Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 1-30-09

FEATURED STORIES

Crist budget vetoes restore land-buying program
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Environmental News
Saying that the state's land-buying program is "near and dear" to himself, Gov. Charlie Crist this afternoon announced he is vetoing a deep cut to the Florida Forever Program by the Legislature earlier this month.


Three Sisters Springs, pictured above, was among the conservation projects whose grant funding was spared by Gov. Crist’s veto of Florida Forever legislative budget cuts. In 2007, Wildwood Preservation Society assisted Leon County in securing a $2.3 million dollar matching Florida Forever grant to fund acquisition of the Fred George Basin Greenway. Learn more about Florida Forever by clicking here.

Manatees' record numbers not likely to renew 'endangered' debate
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Florida's manatee count hit an all-time high this year, in large part because cold snaps corralled the endangered sea cows into toasty waters around nuclear power plants and natural springs.

Hope grows for Florida panther's protection with Obama administration
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hoping the Obama administration proves friendlier to wildlife than its predecessor, a conservation group has filed a legal petition to protect more than 3 million acres for the Florida panther.

Chocolate lab being used to save Eastern indigo snake
By Mike Morrison
Florida Times-Union
C.J. the wonder dog couldn’t cut it in the harsh world of drug detection, but doesn’t mind using his trained schnozz to sniff out a snake or two for a good cause.

Threatened sea turtles to get protection
By Cain Burdeau
Associated Press
In a blow to Florida fishermen, regulators voted Thursday to take steps to shut down a common type of fishing that uses long lines affixed with hooks and squid bait because it may be killing hundreds of threatened sea turtles every year.

Grand jury to probe biomass deal
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
Related: BG&E pulls plug on biomass power plant for south-side Tallahassee
Related: Biomass plant removed from FSU plan
The newly seated grand jury will investigate how the aborted Biomass Gasification & Electric Co. energy project wound up being planned for Tallahassee's south side, State Attorney Willie Meggs said Monday.


Threatened Eastern Indigo Snake

MORE GREEN NEWS

Analysis of U.S. Sugar land buy criticized
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
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.

FPL could face $1 billion in fines
By Julie Patel
TC Palm
Florida Power & Light reports it may have to pay millions in fines for a massive blackout last year that left as many as 3 million people in the dark.

Cranes complete migration from Wis. to Fla.
Associated Press
Miami Herald
All 14 young whooping cranes led by ultralights on a southward migration from Wisconsin have arrived at wintering sites in Florida.

DEP chief: Florida ready for tougher emissions standards
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
Florida's top environmental regulator said Monday the state is ready to go with new auto-emission standards now that President Barack Obama has signaled that he will approve an identical plan for California.

Get set for nuclear politics
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Florida's Public Service Commission did the state a disservice by ducking the question of whether nuclear power can be considered green energy.

Wood storks captured in Corkscrew Swamp
By Kevin Lollar
Ft. Myers News-Press
Slowly and cautiously, the wood stork flared its black and white wings and settled into a shallow pond Thursday at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County.

Tougher rules to go into effect by 2010 to end overfishing of 40 marine species in US waters
By Cain Burdeau
Associated Press
Ocean conservationists are hailing former President Bush for passing tough rules to end the overfishing of 40 struggling marine species before he left the White House.

$1.34 billion Everglades deal land use in discussions
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The $1.34 billion deal for the largest public land buy in Florida history started backward.

Agency passes nuclear debate to state
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Florida's utility regulators have crafted their vision of Florida's green energy future without answering the billion-dollar question: What is green energy?

Fla., Ala. Want Water Withdrawal Stopped
Lakeland Ledger
Florida and Alabama are asking a federal court to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from supplying water to Georgia from Lake Lanier, Atlanta's main water source.

Birdwatchers Boost Economy for Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Dusk descends quickly over the Celery Fields, and just as quickly the birders line up like paparazzi along Palmer Boulevard, their cameras trained on the shallow ponds immediately north.

Turtles may be protected at expense of grouper eaters
By Stephen Nohlgren
St. Pete Times
Publix supermarkets have sold fresh grouper for decades. It might cost $12 a pound or even $15, but it comes right from the Gulf of Mexico, caught by West Florida fishermen.

Eagles build nest in Corkscrew sanctuary
By Kevin Lollar
Ft. Myers News-Press
For 10 minutes Friday morning at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, the very top of the bald eagle's head gleamed over the edge of the big nest like half a golf ball.

After 10-year delay, curbing pollutants
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida is being forced to set new pollution limits for its lakes, rivers and estuaries after environmental groups sued federal regulators for ignoring water quality laws.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

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Florida's freshwater turtles in peril

Note: there is more info including ways you can take action following the New York Times editorial below.

Eating the wild
Editorial
New York Times
January 26, 2009

In America, there are foragers among us, out searching for morels in the spring, and there are hunters too. Yet most of our food, except for fish caught from the sea, is farmed. We do not trap songbirds for savory pies. (We destroy too many of them through other means.)

Once you look beyond the parochial culinary habits of most Americans you discover that wildness, and the tastes associated with it, have a talismanic power that is very hard to eradicate. It is what keeps the Japanese whaling and keeps some Africans eating bush meat. And it is one of the things that helps explain the voracious and utterly destructive Chinese appetite for turtles.

As global wealth rises, so does global consumption of meat, which includes wild meat. Turtle meat used to be a rare delicacy in the Asian diet, but no longer. China, along with Hong Kong and Taiwan, has vacuumed the wild turtles out of most of Southeast Asia. Now, according to a recent report in The Los Angeles Times, they are consuming common soft-shell turtles from the American Southeast, especially Florida, at an alarming rate.

Some scientists estimate that two-thirds of the tortoise and freshwater turtle species on the planet are seriously threatened. Some of that is secondhand damage — loss of habitat, water pollution, climate change. But far too many turtles are being lost to the fork and the spoon.

In the United States, the solution is relatively straightforward. States should impose much tighter restrictions on the harvesting and export of wild turtles. Internationally, the problem is more complicated. There have been efforts to monitor the species of wild turtles found in Chinese markets, but as long as the appetite for turtles — and traditional medicines derived from them — persists, we fear it will be hard to curtail such a profitable and disastrous trade.


Live softshell turtles from Florida on sale at a fish market in Chinatown, Los Angeles.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Email Gov. Charlie Crist at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com and urge him to expedite the banning of Florida’s freshwater turtle harvest.

RELATED NEWS STORIES
Asia appetite for turtles seen as a threat to Florida species
The turtle tank at Nam Hoa Fish Market is empty, but not to worry: The manager of this bustling Chinatown store says he has plenty in back.
Los Angeles Times
December 27, 2008
China gobbling up Florida turtles
A rising demand in China for turtles for food and medicine has led to the round-up of thousands of turtles from Florida's lakes, ponds and canals.
St. Petersburg Times
October 6, 2008

MORE INFO AND WAYS TO HELP
Support the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust and click here to read their November 28th press release.
Support The Lake Jackson Ecopassage.
Support The Gopher Tortoise Council.
Check out the Center for Biological Diversity report: Unsustainable Commercial Harvest of Southern Freshwater Turtles.

 
 
 Wildwood Preservation Society is part of the Florida Endangered Species Network.



Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

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Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 1-23-09

FEATURED STORIES

Shortsightedness could end Florida Forever
By Eugene M. Kelly
St. Pete Times
The Florida Native Plant Society recognizes the difficult decisions now facing our state as a result of severe budget shortfalls.

Click the Florida Forever logo to take urgent action now:


Panthers running out of range (includes video)
WBBH NBC News
Ft. Myers
Just hours into President Obama's time in office some local environmentalists are already reaching out for change.

Cranes touch down in St. Marks
By Nic Corbett
Tallahassee Democrat
Seven endangered whooping cranes guided by ultralight planes arrived Saturday morning at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, where they will spend the rest of the winter.

Tallahassee NAACP asks Gov. Crist to open probe into biomass deal
By Stephen D. Price
Tallahassee Democrat
The Tallahassee branch of the NAACP asked Gov. Charlie Crist to open an investigation of the proposed biomass plant, and of several players involved, including Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell.

Feds Intervene to Set Florida Water Quality Standards
Press Release
Common Dreams
In one of the final acts of the Bush administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would set "water quality standards for nutrients" for all Florida surface waters.



MORE GREEN NEWS

Everglades restoration could benefit from federal economic stimulus
By Eric Staats
Naples News
Everglades restoration planners are eyeing money from the federal economic stimulus to revive a sputtering rescue of the River of the Grass.

Firm: FPL hampers renewable-energy goals
By Eve Samples
Palm Beach Post
A subsidiary of one of the nation's largest garbage haulers claims Florida Power & Light Co. is thwarting lawmakers' efforts to encourage the use of renewable energy in Florida.

Dueling constitutional amendments: Developers versus voters for say in Florida's growth
Lauren Ritchie
Orlando Sentinel
Let's say Lake County commissioners lose their collective minds and approve a pig farm next door to your subdivision.

Crist in Favor of Bill Aimed at Protecting Springs
By Bruce Ritchie
The News Service of Florida
Gov. Charlie Crist is backing legislation intended to protect Florida's springs, saying they're an important part of the state's tourism economy.

EPA planning new cap on Florida river pollution
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
Saying Florida’s rivers and lakes are threatened by its growth, the federal government plans to set new limits on nitrogen and phosphorous allowed in waterways.

Manatee deaths in South Florida baffling
By David Fleshler
Palm Beach Post
Six manatees were killed by watercraft in Palm Beach County in 2008, a figure that ties the county record and mystifies conservation officials who had put more police on the water to protect the endangered mammals.

FPL presents solar farm proposal to commission
By Carl Mario Nudi
Bradenton Herald
Manatee County commissioners were very receptive Tuesday of Florida Power & Light’s proposed plans for a solar thermal farm next to its Parrish power plant.

Florida considering options for renewable energy targets
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Florida Public Service Commission recommended last week that one-fifth of Florida's energy supply come from solar and wind power and other renewable power sources by 2020.

Click the logo above to visit the International Crane Foundation.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 1-16-09

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Forever's future cut short
Editorial
Miami Herald
Gov. Charlie Crist has some tough choices to make on the $1.2 billion in spending cuts approved by the Legislature Wednesday.

Is Florida Just One New Development Away From Environmental Ruin?
By Stan Cox
AlterNet
A thousand people a day move to Florida, but with development gone wild, the state's natural systems have passed the brink of sustainability.

New Navy sonar poses threat to right whales
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
Navy subs could one day play war games about 60 miles off Jacksonville, with sonic pings that environmental groups fear might ring a death knell for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Biomass Plant Opposition Mounts (includes video)
Reported by Julie Montanaro
WCTV News Tallahassee
Opposition to a proposed Biomass Plant in Tallahassee is mounting as neighborhoods, ministers and the NAACP add their names to the list.

Landowner says he'll sell rather than wait on state
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Environmental News
A Leon County landowner says he likely won't sell to the state now that the Legislature has cut its conservation land-buying program.




MORE GREEN NEWS

Gov. Crist addresses first climate change meeting
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Environmental News
Gov. Charlie Crist today told the inaugural meeting of the state Energy and Climate Commission that Florida has embarked on a "great path and challenge" in developing renewable energy and diversifying its fuel resources.

Florida's first commercial ethanol plant announced
Associated Press
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A Massachusetts biofuel company is teaming up with a Florida business to build the state's first commercial-scale ethanol plant, and says it should be up and running by 2011.

Report calls for ban on coal-waste storage in mines
By Renee Schoof
Miami Herald
A day after the nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency promised to look into the problem of coal ash storage in ponds such as the one that burst in Tennessee last month, a new report says another disposal strategy is just as dangerous: using the coal waste to fill in active or abandoned mines.

County reverses course on mining proposal
By Duane Marsteller
Bradenton Herald
County commissioners reversed course on a controversial mining proposal Thursday, giving Mosaic Co. the first set of county approvals it needs to unearth phosphate ore from the Altman Tract.

Preserve 'Florida Forever'
Editorial
Florida Today
You won’t find a more ecologically unique area in the nation than the Space Coast.

Legislative panel skeptical about global warming
By Brandon Larrabee
Florida Times-Union
Proposals aimed at curbing Florida's greenhouse gas emissions led to skepticism about global warming from a key legislative committee Tuesday, highlighting potential trouble for the most significant environmental legislation expected in this year's regular session.

Senate panel questions nuke plant rate hike
By Jim Saunders
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Trying to spur more nuclear power, Florida lawmakers in 2006 agreed to allow utility companies to pass along upfront costs of new nuclear plants to their customers.

Supreme Court ruling is a big win for Florida's water rights
Associated Press
Orlando Sentinel
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will let stand a lower-court ruling that threatens to unravel Georgia's long-term water plans for the Atlanta region, giving Florida and Alabama a pivotal victory in the states' long-running water wars.

State may have to raise taxes or walk away from $1.34 billion U.S. Sugar deal
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A declining economy could leave state officials facing a politically dicey decision in the $1.34 billion deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. - either raise taxes or walk away from the largest public land buy in Florida history.

State environmental regulators give go-ahead for nuclear plant
By Fred Hiers
Ocala Star-Banner
Progress Energy cleared one of its last hurdles Monday when the Florida Department of Environmental Protection gave the utility permission to continue with its plans for a 2,200 megawatt nuclear power plant in Levy County.

The end of forever
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Lawmakers evidently think that when it comes to budget cutting, all bets are off - even if it means ignoring a previous commitment to continue funding the state's highly successful, nationally recognized land-preservation program.

17 protesters arrested at Barley Barber swamp, demand FPL open area to the public
By Daphne Duret
Palm Beach Post
Deputies arrested 17 protesters on trespassing and resisting arrest charges Saturday near the Barley Barber swamp, where members of an activist group have camped out for nearly a week, demanding Florida Power & Light officials open the swamp to the public.

PSC sets targets for Florida renewable energy goals
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
About one-fifth of Florida's energy supply would come from renewable resources in about 11 years under a plan recommended Friday by the Florida Public Service Commission.

Progress Energy Rate Hikes Prompt Complaints
WESH News Orlando
Complaints are mounting Friday against one of the state's largest power companies as customers start seeing a new rate hike in their bills.

Congresswoman promises to jump-start Washington's commitment to Everglades restoration
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
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.

Florida's natural bounty being looted
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Every day, hundreds of wild freshwater turtles are snatched from Florida's lakes and rivers, and shipped to Asia where they are butchered for food and folk remedies.

Exposing the Myth of Clean Coal Power
By Bryan Walsh
Time Magazine
If you paid any attention to last year's Presidential campaign, you'll remember ads touting the benefits of "clean coal" power, sponsored by the industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

Obama seen as hope for Glades restoration
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Everglades projects are running years behind, cost estimates have ballooned by billions and political support has deeply eroded.

Fresh Hope for the Everglades
Editorial
New York Times
People who care about the Everglades have had little to cheer about over the last eight years.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

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Battle brewing over new manatee-friendly regulations

Battle brewing over new manatee-friendly regulations
By Brian Liberatore
Ft. Myers News-Press

Dock builders say new manatee-friendly regulations in the works could put them out of business.

But environmentalists pushing for the rules change say it's long overdue, especially in a region that leads the state in propeller-related manatee deaths.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service, armed with a lengthy bureaucratic process, will have to find a compromise.

“This could put a lot of people out of business,” said Jack Ortaga, picking up a well-worn petition a the desk in his small Cape Coral office. The petition, addressed to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, aims to expand what is defined as critical habitat for manatees. The authors of the petition, the DC-based Wildlife Advocacy Project and a handful of national nonprofits, say the change is critical to the manatees' future.

But the right thing for the manatees may be the wrong thing for Ortaga.

He says expanding the protected area would add layers of bureaucracy stretching the amount of time to get a permit to months or years instead of weeks. A half-year wait, he said, would sound the death knell for marine contractors in a down economy.

“A lot of people move to Cape Coral to be in this boating community,” Ortega said. “Now here we again with this save the manatee.”

Proponents of the petition say waterways the federal government now deems as critical manatee habitat are woefully outdated. The petition wants the agency to update what's protected based on where the manatees are now — not where they were 30 years ago.

“In our point of view good science is better than bad science,” said Eric Glitzenstein, the president of the Wildlife Advocacy Project. “Don't base (regulations) on outdated notions of what manatees use or don't use.”

The argument echoes a battle from four years ago when manatee concerns prompted the federal government to shut down new dock construction around Cape Coral for two and a half months. The government lifted that moratorium after emergency manatee protection zones were installed.

“A lot of people went out of business during that moratorium,” Ortaga said. And that was when the city was issuing more 1,000 dock permits each year.

The number of new dock, seawall and boatlift permits in 2008 dropped below 500. The decline had forced Tolles Con-Crete Seawalls to fold after 50 years in Cape Coral. Honc Marine Contracting last month bought the company and absorbed its staff.

A moratorium now, Ortaga said, would spell the end to most marine construction businesses in Cape Coral.

“It's not like there's anything else to fall back on,” he added.

Two years after the moratorium was lifted, the Army Corps of Engineers handed over permitting of residential docks to the city in 2006. Wait times on permits under the Corps were around six months, Ortaga said. The city had them stamped in two weeks. Four years ago, when the Corps and Fish and Wildlife had to sign off on permits, the wait could extend to two years.

With the new regulations, Ortaga fears the permits would again wind up in the hands of federal officials tacking months, possibly years, onto the process.

Longer permit times, are a possibility, said Patti Thompson an independent consultant and biologist in central Florida.

But at stake is the future of Florida's biodiversity. “Manatees are so much a part of Florida's biological legacy,” Thompson said. “I think this critical habitat designation is not going to have that much of an affect on the continued build out. I think the economy will.”

The designation means the permitting agency, which could again be the Army Corps of Engineers, will have to take into account where manatees live and what exists in those areas that helps them survive - be it vegetation, topography or the flow of water.

Because the manatees are on the endangered species list, federal officials are supposed to doing that now, Glitzenstein said.

“When there's some sort of federal action involved, that federal agency should have the most scientific and up-to-date information,” he added.


RELATED NEWS
Lee County leads state in manatee deaths
  Ft. Myers News-Press
Ships blamed for manatee deaths
  Florida Times-Union
Wakulla Springs welcomes return of the manatees
  Tallahassee Democrat
Survey Says: Threats Still Loom for Manatees
  Save the Manatee Club Op-Ed




WAYS YOU CAN HELP
If a manatee appears to be in trouble or is exhibiting unusual behavior, call the Wildlife Alert hotline: 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).
Support Save the Manatee Club.
Befriend Save the Manatee Club on MySpace.




Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Support Florida Forever

Please read the urgent message below from Audubon of Florida and take action.



Senate Budget Cuts Florida Forever and Gopher Tortoise Mitigation

Florida Forever is the state's conservation land-buying program, which supports the acquisition of some of Florida's most important natural areas. It appears that the Senate is poised to suspend Florida Forever spending in the current fiscal year. It is not clear that the House will go along.
A statement released Wednesday night by Ways and Means Policy and Steering Committee Chair Senator JD Alexander read, "This was a difficult decision. I believe that Florida Forever is an excellent program; preserving state land is a worthwhile endeavor. However, we are in a budget crisis of unprecedented proportions. President Atwater charged us to question every state expenditure to determine if it was absolutely critical to the teaching, housing, feeding, transporting, protecting, caring or creating jobs for Floridians. Florida Forever is a good program, but it is not a critical program. In light of the reductions being taken in other areas of our state budget, I believe suspending funding for this fiscal year, is the best course of action. Every dollar saved means less cuts to education, healthcare, and other vital budget areas.”

Long-time Florida Forever friends in key leadership roles including Senator Lee Constantine and Senate President Jeff Atwater suggest that suspending Florida Forever spending will allow agencies to reappraise projects to make sure that the state is not paying too much. The Cabinet's last approved project, Promise Ranch, raised legislators' eyebrows when $7 million was committed for a conservation easement on an ecologically unranked project.

Audubon is working to limit the reach of the cuts to Florida Forever and hopes that legislators will back off cuts that would impact important and long-sought projects in the Florida Keys, the Lake Wales Ridge and other special places. “The savings legislators are seeking can be accomplished without sacrificing any of the good projects on the Florida Forever list,” said Eric Draper, Audubon of Florida’s Deputy Director.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Sign the petition to the Senate and Governor Crist, urging them to hold harmless the good projects on the Florida Forever List.

Among the cuts to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is the sweep of $5 million in gopher tortoise mitigation funds to general revenue. These dollars were the result of take permit fees for the entombment of gopher tortoises as previously permitted by the state. Historically these funds were used to acquire gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere to help mitigate the take of tortoises by land conversion. This is a troubling precedent in the world of mitigation, which only works when the regulated and conservation communities have a degree of trust that mitigation fees are not arbitrary and the funds will be used to replace lost natural resources. Read Audubon's letter on this issue to Governor Crist.

RELATED LINKS
Audubon of Florida
Florida Forever Land Acquisition Program
Gopher Tortoise Council

Wildwood Preservation Society is a member of the Support Florida Forever Coalition.



Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 1-2-09

FEATURED STORIES

2009 a big year for the Everglades
By Kevin Lollar
Ft. Myers News-Press
By September, the South Florida Water Management District will know whether it is financially strong enough to borrow $1.34 billion so it can buy 180,000 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp.

Walton County restoration featured in "Wildlands Philanthropy" book
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Environmental News
M.C. Davis said he'd forgotten the visit about six years ago by a photographer and author who interviewed him and took photographs of his property, about 48,000 acres in Walton County.

State report backs nuclear power as clean energy
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Florida's energy future should be "clean" - not just "renewable" - and include nuclear power as a source of green energy, according to recommendations from the staff of utility regulators released Wednesday.

Climate change increases problems for Florida reefs
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The last, largest stands of ancient elkhorn coral survive in shallow waters off North Key Largo, where rough seas sometimes expose thick golden branches reaching toward the sunlit surface.

Asia appetite for turtles seen as a threat to Florida species
By Kim Christensen
Los Angeles Times
The turtle tank at Nam Hoa Fish Market is empty, but not to worry: The manager of this bustling Chinatown store says he has plenty in back.

Live softshell turtles from Florida are on sale at a fish market in Chinatown, Los Angeles.


MORE GREEN NEWS

Sugar deal renews hope for the Everglades
By Sara Fain
Tallahassee Democrat
In recent weeks, we've seen plenty of criticism about the details of the proposed purchase by the South Florida Water Management District of 181,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for the benefit of Everglades restoration.

Groups seek 'critical' habitat for manatees
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
About a dozen popular manatee hangouts in Brevard County -- many in residential canals -- could be added to a federal habitat protection list if environmentalists get their way.

Climate change increases problems for Florida reefs
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The last, largest stands of ancient elkhorn coral survive in shallow waters off North Key Largo, where rough seas sometimes expose thick golden branches reaching toward the sunlit surface.

Florida's Sawfish Population In Sharp Decline
By Neil Johnson
Tampa Tribune
With its imposing size, prehistoric appearance and unique barbed snout, the sawfish once was a common sight in Florida waters, often hauled to docks as a trophy catch or dispatched by fishermen when nets ensnared the toothy bill.

Hometown Democracy vs. Smart Growth (includes video)
WJHG NBC News 7
Panama City
War is raging between two groups pushing controversial amendments for the 2010 ballot. Hometown Democracy and Smart Growth want to limit the power city and county governments have over new developments.

Right whale rescued
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News-Journal
State and federal officials rescued an endangered right whale off the northeast Florida coast during the weekend, successfully disentangling hundreds of feet of rope and fishing gear from the whale.

Shy, rich farmers thrust in spotlight as players in U.S. Sugar deal
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
The buzz in the close-knit Florida grower crowd started in 2000: A wealthy Missouri farmer was buying groves. Lots of groves.

As some seek to cool their bills, energy savings debate between FPL, environmentalists boils
By John Dorschner
TC Palm
In all the complex discussions about how to combat global warming, Vicki Eckels does her small part in her Fort Lauderdale home: She sets her air conditioning thermostat at 85 degrees, has stuffed extra insulation into her roof and runs the water heater only 90 minutes a day.

Mine obstacle in U.S. Sugar deal
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Charlie Crist's $1.34 billion bid to repair the Everglades by buying nearly all of U.S. Sugar Corp.'s farmland comes with a small demand that could lead to big headaches: Forget plans for a 7,000-acre rock mine on the property.





Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

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