Precious resource plundered

See previous post for much more info on this issue.

Precious resource plundered
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
October 9, 2008

Once again, Florida is selling a precious resource, one that makes the state unique. This time it's the wild freshwater turtle. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that each week thousands of pounds of softshell turtles are shipped to Asian countries where they are eaten and used for folk remedies. The wholesale decimation of this natural resource should be stopped.

"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," Matt Aresco, a Florida biologist, told the St. Petersburg Times.

Florida is the commercial hunter's place of choice. Unlike other turtle-rich states, such as Alabama, Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, Florida hasn't restricted or banned the harvest of wild turtles. Last March, 34 of the nation's top scientists wrote to state officials urging them to ban harvesting. Two Florida-based environmental organizations and individual biologists also petitioned the wildlife commission for a ban or tight restrictions.

After harvesters protested, the commissioners caved and voted to allow ordinary people to take 35 turtles from the wild each week, or 1,820 per year. Each licensed commercial hunter can take 140 softshell turtles from the wild each week, or 7,300 each year. No limit was placed on the number of commercial harvesters, meaning that no one knows how many harvesters are taking turtles or how many turtles are being shipped annually. Biologists and environmentalists correctly called this an irresponsible move that is not based on science.

Commission biologist Bill Turner said the limits were implemented on an interim basis and that over the next year the staff will seek a compromise between the two sides. Biologists argue the current rate of harvesting must be stopped immediately.

The commission failed to effectively stop the slaughter of this precious natural resource. Gov. Charlie Crist should ask them to revisit the issue and ban or sharply limit the harvesting of wild turtles.



TAKE ACTION NOW
Consider emailing Charlie Crist at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com and urging him to ensure Florida's wild freshwater turtle harvest is banned or sharply reduced as has been done in numerous other states such as Texas, Alabama and The Carolinas.

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"

Climate change could ruin Florida's biodiversity

Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission preparing for effects of climate change
By Susan Cocking
Miami Herald
October 5, 2008

Scientists addressing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's first climate change summit last week forecast a bleak future for the state's fish and wildlife over the next century:

• As many as 30 percent of native species could face extinction from habitat loss because of rising ocean levels.

• Coral reefs could begin dissolving in 10 to 12 years as increasing carbon dioxide levels make oceans more acidic.

• South Florida's mangrove forests could be greatly reduced or even lost, leading to increasing storm surges.

• Invasive species such as melaleuca trees and blue tilapia -- a hardy freshwater fish from South America -- will spread north, crowding out Florida's remaining native plants and animals.

''We don't have to wait for the future; it's already here,'' Hal Wanless, chairman of the geological sciences department at University of Miami, told workshop participants Wednesday.

The three-day session might have been the first of its kind organized by a state agency. Chuck Collins, FWC southeast regional director, said Florida really is on the front line of global climate change because it sticks out like a thumb from the rest of the North American continent with 8,000 miles of shoreline, making it very susceptible to sea level rise and forecast increases in major storms.

Ironically, the summit -- originally scheduled in August -- had to be postponed because of Tropical Storm Fay. It is expected to lead to the development of policies and strategies aimed at minimizing impacts on fish, plants and animals.

''We are experts on wildlife management but not climate change,'' Collins said.

Speakers at the summit's opening session Wednesday said Florida policymakers must act now to prepare for what Wanless called ``changes to Florida and Earth beyond your wildest imagination.''

As polar ice sheets melt, he said, South Florida could experience a 1 ½-foot rise in sea level over the next 50 years, and a three- to five-foot rise by the end of the century.

''Turkey Point is out in the middle of Biscayne Bay with a three-foot rise,'' Wanless said. ``With a four- to five-foot rise in sea level, all our barrier islands will be abandoned. The Everglades would be overwhelmed. The difference between a one- to two-foot rise and a three- to five-foot rise is all the difference between messy and wet, and totally unliveable and loss of coastal environments.''

Thomas Eason, in charge of habitat and species conservation for the FWC, cited several examples of how climate change already is affecting Florida's wildlife.

''There's been a 50 percent reduction in coral cover in the Keys since 1996,'' Eason said. ``The common snook is now seen off Alabama. Blue tilapia have expanded their range 50 miles northwest all the way up to Gainesville. Sooty terns are nesting 1-2 months earlier. The brown pelican and wood stork center of breeding has moved northward.''

Reed Noss, a professor of conservation biology at University of Central Florida, predicted that as sea levels rise, about half of Florida's population would be forced to move away from the coasts, crowding into inland regions such as the Lake Wales Ridge and Kissimmee Valley. The human influx, Noss said, would crowd out wildlife, such as the endangered Florida panther. He recommended the creation of large upland preserves with travel corridors for fleeing wildlife.

''Is it cost-effective to spend billions on Everglades restoration, or would funds be better spent to move species upland?'' Noss said.

To stem the loss of coral reefs, Robert van Woesik, a biology professor at Florida Institute of Technology, recommended designating networks of marine protected areas with no fishing allowed.

''Local protection leads to local benefits,'' he said. ``Protection really does matter.''

Other speakers advocated stepping up efforts to control non-native species; allowing natural coastal ecosystems -- not seawalls -- to buffer shorelines; reducing manmade stressors, such as carbon emissions; and restoring natural freshwater flows to lakes and rivers.

Said Len Berry, director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Florida International University: ``The message to take from this is that planning needs to start now. We want to come out of here with things we ought to be concentrating on.''



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"

Leon County residents point to development as reason behind recent flooding

Ed. Note: Important lessons here on the consequences of reckless development in areas such as closed basins.

Leon County residents point to development as reason behind recent flooding
By Julian Pecquet and Bruce Ritchie
Tallahassee Democrat
September 21, 2008

One month after Tropical Storm Fay flooded her Timberlake home and upended her life, Kim Rolfe has yet to shake the memory of that harrowing airboat ride to safety with her husband, two teenagers and 4-year-old twins.

But she's also dealing with an even bigger concern: What happens the next time another soaking storm slams her flood-prone neighborhood? Like many of her neighbors, she's looking to the same Leon County Commission that allowed development in the neighborhood to come up with solutions.

"You can't fight back against nature," she said. "All you can do is hope that those people who can help you will do something — whatever it is."

Over a two-day period starting Aug. 2, Fay dumped 74 billion gallons of rainwater on Leon County — 26 billion within Tallahassee city limits — damaging hundreds of homes, causing millions of dollars in damage and flooding dozens of residents out of their homes.

As much as 17.3 inches of rain was recorded by Tallahassee-area gauges.

Local governments and the Red Cross identified 671 Leon County homes and businesses damaged. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, as of Monday, had received 452 applications and approved $365,520 in assistance to homeowners and businesses.

But the damage hasn't been spread evenly.

Within Tallahassee proper, only 34 flooded structures — 26 of them homes — were reported, sprinkled notably around Frenchtown, Killearn Estates and North Monroe Street.

But outside city limits, flood damage was much greater in certain areas.

The Timberlake subdivision off Apalachee Parkway saw the bulk of the damage. Dozens of homes reported damage, 19 of them major. According to assessment reports from local governments and the Red Cross, other areas of damage included the banks of the Ochlockonee River, the Chaires community in eastern Leon County and the Oak Ridge Road area at the Wakulla County line.

Theresa Heiker, Leon County's stormwater-management coordinator, said those areas can broadly be split into two categories: neighborhoods along river banks and those in closed basins, where water has nowhere to go.


Flooded woodlands in Fred George Basin following Tropical Storm Fay.

The first category encompasses the Houston Road and Crooked Road areas along the Ochlockonee and the Chaires community along the banks of the St. Marks River. Several dozen homeowners reported minor damage in those areas.

"It's just a very broad flood plain there," she said. "When there is an exceptional amount of rain in Georgia, that's when we see it — not for an isolated weather system in Florida."

Heiker said the focus has been on moving residents away from those areas rather than trying to modify the river.

Timberlake and the Oak Ridge Road area, by contrast, flooded because they're in closed basins — where "the water can't get out to flow to a nearby river," Heiker said. "Timberlake currently is our most extreme example."

In closed basins, floodwaters can remain a problem for several days because the water slowly leaves the area only through percolation into the groundwater and by being pulled out by trees and plants. The Oak Ridge Road area also had two sinkholes, but those were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of flooding.

Other isolated areas also flooded, Heiker said, notably an area north of Lake Kanturk in Killearn Estates, where the county is looking at drainage options.

John Buss, Tallahassee's director of stormwater management, attributed the city's good showing to the approximately $50 million the city has spent over the past 15 years on stormwater improvements.

Even at Lake Ella, where several businesses were flooded, the 15-inch drainage pipe was working well after the storm, he said. And building a bigger pipe, he said, isn't a solution because that will just shift the problem to other areas downstream, such as Guyte P. McCord Park.

"You simply can't build the infrastructure to handle a 17-inch storm," he said. "It's a little bit of a buyer-beware issue in that regard."

While Fay hasn't sparked any changes in the city's stormwater plans, Leon County is responding to flooding complaints with money — but also with limits on how it's spent.

The Leon County Commission agreed Sept. 2 to convert $4 million proposed for roads into a $6.1 million fund for transportation and stormwater projects. It reacted largely to concerns from Chaires residents who want to fix drainage problems they believe contributed to flooding near the St. Marks River.

But last week, commissioners cut $1 million from that fund in response to complaints about a proposed property-tax increase. They're set to hold a workshop in January to determine how the money will be spent over the coming year.

Last week, they also voted to create a $2 million Catastrophic Reserve Fund. It will be used to waive permitting and waste-disposal fees for residents who have to remodel or rebuild.

Commission Chairman Jane Sauls warned that the money could not be used for home repairs or to buy flooded property. That left some Chaires residents and Commissioner Bill Proctor critical, saying there seemed to be a changed response since the Sept. 2 meeting.

"This policy," he said, "does not convey the human empathy that was originally on the table."

But Commissioner Bryan Desloge said the county could go bankrupt if it began taking on FEMA's role and paid people for home repairs, especially if the county got hit by a major hurricane. He said the commission is looking for a middle ground.

"The concern," he said, "is if we set a precedent, it could leave us completely exposed in the future."


Flooded meadow in Fred George Basin following Tropical Storm Fay.



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"

Department of Community Affairs Rejects Mahan Massacre

State opposed to 509-unit Mahan Drive development
By Julian Pecquet
Tallahassee Democrat
September 16, 2008

The state has opposed the construction of up to 509 housing units — 10 times what's allowed now — in Leon County at Mahan Drive and Wadesboro Road.

Many residents, as well as the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department, opposed the land-use change that would have enabled the Rockaway development on 509 acres. County commissioners had voted to go ahead with it anyway.

On Friday, the Department of Community Affairs objected. That pleased Keith Horne, who lives in the area.

"It was so obvious that this was not in the best interest of the county or the city, and this report validates that," Horne said. "I'm just glad to see reasonableness came out of it."

The department found that the proposed change was inconsistent with Leon County's own land-use plan, which calls for development to be concentrated within the Tallahassee urban area, Woodville and the communities of Capitola, Chaires, Fort Braden and Miccosukee. It also found discrepancies with state rules that discourage urban sprawl, encourage greenhouse-gas reductions and require public facilities and services.

"I think the message that we gave when it was voted on," County Chairman Jane Sauls said, "is if DCA opposes it, it's gone."



Department of Community Affairs Rejects "Mahan Massacre"
Press Statement
Progress Florida
September 13, 2008

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) today recommended against an amendment to Leon County’s growth plan that would allow up to 500 residential units in a rural area currently zoned for 50. The decision came in response to community-wide pressure to halt the project, including nearly 1,000 petition signatures from concerned area residents.

“We applaud Secretary Tom Pelham and the DCA for supporting the people of Leon County, rather than the interests of one well-heeled out-of-town developer,” said Damien Filer, Political Director for Progress Florida.

The Leon County Commission, which originally approved the growth plan alteration, is now slated for a final vote on the matter October 28th.

“We are confident that the Leon County Commission will do the right thing on behalf of the citizens they serve, especially now that everyone including the state of Florida has weighed in against this reckless development,” said Filer.

Background

Located at the intersection of Mahan drive and Wadesboro road, the proposed ‘Rockaway’ development has been called “the poster child for urban sprawl,” by Tallahassee City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey.

The Tallahassee City Commission voted unanimously to oppose this massive new development located outside the Urban Services Area, and the Planning Department for the city and county said this level of development is out of compliance with our own comprehensive plan. The Leon County Water Resources Committee also recommended denial.

Despite this opposition, and the opposition of a dozen neighboring residents who waited for hours to testify against the development, the Leon County Commission voted 5-1 to move forward with amending Leon County’s growth plan to accommodate the wishes of one politically connected and deep-pocketed developer. Commissioner Cliff Thaell was the only one who voted against it. (Commissioner Bob Rackleff was out of town but strongly opposes this development.)

---

MORE INFO
**Check out Ray Seaman’s excellent blog post The Mahan Doctrine: Progress In Your Backyard.
**We also received coverage yesterday from WFSU Public Radio and The Morning Show on WFLA 100.7
**A big THANK YOU to everyone who signed the petition!




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"

Nearly one thousand petitions delivered urging halt to Mahan Massacre

Thank you to everyone who signed the petition to stop this misguided proposal. In addition to the press coverage below, the story was covered by WTXL ABC News and Florida Public Radio.


Group delivers petition against Mahan Drive development
By Julian Pecquet
Tallahassee Democrat
August 28, 2008

Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham on Thursday received a petition with close to 1,000 signatures opposing a proposed development on Mahan Drive.

Damien Filer, political director for the nonprofit Progress Florida, delivered the petition, which requests that the department oppose allowing up to 500 homes —10 times what’s currently allowed — on 509 acres of rural land at the corner of Mahan Drive and Wadesboro Road in eastern Leon County.

The Leon County Commission gave preliminary approval to the land-use change earlier this year despite staff’s recommendation to deny it. The state now gets the chance to weigh in before final approval on Oct. 28.

“We hope that (the state) will recognize what the Tallahassee and Leon County Planning Department found —that this is a bad idea,” Filer said. “We shouldn’t have massive amounts of development in places that are intended to be rural.”

Filer said about 930 had signed the petition as of earlier this week, with more people signing on every day.

After meeting with Pelham, Filer took the petition to the county courthouse to share it with commissioners.

Commissioner John Dailey said the commission welcomed the petition and could yet be swayed by residents’ concerns.

“We always take citizen input into account,” he said. “I look forward to seeing the petition.”


WCTV News coverage:




RELATED INFO
Support Hold The Line if you are in the Miami-Dade area.
Support Hometown Democracy if you are in Florida.
Recommend reading: Green Empire: The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle by Kathryn Ziewitz and June Wiaz.



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"

Voters can bring politicians to heel

Voters can bring politicians to heel
By Kenric Ward
TC Palm
Friday, July 25, 2008

By the time you read this, Florida Hometown Democracy may have gathered enough petitions to make the ballot. As of Thursday, 607,961 signatures were validated by the state, with thousands more in the pipeline. A total of 611,009 is needed.

In the face of a hostile Legislature, well-heeled corporate opposition, erratic counting procedures by supervisors of elections, questionable emergency rules from the secretary of state and inexplicably blasé (or non-existent) news coverage, FHD marches on.

Martin County activist Joe Florio epitomizes the undaunted spirit of the grass-roots campaign that would empower Floridians by requiring voter referendums on all comprehensive plan changes in their communities. Florio has spent more than two years collecting signatures for FHD, volunteering untold hours of time for the cause. Last week, he and Lloyd Brumfield, another Martin County resident, were in Vero Beach to push the petition drive along.

Setting up shop outside the Indian River County main library, the pair gently approached patrons, asking if they were registered voters. Of those who were, most signed the petition. Florio and Brumfield wrapped up their three-hour stint with 53 signatures, a decent rate of about one every three minutes. 

Surprisingly few people had heard of Hometown Democracy until that moment. For all the supposed political “polarization” over growth in Indian River County, these local library-goers — presumably well read — were unaware of the statewide citizens’ campaign addressing that very issue.

Once explained, FHD (floridahometowndemocracy.com) struck a responsive chord with the passers-by. If the Florio-Brumfield team’s experience is any indication, there remains a vast reservoir of untapped angst about out-of-control growth in this state.

The development industry and the business writers, meantime, have abandoned their unrealistically rosy outlooks for a sober gloom. Where a turnaround was once just around the corner, Floridians now are told that things will get worse before they get better. Bottom line: Growth isn’t a problem anymore. It’s under control. The market is straightening things out.

Don’t drink that Kool-Aid.

Indian River and St. Lucie counties are still cranking out new single-family homes every day. Based on residential permits issued through June, the two counties are on track for more than 1,400 new dwellings this year.

That’s down, of course, but these stucco boxes will be stacked on top of seven to eight months of standing inventory of new, vacant homes.

Martin County isn’t much better off. Analysts at Boca Raton-based MetroStudy report that the “slow-growth” county has more than an eight-year supply of subdivided lots waiting to be built. 

Whatever their rationale, builders keep building — and corporate marketers do whatever it takes to goose the market.

Over in Cape Coral, near Fort Myers, an equity investment firm is selling new homes starting at $86,000.

“They got the creditors to agree to sell at a 40 percent discount across the board. Since then, virtually all the homes have been sold, indicating there are buyers out there for Florida real-estate, but at the right price,” market analyst Jack McCabe told Florida Trend magazine.

Do you feel your property value plummeting?

Michael Grunwald, writing recently in Time magazine, quoted a Miami real-estate sharpie who runs an outfit appropriately named Condo Vultures.

“Eventually, Florida is going to grow again,” predicted Peter Zalewski.

To which Grunwald muses: “The question is whether Florida will grow up.”

The Sunshine State’s relentless boom-and-bust economy has been fueled by real-estate speculation, starting when land was sold by the gallon (a subject with which Grunwald, author of “The Swamp,” is intimately familiar).

Now that there are 18 million-plus Floridians — most of them living south of Orlando — it’s increasingly obvious that a construction industry on steroids is as unhealthy and unsustainable as a mountaintop coal mine. Relying on residential development for continued prosperity is like building a house of cards in a hurricane. 

Few politicians will admit this. Their go-along-to-get-along attitude enables the scrape-and-sell game to continue. They depend on it for their financial support.

Florida Hometown Democracy is the “growing up” Grunwald speaks of. It’s the realization that pliable politicians — incumbent or newcomer — cannot be the ultimate answer. It should be painfully apparent by now that our elected officials are neither endowed with special insights nor unique intelligence.

The voice of the people, ratifying or rejecting via referendum, is the purest form of local governance. Hometown Democracy is the check and balance that’s been missing. That’s why fed-up Floridians keep signing. They’re tired of being treated like children.



WAYS TO HELP
Click on the picture below to visit Hometown Democracy where registered Florida voters can sign the petition and get involved:

Click here to visit Hometown Democracy on MySpace.
Not registered to vote? Click here.