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SWFL ENews:
Oct 19 / go to archive


BIG CYPRESS

Presence of pythons a slithering concern
KEvin Lollar /The News Press /Oct 17
"This is all we need," said Ed Carlson, manager of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, an important wading bird rookery and nesting colony in Collier County. "I've never seen one here, but that doesn't mean they're not on their way. ...

Green profits: Landowners banking on rural lands program
Gina Edwards /Naples Daily News /Oct 16
Taylor and his partners, including descendants of the Pepper family who have owned the ranch since the 1920s, could be the first landowners who put credits up for sale on an open market. They plan to submit their application for stewardship credits to Collier County officials this week. ...

I-75 project years away
Denes Husty III /The News Press /Oct 11
An interchange at Alligator Alley and Everglades Boulevard would provide a needed escape route for more than 10,000 Golden Gate Estates residents if they have to evacuate their homes because of a hurricane or forest fire, officials said.But although officials agree the interchange, projected to cost in excess of $25 million, is needed ...

Water experts endorse plan for citywide sewer system
ROGER LALONDE /Naples Daily News /Oct 19
The city and experts support the advancement of an islandwide sewer system to replace septic systems, Joel said. He particularly spoke of concern with septic system usage during the busy winter season, adding that the off-season also presents a problem because septic systems are underused and take time to respond well when residents are here on a less frequent schedule. ...

Florida panther data reassessed
Guy Gugliotta /Orlando Sentinel /Oct 17
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reached for the "best available science'' to help the endangered Florida panther survive the condos encroaching on its forest habitat, it turned out the "best available'' wasn't very good at all. Among other things, efforts to define the nocturnal cats' habitat were all done during the daytime, says fisheries and wildlife scientist Michael Vaughan of Virgin ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Wide net is cast for fishing solutions
Georgia Tasker /Miami Herald /Oct 17
``Redfish were taken off the commercial market in 1988 and they were put under very strict limits. We now have a huge redfish population and we didn't have any closed areas to do that. The problem is the federal government has been mismanaging fisheries for years.'' ...

Corps seeks river solution
Larry Wheeler /The News Press /Oct 7
A key Army Corps of Engineers official agreed Thursday to meet with South Florida officials to address releases of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee into rivers such as the Caloosahatchee. ...

Reject Jeb's 'compromise' on offshore oil drilling
Editorial /Palm Beach Post /Oct 7
In 2002, when Gov. Bush was up for reelection, he was "incredibly proud" of the deal he made with his brother to prevent further oil and gas drilling off the state's fragile Gulf Coast beaches. But there are no elections this year, and the governor has bowed to pressure from the White House and the energy industry. The state's congressional delegation must resist what the governor calls a compromi ...

Don't extort counties over water
Opinion /The News Press /Oct 5
Both counties believe they are being treated like dumping grounds for excess water.If you think Lee County has a tense relationship with the South Florida Water Management District over discharges from Lake Okeechobee, look across the state at Martin County. ...

Estero Bay receives an oyster reef assist
Kevin Lollar /The News Press /Oct 16
Lined up in waste-deep water, volunteers passed bags full of oyster shells from person to person to the site that would become the reef.In all, they placed 12,000 pounds of oyster shells — 400 bags containing 30 pounds each — at two different sites. ...

Saltwater fish face uncertain future
GEORGIA TASKER /Miami Herald /Oct 16
A 50-year worldwide fishing frenzy has wiped out the best fish, and many we eat today would have been rejected as trash a generation ago. Much of the fish we eat in Florida is not caught here, but comes from other countries. ...

Lee gives water managers deadline for Lake O releases
Jamie Page /The News Press /Oct 19
Lee County commissioners are giving water managers two weeks to come up with a six-month plan for water releases to get Lake Okeechobee to a safe level. ...

State to buy 74,000 acres of Babcock
staff /Sun Herald /Oct 19
Come next July, the state may get into the ranching business.Charlotte County may get a new water supply.The public may get a place to hunt, hike and camp.And panthers, herons and gopher tortoises may have a protected place to live -- next to a new city of 45,000 called Babcock. ...

Tentative deal struck for Babcock Ranch land
AP /Orlando Sentinel /Oct 19
The Department of Environmental Protection said it agreed to buy about 74,000 acres of the Babcock Ranch property from Kitson and Partners Inc., which would provide a green corridor from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico. Officials envision the land being kept undeveloped as a habitat for endangered species but available for outdoor recreational use. ...

Damage can be reversed
Opinion /The News Press /Oct 19
The effort to build oyster reefs in Estero Bay is an example of how we can regain some of the area's natural vitality.It's better to protect the environment before it's damaged, but that doesn't mean we have to accept damage as irreversible. ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Political clout boosting aid for Okeechobee
Suzanne Wentley /Sun Sentinel /Oct 16
What do Big Sugar, St. Lucie River activists and state Sen. Ken Pruitt have in common?According to Tallahassee insiders, each voice grew loud enough during the past year to encourage Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday to make an unprecedented $200 million commitment to clean up Lake Okeechobee and its downstream estuaries. ...

Pruitt made push for Lake O cleanup
Suzane Wentley /TCPalm /Oct 16
Indeed, river and lake advocates said the announcement clearly was a culmination of political work that began with last year's hurricanes and ended with a coast full of residents upset as local waterways became an algae-filled health hazard. ...

Water district to lower Lake Okeechobee's water level
Kate Spinner /Naples Daily News /Oct 13
The water level in Lake Okeechobee will drop for good, soon. That was the hope expressed by the South Florida Water Management District's board of governors Wednesday, when the board approved a resolution to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up plans to keep the lake more shallow. ...

There oughta be a law to save Lake Okeechobee
Editorial /Palm Beach Post /Oct 12
All the ideas are good, even if it took Gov. Bush more than six years to care about Lake Okeechobee. South Florida Water Management District Director Carol Wehle is correct that her agency has a "moral responsibility" to meet these new self-imposed cleanup deadlines. But missing in this lovefest of good intentions is legislation to codify the cleanup plan, ensure that it will get the state money i ...

Okeechobee Needs A Helping Hand
Frank Sargeant /Tampa Tribune /Oct 12
Gov. Bush's just-announced initiative to clean up Lake Okeechobee is welcome, but long overdue.The giant lake was once the crown jewel of Florida's bass fishing empire, but a long history of environmental insults have come close to ruining it -- repeatedly. ...

Martin County's $27M to aid river
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Oct 12
Usually people don't give $27 million to those they're considering suing. But on Tuesday, Martin County commissioners voted to sign over the remaining balance of the Healthy Rivers sales tax revenue to the South Florida Water Management District for construction of a reservoir and two stormwater treatment areas. ...

Fla. Announces Okeechobee Cleanup Plan
Curt Anderson /Washington Post /Oct 10
A $200 million plan to restore the Southeast's largest freshwater lake includes expanded reservoirs, new marshes and permanently lower lake levels, Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday. ...

Locals: lake plan too late
Lorna Jablonski /NewsZap /Oct 2005
According to state studies, the combined storage and phosphorus reduction benefits are estimated at 48,000 acre feet and 65 to 75 metric tons.These projects are estimated to be complete by the year 2009. There are other long-term projects that will be completed from 2007 through 2015.Many local citizens, businessmen, politicians and anglers were present to hear what would be done to specifically h ...

Gov. Bush expected to announce Okeechobee initiative
Michael Peltier /Naples Daily News /Oct 10
The often-forgotten stepchild to Everglades restoration efforts, the lake has suffered a death by a thousand cuts as agricultural pollution, development and flood control necessities have changed the lake's natural ecosystem. In turn, the lake has caused damage of its own as it passes its polluted rain-soaked excess into rivers including the Caloosahatchee River in Lee County. ...

Bush announces plan to clean up Lake Okeechobee
Curt Anderson /Bradenton Herald /Oct 10
A $200 million restoration plan for the largest freshwater lake in the Southeast will include expansion of water storage reservoirs, construction of marshes to cleanse polluted waters and permanent lowering of lake levels to reduce unhealthy discharges, Gov. Jeb Bush announced Monday. ...

Lake Okeechobee failing
MATTHEW RATAJCZAK /TCPalm /Oct 9
"We've never seen it like this," Head said. "The hurricanes didn't cause the problem on Lake Okeechobee. The hurricanes showed us how bad the problem was on Lake Okeechobee." ...

Lake Okeechobee initiative shrouded in mystery
Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /Oct 6
"What we need is a completely new schedule for the lake, not just a modification of the schedule we have now," he said. "We need a fresh look at the lake." ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

How to kill a perfectly good Florida river
CARL HIAASEN /Miami Herald /Oct 9
The killing of the St. Lucie River is deplorable but hardly unique. Other Florida rivers are being destroyed, although the symptoms aren't so arresting. ...

The Everglades - Water, bird and man
staff /The Economist /Oct 6
The project, in other words, is an attempt to manage the environment back to health. As Bob Johnson, the chief scientist of Everglades National Park, puts it, “it is not a restoration plan as such. It is really an integrated watershed management plan.” That is why it is complicated and costly. ...

Everglades restoration's cost jumps $2.1 billion
Robert P King /Palm Beach Post /Oct 6
Just like insuring your house and fueling your car, restoring the Everglades is getting more expensive — $10.5 billion, to be exact.That's the federal government's latest estimated price for the Everglades restoration, a project that originally was supposed to cost $7.5 billion when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District unveiled it seven years ago. The co ...



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