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.





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