Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 10-16-09

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Forever defenders step up
By Yvette C. Hammett
Tampa Tribune
Related: Read the Florida Forever Coalition press release here.
It's been an easy concept from the start. Get developers to pay for growth by preserving vast stretches of natural Florida.

County won't appeal ruling on Summerfield
By TaMaryn Waters
Tallahassee Democrat
Leon County commissioners decided Tuesday they didn't want to appeal a court ruling regarding the Summerfield development.

Land grabs fuel Hometown Amendment drive
By Lauren Ritchie
Orlando Sentinel
The city of Wildwood, west of Leesburg at the junction of Interstate 75 and Florida's Turnpike, has annexed empty land that has approval for up to 87,000 new homes.

Economic hammer pounds developers
By Michael Sasso
Tampa Tribune
Long vilified as greedy power brokers, many of the people in the business of turning open spaces into malls and subdivisions are reeling from liens, foreclosure lawsuits and bankruptcies.

Florida wants to bag the plastic
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Florida environmental officials want to make the state the first in the nation to prohibit throwaway plastic and paper bags.

PSC showdown Friday: Can Progress Energy charge customers upfront for nuke plant costs?
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
What once seemed a slam dunk deal for Progress Energy -- building a new nuclear power plant complex in rural Levy County north of Tampa Bay -- is now very much up in the air.

Nuclear reactor design has safety flaw
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The nuclear reactor design that Florida Power & Light has chosen for its expansion at Turkey Point has safety flaws, federal regulators said Thursday.

Feds need to close red snapper fishing areas
Editorial
Florida Today
Space Coast anglers -- and anyone who enjoys a seafood meal -- know why red snapper is a prized catch.


The red snapper is being fished unsustainably.

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 10-16-09:

Federal scientists: Limit offshore drilling plans
By Jim Tankersley and Josh Meyer
Los Angeles Times
The federal government's top ocean scientists are urging the Interior Department to drastically reduce plans to open the coast to offshore oil and gas drilling, citing threats to marine life and potentially devastating effects of oil spills in Arctic waters.

NOAA urges caution in expanded offshore drilling
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has called on the Interior Department to proceed cautiously with plans to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, pointing to the need to protect fisheries, marine habitat and coastal communities.

Solar group's endorsement of offshore drilling causes controversy
By Catherine Dolinski
Tampa Tribune
An association of solar energy businesses in Florida stunned environmentalists last month by declaring its support for offshore oil drilling.

What's the tie between lobbyists, oil drilling and solar power?
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald
From Progress Florida: On behalf of the tens of thousands of our members across Florida who strongly support moving our state and nation toward a clean, renewable energy future and growing a green economy here in the “Sunshine State,” we were extremely disappointed to learn about your association’s support for opening Florida’s near shore waters to oil drilling.

Solar Energy's Stockholm Syndrome
Don’t Drill Florida
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed.

Solar Group’s Drilling Stance Spurs Backlash
By Kate Galbraith
New York Times
A Florida solar group’s support for offshore oil and gas drilling as a means of generating revenue for renewables has spurred a backlash.

Drilling backers, foes prepare for big fight
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times
From an office near the state Capitol, David Rancourt oversees a growth industry: the lobbying and public-relations operation seeking to lift the long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas exploration off Florida.

Australian oil spill fuels Alex Sink's drilling skepticism
By Adam Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Could a ruptured rig off western Australia(left) be the death nell to state officials trying to open up Florida to offshore drilling as close as three miles to the coast?

Strike two: oil leak plugging attempt fails
ABC News
Related: Failure to plug oil leak 'unacceptable'
The West Atlas oil rig in the Timor Sea has been leaking oil into the ocean for more than seven weeks.

Oil drilling threatens tourism
By Will Graves
Orlando Sentinel
The one-dimensional thinking championed by state Rep. Dean Cannon is exactly what National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Orlando Sentinel and other publications have decried as a death knell for Florida.

Florida Republicans: drill, baby, drill (includes video)
By Steve Nichols
Fox 13 News Tampa Bay
Will there be consequences for local lawmakers who oppose offshore drilling legislation?

Bennett wants to delay offshore drilling debate
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, is looking to put the brakes on the state oil drilling debate.

Florida State University to hold offshore-drilling symposium
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
Pledging to be honest brokers in a politically charged debate, Florida State University scientists announced Monday they will conduct an offshore drilling symposium next month.

Save Florida
By Bill Pownall
Hernando Today
I am writing this letter to each and every citizen of the state of Florida for you to contact and press your state legislators from passing a bill this upcoming session or as early as an October special session.

Florida oil drilling supporters, opponents post letters on issue
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida oil drilling opponents today called on Gov. Charlie Crist to include more coastal protections to his criteria for allowing offshore drilling.

Green activist advocates taking polite approach to opposition
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
ProvidedWith Florida politicians and environmentalists squaring off to fight over offshore oil drilling, a visiting activist is sharing some advice: Don't make enemies until you have to.

Rigging offshore drilling
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
An elected official whose spouse gets paid by a group bent on influencing legislation before his committee has no business heading that committee.


Editorial cartoon by Jeff Parker, Florida Today.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of 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.
Tell Your Senator No More Offshore Drilling, via Oceana.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

For the loggerhead sea turtle, a worrisome trend
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
For loggerhead sea turtles, 2009 marked a dismal nesting year, extending a decade-long decline that has prompted lawsuits, fishing bans and a push to list the animal as endangered.

Long-stalled project to help Florida Bay, Everglades finally getting started
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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.

Delayed canal overhaul OK'd
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Back in the 1970s, when Mike Collins was a young flats guide in the Keys, old-timers like legendary fly-fishing pioneer Jimmie Albright already knew what was ailing Florida Bay.

FPL agrees to assessment of mysterious saltwater plume near Turkey Point nuclear plant
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Florida Power & Light will spend millions to assess whether the massive cooling canal system at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant is fueling salt contamination of the aquifer in South Miami-Dade County.

Fla. PSC considers nuclear plant rate hikes
The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Public Service Commission is considering rate increases to pay for building nuclear power plants that critics say aren't needed.

PSC staff recommends utilities be allowed to drop conservation incentives
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Despite pressure from both Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature, state regulators on Thursday recommended that electric utilities not be required to give customers new incentives for saving energy and reducing electrical consumption.

Volusia approves massive 'city in the woods' project
By Ludmilla Lelis
Orlando Sentinel
A potential city in the woods, with more than 20,000 homes proposed on remote timberland west of Interstate 95, passed a key hurdle Thursday.

State lawmakers battling DCA secretary over growth
By Michael Peltier
Naples News
Civics books often tell you how it’s supposed to work.

Bronson says water lawsuit threatens jobs, prescribed burning
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson today warned other Cabinet members that setting specific pollution standards for nutrients in Florida waters could jeopardize prescribed burning efforts and the state's forest industry.

Group: FEMA Must Consult FWS To Protect Turtles (includes audio)
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
The Florida Wildlife Federation (FWF) has inched closer to filing a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Solar plant set to open, even as shadows loom
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The road to North America's largest photovoltaic solar plant passes cows and orange trees before turning to gravel amid a field of 90,000 black panels.

Stop drift in oceans policy
By Frank Muller-Karger
St. Petersburg Times
In Florida, our beaches and coastal waters attract over 33 million tourists each year. Our marine fishing, boating, tourism, recreation and ocean transport industries bring over $400 billion every year to our state.

Seagrass Recovery Joins the United Nations in Calling Attention to the Need to Restore Critical Seagrass Habitats in the Coastal Zone of the World's Oceans
Press Release
Seagrass Recovery
A report released October 14, 2009 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stresses the importance of urgent action to maintain and restore marine ecosystems such as seagrass, mangroves and salt marshes (blue carbon sinks) as the key to combating climate change.

Environmental threats observe no borders
By Douglas Rader and Kumar Mahadevan
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Cuban and American scientists recently gathered at Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota for a groundbreaking exchange of science and ideas -- the first of its kind in years to highlight the importance of working together on ocean conservation and shared waters.

Giant invasive snakes are here to stay
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
There are a few upbeat findings in a new federal study of the assorted threats posed to the nation by Burmese pythons and eight other large exotic constrictors.

Joint investigation finds no criminal wrongdoing at Public Service Commission
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs said Monday that a joint investigation between his office and state police into the state's public utilities regulator has not turned up any criminal wrongdoing.

PSC troubles prompt widespread calls for reform
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related Carl Hiaasen column: Man bites dog: PSC rejects FPL rate hike
Faced with an edict from Gov. Charlie Crist to ``clean house'' at the troubled Public Service Commission, Senate President Jeff Atwater says he'll hold hearings during the next two months to change the way the utility regulator does business.

Ballot issue on growth a hot topic
By Grace Gagliano
Bradenton Herald
A November 2010 ballot issue is already stirring heated local discussions.

Suit over law that favors builders
By Dale White
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The new state law that critics blasted as a massive assault on Florida's growth regulations has been blocked by the agency that is supposed to enforce it, and attacked in court by a growing number of cities and counties that want it struck down.

Bio-energy, ethanol projects proposed across Florida
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Nine bio-energy or ethanol projects are being proposed in Florida and at least five others are under discussion, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Enviros support new lands ranking process
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
In a move that environmentalists said resolves their concerns, a state panel on Friday adopted a rule that would establish a new rankings process for determining which conservation lands should be bought.

Environmental agency rejects Florida Crystals land as inland port site
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Politically powerful Florida Crystals Corp. was dealt a blow Friday by state environmental regulators, who said a transportation, warehousing and distribution complex the sugar company wants built on its land south of Lake Okeechobee would interfere with Everglades restoration.

Manatee habitat poorly defined
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
In the next few months, manatees will start heading for their traditional wintering grounds in Florida -- mostly springs (such as Blue Spring State Park in Orange City) and power-plant outfalls.

Needed review
Editorial
Florida Today
Florida residents — and those along the Space Coast in particular — have long had a special responsibility to help the manatee survive.


Threatened loggerhead sea turtle.

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"

Important news about Florida's turtles

Ed. Note: Below are two important news stories regarding Florida’s turtle population from the past day. Thank you to everyone that sent emails and letters to Gov. Crist and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission urging that the freshwater turtle harvest ban be implemented!

State bans harvesting of most freshwater turtles
By Logan Neill
St. Petersburg Times
Related link: Support the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust

In what one commissioner called "a legacy vote," Florida on Wednesday approved the toughest measures in the United States to protect freshwater turtles.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously to outlaw the commercial taking of the state's freshwater turtles and eggs.

"This decision may be one of Florida's greatest conservation stories," Commissioner Brian Yablonski said. "This is a legacy vote."

The reptiles are popular in China, where they are considered a delicacy and are used in medicine. However, wildlife officials fear that continued capture of the wild creatures from lakes, ponds and other waterways would endanger some turtle species.

Bowing to public outcry over the practice, Gov. Charlie Crist urged the agency last year to move toward a complete ban on the harvesting of wild turtles.

The FWC heard from 24 people Wednesday, including environmental groups and wildlife experts who supported the ban.

"We need to protect the resource before it's too late. Good regulations will help that," said Peter Meylan of Eckerd College.

Douglas Traywick, 51, traveled from Gotha in Orange County to oppose the new rules. A lifelong fisherman, he said he has the required state licenses to fish for and transport turtles, but he worries about his industry's future. "Imperiled species? We're one of them," he told the panel.

"I can't go on unemployment," he said, "I'm the lowest man on the totem pole."

Sharon Groene, whose family owns a business near Eagle Lake in Polk County that deals in everything from farm-raised tilapia to alligator meat, said the new rule unfairly targets people of limited means.

"Nobody gets rich catching turtles," she said. "These are people who need that money so they can feed their kids."

Commissioner Dwight Stephenson addressed the concerns of the fishermen. "I want to say that your voice has been heard, but we're charged with protecting these species and this rule is necessary at this time."

The new rules allow turtle farms to collect turtles to reproduce in captivity and thus become self-sustaining without taking turtles from the wild.

Ron Bergeron of the FWC urged opponents to look at the big picture. "When you're over-fishing, you're not only hurting the species, you're hurting the food chain as well," he said. "Florida needs to be a leader on this."

The new rules ban the taking of turtles that are on the imperiled species list, including alligator snapping turtles, Bar­bour's map turtles and Suwannee cooters. Also, the taking of cooters, Escambia map turtles and snapping turtles is prohibited.

The new rules do allow for limited taking of softshell turtles, one per day for personal use, if taken by hand, baited hook or minnow seine. Fishing for softshells is prohibited during the breeding season, from May 1 to July 31. For more details, see www.MyFWC.com.

According to the FWC, about 50 people are involved in largely unregulated business of catching freshwater turtles around the state. Fishermen are paid between 75 cents and $1.40 per pound for the turtles, which are shipped live overseas, according to an FWC staff report. Exporters can net $30,000 to $60,000 for a single shipment.



Wildlife underpass skewered; Founder fires back
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Related Palm Beach Post column: More to Florida turtle crossing than Oklahoma Sen. Coburn claims
Related link: Support the Lake Jackson Ecopassage

Supporters of a proposed wildlife underpass along U.S. Highway 27 north of Tallahassee received unwelcome attention in national media to their project on Tuesday when a Republican U.S. senator identified it as wasteful spending.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., included the "Lake Jackson Ecopassage" as one the top 10 of 100 examples of wasteful spending that he had identified in the federal stimulus package. The project would include building a 4-1/2 foot retaining wall to direct wildlife to three culverts going under the road, which is on a berm built across an arm of Lake Jackson.

State transportation officials say the project is needed to prevent motorists from running over some of the 100 or more turtles, alligators and other wildlife that attempt to cross the divided four-lane highway on some days. But Coburn's report said existing efforts to protect turtles along U.S. 27 already are working pretty well.

"To borrow money that we don't have to spend on things we don't need in the name of economic stimulus when there are things we could spend it on that we do need," Coburn told ABC News.

ABC opened its report by saying, "Why did the turtle cross the road? Because $3.4 million in stimulus money had not been spent to build him a tunnel. That's about to change. "

But Matt Aresco, a biologist who founded the Lake Jackson Ecopassage effort, said the Coburn report completely misrepresented the project by failing to state that the project is not just one culvert but three culverts. And he said ABC News and other reports just parroted the Coburn report without emphasizing that the project is not new and that the turtles and alligators crossing the highway pose a serious safety threat to motorists.

"Another thing they don't talk about is the highway built across the lake bottom four decades created the problem," Aresco said. "All we are trying to do is fix the problem for a highway that is already built."

The ABC News report and some others mentioned the safety issue, but only after highlighting the project as wasteful spending. They didn't point out that Aresco and his supporters have been working nearly 10 years to get the project built.

In that time, Aresco and supporters say they have saved more than 8,800 turtles by creating a temporary fabric fence and carrying turtles across the road. Hundreds of schoolchildren have taken up the cause of building the Lake Jackson Ecopassage and local officials have supported the project.

But Aresco said the fabric fence is only a temporary solution. The temporary device must be monitored three times a day, alligators and some wildlife still can cross over it and the fence falls down, is knocked down or is chewed up by critters trying to get across the road, Aresco said.

"They're saying the temporary fabric fence and wooden stakes that's working just fine?" Aresco said. "The minute (we) couldn't do it any more those fences would fall down and that would be the end of it."






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 6-5-09

FEATURED STORIES

Crist signs growth bill, sells Florida down the river
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
In the defining moment of his career Monday, Gov. Charlie Crist sold the state of Florida right down the river.

Bailing Out the Land Speculators
By Alan Farago
Counterpunch
As Democrats approach a filibuster proof US Senate, every race will be a heated battle. In 2010 one of the key contests will be in Florida where a governor perceived to be moderate, Charlie Crist, is locked in a primary against the former House Speaker in the Florida legislature, Marco Rubio.

Group looks to bring drilling vote to ballot
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida via FloridaEnvironments.com
With efforts stalled over whether to allow drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast, the fight may go directly to Florida voters.

FWC sets June 17-18 meeting in Crystal River
Press Release
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Take action: Email turtles@myfwc.com and urge support for the freshwater turtle ban.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will meet at the Plantation Inn in Crystal River June 17-18. FWC meetings are open to public participation.

What next for Florida's springs after bill dies?
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Former state biologist Jim Stevenson said he recently asked a teenager who had grown up in Tallahassee if he'd ever been to Wakulla Springs.


Editorial cartoon by Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal

MORE GREEN NEWS

River pipe postponed until dioxin level drops
By Peter Guinta
St. Augustine Record
Georgia-Pacific's paper plant in Palatka will not be allowed to build its proposed new 40-million-gallons-per-day pipeline into the middle of the St. Johns River until the company lowers its discharge of dioxin, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Monday.

New jobs or healthy river: Which is more important?
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
I'm fearful that we will soon face a classic confrontation - the health of the St. Johns River vs. jobs.

Crist Environmental Enforcement Initiative Fizzles
Press Release
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
The Crist administration's touted 2007 pledge to toughen anti-pollution enforcement in Florida has been a failure, according to an analysis of state enforcement statistics released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Judges: South Florida water managers did not violate Clean Water Act
The Associated Press
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Related: Earthjustice criticizes Okeechobee reversal
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.

Zoning Commission gives nod to expanding rock mining in Everglades
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Rock mining would claim more former Everglades land under a development plan endorsed by the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission on Thursday.

Progress Energy warms up to solar energy
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
Hard to believe, but the electric company that once routinely panned solar power as too expensive and inefficient is about to introduce a whole bunch of new solar initiatives for its customers and eventually market it all here under a brand name called SunSense.

What we think: Kill destructive water bill
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
It's a tough slog getting water managers today to meet or even think about meeting their responsibility to safeguard Florida's water supply.

MORE SB 360 NEWS

Taxpayers will feel the cost of sprawl
By Charles Pattison
Tallahassee Democrat
This year's growth management bill, SB 360, was opposed by most of the leading newspapers and conservation, planning and advocacy organizations, including 1000 Friends of Florida, the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties. The governor signed the bill Monday afternoon, despite many requests to veto it.

Crist's environmental record hurt by growth legislation, critics say
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Reader poll: Is the governor still green?
Gov. Charlie Crist's long-standing reputation as an environmentalist could take a hit because of his signing this week of a controversial bill on growth management.

Gov. Crist changes his colors
By Mark Lane
Daytona Beach News-Jouranl
Gov. Charlie Crist has worked hard to get out from under his party's image as reflexively anti-environment. Until this week, it kind of worked.

Great news for developers, not so good to everyone else
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
Legend has it that Juan Ponce de Leon came to Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth.

Home building and construction is to Florida as opium production is to Afghanistan
By Gimleteye
Eye On Miami
Opium production is 60 percent of the economy of Afghanistan.

Crist's environmental image takes a hit
By Beth Reinhard
Miami Herald
Gov. Charlie Crist waited until 5:05 p.m. tonight to quietly send out a press release saying he had signed a "growth management'' bill that environmentalists say will result in worsening sprawl.

Crist refuels the bulldozers
By Kenric Ward
TC Palm
Gov. Charlie Crist cleared the way for developers by signing Senate Bill 360. Watch out, Treasure Coast.

Governor Gridlock
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist just made it easier to pave over what's left of Florida.

Reckless rollback
Editorial
Florida Today
Brevard County residents, you've just been had. And you can thank Gov. Charlie Crist and Republicans in the state Legislature for guaranteeing that you'll get stuck with the bill for more urban sprawl and traffic gridlock when growth returns to Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist made a bad call on growth limits
Editorial
Miami Herald
A new growth-management law signed by Gov. Charlie Crist this week broadly redefines ''dense urban land areas'' as land with less than one home per acre.

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 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"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 11-28-08

FEATURED STORIES

Vehicles, budget threaten Florida panthers
An uncollared male Florida panther was killed by a car shortly after sunset Wednesday on Alico Road.
By Ryan Hiraki
Ft. Myers News-Press

Movement building to save turtles
As state wildlife officials mull new restrictions on harvesting the reptiles, Gov. Charlie Crist has joined a chorus supporting a ban on commercial turtle fishing in fresh water.
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union

What's Killing Florida's Coral Reefs?
The disaster in south Florida is invisible from above water but the damage is horrific.
By Hector Florin
Time Magazine


MORE GREEN NEWS

Restore The Everglades, But Double-Check Numbers
The ambitious proposal for Florida to buy U.S. Sugar land could finally ensure the survival of the Everglades, the hydrological heart of South Florida. So the importance of the proposal can hardly be overstated.
Editorial
Tampa Tribune

Water managers have 3-week deadline to sign $1.34 billion U.S. Sugar deal
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 Florida history.
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post

Solar power costlier for Florida than nuclear, report finds
In a much anticipated report that could affect every Floridian's pocketbook, a consultant hired by the state says solar power could be a competitive source of electricity by 2020 in many scenarios, but it will cost considerably more than new nuclear power and natural gas, the main sources of power for present customers of Florida Power & Light.
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald

Conservationists call for ban on freshwater turtle catches
For years, Jones Fish House bought turtles from fishermen, cleaned them and sold the meat alongside the catfish that brims from its glass cases.
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post

Save environment, save money
On a brisk morning warmed gently by the sun, more than a dozen houseboats and a handful of powerboats sat idly in the St. Johns River waiting for guests to arrive.
By Sandra Frederick
Daytona Beach News-Journal

Reduce price of sugar land
Before the South Florida Water Management District board considers the $1.34 billion proposal to buy U.S. Sugar's land for Everglades restoration, the board must renegotiate the price lower and find out whether the seller even would be U.S. Sugar.
Editorial
Palm Beach Post

Florida Vs. Georgia
Georgia's Gov. Sonny Perdue is hopping mad over Florida's lawsuit to keep his state from grabbing so much upstream water to feed Atlanta's growth.
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger

All-out ban needed on softshell turtle harvesting, and quickly
When state wildlife officials were poised to tinker with the manatee's conservation protections, Gov. Charlie Crist stepped in with a plea not to risk the sea cow's survival.
Editorial
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Florida Forever Acquisition Protects Civil War Battlefield
Governor Crist and Cabinet today approved the purchase of 54.74 acres of land adjacent to the Natural Bridge Historic State Park in Leon County.
Press Release
Wakulla.com

Turtle harvest assailed
Fishing for softshell turtles has been a source of income for William Shockley and his family for three generations in the rural Central Florida town of Okeechobee.
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Pinellas should buy Walmart's Tarpon Springs property for parkland
Walmart's unexpected announcement Friday that it has put its controversial Tarpon Springs supercenter project on hold opens the door to a great opportunity.
Related: Wal-Mart puts a hold on plans for supercenter
Editorial
St. Pete Times






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Take action: Crist asked to stop turtle harvest

Crist asked to stop turtle harvest
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
November 20, 2008

Biologists Wednesday urged Gov. Charlie Crist to impose an immediate ban on the commercial harvesting of wild turtles before a skyrocketing demand in Asia dooms them.

Although little research has been done on the size of Florida's turtle population, an emergency rule that limits the catch to 20 soft shell turtles per day isn't working, the scientists say.

"The rate of capture is still too high and the data that we have suggests that this is unsustainable," said Matt Aresco, director of the 50,000-acre Nokuse Plantation preserve in Walton County.

Soft shell turtles can take up to 10 years to mature sexually and only one in 100 eggs survives because of natural predation, Aresco said.

"Everything eats them," he said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission adopted the 20-per-day limit in September at the urging of the scientists. Their studies show that only about 10 percent of Florida's exported turtles come from the wild. The rest come from turtle farms, according to state regulators. Environmentalists dispute the figures.

Commissioners are scheduled to discuss permanent regulations at a workshop in Tallahassee today.

The threat emerged about two years ago as Chinese and Asian fresh-water turtle populations collapsed and the industry turned to U.S. suppliers in the South to meet demand.

The turtles are prized for their meat as well as their shells and other body parts, which are ground into potions for folk remedies.

Commercial harvesters argue that they have access to only a tiny percentage of Florida's 7,000 freshwater lakes and that turtles are teeming in private water bodies where they can't go. Environmentalists dispute the claim.

"Seventy-five percent of soft shell turtle habitat is actually accessible to harvesters," Aresco said.

A group of 35 scientists sent a letter Monday to Gov. Charlie Crist pleading with him to intervene.

"He's still studying it," said his spokesman, Sterling Ivey.

The emergency rule was originally put in place for a year while regulators study the issue. The commission has since moved up the deadline for proposing a final rule to April with a vote in July.


Concern over freshwater turtle harvest reverberates with the FWC
Press Release
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comission
November 18, 2008

Hearing “loud and clear” the concerns raised by turtle scientists about freshwater turtles, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has fast-tracked its process for managing the freshwater turtle harvest in Florida and welcomes all input.

“The concern shown for the freshwater turtles in Florida has registered with us loud and clear,” said Ken Haddad, executive director of the FWC. “As a result, we have accelerated our process to develop the best possible strategies for turtles. We will take a few months to gather the facts; then we can build on consensus.”

Haddad said the FWC certainly appreciates all the input received from turtle scientists, fishermen and others on freshwater turtle harvest, and the agency will continue to welcome their insight as it moves rapidly toward developing a management strategy.

“This cooperative attitude will ensure that we develop the very best policy for freshwater turtles,” Haddad said.

The FWC passed a new rule in September that limits the harvest of wild Florida freshwater turtles to five per day per person. Each fisherman with a commercial license is allowed to harvest an additional 15 Florida softshell turtles per day, for a total of 20. The FWC will monitor and enforce the current rule to ensure the turtles are being adequately protected.

“The recently passed rule provides an interim period to give us time to understand the issue and verify information,” Haddad said. “We have moved up our schedule and are working rapidly to pass a new management strategy that will ensure appropriate regulations by June.”

FWC’s rule-making requires specific steps to provide proper public due process. The FWC will seek input over the next few months. Staff will present the proposed management strategy at the Commission’s April meeting. Commissioners will vote on the final plan and regulations at June’s meeting.

The best months (September and October) for harvesting freshwater turtles has passed in Florida. During cooler weather, turtles move at a much slower pace and eat less food, making them difficult to harvest. In addition, May 1 begins the closed season for harvest of the Florida softshell turtle which goes until July 31.

“By the time the closed season ends, we will have made our decision on the harvest of freshwater turtles,” Haddad said. “We don’t see the situation as an emergency, especially in light of the seasonal slow down and closed season.”

On Thursday, Nov. 20, the FWC will meet with turtle experts, including scientists and fishermen, and with concerned residents regarding a long-term plan for the harvest of freshwater turtles. The meeting will be 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Tampa Port Authority Board Room, 1101 Channelside Dr. in Tampa.

The public is invited to attend and provide information and engage in an open discussion of the pertinent information regarding freshwater turtle harvest in Florida. Experts with a variety of perspectives are expected to present information and answer questions.


HOW YOU CAN HELP
FWC will collect information from turtle experts, fishermen, and concerned residents regarding a long-term plan for the harvest of freshwater turtles at a meeting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, November 20 at the Tampa Port Authority Board Room, 1101 Channelside Dr. in Tampa. If you have information about freshwater turtle harvests in Florida, please share your observations with FWC at this meeting, or by email to bill.turner@myfwc.com. You are also encouraged to email Gov. Charlie Crist at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com urging him to ban Florida’s freshwater turtle harvest altogether.

RELATED NEWS STORIES
Thousands of Florida softshell turtles end up on dinner plates in Asia
Hauled from canals and marshes around Lake Okeechobee, turtles arrive in the late afternoon at Jones Fish House, a corrugated metal structure on the Palm Beach County side of the lake.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 19, 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 September 29th 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.

"it's all connected"

Action Alert: Major Wildlife Decision In Leon County Monday, November 17th

11/18/08 UPDATE: It passed! The Lake Jackson Ecopassage will finally be funded! Read the Tallahassee Democrat article here.

Road mortality for turtles is higher on Highway US 27 in Tallahassee than anywhere else in the world. Your email today in support of the Lake Jackson Ecopassage could make the difference. Please read the important message below from Dr. Matt Aresco, President of the Lake Jackson Ecopassage Alliance:

On Monday, November 17th, the Capital Regional Transportation Planning Agency (CRTPA) will vote on whether or not to prioritize the construction of the Lake Jackson Ecopassage project for FDOT's Transportation Enhancement funds. These are Federal funds that are allocated to each State for projects such as wildlife crossings.

This project will be the first wildlife crossing project built in Northwest Florida and will consist of a wall and multi-culvert system to allow for safe passage of wildlife.

Please contact the members of the CRTPA to ask them to vote in favor of this project at: crtpa@lakejacksonturtles.org.

If you live in the Leon County, Florida area, please attend the meeting at 1 pm in the Tallahassee City Commission Chambers and express your support of the funding for this project using the Transportation Enhancement funds.



BACKGROUND:
The Lake Jackson State Aquatic Preserve near Tallahassee, Florida is bisected by 4-lane U.S. Highway 27, which is a virtually impassable barrier to turtles and other wildlife with 25,000 vehicles traveling on it per day. Road mortality and attempted crossings of turtles is higher on U.S. 27 than has ever been documented anywhere in the world - over 9,000 turtles in 7 years on a one mile stretch of highway!

More than 12,000 reptiles and amphibians of 45 different species have been saved from death
on the highway by temporary silt fences that were installed by the Lake Jackson Ecopassage
Alliance. Yet over 2,000 animals of 60 different species have still been road-killed.

For more information please see
http://www.lakejacksonturtles.org/crtpameeting.htm

Thank you for your help.

Matt Aresco
President
Lake Jackson Ecopassage Alliance, Inc.
P.O. Box 180891
Tallahassee, FL 32318



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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Save Florida's Freshwater Turtles

From Audubon of Florida:
State Requests Public Input on Florida’s Freshwater Turtle Harvest

Turtle experts and conservationists are concerned about the status of Florida’s freshwater turtles, in light of recent reports of unusually large freshwater turtle harvests and a growing demand for wild-caught turtles as food and pets. Many of these turtles are slow-growing, slow to reach sexual maturity, and relatively easy to harvest. As a result, large harvests of adult turtles could have devastating, long-lasting population effects.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has implemented stopgap harvest limits while it develops a comprehensive management strategy for these turtles. Some turtle experts, however, have raised concerns that these restrictions will not be sufficient to protect Florida’s freshwater turtles from overharvest. Little data exists on the magnitude and geographic distribution of the current harvest. Accordingly, FWC is asking the public for reports or evidence of harvests across Florida.

At its Jacksonville meeting in September, the FWC limited the harvest of wild Florida freshwater turtles to five per day per person. Each fisherman with a commercial license will be allowed to harvest an additional 15 Florida softshell turtles per day, for a total of 20 per day.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
FWC will collect information from turtle experts, fishermen, and concerned residents regarding a long-term plan for the harvest of freshwater turtles at a meeting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, November 20 at the Tampa Port Authority Board Room, 1101 Channelside Dr. in Tampa. If you have information about freshwater turtle harvests in Florida, please share your observations with FWC at this meeting, or by email to bill.turner@myfwc.com.

RELATED NEWS STORIES
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
Florida Turtle Market
China’s insatiable demand for turtles is prompting hunters to trap tens of thousands in Florida and export them to Asian markets.
Associated Press
WMBB News Panama City
October 6, 2008
Turtle hunters face new limits
Those with a taste for turtles can only harvest five native Florida freshwater turtles per day. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission passed the new turtle harvest limit Wednesday during its regular meeting in Jacksonville.
Florida Today
September 18, 2008

MORE INFO AND WAYS TO HELP
Support the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust and click here to read their September 29th 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. View/subscribe to our blog here.

"it's all connected"

China gobbling up Florida turtles

China gobbling up Florida turtles
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
October 6, 2008

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.

Exporters are shipping up to 3,000 pounds of softshell turtles a week out of Tampa International Airport, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A Fort Lauderdale seafood company is buying about 5,000 pounds of softshell turtles a week. They're worth about $2 a pound to the harvesters.

"Asian countries are causing the extinction, the near extinction or the endangerment of every species of turtle they have over there, so now they're turning to the United States to supply their insatiable demand for turtle," said Matt Aresco, a turtle biologist from the Panhandle.

The trend — which biologists worry threatens species survival — has surfaced at places like Newnan's Lake near Gainesville. Last summer, as Gary Simpson jotted down the license plate number of a suspicious-looking pickup, he wondered about the bulging sacks in the truck bed. Simpson, who manages a tackle shop, worried poachers had filled the sacks with fish.

After he used his pocket knife to slash open a sack, "Turtles started piling out," he said. There were at least a dozen in each of the 20 sacks, he said. "It was pretty obscene, it really was."

By the time the truck's owners had returned to the dock, he said, "those turtles were crawling all over the parking lot." Wildlife officers summoned by Simpson were waiting — but they had to let the turtle-catchers go because they had broken no law.

Other states — Alabama and Texas, among others — have recently restricted or banned the harvest of turtles. As those states have cut off access, the harvesters have focused more and more on Florida's turtles, Aresco said.

The harvesters target the larger turtles, the ones old enough to reproduce, Aresco said. Wipe out those and soon all the turtles will be gone.

Two environmental groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and the St. Johns Riverkeeper, petitioned the wildlife commission to ban freshwater turtle harvesting. Turtle biologists asked the state to curtail it to just one turtle per person per day. The commission's own experts recommended a limit of five per person per day.

But several turtle harvesters showed up at a meeting last month to urge commissioners to hold off.

"There's nothing wrong with it," said William Shockley, an electrical contractor who often fishes for turtles around Lake Okeechobee. "It's a good, honest living. This is our survival."

For Shockley, a good day is when he can haul in 30 or 40 softshell turtles, about 500 pounds total. He sells them to one of 10 dealers around the lake. Some go to local restaurants, he said, but others go overseas. Shockley estimated there are between 100 to 500 harvesters statewide.

After hearing their appeal, the commissioners voted to impose a limit of 20 turtles a day per person for licensed harvesters -- to the biologists' consternation.

"That's 140 softshells a week per person," Aresco said. "That's not much different from what's going on now. That's no way to manage a species. It's not based on any science at all."

Commission biologist Bill Turner pointed out that the new 20-per-day limit is just an interim rule. Over the next year the staff will meet with both sides to forge a compromise.

Aresco contended that's not good enough: "We can't allow this to continue for a year."

Seminole City Council member Dan Hester would agree. When residents who live around Blossom Lake Park complained that someone was swiping turtles from the lake, Hester asked the city staff what he could do to stop it.

The answer: Not much. State and federal officials make the wildlife laws, not cities. Rather than give up, Hester said, the city posted signs at parks warning that no one could remove any wildlife.

"It's not enforceable," he conceded, but maybe it will scare off some folks.

Mark Ely, who did the research for Hester, said he couldn't figure out why the turtle harvesters would target Blossom Lake: "Why would you want to eat something that lives in a retention pond that takes stormwater runoff?"



TAKE ACTION NOW
Consider writing a letter to the editor (LTE) in response to the above article. It was published in the St. Petersburg Times, Orlando Sentinel, Lakeland Ledger and Fort Pierce Tribune. See newspaper websites for LTE submission guidelines. Stay tuned for additional action around this issue.

RELATED NEWS STORIES
Florida Turtle Market
China’s insatiable demand for turtles is prompting hunters to trap tens of thousands in Florida and export them to Asian markets.
Associated Press
WMBB News Panama City
October 6, 2008
Turtle hunters face new limits
Those with a taste for turtles can only harvest five native Florida freshwater turtles per day. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission passed the new turtle harvest limit Wednesday during its regular meeting in Jacksonville.
Florida Today
September 18, 2008

MORE INFO AND WAYS TO HELP
Support the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust and click here to read their September 29th 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.

"it's all connected"