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Dec 23 / go to archive


BIG CYPRESS

IS BIG CYPRESS RIGHT TERRAIN FOR ATVs?
Byron Stout /Gannett News Service/Dec 18
It's the season for 226,000 hunters to suit up and head out into Florida's great outdoors -- about 5.5 million acres of public lands equal in size to New Jersey. ...

County planners support project for eco-tourism site
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Dec 16
Mitch House wanted to open an attraction where tourists can take a bus or a pontoon boat deep into the wilds near the Everglades. But first, Collier County planners wanted House's landlord to set aside nearly 20 acres of marshes for permanent protection. House, a 41-year-old who speaks with an unmistakable Florida drawl, argued that the protection should be erased when his lease on the property en ...

Residents near Big Cypress urge Park Service to lift some boating limits
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Dec 13
Everglades City residents called on the federal government Monday to open the western edge of Big Cypress National Preserve to unrestricted boating, arguing that their way of life depends on it. ...

Village might see more limits on airboats
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Dec 12
"We don't have a beach," said Jay, who has lived on a canal in Plantation Island for about a decade. "The only thing down here really is fishing and the water. Transportation on the water is the most important thing." The president of Plantation Island's property owners association took matters into his own hands, drafting a two-page rebuttal to the Park Service's plan. ...

DEP gives Hardy extension to move out
Eric Staats /Naples Daily News /Dec 1
Jesse Hardy's days as a holdout living in the woods in Southern Golden Gate Estates were supposed to be over today. Instead, the state Department of Environmental Protection has given Hardy until Jan. 4 to move out and make way for an Everglades restoration project, DEP press secretary Anthony De Luise said Wednesday. ...

For a roadside relic, Wilma hastens a revival
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Nov 27
In its heyday, the two-story, clapboard-covered building was the only place between Naples and Miami where weary travelers could grab a bite to eat, gas up or make a phone call. But when the oasis finally closed in the early 1990s, it fell into the hands of the National Park Service. ...

Popular berries lead to poaching in parks
Sophia Santana /Palm Beach Post /Nov 26
People scour the state in search of the dwarfish trees so they can harvest the berries by the bushel and sell them for a couple of quarters per pound to a wholesaler or pill manufacturer. The problem is that many of these pickers are sneaking into state and national parks and stripping the palmettos there, where it's illegal and hurts the fragile ecosystems."A lot of the wildlife depend on the ber ...

Python Pete hunts non-native snakes
Jamie Yuccas /News /Nov 23
Burmese pythons are slithering their way into south Florida's state parks, but they're not supposed to be there. Over the last two years, the non-native reptiles have found their way into Big Cypress National Preserve, Collier Seminole State Park, and hundreds have been spotted in Everglades National Park. Biologists are using an unusual tool to combat the problem."They're clearly breeding, if not ...

Alternative plans for recreation, conservation at Big Cypress spark debate
Neil Santaniello /Sun Sentinel /Nov 21
A fight over future public recreation inside two huge pieces of Big Cypress National Preserve will likely heat up as conservationists with and without hunting rifles react to new management proposals for the lands.The National Park Service recently released five preliminary alternatives for preservation and public use inside the two swaths of wilderness totaling 146,000 acres, dubbed the Addition ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Babcock plan nears fruition
Aaron Deslatte /News-Press /Nov 23
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet made environmental history Tuesday by agreeing to buy and preserve 80 percent of the 92,000-acre Babcock Ranch.The $350 million agreement would provide a final, massive link to a collection of preserves stretching from Charlotte and Lee counties to Lake Okeechobee. The state has been trying to buy the property for four years. ...

Think extreme to protect estuaries
Editorial /News-Press /Nov 05
It’s time to consider more radical steps to protect coastal estuaries from releases of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee, including the flooding of some of the farmland around the lake. ...

Wood storks making return to area
Kate Spinner /Naples Daily News /Nov 20
"A wood stork is a top predator and they're an indicator. They're an indicator of the health and well-being of the ecosystem we live in," said Ed Carlson, executive director of the Corkscew Swamp Sanctuary. This is the time of year when wood storks soar into Soutwest Florida to scope out their fishing grounds. If the fishing is good, they'll eventually pair up and build nests. ...

Naples Bay fails to make the grade
Eric Staats /Naples Daily News /Dec 19
A report card on the health of Southwest Florida estuaries gives Naples Bay and Estero Bay the lowest grades. ...

Councilman promotes artificial habitats as help for Naples Bay
Eric Staats /Naples Daily News /Nov 25
Naples Councilman John Nocera spent almost $1,000 to buy 45 of the artificial habitats from the concessionaire at the Fort Myers Beach Pier and is giving them away on a first-come, first-serve basis to waterfront residents who want to hang them from their docks. ...

City Ponders purchase of conservation collier land
Denise Zoldan /Naples Daily News /Dec 21
The landlocked, undevelopable parcel of mangroves lies just east of where the city's Community Services Department is located on the Gordon River. It was part of a settlement agreement with the Collier Development Corp. when the Hamilton Harbor community and its boat docks were approved in 2003. ...

Caloosahatchee Oxbow: Life replenished, River flows through Oxbow #24
Patty Brant /NewsZap /Dec 21
Oxbow 24, a demonstration project, is the first of its kind on the Caloosahatchee. It partnered RiverWatch, Hendry County and the oxbow’s adjacent landowners in an effort to improve the habitat and reclaim the lost natural balance between the river and the wildlife that relies on it. ...

One river's health critical
Editorial /Naples Daily News /Dec 17
The health of the Caloosahatchee River appears to get a new line on its resume each week. The latest stories, one about manatee deaths and the other about creosote-treated pilings, continue to reveal just how important the health of the river is to Southwest Florida. ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Guest columnist: Water entering Lake O from north is real issue
Judy Sanchez /TCPalm /Dec 18
There is a lingering misperception that farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area are somehow responsible for the problems in Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie estuary and therefore, farmers — particularly sugar farmers — should have to suffer the consequences. Certain groups are deliberately fostering this falsehood. ...

State leaders hear views on St. Lucie River's health
Jim Turner /TCPalm /Dec 17
Improving the health of the St. Lucie River and the future of the proposed Indian Street Bridge were among the top items area residents and officials say should be on the mind of the local Legislative delegates. The need to improve the condition of area waterways and funding for the $200 million bridge connecting Stuart to Palm City drew the most comments from the more than 50 people — representin ...

Drop in Lake O releases proposed
Kevin Lollar /News Press /Dec 15
To protect the health of the lake and the dike surrounding the lake, the South Florida Water Management District and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to release water down the Caloosahatchee at 6,500 cubic feet, or 48,623 gallons, per second until the lake level falls to 16.25 inches. The level dropped to 16.27 inches Tuesday, and the district recommended the Corps reduce releases to 4,500 cub ...

Murky Okeechobee may cloud economy
Susan Cocking /Mercury News /Dec 14
Mike Surman was disgusted. The Boca Raton bass pro and TV fishing show host lowered his glimmering spinnerbait an inch below the brown, murky surface of Lake Okeechobee, and the lure became invisible. ...

Until sugar fields crumble, it's no Lake Okeechobee fix
Rick Diamond /News Press /Dec 13
The proposal is unrealistic, but you have to admire Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah for advocating flooding the sugar fields to avoid excessive, polluted water releases from Lake Okeechobee down the Caloosahatchee into the Gulf. ...

Lee keeps the waters roiling
Editorial /Naples Daily News /Dec 7
Give Lee County commissioners credit. Now that they have jumped into the fight against water from Lake Okeechobee poisoning the Caloosahatchee River and its estuaries, they are keeping the heat turned up. ...

Lee asks governor for emergency aid for Lake O
Joel Moroney /News Press /Dec 6
An emergency declaration and state financial aid is needed to help save the tourism industry in Southwest Florida, according to a letter Lee County commissioners forwarded to the governor today.It is the latest move in the battle against nutrient-rich freshwater from Lake Okeechobee — which is blamed for causing environmental damage to the Caloosahatchee River as it rushes downstream at a rate of ...

Lee might legally contest water district
Jamie Page /News press /Dec 5
For the last two months, Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah has repeatedly pushed an alternative to diverting potentially harmful releases of water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River.His idea: Flood sugarcane fields with the water instead. ...

Unity can help control pollution
Editorial /News Press /Dec 4
Nine counties meeting this week to try to find more answers to the crisis created by the super-abundance of dirty water in Lake Okeechobee have a way to go before they can become the coalition they'd like to be—and need to be. ...

Council to hear different Lake O view
Brian Watson /News Press /Dec 3
A group of Moore Haven civics students cringed when they read an article in The News-Press about Sanibel officials contemplating a lawsuit to stop releases from Lake Okeechobee. ...

Kissimmee River Repair Set to Resume
Bill Blair /The Ledger /Dec 2
In January, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to award contracts to fill in another 1.5mile section of the canal dug in the 1960s when the twisting Kissimmee River was placed in a narrow channel to control flooding. ...

Counties offer varied plans to solve Lake O problems
Joel Moroney /News Press /Dec 1
Everyone agrees there's a problem with high water levels in Lake Okeechobee and environmental damage caused by fresh water releases into its tributaries.But that was pretty much the end of agreeing at the quarterly meeting today of the nine-county coalition dedicated to finding solutions for the environmental damage caused to the lake and the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchie rivers. ...

Reservoir in Fort Pierce ready to test
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Nov 29
But the $42 million Ten Mile Creek project — which will serve as a pilot project for Everglades restoration work planned throughout the Treasure Coast and South Florida — won't be operational until a rainstorm creates enough runoff to pump it into the water quality structure. ...

Lake Okeechobee dike leaks worrisome
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Nov 26
Starting this month, corps engineers have begun a $19.7 million project to fix the problems on the first 4.6 miles between Port Mayaca and Sand Cut. Workers will cut a trench into the levee and fill it with a cement-soil mixture, creating a leak-proof, underground wall. ...

New funds could ease stress on lake
Brian Watson /News Press /Nov 23
Approximately $35 million from the appropriations bill President Bush signed Saturday will cover the construction of a canal and levee system flowing under Tamiami Trail in Collier and Broward counties. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project will help restore slow water flows in the Everglades while protecting the Caloosahatchee River from continued lake overflows, officials say. ...

Owners should be partners in managing Okeechobee
Ray Judah /News Press /Nov 19
Mr. Robert Coker's recent guest commentary concerning sugar cane fields and his vitriolic personal attack on my integrity failed to shed light on the direct correlation between the degradation of the Caloosahatchee River, our coastal estuaries and the sugar company's control of the water management operations of Lake Okeechobee. ...

St. Lucie Rivers will sue over lake discharges
Suzanne Wentley /Naples Daily News /Nov 2005
After two weeks of consideration, members of the Rivers Coalition on Friday announced plans to file legal action against state and federal water managers over the increasingly poor water quality in the St. Lucie River. ...

East coast group OKs Lake O lawsuit
Melanie Payne /News Press /Nov 19
"We want the Everglades agricultural area to share the adversity as well," Abood said. "And we feel confident that we'll be able to obtain a court order (compelling them) to do so." ...

Flooding farming area will not end Lake O overflow problems
Robert Coker /News Press /Nov 19
Whether Commissioner Judah wants to acknowledge it or not, farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area have been true partners in Everglades restoration. Few urban areas can claim, as farmers can, that they've reduced phosphorus by almost 60 percent for 10 consecutive years. ...

Bonita joins potential suit over Lake O releases
Ryan Hiraki /News Press /Nov 17
Bonita Springs officials decided Wednesday to contact Sanibel leaders and join them in their potential lawsuit against the South Florida Water Management District. ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Fla. allows live tortoise burial by permit
AP /Science Daily /Dec 19
The Palm Beach Post reports that as many as 74,000 tortoises have died the same way in the past 14 years under permits granted by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. But this time, the Humane Society got a tip from a local resident and launched a nationwide e-mail alert.Tortoises trapped when buildings go up over their holes starve to death or asphyxiate underground. ...

Editorial: Our eco-tourism needs help now
Editorial /TCPalm /Dec 19
Does anyone doubt there is an emergency along the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon? The obvious nature of the situation makes it a shame that county commissioners in Martin and Lee counties have to appeal to Gov. Jeb Bush to declare an emergency. Such a declaration should have come several governors ago, when the full extent of damages caused by excess water from Lake Okeechobee began to be ...

Preliminary report says Wilma may have spread canker
AP /Bradenton Herald /Dec 16
Hurricane Wilma may have spread citrus canker to 170,000 acres of trees, which would be another blow to the state's agriculture industry, state officials said.The commercial groves might have to be destroyed, according to a preliminary study presented this week to the U.S. Department of Agriculture by state and citrus industry leaders. The majority of the trees that would need to be removed are so ...

Reservoir deal may pay Fanjuls $8 millio
Robert King /Palm Beach Post /Dec 15
Six years ago, state and federal taxpayers spent $152 million to buy a Cleveland-sized swath of western Palm Beach County farmland to rescue the Everglades.But before taxpayers can use that land, Palm Beach's sugar-growing Fanjul family wants a little something extra. Make that an extra $8 million. ...

Army Corps decision promising
Editorial /News Press /Dec 13
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has officially blessed the destruction of thousands of acres of wetlands in southern Florida, has finally said no to a major project.We hope this decision will be upheld, and that it will discourage developers from trying to build on wetlands, and discourage local governments and the state from letting them. ...

Protect national parks from sprawl
XXXXX /Miami Herald /Dec 3
Below are excerpts from a recent letter to the Miami-Dade Commission from Mark Lewis, superintendent of Biscayne National Park, and Dan Kimball, superintendent of Everglades National Park.Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park certainly share the belief that planning for greater development should be conducted in a holistic manner, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of impacts. To ...

Everglades Restoration Pits Sparrows vs. Snail Kites
staff /Florida Sportsman /Dec 2
Federal wildlife officials are protecting one endangered Everglades bird at the expense of another--and in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal law, alleges a new lawsuit.The Miccosukee tribe is suing U.S. Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At issue is a wildlife service biological opinion that causes water managers to temporarily ...

Brakes put on Bush's Scripps engine
MARY ELLEN KLAS /Miami Herald /Nov 27
It's been two years since Gov. Jeb Bush pursued ''Operation Air Conditioning'' and orchestrated the fast-track funding of $369 million to Scripps Research Institute of California to set up a bio-tech village in Palm Beach County. ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accused of flooding endangered snail kite's habi tat
Robert King /Palm Beach Post /Nov 25
The closing of floodgates upstream of the sparrow's habitat has piled water higher in the central Everglades, destroying kite habitat and tree islands essential to the Miccosukees' culture, the tribe argued in a suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Miami.The Miccosukees also blame the sparrow effort for worsening the glut of polluted, algae-choked water plaguing Lake Okeechobee and the St. ...

Everglades restoration project gets a $60 million federal boost
Curtis Morgan /Miami Herald /Nov 22
A project intended to restore natural water flows to the lower Everglades, bogged down for more than 15 years by lawsuits and bureaucratic disputes, has received a major push forward -- $60 million from the Bush administration.The money, part of $134 million in Everglades-related dollars approved Saturday by President Bush, means an end -- finally -- may be in sight for a critical project also des ...



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