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SWFL ENews:
Apr 2 / go to archive


BIG CYPRESS

Hendry County proposals worry environmentalists
By ERIC STAATS /Naples Daily News /March 27, 2005
Hendry County's big open spaces are a world away from the high-rise condominiums and gated golf course communities closer to Southwest Florida's coast. ...

Protect the panther
OPINION /Miami Herald /Mar. 24, 2005
The Florida panther is having enough trouble holding on to its habitat without flawed research from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that puts it in further peril. ...

Jesse Hardy, state agree to mediation session April 12
By ERIC STAATS /Naples Daily News /March 31, 2005
Holdout landowner Jesse Hardy does not agree with the state Department of Environmental Protection on much of anything. The two sides have agreed, though, on a new mediator to try to work out their differences. ...

Lake Trafford restoration work on schedule despite gopher tortoises' removal
By ERIC STAATS /Naples Daily News /March 31, 2005
Gopher tortoises have given way to bulldozers at a huge construction site for Lake Trafford restoration. ...

Swamp Sanctuary Preserves Wetlands
By Tori Durliat /Water and Wastewater/Mar 31, 2005
New culverts offer environmental advantages for a natural sanctuary in Naples, Florida. ...

FLORIDA FWS BIOLOGISTS ORDERED TO APPROVE ALL DEVELOPMENT
Chas Offutt /PEER /Mar 30, 2005
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service orders its biologists to approve all development projects in south Florida regardless of the consequences to wildlife, according to a letter by 20 current and former agency scientists released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Water costs soar
PAMELA SMITH HAYFORD /NEWS-PRESS /March 30, 2005
Demand for water — thought to be unlimited and cheap — is rising faster than scientists predicted. ...

Bay Days focuses on marine cleanup
By Brooke Huff /Marco Island Sun Tim/03/31/2005
Keep Collier Beautiful has recruited volunteers from local businesses and organizations to help raise awareness of keeping area coastal waters clean. ...

Project will control water flow
By Nada Taha /Orlando Sentinal /Mar 2005
The South Florida Water Management District is getting ready to build two reservoirs that will help regulate the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, said Bill Graf of the water management agency. ...

Scientists update red tide information
By Carol Glassman /Marco Island Sun Tim/03/31/2005
On March 25, the Rookery Bay Estuarine Research Reserve welcomed Dr. Richard H. Pierce, director of the Center for Eco-Toxicology, at the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota. ...

FGCU scientists to take new tack on red tide research
Ochoa and Gillis /Naples Daily News /March 30, 2005
Scientists at Florida Gulf Coast University will receive a $250,000 federal grant to take red tide research beyond traditional methods, although critics say the money may be wasted if a "miracle" cure cannot be found. ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Lake Okeechobee's worsening health spurs comparisons to Lake Apopka
By Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /March 25, 2005
Pointing to Lake Okeechobee's deteriorating health, scientists are making comparisons to Lake Apopka, one of Florida's most infamous failed ecosystems. ...

Water managers to increase releases from Lake O
By Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post Staf/March 25, 2005
Water managers announced plans Thursday to turn up the volume on releases from Lake Okeechobee, raising fears among St. Lucie River advocates that the discharges could endanger oysters and fish in the estuary. ...

Judge orders new limits on Okeechobee pollution
By David Fleshler /Sun Sentinal /March 24, 2005
A judge ordered the state on Wednesday to develop new pollution limits for streams flowing into Lake Okeechobee, which could mean tougher environmental rules for dairy farms and cattle ranches. ...

Engineers Take New Look At Okeechobee Dike
staff /WPBFNews /March 28, 2005
It is the second largest fresh water lake in North America, but if you've ever visited Lake Okeechobee chances are you would have a devil of a time finding the lake. ...

Helping Okeechobee, rivers is a delicate balancing act
Editorial /TCPalm /March 29, 2005
Lake Okeechobee is in trouble. Its waters are coffee colored, filled with phosphorus blown up from the bottom by the hurricanes of 2004 and aggravated by the recent heavy rains, its fresh water grasses are dying for lack of sunlight, and the little fish that feed on them are starving. ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Lagoon project awaits action
By Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /March 27, 2005
It took nearly a decade for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design a plan to restore the Indian River Lagoon. The cost: about $6 million. Yet the $1.2 billion plan still hasn't been submitted to Congress. ...

Hold the line on rural, open lands
Opinion /Miami Herald /Mar. 27, 2005
If you think the congestion on South Florida's roads and the overcrowding in schools are bad today, just imagine how much worse they will become if the Miami-Dade County Commission yields to pressure to move the Urban Development Boundary line. Such a decision would open vast tracts of open land to development that would encroach even farther on the Everglades ...

River group considers new tactic for funding
By Suzanne Wentley /The Stuart News /Mar 2005
St. Lucie River advocates frequently mention the $50 million raised by Martin County's "Healthy Rivers" sales tax when lobbying for state and federal funding for Everglades restoration. ...

Land buy is linked to state money
BY CURTIS MORGAN /Miami Herald /Mar. 26, 2005
Two Miami-Dade County lawmakers, concerned about exploding development on the borders of Biscayne Bay and the Everglades, are hoping to get $25 million from the state to speed up land buys. ...

Endangered crocs rebound; protective status may change
By David Fleshler /orlandosentinel /March 26, 2005
The American crocodile, once among the most imperiled animals in the United States, has rebounded so robustly the federal government has announced plans to cease classifying it as endangered. ...

Funds for Preservation 2000 Hijacked?
staff /Unknown /March 2005
Several state senators have proposed “to raid” the Preservation 2000 Fund, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Voters created the fund in 1990 to purchase pristine land in Florida. ...

High-tech vessel brings wave of data on bay
BY CURTIS MORGAN /Miami Herald /Mar. 29, 2005
''The way the fresh water is delivered to the bay is very different than it was 50 or 60 years ago,'' ...

Land buy a good plan
Op-Ed /Miami Herald /Mar. 31, 2005
An ironic aftermath of the four major hurricanes that crisscrossed Florida in 2004 is that the rebuilding has generated millions of tax dollars in nonrecurring revenue. Some quick-thinking South Florida lawmakers want to tap into this windfall by seeking $25 million to buy undeveloped land linked to Everglades restoration projects. Goodfor them. ...



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