeing the progress not to declare them in vio...read more
Legislators to meet in Homestead on Everglades restoration
Florida lawmakers will hold a oversight hearing on Everglades restoration efforts Wednesday in Homestead.
The Florida House Joint Legislative Committee on Everglades Oversight, chaired by Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, is seeing public opinions on an array of Everglades issues -- from the controversi...read more
SFWMD, Partners Continue Water Quality, Biological Monitoring to Protect Loxahatchee Watershed
WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board recently approved a cooperative agreement with the Loxahatchee River District to continue water quality and ecosystem monitoring critical to current and future restoration efforts in the Loxahatchee River wat...read more
Proposal would make part of Florida Bay off-limits to powerboats
Hoping to prevent boat propellers from tearing up seagrass, Everglades National Park has proposed banning the use of outboard motors in part of Florida Bay.
The Snake Bight section of the bay would be declared a pole and troll zone, where only push poles, paddles and electric trolling motors could ...read more
Preserve the watersheds
Nov. 28--If you're like us, or, we'd wager, most any of your neighbors, you probably spend little if any time thinking about where the waste goes every time your sink drains or your toilet flushes. But if you care about the health of the Kissimmee River, Osceola County's lakes, Lake Okeechobee, the ...read more
Students Learn How Geographic Information Systems Help the SFWMD Protect the Everglades, Water Supply
WEST PALM BEACH — Nearly 130 students at the environmentally focused Pine Jog Elementary School became South Florida Water Management District geographers for the day last week as part of Geographic Information Systems Day. Students learned how GIS technology plays a key role in their everyday...read more
Getting bamboozled on growth concerns
Anyone who thinks that Florida is getting better when it comes to addressing growth problems might want to think again. On two fronts, things are now looking worse.
How we are being bamboozled, Part 1.
A few years ago, Florida started talking a good game on conserving water. Hurrah. After all, the...read more
Next Phase of River of Grass Restoration Public Planning Begins
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board has approved taking the next step in the public planning process for Everglades restoration on land being acquired from the United States Sugar Corporation. The second phase of planning involves the in-depth analysis of data generat...read more
Oyster Reef Restoration Project reaches half-way mark in the St. Lucie Estuary
STUART — The Oyster Reef Restoration Project has hit a milestone - more than 50 percent of the oyster reefs planned for installation in the St. Lucie Estuary have been completed.
"Monitoring and research projects are just beginning at the new oyster reef sites and we are already seeing coloni...read more
North Florida is committed
12-21-09 -- In a September statewide poll, 79 percent of North Florida voters indicated that Everglades restoration was personally important to them.
The top reasons for support included ensuring the freshwater drinking supply, saving jobs in the tourism, boating and fishing industries, and protect...read more
Plans for C-37 Canal At Meeting Tonig
Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 6:42 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 6:42 p.m.
Details of the planned dredging project on the Kissimmee River channel between Lake Hatchineha and Lake Kissimmee will be presented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tonight at a public ...read more
Water less. Sue less, too
The South Florida Water Management District on Friday approved permanent "restrictions" that allow homeowners to water their lawns three times a week. That won't conserve enough water. Two days should be the max. Yet three days is too tough for some public utility providers who are threatening to su...read more
Popular Chekika open again, at least during dry season
The National Park Service reopened the Chekika day-use area — one of the Everglades’ closest spots to Miami.
Chekika is open seasonally because of flooding problems during the wet season.
The area offers a boardwalk, wildlife viewing, picnic shelters, barbecue grills, a nature trail an...read more
Upper Keys Ecotours
Backcountry Cowboy
Mile marker 82.2
Islamorada
517-4177
www.backcountrycowboy.com
Backcountry nature tours, sunrise and sunset tours. Overnight Everglade trips also available.
Open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; most tours last two hours.
Tours start at $45 ...read more
Guides OK with pole-and-troll plan to help sea grass beds on Florida Bay
Snag a guide for inshore Florida angling
You own a canoe or kayak. You're planning a trip to Florida during the next couple of months. If you're driving, why not put the boat on the car, toss a couple of rods and reels and a basic tackle box in the trunk and enjoy some excellent inshore angling tha...read more
Count your blessings; it's been a good year
November is when we traditionally stop and give thanks for the good things that have occurred during the past year. Granted this was a pretty challenging year, one marred by a devastating nation-wide economic disaster which in turn created high unemployment rates. Even in a good year, meeting the da...read more
Photographic Paradise: Experience wonder of Everglades at museum
It is also the subject of their latest exhibition, “For Everglades: photos by Clyde Butcher and Jeff Ripple” now on view through Jan. 17 at the South Florida Museum.
The exhibit features 60 large-scale photos — two floors worth, featuring the natural allure of a Florida treasure. ...read more
Promises on Open Space
In 1965, Congress came up with an elegant idea: Use some of the royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to buy and conserve open space threatened by development. The dollars raised from depleting one natural resource would be used to protect another. Since then, the Land and Water Conservation ...read more
Proposal would make part of Florida Bay off-limits to powerboats
Hoping to prevent boat propellers from tearing up seagrass, Everglades National Park has proposed banning the use of outboard motors in part of Florida Bay.
The Snake Bight section of the bay would be declared a pole and troll zone, where only push poles, paddles and electric trolling motors could ...read more
Preserve the watersheds
If you're like us, or, we'd wager, most any of your neighbors, you probably spend little if any time thinking about where the waste goes every time your sink drains or your toilet flushes. But if you care about the health of the Kissimmee River, Osceola County's lakes, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglade...read more
Legislators to meet in Homestead on Everglades restoration
12/02/2009 Florida lawmakers will hold a oversight hearing on Everglades restoration efforts Wednesday in Homestead.
The Florida House Joint Legislative Committee on Everglades Oversight, chaired by Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, is seeing public opinions on an array of Everglades issues -- from the ...read more
SFWMD, Partners Continue Water Quality, Biological Monitoring to Protect Loxahatchee Watershed
12/02/2009 The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board recently approved a cooperative agreement with the Loxahatchee River District to continue water quality and ecosystem monitoring critical to current and future restoration efforts in the Loxahatchee River watershed.
"The...read more
State admits violations, seeks more Everglades cleanup time
12/03/2009 Water managers and environmental regulators have acknowledged the state is in violation of a landmark legal agreement requiring Florida to halt the flow of polluted water into the Everglades. At the same time, however, they're urging a federal judge overseeing the progress not to declare ...read more
A Reason to Celebrate: Construction Begins on Tamiami Trail Bridge!
12/04/2009 This afternoon, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar will be joined by members of our Congressional Delegation to celebrate groundbreaking on the first phase of the long-sought bridge over portions of Tamiami Trail, allowing water to flow from the north into Everglades National Park.
This i...read more
Tamiami bridge project marks end of long road
12/04/2009 When completed in 1928, the Tamiami Trail was hailed as an engineering milestone, a narrow stretch of blacktop that took 13 years and 2.6 million sticks of dynamite to carve out of forbidding swamp.
It has taken much longer to repair the damage the Trail inflicted on the Everglades. Toda...read more
Mark D. Perry accepts ‘Champions of the Everglades’ Award on behalf of Everglades Coalition
12/04/2009 Mark D. Perry, executive director of Florida Oceanographic Society, accepted the second annual "Champions of the Everglades" Award on behalf of the Everglades Coalition in November. The Arthur R. Marshall Foundation gives the award in honor of those that have made significant contributio...read more
Ground breaks on Tamiami bridge: Increased natural water flow is expected for Florida Bay
12/07/2009 Even when complete in 2013, a new one-mile bridge now under construction on the Tamiami Trail cannot by itself provide the water flow needed to restore Florida Bay, local scientists caution.
But the bridge celebrated at Friday's groundbreaking on U.S. 41, about 60 miles north of where th...read more
Construction set to begin on Tamiami Trail bridge project
12/07/2009 Decades in the planning, construction is finally scheduled to begin on the 1-mile Tamiami Trail bridge.
After years of study and a long legal fight, the $81 million project to restore some of the historic water flow to the lower Everglades should begin at the end of December or the...read more
Everglades restoration advocates hail beginning of Tamiami Trail bridge
12/07/2009 How big was Friday's Tamiami Trail bridge ground-breaking for Everglades restoration advocates and managers?
The words ``significant'' and ``momentous'' flowed. There were Everglades-themed cupcakes, iced in stripes of blue and green.
VIPs from Washington and Tallahassee, to...read more
Construction to begin on major Everglades project
12/07/2009 A contentious Everglades restoration project that a judge once called an "environmental bridge to nowhere" kicked off Friday with a visit from the interior secretary, two decades after Congress authorized it.
"Today we have reached an historic milestone in the restoration of the Everglad...read more
Everglades Restoration Project Begins
12/04/2009 A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday for a project to build a bridge in the hope of restoring water flow to the Everglades.
The Tamiami trail was built in 1928 with the hope of connecting Miami to Tampa, but the road cut off important water flow in the river of grass. The Ever...read more
EDITORIAL: One big leap for Everglades restoration: cf,gtm The Tamiami Bridge headlines a rash of cleanup projects going forward
12/06/2009 As projects go, the Tamiami Bridge, while not cheap at $81 million, is modest compared to, say, the $515 million stadium for the Marlins or even its adjacent parking garage, now priced at $135 million. Then there's the Miami Seaport tunnel, which rings up at around $1 billion for construc...read more
Everglades Restoration Project Finally Breaks Ground
12/07/2009 LIANE HANSEN, host:
In Florida, a milestone in the restoration of the endangered Everglades ecosystem. Federal and state officials have broken ground on a key project long in the making. It will raise a section of a historic highway that cuts through the middle of the wetlands area...read more
- Everglades supporters gather at Tamiami Trail celebration -
12/04/2009 It was a jubilant afternoon as several-hundred Everglades restoration supporters joined federal and state partners today at Tamiami Trail, Miami-Dade County, to celebrate a key restoration project and a new era of ecosystem restoration initiatives.
Attendees praised the many agency...read more
Salazar: Tamiami Trail a Major Milestone in Restoration of Everglades and in Vision for America’s Great Outdoors
12/04/2009 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland today joined officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District to break ground today on a 1-mile bridge on the T...read more
Bridge over Tamiami Trail an Everglades milestone
12/08/2009 Today's groundbreaking of a 1-mile bridge over Tamiami Trail paves the way to recovering the abundant colonies of roseate spoonbills, other wading birds, and healthy wildlife populations that once flourished in the Everglades.
Audubon, whose scientists have studied wading birds and...read more
New Coalition Could Mean 10.5 Billion Dollar Restoration to Florida Everglades
12/08/2009 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - In a move that could bring billions of dollars to Florida, four of the state's environmental groups joined forces with nearly 30 other organizations this week to form the "America's Great Waters Coalition." Their goal is to protect, preserve and restore the nine larges...read more
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Build the entire Everglades Skyway
12/04/2009 What happens at Rock Reef Pass, on the outskirts of Shark River Slough -- the Everglades' largest freshwater tributary -- will determine if South Florida stays or goes. Shark River Slough has lost up to three feet of soil, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A si...read more
Tamiami bridge hailed as key restoration step
12/08/2009 MIAMI-DADE -- A menagerie of officials hailing from Washington, Tallahassee and South Florida descended upon the Tamiami Trail last Friday for the groundbreaking of a project being called the most significant one yet in the effort to restore the Everglades.
But just 15 miles up the...read more
FWC approves draft rule changes for imperiled species listing
12/10/2009 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) heard draft rules for endangered and threatened species in Florida at the meeting in Clewiston on Wednesday. After listening to the proposed rules and comments from 16 stakeholders, the Commission directed staff to finalize the d...read more
South Florida water district OKs pump station at former Martin County ranch
12/11/2009 A former Martin County ranch is one step closer to being transformed into a massive wetland that will help clean up Lake Okeechobee.
The governing board of the South Florida Water Management District gave the final nod Thursday morning for the construction of a pump station at the ...read more
Wading birds' rebound is boon for Everglades
12/11/2009 After the third strong breeding year since 2002, there is increasing optimism that wading birds are rebounding from decades of decline in the Everglades.Wading birds, the most beautiful residents of the Everglades and key measuring sticks of its biological health, have been breeding in nu...read more
Kissimmee River making comeback
12/14/2009 Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series looking at the Everglades Restoration project and its effect on Lee County.
An almost day-and-night biological change met passengers last week as the pontoon boat entered the restored section of the Kissimmee River from th...read more
Bridge will be a start
12/14/2009 After two decades, numerous changes of plans and multiple lawsuits, the federal government is finally ready to break open the asphalt dam across the Everglades called the Tamiami Trail.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday announced it has awarded an $81 million contract to a...read more
South Florida water fights resurface with dry weather
12/14/2009 A return to dry weather is reigniting long-smoldering South Florida water fights, worsened by new strains on backup supplies that leave less water to go around.
A drier than usual start to the November-to-May dry season last week prompted renewed regional squabbling over how to div...read more
Span is one big leap for Everglades restoration MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL | Tamiami Bridge headlines rash of projects in the offing
12/14/2009 As projects go, the Tamiami Bridge, while not cheap at $81 million, is modest compared to, say, the $515 million stadium for the Florida Marlins or even its adjacent parking garage, now priced at $135 million. Then there’s the Miami Seaport tunnel, which rings up at around $1 billio...read more
Florida's Everglades: A vast classroom on ecosystems
12/15/2009 Miami, Florida - Immediately, one is hit by a bad conscience. "The water which you took a shower with in your hotel in Miami comes from the Everglades," says Dan B Kimball, head of the Everglades National Park office west of the town of Homestead.
"It did not absolutely come from the Nat...read more
Inland port push draws protest by environmentalists
12/15/2009 WEST PALM BEACH — An environmental group today held a downtown protest to mock the Port of Palm Beach's push for an inland transport complex near land designated for Everglades restoration.
Sierra Club representatives hitched a miniature horse to the back of a cart to convey ...read more
Lee County firm to help fix bay water woes
12/15/2009 Thanks to the C-111 canal in southern Miami-Dade County, Florida Bay has become a salty mess.
High salinity in the bay has decreased wading bird, fish and invertebrate populations in the 850-square mile estuary, 700 square miles of which are in Everglades National Park.
Early next...read more
Port of Palm Beach's inland port draws criticism from all sides ahead of key vote
12/16/2009 Port of Palm Beach efforts to build a warehousing and distribution complex that would serve South Florida's three seaports has come under mounting criticism in recent weeks from a competing port, potential allies and environmentalists.
Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades, which has o...read more
Karl Wickstrom: Rivers Coalition presents case against discharge pollution
12/16/2009 The “strongest-ever” legal attack against polluted discharges into the St. Lucie estuary resonated through a federal courtroom in a three-hour hearing in Washington.
Although no decision was made, pivotal arguments were narrowed down in the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund...read more
Portion of Everglades burned to deter wildfires
12/17/2009 It's the dry season, when uncontrolled wildfires in South Florida can threaten man and nature. That's why fire crews spent Wednesday torching 1,500 acres of Everglades National Park.
In the Everglades, fighting fire with fire is more than a simple platitude. It's a complex practice...read more
Corps of Engineers and partners unveil a new public service campaign
12/17/2009 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District and its federal and state partners unveiled a new public service campaign to address the statewide problem of invasive species.
The unveiling ceremony took place during a press conference Dec. 16, 2009 at the USDA Invasive Pla...read more
EDITORIAL: Inland port vote pointless
12/16/2009 Port of Palm Beach commissioners gather again today to consider where to build an inland port, a decision of statewide importance that they are ill-prepared to make. The best decision would be no decision. In fact, the commission should hand off its authority to a regional panel with repr...read more
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Inland port in Glades doesn't make economic sense
12/16/2009 The inland port proposed by the Port of Palm Beach as a way to create jobs in the Glades is unlikely to create employment beyond the construction stage because the geography is wrong.
Inland ports have been successful in Virginia because they are on railroad lines between Norfolk o...read more
OPINION: Clewiston, Port St. Lucie better locations for inland port
12/16/2009 On Thursday, the Port of Palm Beach is expected to select a site for the inland port intermodal center or inland port location. There are a number of sites suggested from Clewiston to Port St. Lucie.
However, the Port of Palm Beach has been biased from the beginning towards the Flo...read more
Grassroots Activist Center opens in Lake Worth
12/16/2009 Activists, environmentalists and others interested in social causes have a new hangout: The Night Heron Grassroots Activist Center.
Located at 1307 Central Terrace in the North G Center building on 13th Avenue North, the recently opened Grassroots Activist Center (Centro Activista in Spa...read more
St. Lucie County location best choice for inland port
12/16/2009 With thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, the Port of Palm Beach commissioners are faced with the choice of caving in to local political pressure or making the right decision for their inland port facility.
Earlier this year, the Port of Palm Beach requested proposals for the ...read more
Port of Palm Beach picks Florida Crystals site for proposed inland port
12/18/2009 The Port of Palm Beach plowed ahead with plans to build Florida's first inland port, voting Thursday to partner in the potentially lucrative development deal with the most controversial applicant: Florida Crystals Corp.
But many, including one of the four applicants, questioned the...read more
HolidayCheck Lists the Most Threatened Tourism Destinations
12/18/2009 As one of the oldest cities in the world with an incredible array of architectural monuments, Athens is among the favourite cultural holiday destinations. Unfortunately, the temperature rise may be happening in the Mediterranean faster than anywhere else. It is estimated that Athens will ...read more
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