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SWFL ENews:
Aug 23 / go to archive


BIG CYPRESS

Seeing the Big Picture
Janice Paine /Naples Daily News /Aug 19
Through Oct. 1, local viewers can take in a broad selection of Butcher's work from various times and places, in the comfort and safety of the Naples Art Association's von Liebig Art Center. ...

Research Suggests Fitness of Florida Panthers Improved by Limited Breeding With Texas Animals
Monte Basgall /AScribe /Aug 2005
Hybrid kittens born to panthers brought into the area from Texas have "about a three times higher chance of becoming adults as do purebred ones," reports a paper planned for publication in January 2006 in the British journal Animal Conservation. "Hybrids are expanding the known range of habitats panthers occupy and use," the paper adds. In view of the paper's importance for management decisions, i ...

With Fresh Blood, Inbred Florida Panthers Rebound
Robert Roy Britt /Live Science /Aug 18
A controversial breeding program has improved the genetic diversity of inbred Florida panthers and the endangered animals are on the rebound, scientists announced today.Yet while the hybrid cats are spreading their range, they're not out of the woods yet. ...

Bears Squeezed Out of Habitat
Tom Palmer /The Ledger /Aug 17
They're coming from what is known as the Big Cypress population, which extends from Big Cypress Swamp east of Naples north into southern Highlands County. Development is squeezing available bear habitat. ...

Mudd identifies new funding sources for Naples Zoo land
Laura Layden /Naples Daily News /Aug 17
He showed faith that the county can find enough money to rescue the Naples Zoo and keep a chunk of nearby land out of the hands of developers. He's identified another $24 million to $27 million that could come from a variety of sources to help seal the deal. That may include $5 million from the Big Cypress Basin, the local water management arm of the South Florida Water Management District, if the ...

Scientists credit cougers for panthers
AP /St Pete Times /Aug 22
The Florida panther, near extinction a decade ago, is rebounding and increasing its range, and scientists say the introduction of Texas cougars is helping restore the panther's population. ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Tourism industry fights for clean water
DT Minich /The News-Press /Aug 13
A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Gopal Pati for encouraging local residents to share their concerns related to freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee ("Ecological groups must end silence," Aug. 2).The issues surrounding Lake Okeechobee management are complex; the bureaucracy is multi-layered and the solutions are costly. ...

Scientist looks prescient as algae blooms in river
Editorial /Naples Daily News /Aug 12
Yet, an alarm sounded by a respected scientist now grows even more remarkable. At first, last week's warning from Richard Harvey of the U.S. Envrionmental Protection Agency, that proposed reservoirs for stormwater runoff could breed pollution such as oxygen-devouring blue-green algae rather than just hold excess water for future use, struck us as a tip for getting the job done correctly. ...

Algae bloom found in Lake Okeechobee; may be in Lee
Chad Gillis /Naples Daily News /Aug 18
A toxic algae bloom that caused Martin County Health Department officials to warn residents there to avoid contact with the St. Lucie River was found in Lake Okeechobee this week and could be in the Caloosahatchee River, state officials said Wednesday. ...

County pursues mitigation credit for purchase of sensitive land
Charlie Whitehead /Naples Daily News /Aug 17
The banks are basically large tracts of impacted lands that private companies restore to a more pristine state in return for mitigation credits. They then sell those credits to private developers or government entities. Collier County was paying $35,000 per credit to Panther Island. The county bid mitigation credits a year ago at closer to $25,000 each. The contract Lee had negotiated with Corkscr ...

Scientists: Gulf dead zone big as Collier County
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Aug 22
The oxygen-deprived waters off the coasts of Louisiana and west-central Florida both are caused by runaway phytoplankton blooms. But that's where their similarities end, scientists say. Two weeks ago, Florida researchers found very little or no oxygen at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico about 10 miles offshore from Sarasota County north to Hernando County. The area might be affecting up to 2,162 s ...

Virulent algae creates red tide of death
Cara Buckley /Miami Herald /Aug 22
''There is a serious concern that coastal pollution is enhancing red tides, but it's not as obvious as people would like to think,'' Pierce said. ``We need more research to go on.''Along with its contested origins, another vexing aspect of red tide is that there is no known way to reverse it. Suggestions have included infusing the water with ozone, which could kill everything, or dumping out vats ...

Red tide update
staff /Herald Tribune /Aug 2005
To obtain updates, go to the FWRI Web site, www.floridamarine.org and click on Red Tide Status for Southwest Florida and Offshore Red Tide Associated Mortalities and FWRI Event rEsponse. ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Water managers dispute scientist's claims
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Aug 17
A federal scientist who warned that proposed water storage areas around Lake Okeechobee could trigger toxic algae blooms based his criticism on shaky science, state and federal water managers said Tuesday. Richard Harvey, one of the state's top officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said in a recent e-mail to his colleagues that the reservoirs could turn into a breeding ground fo ...

Algae raises stink in Sewall's Point
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 17
The blue-green algae blanketing the St. Lucie River has turned toxic, state tests determined Tuesday, leading Martin County health officials to expand a health advisory against contact with the waterway. The entire river from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie Inlet was deemed off-limits in an effort to avoid illnesses such as skin rashes, runny noses and eye irritation. ...

Enormous policy shift needed for rivers
Sarah Heard /TCPalm /Aug 16
My top priority as county commissioner continues to be the restoration of healthy rivers and estuaries in Martin County. Conditions in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon have never been worse. Massive discharges of nutrient-loaded, possibly toxic, and muck-filled water from Lake Okeechobee have been dumped, against our will, into our estuaries. ...

Senator Nelson to get firsthand look, smell of algae in St. Lucie Estuary
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 16
Nelson will use the planned trip to push the Senate to pass the Water Resources and Development Act, which includes authorization of the $1.2 billion local Everglades restoration effort known as the Indian River Lagoon plan, Gulley added. ...

Lake O troubles may go to court
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 14
Drawing on the experience of 50 years of previous legal attempts, members of the Rivers Coalition are meeting weekly with local attorneys to develop a case and raise money. This year, there are two differences that work in the activists' favor: • New legal precedent has been established in other water management cases throughout the state. • With more than 1.6 billion gallons of lake water flowing ...

St. Lucie River in crisis
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 13
Toxicity results for the St. Lucie Estuary are expected next week, while health officials continue to warn residents to avoid contact with any visible algae. That warning renders most of the estuary off limits to human contact. ...

Seminole ranching tradition struggles to stay alive
John Holland /Sun Sentinel /Aug 18
Today, the Seminole Tribe operates the fourth largest cattle operation in Florida, shipping 5,000 6-month-old calves in the past month to buyers around the country, where they will be raised another 18 months before slaughter. They also have one of the nation's most high-tech beef operations, anchored by a computer microchip system that tracks cattle from "from birth to burger." ...

Sen. Nelson takes look at St. Lucie River algae
Jason Nuttle /TCPalm /Aug 18
Leaning over the edge of a boat floating in the St. Lucie River, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson filled a plastic bottle with water sparkling with neon- green algae. "Look at that — green water," he said, holding the bottle up to the sun. "That's not what Mother Nature intended. I bet you won't find any fish down there." ...

Research gap clouds risk from toxic algae
Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /Aug 21
"It's just not as high profile as some other blooms, like red tide," said John Berry, a University of Miami scientist who specializes in marine biology and fisheries. "When you think of red tide, it affects people on beaches — fish are washing up, people are coughing, they have stinging eyes — and there's more of a push to study red tide."Toxic strains of microcystis, by contrast, don't appear to ...

Diving into water politics
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 21
Top on the political agenda for every Treasure Coast representative is the passage of the federal Water Resources and Development Act, which would authorize $1.2 billion in local Everglades restoration projects. ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Martin commissioners show St. Lucie River muck, algae in Washington
Amie Parnes /TCPalm /Aug 12
One day after state water managers were treated to the sight of muck and algae by activists protesting the condition of the St. Lucie River, Martin County officials took the same tactic to the federal level to stress the importance of Everglades restoration. ...

Environmental permit denied for Harmony Ranch project in Martin
George Andreassi /TCPalm /Aug 19
The controversial Harmony Ranch project suffered a setback Thursday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refused to allow residential development on a section of the land designated for an Everglades restoration project. "The proposed project is contrary to the public interest," Army Col. Robert Carpenter said. "Placing houses in this area is inconsistent with the purpose of the proposed federal ...

Drainage issues part of Fla. history
MaryAnn Morris /Okeechobee News /Aug 2005
The Cuban Revolution in the 1960s stopped sugar imports from that now Communist country.But the mass exodus of people from Cuba brought sugar growing expertise, and the American sugar supply was once more secure. ...

Residents want New River restored to its old glory
Darran Simon /Miami Herald /Aug 22
Now residents of Northwest Fort Lauderdale, members of Audubon of Florida and the water district are working to restore the river's water quality. ...

Water quality questions answered by Army Corps of Engineers commander
Staff /TCPalm /Aug 19
for Col. Robert Carpenter, being commander of the Army Corps of Engineers' Jacksonville district is a constant series of battles. He must balance keeping floodwaters from homes built on land that once was a swamp with managing a large, complex environmental system — all the while dealing with the constant drumbeat of residents tired of waterways filled with polluted water, dead oyster beds, toxic ...

Revolution needed for Everglades
Karl Wickstrom /TCPalm /Aug 21
Some folks are asking why we can't do the same thing to stop the drainage machine that allows sugar farming. Sugar fields replace the naturally wet Everglades. The drainage causes horribly polluted water to be sent east and west, where it inflicts countless millions of dollars of damages. Blue-green algae is the latest scourge. Stop the big drain and you stop sugar. ...

Seeking solutions to complex problems
Robert M. Carpenter /TCPalm /Aug 20
Ed Killer's column, "River takes another turn for worst," woefully misconstrues the meaning of my comment during last week's interview at the South Florida Water Management District. ...

Wildlife groups file suit to protect endangered snail kite
staff /Naples Daily News /Aug 22
Citing a need to protect the endangered Everglades snail kite, the National Wildlife Federation and Florida Wildlife Federation filed suit today in federal district court in Washington, D.C., against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, accusing the agency of violating the Endangered Species Act. ...

New Glades Plan: 2 bridges
Curtis Morgan /Miami Herald /Aug 23
A new plan to overhaul Tamiami Trail, an asphalt dam across the Everglades for almost 90 years, envisions two bridges to help the River of Grass flow freely again. ...



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