"it's all connected" 
Endangered wood storks nesting in Fred George Basin, Leon County.
Environmental groups achieve wetland protections in settlement of two lawsuits near Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
By Aislinn Maestas
National Wildlife Federation
A coalition of five environmental groups, including National Wildlife Federation and Florida Wildlife Federation, has settled two lawsuits in exchange for significantly increased wetland and habitat protections. The coalition has been opposing several proposed residential and golf projects in the ecologically important Cocohatchee Slough near Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida.
After over four years of litigation and several iterations of project permits, the environmental coalition and developer G.L. Homes of Sunrise, Florida, have agreed to over 200 additional acres of wetland impact reductions, restoration of endangered wood stork habitat, and relocation of Logan Boulevard onto old farm fields instead of through wetlands. This is in addition to $3 million of additional offsite mitigation secured in previous litigation on Saturnia Falls. Joining NWF and FWF in this victory are Audubon of Florida, Collier County Audubon Society, and Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
The settlement of these two federal lawsuits was preceded by other coalition legal actions at the state level challenging impacts to downstream water quality, flood protection and aquifer recharge, in addition to wetland and wildlife harm. All these water resource factors will benefit greatly from the significantly increased levels of wetland protection and restoration in this settlement.
In addition to these very positive results for wood storks and other imperiled species plus water resources, the same environmental coalition had earlier in October 2009 won a federal lawsuit against another residential golf course project called Mirasol which would destroy over 600 acres of unique wetlands in the same Cocohatchee Slough which emanates from Corkscrew Swamp. That is well over twice the acreage of wetlands destroyed on Parklands Collier and Saturnia Falls combined. In that decision a Southern District Court judge revoked Mirasol’s permit based on complaints over illegal wetland and wildlife impacts.
Jan Goldman-Carter, Water Resources Counsel for National Wildlife Federation, observed, “The revocation of the Mirasol permit offers another opportunity for the Army Corps and the South Florida Water Management District to require the avoidance of additional wetland, water and habitat impacts, additional protection, and true habitat restoration on the Mirasol site.”
Mirasol’s destruction of wetlands, combined with other wetland losses in the region, would have devastating effects on the wood stork nesting colonies at Corkscrew Swamp, the largest in the nation and vital to the species’ recovery. This cumulative destruction would also harm downstream water quality, flood protection, and water supply for the region.
Looking for opportunities to prevent further destruction of wetlands and habitat, the environmental groups are also working with state and federal agencies to improve the way they permit and compensate for wetland losses incurred when development is sited in Florida wetlands. Recommendations currently under consideration could significantly reduce or eliminate such impacts before the projects end up in court, wasting time and money, or worse, getting built and irrevocably destroying habitat for declining wildlife throughout Florida and harming the public’s interest in protection of vital water resources.
Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Good news for Wood Storks in South Florida!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 2-12-10
Federal agency rejects habitat protection for Florida panthers
By Craig Pittman
For the second time, federal wildlife officials have rejected a request that they designate thousands of square miles of South Florida as critical habitat for the Florida panther, the agency announced Thursday.
Environment Florida
Land-buying in crosshairs of Florida House panel
FloridaEnvironments.com
Suit threatened over pesticide risks to Florida's animals
Florida Times-Union
Florida cities need to get ready for rising seas, researcher says
Florida Times-Union
Hurricanes, sea level rise and creating sustainable communities
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Farming water: new plan for Everglades restoration would pay ranchers to use land for storing water
Palm Beach Post
Florida Cabinet approves 2,800-acre land buy
FloridaEnvironments.com
State is looking at streamlining permit process for developers
Tampa Tribune
THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP
The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the week ending 2-12-10:
Offshore drilling opponents to join hands in protest Saturday
By Bill Cotterell
Related: Google map of Sat. Feb 13th Hands Across the Sand events in your area
By Glen Gardner
Public News Service Florida
Oil-drilling opponents to join hands in protest
Orlando Sentinel
"Hands Across the Sand" - People gather in protest of Florida off-shore oil drilling
10 Connects Tampa Bay
By Deborah Wheeler
Ft. Walton Sun
Florida beach towns plan protest against oil drilling
Miami Herald
Offshore oil drilling foes to protest on beaches
St. Petersburg Times
Oil-drilling protest planned Saturday on Pinellas beaches
Tampa Tribune
Offshore drilling opponents plan beach lineup
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Oppose offshore drilling with strong show of hands
Tampa Tribune
Drilling off Florida: A closer look at the risks
Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition
Offshore oil drilling supporters prize access to federal waters
Ft. Myers News-Press
House panel hears about oil spills, beach sand
FloridaEnvironments.com
Ag commish candidate: 'No, baby, no' to drilling
Panama City News Herald
Offshore oil drilling forum draws more than 125 on both sides of the issue
Naples News
A Dark Cloud Lingers Over Our Beaches (scroll down to page 7)
Pinellas Scene
Don’t drill the heart out of economy
Collier Citizen
To drill or not to drill: South Walton High School holds forum
Northwest Florida Daily News
Sun takes the pulse of the region on gulf drilling
Ft. Walton Sun
Transcript of Skytruth’s John Amos to Senate on Offshore Oil Drilling
ThatsMyCongress.com
Environmental monitoring 'tardy and superficial'
ABC News
The environmental monitoring program in the wake of last year's oil spill in the Timor Sea has been described as 'superficial'.
Big Oil and their hired hands in Tallahassee have sworn that drilling Florida’s coast would be “invisible” – that there would be no unsightly rigs just a few miles off our coast. We know different – and a recent eye opening story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has proven Big Oil’s promises completely “empty.” Click the picture above – keeping the pressure on by letting our State Senators know people like you are paying attention is how we’ll beat Big Oil.
Urge President Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force to recommend against offshore drilling within any previously protected coastal waters, via Defenders of Wildlife.
Tell Obama: Offshore Drilling is NOT the Answer to Energy Crisis, via Oceana.
Help Drill for Solutions Not for Oil, via Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern.
Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.
Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club.
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose offshore oil drilling, via Progress Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Center for Biological Diversity.
Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Hands Across The Sand website; their Twitter page is here.
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Save Our Shores Florida website; their Twitter page is here.
Save Our Shores Florida Facebook page.
Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition website.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
Eye-opening map of oil and gas leases and infrastructure in Gulf of Mexico, via MMS.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.
MORE GREEN NEWS
By Curtis Morgan
Despite four decades of slogging through Everglades marshes and mangroves, wildlife ecologist Frank Mazzotti had never experienced anything like the aftermath of frigid January.
By Michael Collins
Florida Bay patiently has been waiting her turn for environmental restoration efforts
By Brandon Larrabee
The death of Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, could cause supporters of a drive to increase the amount of power Florida draws from renewable or nuclear sources to scale back their goals.
By Christopher Curry
The Florida Public Service Commission appeared poised to narrowly vote down Gainesville's application for a 100 megawatt wood-burning biomass power plant on Tuesday, but commissioners instead granted the city's last minute request to delay the vote in order to provide the city more time to answer state regulators' concerns.
By Tom Palmer
It would be hard to walk into Nancy Douglass' office and not know that wildlife is her career.
The Associated Press
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will evaluate the status of 82 species of stony coral that could possibly be listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
By David Damron
Orange County's major mayoral candidates — even those now in office — cast themselves as outsiders and reformers.
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Public Service Commission Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano says Senate talk of beefing up educational requirements for the PSC is aimed at getting her off the panel.
Editorial
The clean water standards the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed for Florida are good for public health and the state's economy.
Editorial
Related: Large marina planned for old airport site
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"
Friday, August 21, 2009
Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 8-21-09
FEATURED STORIES
Fla. could run out of land-buying money by Oct. 1
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Related: Ranking system urged to save nation's largest land-buying program
Florida could be out of money for buying conservation lands by Oct. 1 unless new bonds are issued to allow purchases.
Fla. Governor's Moves Scrutinized for Clues to U.S. Climate Debate
By Alex Kaplun
New York Times
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.
Activists criticize pro-oil rallies (includes audio)
By Mitch E. Perry
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Next Thursday in Ybor City, a rally is being organized by Energy Citizens, a pro-oil, anti-cap-and-trade group.
Forget Russians; fear Texas oilmen
By Eric Draper
TC Palm
In the 1960s comedy “The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming,” coastal villagers and hapless sailors almost start a war as their imaginations get the best of them.
FWC invites public comments on endangered and threatened species listing changes
Staff Report
Foster Folly News
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will hold a meeting for the public to comment on draft rules for the state’s imperiled species listing process.
Florida's utilities want to build, not conserve
By Stephen Smith
Tallahassee Democrat
Last week was a big one for Florida utilities in Tallahassee.
Sea turtle hatchlings get running start to a life full of peril
By Terry Tomalin
St. Petersburg Times
This evening, shortly after sunset, Jim Wilson plans to dig a hole in the sand and look for stragglers in nest No. 22.
So long, Gov. Green, vanishing in political smog
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Two years ago, Gov. Charlie Crist looked more green than tanned. In a single day, he signed three executive orders that set Florida on an environmental course as progressive as California's.
Sea turtle hatchling looking to beat the odds.
MORE GREEN NEWS
Ruling on Longline Fishing Aids Turtles
By Cornelia Dean
New York Times
When a federal panel that regulates fishing in the Gulf of Mexico voted last week to limit the use of longlines to catch grouper because the lines can snag and drown threatened loggerhead sea turtles, no one was completely satisfied with the decision.
One Person’s Boondoggle, Another’s Necessity
By Michael Cooper
New York Times
The $14.7 million for a new airport on an Alaskan island that averages only 42 flights a month.
Land swap helps St. Johns River stay wild
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Authorities are on the verge of finally assembling a vast sanctuary along a Central Florida stretch of the biggest and most beleaguered river within the state.
We can protect turtles and fishermen
By Sen. Bill Nelson
Tallahassee Democrat
One of the things I've tried to do in the U.S Senate is to protect Florida's marine resources, upon which many livelihoods depend.
Lobbyist hisses: Give snakes fair shake
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
For Andrew Wyatt, a fascination with snakes began when he was the son of an American serviceman stationed in India.
Crist checks out beach erosion in Destin
By Tom McLaughlin
Northwest Florida Daily News
Gov. Charlie Crist traveled to Destin Monday to survey damage done by Tropical Storm Claudette.
Gator hunters taunt protesters as season starts
By Jerome Burdi
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Gator meat tastes like chicken," and "Going to get a few of them right now" are some of the jeers tossed at a handful of alligator-hunt protesters holding signs that read: "If you respect them, protect them" and "Ban gator hunt."
Crist considers meeting with Ala., Ga. in water dispute
By Michael Peltier
News Service of Florida via FloridaEnvironments.com
Gov. Charlie Crist is mulling over dates to meet with his counterparts from Alabama and Georgia as leaders of the three neighboring states try to resolve a longstanding feud over how to divvy up water coming from Lake Lanier.
Regulators: FPL must reveal executives' salaries
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
State regulators on Tuesday unanimously voted to force Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy to disclose how much they pay their top executives. FPL's response: We'll see you in court.
FPL says bills will go down
Staff Report
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Power and Light -- under attack for a proposed rate increase and with questions being raised about its executive compensation -- said that it expects its overall customer rates to drop about 8.3 percent in 2010.
Mercury In Fish Widespread (audio story)
By Trimmel Gomes
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
A federal study out Wednesday shows that mercury in fish is widespread across the country, and some of the highest levels of contamination are found right here in Florida.
Polluted policy
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Taxpayers in Florida and across the nation are spending billions of dollars to restore the Everglades.
Back on Everglades track
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
When it comes to restoring the Everglades, an agreement on science may be only as good as an agreement on finances.
Endangered wood storks and others in Everglades National Park.
Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.
Friday, January 2, 2009
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.
"it's all connected"
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wading birds' nests down three-quarters from 2002
Endangered Wood Storks nesting in Fred George Basin
Ed. Note: Last year it was reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was considering reclassification of wood storks from endangered to threatened status. At the time many conservation groups including Wildwood Preservation Society expressed concern that such a move was premature. The report referenced in the article below offers further evidence that protection of the fragile wood stork and its habitat must be stronger now than ever.
Wading birds' nests down three-quarters from 2002
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
The shipwrecked economy, real estate slump and lousy job market got you down?
South Florida's wading birds feel your pain.
After a string of fat years that began in 2000, wading birds have also fallen on hard times. A recent two-year drought combined with a few unseasonably heavy rains in late spring to make bird life especially difficult this year in the Everglades, a one-time avian Shangri-La.
The number of wading bird nests in South Florida fell 51 percent this year to 18,418, according a report for the South Florida Water Management District. That's down almost three-quarters from 68,750 in 2002 - the best year on record in South Florida since the 1940s - and 59 percent less than the average of the last eight years.
Scientists who study wading birds as a measure of the overall health of the Everglades ecosystem call this year's prognosis foreboding.
"It was a pretty bad year. Certainly the worst year we've had in the last eight years," said Mark Cook, the district environmental scientist who co-edits the annual report. "If the fish aren't doing well, and the other parts of the system aren't doing well, then the wading birds aren't doing well."
All species of wading birds nested significantly less than in other years of the past decade, according to the report, which spotlighted numbers for the wood stork (down almost two-thirds in five years), white ibis (down 61 percent from last year) and the roseate spoonbill (the lowest since records began in 1983).
On the whole, wading birds' fortunes appear to be shifting back to late-1990s levels, undoing the gains that followed 2000.
It's too soon to call the decline a trend. Counting wading birds nests has evolved from the manual labor of an intrepid few to a complex statistical game involving zig-zagging fly-overs and extrapolation. Results can vary widely from year to year.
What's more, scientists say a few years of drought won't kill off the wading bird population. Most live about 14 years and can feed elsewhere - in the case of white ibises, your front lawn, for example.
"Come March or April, if you see large number of white ibises foraging in the urban areas, you know it's not particularly good in the Everglades," said Cook.
Detailed record-keeping that began in the 1980s shows overall improvement - for white ibises in particular, whose nesting figures jumped nearly eightfold during the past two decades.
Cook attributes the gains of the past decade to a shift in focus from Everglades eradication to Everglades restoration and better communication between bird trackers and the water managers who control flows through the ecosystem.
"We had over 50,000 nests in 2002 and 2006, which suggests that we haven't completely lost the system," said Cook. "But the caution is that we need to get going with restoration, because some of these changes could be irreversible."
But despite some recent gains, today's Everglades, which is about half its original size, is still far less hospitable to birds than the Everglades of the 19th century or earlier. Before the 1940s - prior to our carving and fitting the great marsh with today's massive network of drainage canals, pumps, dams and floodgates - scientists estimate that wading bird nests numbered more than 200,000.
Scientists describe an ideal year for wading birds this way: A particularly wet rainy season fills the marsh with water, prompting fish, crayfish and the smaller organisms in the food chain to flourish. A steady dry season then follows, lowering water levels evenly across the system and drawing fish and crayfish into smaller and smaller pools for the birds' easy hunting.
In Everglades National Park, wading bird abundance fell 29 percent this year, with seven of the nine species tracked showing declines in the past year. The worst declines hit white herons (down 51 percent), small dark herons (down 43 percent), great egrets and white ibis (both down 32 percent). Also down were wood storks (down 31 percent), small white herons (down 14 percent), and glossy ibis (down 11 percent). Two species - roseate spoonbills and great blue herons - increased (40 percent and 17 percent, respectively).
Also troubling: The birds are showing up in new places instead of traditional habitats.
More spoonbills in Everglades National Park meant trouble this year for Florida Bay, where historically 90 percent of the state's spoonbills made their home, said Jerry Lorenz, Florida research director for National Audubon Society.
Spoonbill numbers in Florida Bay are among the best indicators of Everglades health and water management, Lorenz said. They are dependent on the fish and crayfish and are sensitive to changes in the system. Since the mid-1980s, the population there has been collapsing, he said.
Plume hunting in the early part of the 20th century decimated the spoonbill population, which eventually rebounded with nests numbering around 1,250, Lorenz said. Researchers counted only 341 this year in Florida Bay. Low flows of freshwater south through the Everglades have increased salinity in Florida Bay, affecting the food chain and sending spoonbills elsewhere - including, among other places, island colonies in Tampa Bay, he said.
"They would rather be in Tampa Bay than the Everglades," Lorenz said.
Theodore Below, an avian ecologist for the state Department of Environmental Protection, says counts in the region he has studied - Southwest Florida around Marco Island - have fallen to less than half their numbers in the 1980s.
"I see more on Naples beach than I have before, and I think it's because they're having to look for food," Below said.
But birds are resilient and even slight improvements to the ecosystem could yield a resurgence and reduce first-year mortality rates of 60 percent to 80 percent, he said.
"In 14 years of breeding, all they have to do is bring two chicks up that make it," Below said. "If they produced a breeder every year, we'd be up to our necks in birds."
RELATED INFO
Click here to read the complete South Florida Wading Bird Report
South Florida Water Management District
November 2008
The Everglades’ Critical Turning Point
By Sara Fain
E Magazine
December 30, 2008
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"
Friday, December 19, 2008
Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 12-19-08
FEATURED STORIES
Questions remain about proposed biomass plan
By John Crawford
Tallahassee Democrat
Related: Biomass Q&A
A proposed biomass gasification plant in Tallahassee could create jobs and cleaner energy using some of the most advanced technology in the country, according to the company that wants to build it.
Florida panthers need new territory, federal officials say
By Craig Pittman
St. Pete Times
Florida's panther population has boomed so much over the past 15 years that it has run out of room in fast-growing southwest Florida, according to a new federal plan for saving the endangered species.
Why Is Miami Developer So Determined To Build? (includes audio)
By Greg Allen
NPR
A Miami home builder is seeking approval for a 7,000-house development in the midst of the biggest housing downturn since the Depression. And the new community would be built in an area that now is off-limits to big development, just three miles from the Everglades.
U.S. Sugar land deal is approved -- with an escape clause
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
South Florida water managers approved the controversial purchase of U.S. Sugar land considered essential to Everglades restoration.
Without a Net: Top Ten Wildlife, Fish and Plants in Need of Endangered Species Act Protection
Endangered Species Coalition
This report includes the top ten species plus three honorable mentions that are in danger of extinction, but are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. Under the Bush administration, listings have greatly decreased—accounting for the lowest per year listing average of any president in the history of the Endangered Species Act. With the new leadership of President Obama, we have the opportunity to get the implementation of the listing program and the Endangered Species Act back on track.
MORE GREEN NEWS
The Audacity of Parkland
By Alan Farago
Counterpunch
Parkland is a zoning application to move Miami-Dade's abused Urban Development Boundary closer to the Everglades.
Progress Energy to close coal plants after nukes come online
By Mitch E. Perry
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Today Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash announced that his company has agreed to retire its oldest two coal-fire units at its Crystal River Energy Complex in Citrus County.
Hurdles remain for Florida-U.S. Sugar land deal
By Curtis Morgan and Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Skeptical lawmakers and a House committee review loom among upcoming hurdles for the state's controversial Big Sugar land buy.
Study: FPL plant slightly boosts health risks
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
A $1 million study of air pollution in Port St. John found that the particles pumping out of Florida Power and Light's old oil and gas plant just slightly increase the risk of asthma attacks, asthma-related emergency room visits, premature death and other health problems.
Green groups divided over choice of Salazar to head Interior
By Kate Sheppard
Grist Magazine
Ken Salazar, Obama's choice to head the Department of the Interior, is provoking controversy in the environmental community.
FPL may have to refund $6 million to customers
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The state is expected to decide today whether to require Florida Power & Light Co. to refund customers more than $6 million in costs related to a 2006 power outage blamed on an FPL contractor.
Call for halt to Progress Energy rate hike grows louder
By Asjylyn Loder
St. Pete Times
State Sen. Charlie Justice joined the chorus calling on Gov. Charlie Crist to freeze Progress Energy's nuclear rate increase, which is due to hit bills in January.
Stop the Turtle Brokers
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Floridians have been trying to save sea turtles since the late University of Florida naturalist Archie Carr began to track their migratory patterns nearly half a century ago.
Parents Learn, Weigh-In On Biomass Plant (includes video)
Reported by Liza Park
WCTV News Tallahassee
Only a couple more days of school before Leon County kids get out for the holiday break... but many parents and other residents aren't taking a break from the controversy on a proposed biomass plant in Tallahassee.
Conservancy sues to block Naples golf development
By Eric Staats
Naples News
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida sued the federal government and a Naples-based developer Friday to try to stop plans for a golf course community in northern Collier County.
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"
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 12-12-08
FEATURED STORIES
Saving the Fred George Basin
Reported by Liza Park
WCTV CBS News Tallahassee
Environmentalists have been working for two years to save what's left of the Fred George Basin and Tuesday night their work paid off.
Biomass hearing draws a crowd
By John Crawford
Tallahassee Democrat
For all intents and purposes, Wednesday night's public hearing dealing with the proposed BG&E biomass plant was over before it began.
Progress Energy plans nuclear power plant north of Tampa
By Alex Pickett
Creative Loafing Tampa
Related Tampa Tribune article: Progress Energy rate hike generates controversy
Florida doesn't get much more rural than Levy County.
Refusing to save Florida's springs
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
In each of the past three years an influential state lawmaker has introduced a bill into the Florida Legislature to initiate a meaningful springs protection program.
Bush revises protections for endangered species
By Dina Cappiello
Associated Press
Just six weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Bush administration issued revised endangered species regulations Thursday to reduce the input of federal scientists and to block the law from being used to fight global warming.
Florida's imperiled species struggling to survive
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
A very quiet drama is playing out in Florida as rare grasshopper sparrows and snail kites face extinction while panthers, black bears and bald eagles find new hope after a once-uncertain future.
MORE GREEN NEWS
Florida sugar giant decries rival's Everglades deal
By Craig Pittman
St. Pete Times
Florida's two sugar giants slugged it out in public Friday, arguing over whether Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed buyout of U.S. Sugar is actually a sneaky government bailout of an ailing company.
Farm bureau blasts U.S. Sugar deal; government group expresses concerns
By Jennifer Sorentrue and Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
A major Florida farming group came out today against the state's $1.34 billion land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. - just days before South Florida water managers are set to vote on the purchase.
Lawmakers seek to postpone vote on sugar deal
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade lawmakers, with a litany of concerns over state's sugar land-purchase deal, asked for a legislative review.
Crist, Fla. Cabinet OK $7 million land deal
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet have agreed to pay $7 million for a conservation easement in central Florida opposed by an environmental group.
Tallahassee residents debate, learn more about biomass plant
By Angeline J. Taylor
Tallahassee Democrat
Voices in favor of and in opposition to the proposed biomass plant in Tallahassee continued to ring out at different events Monday.
Lawmakers: Cut off energy company's ‘advanced recovery cost’
By Ryan Burr
Panama City News Herald
Two Florida lawmakers on Monday requested Progress Energy Florida Inc. suspend indefinitely its "advanced recovery cost" on customers that was designated to pay for two nuclear power plants.
As U.S. Sugar vote looms, job-fearing Glades residents demand action from Crist
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
With just nine days left until water managers vote on a $1.34 billion land deal aimed at rescuing the Everglades, residents of neighboring farm communities have a question for Gov. Charlie Crist: Who's going to rescue our jobs?
Agencies lower water levels in the Everglades, save wildlife
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
With some help from nature, agencies have dropped water levels in the Everglades and ended the threat of massive wildlife losses.
Growth binge gives Florida a hangover
By Kenric Ward
TC Palm
The development industry is the Viagra of Florida. At least it used to be.
Save the turtle
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Floridians have been trying to save sea turtles since the late University of Florida naturalist Archie Carr began to track their migratory patterns nearly half a century ago.
State Needs Tougher Rules To Protect Softshell Turtles
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Charlie Crist, who successfully fought plans to take the manatee of the state's endangered list last year, is once again using his influence on behalf of an imperiled Florida creature.
Action alert: Click the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust logo above to learn how you can help ban wild freshwater turtle harvesting.
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"
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Leon County Commission unanimously supports Fred George Basin Greenway land purchase
Yesterday the Leon County Commission voted unanimously to complete the purchase of the first – and most environmentally sensitive – of five land parcels slated for conservation in the Fred George Basin. This marks the culmination of a two and a half year process that, although not yet completed, will eventually create the 170+ acre Fred George Basin Greenway.
Wildwood Preservation Society would like to thank our entire Save Fred George Basin coalition and everyone that has contributed to this victory for conservation. Without the overwhelming public support this project has received we would never have gotten this far. We would especially like to acknowledge the FSU Environmental Service Program, Preston Robertson of the Florida Wildlife Federation, Tom Asbury and the late Pepper Ghazvini with RP Properties, and the entire Leon County Commission but especially Commissioners John Dailey and Cliff Thaell for their leadership on this issue from the beginning.
It is important to emphasize that more important work lies ahead. There are four additional land parcels identified for inclusion in the Fred George Basin Greenway. Wildwood Preservation Society will not rest until all these lands are protected, and the complete vision of a preserved Fred George Basin is realized.
Below is local news coverage from yesterday’s meeting.
Saving the Fred George Basin
Reported by Liza Park
WCTV CBS News Tallahassee
December 9, 2008
Environmentalists have been working for two years to save what's left of the Fred George Basin and Tuesday night their work paid off.
The Fred George Basin is a large sinkhole and ecosystem along Fred George Road in northwest Leon County.
Those who want to preserve the area say much of the original basin has been lost to development.
Tuesday night Leon County Commissioners agreed to offer $900,000 of "Blueprint 2000" funds to purchase the land and another $200,000 for clean-up costs.
"The city of Tallahassee gets water directly from this sinkhole and we really need to preserve this area for future generations and we finally did it today and we're just very pleased," says Misty Penton of the Wildwood Preservation Society and who spearheaded efforts to save the basin.
The state is matching the funds spent on the preservation which will be turned into a public park.
Endangered wood storks nesting in Fred George Basin, May 2008.
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"
Friday, December 5, 2008
Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 12-5-08
FEATURED STORIES
Inaccuracies taint Florida environmental consultant's record
By Craig Pittman
St. Pete Times
For years, Florida's largest environmental consulting firm, Biological Research Associates, has helped private companies win government permits to pave over wetlands and destroy wildlife habitat.
NAACP threatening discrimination complaint over Tallahassee biomass proposal
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
An attorney for the NAACP and some residents involved in the biomass Renewable Energy Center controversy have threatened the state with a federal race-discrimination complaint if the project gets a permit.
Biomass plant debate continues in Tallahassee
By John Crawford
Tallahassee Democrat
Related: Biomass firm weighs options
A morning news conference, during which officials with the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and environmental experts from the Sierra Club and the Big Bend Climate Action Team voiced support for a proposed biomass plant, went off without a hitch even though, according to critics, it introduced very little new information.
Nature Conservancy Picking Up Land at Bargains
By Art Levy
Florida Trend
More Florida land that would otherwise be facing heavy development pressure has the potential to wind up in conservation instead — compliments of the real estate slump.
The Nature Conservancy bought 1,000 acres at Blackwater River State Forest for $2.2 million this year from Rayonier. [Photo: Laurie Meehan-Elmer, Florida Trend].
MORE GREEN NEWS
Slow down $1.34 billion sugar deal, critics urge as clock ticks toward deadline
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Related: Private suitor makes formal pitch for U.S. Sugar buyout
Gov. Charlie Crist's blockbuster plan to repair the Everglades by buying U.S. Sugar Corp.'s farmlands for $1.34 billion ran into a litany of sharp questions and criticism today - threatening to send all parties back to the negotiating table.
Planning law hasn't prevented Fla. growing pains
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
It seemed like a good idea for controlling urban sprawl: Require ample road capacity be in place before a new neighborhood or commercial development could be built.
FPL power plant protesters convicted of seven misdemeanor counts
By Jerome Burdi
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 5, 2008 Defense attorneys tried to convince a jury that seven people broke the law out of necessity, to defend the public against environmental havoc and corporate carelessness.
Report: State may top Crist's renewable energy goal
Associated Press
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A report delivered to state regulators says Florida can exceed Gov. Charlie Crist's goal for using renewable energy but only if everything goes right.
Fla. PSC approves $1.57 a month FPL rate cut
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Power & Light Co. customers will see a small decrease in their bills after state regulators approved a fuel rate adjustment Tuesday.
FWC adjourns two-day meeting in Key West
WCTV News Tallahassee
The agenda focused on boating issues, including proposed legislation on statutes related to vessels and vessel registration
Tiny exotic beetles threaten Florida crops
By Georgia Tasker and Charles Rabin
Miami Herald
Guacamole lovers, beware: An Asian beetle half the size of a rice grain is spreading a fungus fatal to avocados and red bay trees and is working its way south, toward 6,500 acres of avocados in Miami-Dade County.
Florida Should Demand Clean, Efficient Vehicles
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Automobile lobbyists argue proposed tough state emissions standards for cars and trucks will cripple the beleaguered industry and prove costly for consumers.
Construction to start on innovative solar plant
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
December 2, 2008
Florida Power and Light will soon start construction on the first of three solar power projects that will eventually make the state No. 2 in the nation for energy from the sun.
Climate change increases problems for Florida reefs
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Despite new federal protections, Elkhorn Coral may disappear from the waters off the coast of South Florida
Hurricane season relatively kind to Fla.
By Paul Flemming
Tallahassee Democrat
From Tropical Storm Arthur to Hurricane Paloma, there were 16 named storms, eight hurricanes and 800 deaths in North America and the Caribbean.
Stiffer Emission Rules Proposed
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
State officials return to the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission next week to argue that Florida should adopt California's tough emission standards for cars and light trucks.
Sun, wind energy potential high, but so is price
By Asjylyn Loder
St. Pete Times
If money were no object, Florida could meet nearly all of its energy needs with sun and wind alone.
Crist wisely steps in to save turtles
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has demonstrated more than once that he is a responsible steward of the state's natural resources.
Editorial
St. Pete Times
Click the logo above to visit the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust website.
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"
