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SWFL ENews:
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BIG CYPRESS

Planners set to begin design work on Estates restoration project
ERIC STAATS /Naples Daily News /January 8, 2005
The massive project to restore natural water flows to Southern Golden Gate Estates is set to enter a new phase in 2005. After years of writing reports about the restoration and buying up land for the project, planners will be putting pencil to paper to design the details of how to build the project. ...

State forces court date for rural landowner to give up property
ROBERTO SANTIAGO /Miami Herald /Jan. 17, 2005
Long-time Collier County land owner Jesse James Hardy has a showdown with a state judge early next month to determine whether the government can force him off his 160 acres of mosquito-infested property. ...

Walking catfish not as bad for Florida as once thought
NEIL SANTANIELLO /Miami Herald /Jan. 16, 2005
Thirty-seven years later, that Frankenfish fear has yet to pan out, said Paul Shafland, director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Non-Native Fish Research Lab in Boca ...

Landowners sue Collier over plans for Estates roads
ERIC STAATS /Naples Daily News /January 15, 200
Three landowners are suing Collier County over its decision to turn over roads in Southern Golden Gate Estates to the state to make way for an Everglades restoration project. ...

ATV enthusiasts protest land-use restrictions in rally at Picayune
TRACY X. MIGUEL /Naples Daily News /January 9, 2005
More than 100 people rallied beside Everglades Boulevard at the Interstate 75 overpass in Golden Gate Estates to write letters to state officials protesting land-use restrictions in the Picayune State Forest. "No one locally is listening," said Eric Schrack, 42. ...

Tortoises slow work at Lake Trafford
KEVIN LOLLAR /The News-Press /Jan 13, 2005
The residents were about 20 gopher tortoises, listed by the state as a species of special concern. They were relocated to a part of the property not affected by the project. ...

Cleaning up Naples Bay begins with small steps
John Sorey /Naples Daily News /January 16, 200
To judge the condition of Naples Bay at this moment, I use a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is the worst it could be. It is, in my opinion, a 5 or 6. That is good progress, considering that it rated a 2 before the sewage treatment plant was upgraded ...

No practical joke
SUSAN COCKING /Miami Herald /Jan. 13, 2005
Thoroughly assured that people really do hunt snipe, I brought in photographer Dave Walters, and we accompanied Fernandez on his hunt Saturday off the Loop Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve. ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Crabbers recruited for lake study
KEVIN LOLLAR /The News-Press /Jan 18, 2005
Now, two scientists from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Marine Laboratory are enlisting crabbers for a project to determine whether anecdotal evidence can be proved scientifically. Blue crabs are a marine species that can live in a wide range of salinity, or salty water, but scientists don't know exactly how a sudden reduction of salinity affects them. ...

Babcock buy will now cost $480M
JOHN HAUGHEY /sun herald /01/15/05
How much does a six-month delay cost in a contemporary Southwest Florida real estate transaction? In the case of the 142-square-mile Babcock Ranch, try 7 percent -- or $30 million. ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

PARKS, EVERGLADES | Funding earmarked
Bruce Ritchie /herald /Jan. 19, 2005
Florida's state land-buying program and Everglades restoration continue to receive funding, and state parks get a big boost under Gov. Jeb Bush's proposed 2005-06 state budget. ...

The Nature Conservancy
Jill Austin /Press Release /Jan 2005
The Nature Conservancy Praises Gov. Bush’s Commitment to ConservationProposed budget includes full funding for conservation programs.The release of Gov. Jeb Bush’s proposed budget today reflects his long-standing commitment to acquiring Florida’s conservation lands. ...

Environmental advocates converge on Naples for Everglades Coalition
ERIC STAATS /Naples Daily News /January 13, 200
More than 400 scientists, politicians and state and federal agency leaders are expected to attend the 20th annual meeting of the Everglades Coalition, a 45-member alliance of environmental groups from around South Florida and the nation. The Conservancy of Southwe ...

Debate continues over the nitrogen issue in Everglades
CATHY ZOLLO /Naples Daily News /January 16, 200
But Brand contends that while the plants take up the phosphorus, they have little use for the tons of nitrogen in the runoff. That's because the black peat soil is already rich with the stuff. As well, he says, nitrogen content in the runoff is about 200 times higher than phosphorus. ...

Everglades restoration is on track
ROMAN GASTESI Jr /Miami Herald /Jan. 15, 2005
Why the gloom-and-doom headline when writing about the environment (Ecological efforts bear little fruit, Jan. 2)? Last year was a time of building foundations to support one of the largest environmental-restoration projects ever undertaken, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). ...

Urban sprawl blamed for risk to nature
CURTIS MORGAN /Miami Herald /Jan. 13, 2005
A national environmental report says sprawl in South Florida is putting rare plants and animals in increasing peril. Dade ranks No. 8 on the list. ...

State says backcountry airboats are necessary
Unknown /Fl Keys /Jan 2005
The State of Florida owns most of the near-shore sea bottom in the Keys, but determining exactly where the water ends and privately owned terra firma begins is harder than it sounds. Some places that are completely dry at low tide might actually be owned by the state because they are, on average, covered by water. ...

Gulf of Mexico tsunami unlikely, but hurricane damage would be similar
Unknown /USAToday /Jan 2005
Hurricane Ivan's storm surge along the Alabama coast was 10 to 12 feet in height. However, since the levees around New Orleans would trap the water, and much of the city is below sea level, water would have been deeper than that. ...



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