MILWAUKEE --

This year is the first time in 10 years the whooping cranes won't make it to Florida with a conservation organization trying to re-establish the bird's population.

The nine young cranes and the crew involved in Operation Migration have been in northern Alabama since before Christmas.

The flock started from a Wisconsin wildlife area in October and their destination was the Florida wetlands.

The crew had tried several times to get the birds to follow the aircraft since mid-December including most recently Jan. 29, but the birds have not been cooperative.

Operation Migration spokeswoman Liz Condie said biologists and other experts decided Thursday that the birds will be put in crates and transported by road to Alabama's Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge for the rest of the winter. 2012-02-03T16:11:47+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/bill-condemned-by-environmentalists-as-public-land-giveaway-is-likely-dead-/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/bill-condemned-by-environmentalists-as-public-land-giveaway-is-likely-dead-/

A bill environmentalists say would result in the giveaway of thousands of acres of state land is likely dead this session, the bill's sponsor said Thursday.

HB 1103 deals with the dividing line between private land and public submerged land. Agriculture groups complain that landowners are required to pay taxes on property along waterways that usually is dry but is classified as state-owned because it occasionally floods.

Environmental groups and former U.S. Sen Bob Graham had urged legislators to oppose the bill. Rep. Tom Goodson, R-Rockledge and the bill's sponsor, said Thursday he thinks there isn't enough time for the House to pass the measure during the 2012 session.

"I would assume right now, sir, you could say it's not going anywhere," Goodson said.

The Senate companion, SB 1362, hasn't been heard by a committee. Goodson said he expects a panel to be established to study the issue before the 2013 session. 

Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida said he is pleased the bill is dead.

"This is probably the most unpopular legislation that has been introduced this year," Draper said.

The Florida Supreme Court in 1927 established state ownership of navigable waters to be land below the "ordinary high water mark" along rivers, lakes and floodplains, according to a House staff analysis. 

HB 1103 would define the ordinary high water mark in state law as not being the "highest reach of such water body during the high water season" or in times of flooding. Bill supporters included the Florida Cattlemen's Association.

Goodson said he never intended to turn over state land to private landowners or impede waterways, which bill opponents said would happen.

"I think we can all agree to disagree," Goodson said. "At the same time the issue has to be addressed. There are going to have to be compromises on both sides."

Rep. Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island and chairman of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee, said the bill "is most likely dead" during the session. But Crisafulli said he expects House staff to study the issue rather than a panel, after he has talked with House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, about the idea.

"I certainly believe this is one of those issues that would benefit from that -- having stakeholders on all sides of the issue come to the table and try to find a solution," said Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island.

Draper said a study might be worthwhile if former Florida Supreme Court justices review the issue, but not if the purpose is to rally rural landowners on the issue.

"The last thing we need is a public hearing in some rural area around the idea that government is taking their (landowners') rights away," Draper said.

Reporter Bruce Ritchie can be reached at britchie@thefloridacurrent.com.

A scientific study that found Burmese pythons are wiping out wildlife in the Everglades is frightening.

It's even more frightening that one of the researchers says pythons may not even be the greatest threat to Florida.

Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida professor who has been studying the Everglades' wildlife for decades, says that 140 other species of reptiles and amphibians have been introduced into Florida, "and any one could become the next Burmese python. Once they become established, options are limited."

Florida could easily have its native wildlife endangered if it does not commit to controlling exotic species.

Vigorous controls on the import of exotics and a concentrated effort to control existing intruders are needed.

Yet Florida and Washington officials traditionally have been reluctant to confront the threat of alien flora and fauna.

State lawmakers for years resisted proposals to control the import of harmful exotics, particularly plants that had proved damaging but were favored by some nursery operations.

The federal government only recently — and at the continued urging of Florida Sen. Bill Nelson — banned the import of the Burmese python and three other pythons, but it continues to allow the import of other constrictors and countless other exotic creatures that pose an invasive threat

The recent ban came more than a decade after scientists first raised the alarm about Burmese pythons breeding in the Everglades.

In 2006 a photograph of a 13-foot python that apparently burst while trying to eat a 6-foot alligator drew widespread attention but little action.

Virtually all of the 140 alien reptiles and amphibians on the prowl in Florida were likely brought here for the pet trade.

Irresponsible owners sometimes turn the animals loose. Some may escape. The cold-blooded creatures often find Florida's semi-tropical weather hospitable and start making families.

The results can be devastating to native animals. The recent study, published in a scientific journal, found a jaw-dropping decrease in mammal numbers in the southernmost region of the Everglades where the pythons are abundant.

The raccoon population dropped 99.3 percent; opossum, 98.9 percent; deer, 94 percent; and bobcat, 87.5 percent. And the researchers found no rabbits.

It is possible disease or environmental changes are factors. But the evidence is compelling that the python is the culprit. Mammal populations in the northern section of the park, where the snakes have not become established, had not changed since surveys taken 20 years ago. In areas where the snake was just becoming established, the mammal census was noticeably down.

It is too late to eradicate the python. Mazzotti likens the recent ban to slamming the barn door after the horse has run off. But mobilizing trained professionals to remove the snakes could keep their numbers in check at a modest cost.

Mazzotti says it's critical to focus on protecting special resources, such as bird colonies, and stopping invasives from spreading to new areas.

The python horror story underscores the need for federal officials to toughen animal import regulations. An exacting risk-assessment should be done before a creature — or plant — is allowed in.

Mazzotti considers the Nile-monitor, a six-foot aquatic lizard with a ferocious bite and powerful tail, likely to be the next invasive disaster. It's established in Cape Coral. It will eat everything from bird eggs to the family pet, and its numbers are growing.

The Nile monitor, the Burmese python and many other destructive exotics are likely here to stay. But state and federal officials should make sure they remain harassed and unwelcomed guests — and that they don't get any more exotic compa]]> 2012-02-03T16:09:02+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/watchdogs-for-environment-neutered/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/watchdogs-for-environment-neutered/

Floridians who care about clean water and healthy natural resources had better start kicking behinds and taking names.

Those behinds are the ones sitting in the governor’s office and the Florida Legislature, busily dismantling four decades of solid water and growth management policies.

What Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature did during last year’s legislative session was a “travesty.”

That was the description used by Victoria Tschinkel, the chair of 1000 Friends of Florida and a former secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, when she talked to an overflow crowd at the Garden Club this week.

If you’ve forgotten the list of horribles, here’s a reminder of some:

The Department of Community Affairs and the state’s growth management laws were gutted.

Scott called the DCA a “job killer” that stymied development, but as Tschinkel said, there are 1.5 million vacant houses in Florida, 1 million houses under construction and 3 billion square feet of vacant commercial space, the equivalent of 300 malls.

“There was no evidence DCA was a job killer,” Tschinkel said.

The truth, she said, was a couple of powerful special interests who didn’t like the head of the agency got Scott’s ear.

With the DCA done, the state’s water management districts were neutered, their budgets cut by $700 million.

The public relations ploy was that was a tax break for Florida’s citizens.

“For most households the annual cost of the water management districts is two to three pizzas,” Tschinkel said.

And to get those pizzas, the districts lost hundreds of experienced employees, with the ax falling disproportionately on scientists, legal staff and regulators.

And the Legislature made it more difficult for citizens to challenge developments that could harm the environment.

More mischief is on the way as water wars break out over who gets the dwindling resource needed to fuel growth.

“The people in the know behind the scenes are slowly gathering the political forces they need to get the water they are going to need when development starts up again,” Tschinkel said.

Tschinkel and others, including former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, woke up to what was happening in Tallahassee and formed the Florida Conservation Coalition.

The coalition’s goal: “Florida’s natural resources are a treasure to be conserved for the people of Florida and must be managed judiciously, not squandered.”

You would think from all the talk out of Tallahassee that Floridians are fed up with regulations. They aren’t.

A poll conducted for the Everglades Foundation last year found that when asked if the state should manage growth to protect rivers, lakes and other waters, 81 percent of respondents agreed.

The coalition, designed, Tschinkel said, “to help articulate what people need to know and to get active again,” is an army that is growing.

“We are fully awake,” she said. “And we are starting to have an effect.”

Florida’s environment is at stake.

ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4284

JUPITER, Fla. -- A retirement home for Burmese pythons has been established in northern Palm Beach County, now that the federal government has banned imports and interstate commerce in the snakes.

The Burmese Python Initiative has been set up by a group of reptile dealers and hobbyists concerned that owners may abandon their snakes if they go off to college (the owner, not the snake) or take any step that would involve a move to another state. The organization plans to use the facility as a temporary haven and adoption service for the pythons and two other newly banned species, the African rock python and yellow anaconda.

The home is a private facility in Jupiter licensed to keep pythons and other reptiles, owned by Kenan Harkin, a former bicycle motorcross competitor, television sports commentator and reptile enthusiast.

"We're really trying to take care of these animals," said Billy Leonard, an employee of Ben Siegel Reptiles of Deerfield Beach, which helped sponsor the organization and donated $150 worth of frozen rodents. "Our concern is with all these pets in households all over the country. We want to give options to people to not dump them in a wooded area or in the Everglades or euthanize them."

For more information, go to savetheburms.org . 2012-02-03T16:00:32+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/cost-projections-double-to-1b-for-water-supply-project-in-palm-beach-county/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/cost-projections-double-to-1b-for-water-supply-project-in-palm-beach-county/

The South Florida cities and counties that would fund a major water supply project for their drought-prone region learned Tuesday that its projected cost has soared from $451 million to $1 billion -- and they didn't like it.

"To me, the numbers that we see now compared to the original numbers have cooled my enthusiasm," Alan Garcia, director of the Broward County Water and Wastewater Services, told officials of the Lake Worth Drainage District, the lead agency in the project. "You're at least a half-billion dollars off in those estimates."

But district officials said the project is still the best solution to the region's water needs and told utility representatives at a meeting Tuesday that they had until Feb. 28 to sign on. "If we don't more forward, shame on us," said Woody Woodraska, a consultant hired by the district to oversee planning. "It's the last remaining inexpensive water in Florida."

More than a dozen utility representatives discussed the ambitious project, known as the C-51 Reservoir Project, which calls for building a massive reservoir in western Palm Beach county to capture storm water that is currently flushed into the Lake Worth Lagoon. The water would be sent to communities in southern Palm Beach County and Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

From its start, the project required cooperation and commitment from a patchwork of utilities, water managers and a controversial mining company -- all with separate motives and needs -- to make the plan work.

The project could provide up to 175 million gallons of water a day to the counties. However, only a handful of communities have signed on -- not nearly enough to make the project viable.

The South Florida Water Management District, Palm Beach County and Fort Lauderdale have agreed to partner with the Lake Worth Drainage District. Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Pompano Beach, Dania, Plantation and Margate have signed non-binding agreements to participate.

But big water consumers, such as Florida Power & Light, Broward and Miami-Dade have not signed on.

The board of directors of the Lake Worth Drainage District -- which has spent $350,000 studying and pushing the project -- set the deadline for potential users to sign on and Woodraska said the participants will be asked to pony up between $25,000 and $50,000 to offset planning costs.

It was a tough sell to the utility representatives who would have to take it to their bosses -- ultimately the public.

"I cannot sell it with these numbers here," said Reddy Chitepu, Director of Environmental and Engineering Services in Margate, whose city will not need the additional water for 15 years. "For us to come up with this kind of money now -- we don't know how the economics are going to work out."

Ernie Cox, a spokesman for mining company Palm Beach Aggregates, explained that cost estimates rose because the planned capacity of the reservoir on the company's site grew substantially, from a volume of 15-billion to 24-billion gallons of water, due to better estimates of future demand. In addition, the larger reservoir size required much larger pumps -- capable of moving twice as much water.

Water quality issues also troubled officials at the meeting.

Some canals in Palm Beach County have been classified "impaired" because of low oxygen, high coliform and elevated nutrient concentrations. That raises concerns about the ability to transfer water from LWDD canals to cleaner Broward County canals without violating state or federal water quality standards, the report said, and about the "potential need for alternative distribution routes, or additional treatment"

"Until we have a guarantee of what we're getting for the money, we can't go to the commission and ask for the money," said Randy Brown, the utility director in Pompano Beach. "Are water quality costs going to increase the cost?"

Bevin Beaudet, head of Palm Beach County's water utility, agreed. "That's a big unknown," he said.

Beaudet supports the project but said he "wants to see more interest from other utilities."

Although not discussed at Tuesday's meeting, the study also raised concerns about the amount of water that would be lost to seepage. Analysis showed that during the dry season, the amount of water that seeped through the canal bed as the water headed south was nearly as much -- and sometimes as much -- as the additional water pumped from the reservoir.

Adding to the concerns is the reputation of Palm Beach Aggregates LLC. Ten years ago the South Florida Water Management District spent $217 million on a reservoir built by Palm Beach Aggregates for water storage. However, the water cannot be used because salt levels are too high. Project designers have said they believe the new reservoir could be built to avoid a repeat of that problem.

Also, a partnership between the company and Florida Crystals grabbed headlines and the attention of federal investigators during corruption probes of two Palm Beach County commissioners.

The company cooperated with investigators and no charges were filed against it or its owners. Still, the company is aware of its reputation, Cox said.

"They got caught up in a situation and they didn't do anything wrong," Cox said. "All I can do is say, 'here is who we are and here is what we're doing.' That's the only way we know how to do things."

&nb]]> 2012-02-01T14:55:21+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/in-florida-everglades-pythons-and-anacondas-dominate-food-chain/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/in-florida-everglades-pythons-and-anacondas-dominate-food-chain/

Every child learns this sad and basic truth about nature: The snake eats the rabbit.

But in the southernmost part of the Florida Everglades, things have taken a really wild turn. Pythons and anacondas are eating everything. The most common animals in Everglades National Park — rabbits, raccoons, opposums and bobcats — are almost gone, according to a study released Monday.

The snakes are literally fighting with alligators to sit atop the swamp’s food chain. In October, a 16-foot python was found resting after devouring a deer.

“There aren’t many native mammals that pythons can’t choke down,” said Robert N. Reed, a research wildlife biologist at the U.S. Geologial Survey’s Fort Collins Science Center and a co-author of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Officials can’t stop invasive pythons and anacondas from marauding in the Everglades, Reed said; they can only hope to contain them. “We’re trying to prevent spread to the Florida Keys and elsewhere north.”

The snakes were released by pet owners into the Everglades, where they started to breed. A female python can lay 100 eggs, though 54 is considered the norm. The study was described as the first to show pythons are causing the decline of native mammals in the Everglades.

When researchers struck out to count animals along a main road that runs to the southernmost tip of the park, more than 99 percent of raccoons were gone, along with nearly the same percentage of opossums and about 88 percent of bobcats. Marsh and cottontail rabbits, as well as foxes, could not be found.

The Obama administration recently banned the import and interstate commerce of Burmese python, two species of African pythons, and the yellow anaconda. But under pressure from the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers, trade of the world’s longest snake, the reticulated python, and the boa constrictor were allowed to continue.

The reptile trade is a $2 billion business in the United States, according to the Humane Society. About 11 million reptiles were kept as pets in 2005, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. More reptiles are imported here than anywhere else in the world.

“Pythons are wreaking havoc on one of America’s most beautiful, treasured and naturally bountiful ecosystems,” Marcia McNutt, director of the USGS, said in a statement. “The only hope to halt further python invasion . . . is swift, decisive and deliberate human action.”

But officials do not yet know what can be done to slow the migration of pythons to other areas in Florida, and north to Georgia and Louisiana.

“We need more research into methods to limit the population spread,” said Michael F. Dorcas, one of the authors of the study, Severe Mammal Declines Coincide with Proliferation of Invasive Burmese Pythons in Everglades National Park.

Researchers collected data through repeated night road surveys, traveling 39,000 miles for eight years ending in 2011, counting live animals and road kill. They compared the data with findings of similar surveys conducted in 1996 and 1997, according to a statement by the USGS.

Andrew Wyatt, president of the Reptile Keepers, which advocates on behalf of snake importers, dismissed the study.

“They play fast and loose with facts and make big jumps to conclusions,” Wyatt said. The authors contradict prior studies showing that mercury in the water has played a role in the deaths of small mammals, he said.

Wyatt also said pythons can only survive in southernmost Florida and that they would perish in extreme cold.

Dorcas, who participated in several studies of pythons and cold weather, said it’s not simple. Hundreds of adult pythons and hatchlings were captured and removed from the park months after a cold snap, he said.

Dorcas was also part of a study that removed 10 snakes from the Everglades to winter in South Carolina, where each died of exposure. But researchers noted that the snakes were far more tolerant of cold weather than they had thought.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service predicted that a new generations of Burmese pythons on the edge of their non-native range can adapt and “expand to colder climates.&rdq]]> 2012-02-01T14:53:35+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/enforce-polluters-pay/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/enforce-polluters-pay/

For 15 years Florida taxpayers have been carrying dirty water for the sugar billionaires. When Florida’s voters passed the Polluters Pay Amendment to Florida Constitution, the sugar industry was supposed to pay 100 percent of their pollution cleanup costs. In one of the most cynical abdications of governance in history, the Legislature has refused to implement Polluters Pay. In doing so, they have dumped billions in extra property taxes on the homeowners of South Florida and enabled Big Sugar to dump millions of tons of excess pollution on the Everglades.

So not only do the sugar billionaires get unearned taxpayer dollars through unnecessary federal import quotas and subsidies, but they get their pollution cleanup costs paid by the taxpayers of South Florida. Our legislators need to swear off their addiction to sugar campaign money and make them pay all their cleanup costs.

Albert Slap, Key Biscayne 2012-02-01T14:52:46+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/carl-hiaasen-those-big-snakes-are-here-to-stay/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/carl-hiaasen-those-big-snakes-are-here-to-stay/

Now that federal regulators have outlawed the importation of humongous, gator-eating pythons, all Floridians can breathe a grateful sigh of relief. Finally, we are saved from this insidious reptilian plague!

Sorry, but no. We might as well try to ban fleas.

As anybody who knows anything about the Everglades will tell you, the giant Burmese python is here to stay. If last year’s hard freeze didn’t kill off the tropical snakes, nothing short of a nuclear disaster will do it.

The import ban on the Burmese and three other species of constrictors – which was announced last week – is being hailed by the Obama administration as a victory for Florida’s native environment. In reality, it’s just a classic lesson of how Washington mulls and stalls until things are out of hand.

That there was an actual debate about the invasive snake crisis is incredible to the point of satire. Some reptile dealers and breeders, joined by a few clueless Republican lawmakers (none of whom had experienced a 15-foot python in their swimming pool), claimed that a ban on imports and interstate sales would be “job killing.”

As one who once collected and bred snakes, I cannot overstate how laughably bogus that position was. The realm of commercial reptile dealing, which has always had a sketchy element, is full of clever folks who always find ways to market different exotic species when one becomes unavailable. Not one real job would have been lost.

Still, the “herp” industry – wholesale and retail herpetology enthusiasts – hired lobbyists to fight the proposed ban, and the big-snake argument dragged on for six ridiculous years. During that period, untold thousands of baby pythons were hatched in the wilds of South Florida and dutifully commenced to devour the local fauna.

By the time the ban was approved, the government’s original list of “injurious” snake species had been politically pared to four – the Burmese python, the yellow anaconda and two species of African pythons.

Spared from the blacklist was the common boa constrictor, one of the most popular species among pet owners, and one of the most likely to be turned free when it becomes a little too interested in the family poodle. Boas don’t grow as hefty as pythons, but they are equally fond of our sunny climate and tasty bird population.

The fact is, there are already so many of these snakes being captive-bred in this country that a ban on imports is essentially meaningless. Most serious reptile dealers buy from U.S. breeders who specialize in extravagantly hued strains, the product of years of genetic tinkering.

It’s true that certain exotic species won’t mate in captivity, and must be caught in the wild and then shipped here. However, that’s not the case with the four snakes named in the new federal ban.

Pythons and yellow anacondas reproduce exuberantly, with no shyness, in robust, rat-like numbers. The time is long past when their importation is necessary to the trade.

The significant part of the federal ban, which takes effect in March, is the illegalizing of interstate sales of Burmese pythons, their eggs and hybrids. That will surely impact the sales of some reptile dealers, but there’s nothing to prevent a customer from purchasing as many snakes as they want from an in-state breeder.

And it doesn’t matter if you’re a reptile fancier in South Florida or North Dakota. If you’ve got a nice warm room in your house and a lovestruck pair of pythons, you will have bushels of fertile python eggs.

The snakes that now roam the Everglades are most likely descended from those set loose when Hurricane Andrew flattened rural reptile farms in the summer of 1992. The jumbo specimens might well be original refugees from that storm, their love lives spiced by chance encounters with ex-pet pythons whose owners had lost (or purposely ditched) them.

So ubiquitous is the python presence that the notoriously slug-like Florida Wildlife Commission last year took steps that practically bans private ownership of the Burmese and seven other species, for new collectors. Herp lovers who already owned the snakes could keep them if they bought a permit and agreed to implant microchips before July 2010.

When it comes to environmental protections, rarely does the state of Florida take a leading role over the feds. The delay speaks to the embarrassing gridlock in the nation’s capital, where even a pernicious snake infestation generates pious, ideological fuming.

Sen. Bill Nelson and others worked long and hard to get the Department of Interior to do something, and a ban is probably a good thing to have on the books as a precedent before the next invasive species settles in.

But as a way of containing the Burmese python, it’s way too little, way too late. They’re here, they’re hungry, they’re happy – and they’re getting it on.

Carl Hiaasen is a columnist for the Miami Herald. Readers may write to him at: 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132. 2012-02-01T13:59:29+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/pythons-putting-squeeze-on-wildlife/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/pythons-putting-squeeze-on-wildlife/

MIAMI — For the first time, scientists have put numbers to the toll Burmese pythons have taken on native wildlife in the Everglades.

But one word can sum it up: carnage.

In the decade since the giant constrictors started showing up in significant numbers, mammals once among the most common in Everglades National Park have declined dramatically, according to a study published online yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The study, based on night field surveys conducted over 10 years, found three animals had all but disappeared. Opossum sightings fell 98.9 percent. Raccoons — once so abundant park managers warned visitors to safeguard food from roaming groups of the wily thieves — dropped 99.3 percent. Marsh rabbits, brown bunnies frequently seen foraging along roads in the pre-python past, didn’t appear at all. Observations of bobcats, foxes and deer all also fell precipitously.

“We started this study saying, man, it appears we’re not seeing many mammals,” said Michael Dorcas, a biology professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and the study’s lead author. “ When we actually did the calculations, we were astonished by the magnitude of the declines.”

The study suggests a near-collapse of mammal populations in the park and points to the python as prime suspect.

Frank Mazzotti, a wildlife ecology professor at the University of Florida, likened the study to a grand jury investigation — an important initial finding that shows mammal numbers shrinking at the same time the park’s python population was booming, rising from two captures in 2000 to 322 in 2010.

“We examined all the evidence and there is enough to indict pythons but we haven’t gone to trial yet,” said Mazzotti, one of 11 university and federal government researchers who co-wrote the peer-reviewed study.

He cautioned that research is needed to refine and confirm the impact of the snakes. Other factors, such as changes in Everglades water levels, could potentially have contributed to the mammal decline as well, he said.

Still, the study finds the link strong, noting little support for other causes of the mammal decline. There were no known diseases or significant environmental changes, such as losses of important habitat or shifts in water-management regimes.

“Our data are consistent in any number of ways with python as the primary reason or maybe the only reason, either directly or indirectly,” said Dorcas, author of the book Invasive Pythons in the United States.

The Obama administration pointed to the findings as more justification for the decision this month to ban the import and interstate sale of Burmese pythons, two types of African rock pythons and yellow anacondas.

The study was based on 313 night-time surveys of main roads in Everglades National Park conducted between 2003 and 2011, as well as 26 surveys at sites along the park border and in adjacent federally protected lands. The declines were in comparison to similar surveys conducted in the park in 1996, before pythons were regularly captured in the pa]]> 2012-02-01T13:50:10+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/pre-empting-summer-fertilizer-ban-would-be-costly-mistake/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/pre-empting-summer-fertilizer-ban-would-be-costly-mistake/ Gulf coast governments and residents love their urban fertilizer controls. It is a no-brainer, really: Keep the pollution out of the water so you don't have to pay big bucks to clean it up later, and you don't feed wasted fertilizer to the toxic algae that threaten our livelihoods and public health.

Unfortunately, for the sixth legislative session in a row, the pest control operators have managed to persuade legislators to sponsor bills that would gut our Gulf coast fertilizer regulations. This year the bills are in the form of an exemption from the rainy season bans on nitrogen and phosphorus application for all trained commercial applicators.

The thing is, when it rains it pours during the Florida summer. If you live here, it is obvious that the worst time and the most wasteful time to apply fertilizer is during the summer. Senate Bill 604 and House Bill 421 ("Limited Certification for Urban Landscape Commercial Fertilizer Application") would eliminate the very backbone of 47 local ordinances (from Tampa to Naples and beyond) and thereby make them close to meaningless.

Sarasota County has lived through four full rainy season blackout periods and landscape contractors report a reduction in fertilizer use in the hundreds of tons annually, while still delivering lush landscapes. The landscapers also report a reduced need for insecticides, fungicides and watering -- which saves their companies and their customers money.

But they are not the only ones who save money because of the rainy season ban. So do taxpayers.

Strong fertilizer ordinances are the cheapest and easiest way to protect our waterways from nutrient pollution. Source control is exponentially less expensive than removing nutrients from water bodies.

Nutrient removal requires hundreds of thousands, sometimes, millions of tax dollars to be spent on storm-water and waste-water infrastructure projects. If local governments lose the rainy season ban, they will absolutely have to turn to costly nutrient removal methods.

Rainy season bans have also been good for Florida-based fertilizer companies that have been ready to develop and distribute ordinance-compliant products. Big out-of-state companies have been slow to provide summer-safe, Florida-friendly products. But many Florida companies, like Florikan and Biological Tree Services in Sarasota, where the profits and jobs stay here, are now competing with the big guys.

But our local ordinances are in real danger this year.

Today, the Senate bill will go to the Environmental Conservation and Preservation Committee and our own Sen. Nancy Detert and two senators from Tampa Bay, Sens. Dennis Jones and Jack Latvala, will have the ability to save our ordinances and our tax dollars by voting "No."

Thankfully, the rainy season ban is not a partisan issue. In fact, it is Republican commissioners and council members along our coasts who have cast the winning votes for strong fertilizer management.

Our economy is defined by and dependent on the quality of our water resources. Local governments must maintain the right to protect those water resources upon which the majority of the community's jobs are based.

Every red tide or drift algae outbreak kills jobs.

The fertilizer manufacturers and applicators that support preemption claim that the "limited certification" training commercial applicators receive is sufficient to protect water quality.

But the fertilizer portion of this training is only one-fifth of a six-hour course -- about 70 minutes. And a passing grade is only 75 percent.

The truth is that it doesn't matter whether you have 70 minutes of training or a Ph.D. in fertilizer: No one, no matter how well "trained," can keep fertilizer on a lawn that is subject to the kind of intense summer rains we experience here.

Other than the local ordinances, there is zero regulation of fertilizer application in Florida. These bills give anyone with 70 minutes of training the complete right to apply fertilizer anytime -- even during a summer downpour!

Cheap clean water or expensive clean water? Let's support Sen. Detert's opposition to pre-emption by letting her know how much we love our fertilizer controls.

Cris Costello is the regional organizing representative of the Sierra Club. She lives in Sarasota.

TALLAHASSEE — A lawsuit-fueled four-year battle over safety and health standards for Florida waters inched toward a possible resolution in the Legislature Tuesday.

A House committee unanimously accepted a proposal by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to bypass stricter federal water pollution rules and instead apply its own state standards.

The proposal — which proponents say attempts to balance environmental concerns against additional burdens on businesses and homeowners — still must be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and withstand a legal challenge from a statewide environmental advocacy group .

At issue is fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns combined with waste from old, faulty septic tanks. Those and other contaminants, such as sewage and manure, can lead to water with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous, known as nutrients.

Waters with high nutrient levels can suffer permanent pollution and bloom enough toxic algae to harm wildlife and cause epidemics such as Red Tide.

"We can ask farms to implement best-management practices, but the real challenge today is urban runoff," said Rep. Matthew Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres. "How do you regulate every single person's yard?"

Environmental groups say the current standards are weak, and the proposed changes would make them weaker. Even the Tampa Bay area, which has made more water restoration gains than most other parts of the state, sees yearly consequences.

As recently as August, a slimy, brown algae covered a large swath of Tampa Bay north of the Howard Frankland Bridge.

"If you see a brown, red spot where the water should be blue … that's algae that consumes oxygen and kills fish" said Frank Jackalone, Florida staff director of the Sierra Club.

Earthjustice, which represents a coalition of environmental groups, has sued to block the proposed rules, saying they require that Florida waters reach a dangerous and potentially toxic level before they are deemed unsafe. A ruling is expected in March.

Another 2010 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi on behalf of the state is also pending. That suit contends that federal regulators are asking the state to do too much too soon to clean up Florida's waterways — to the possible peril of Florida businesses, local governments and utility companies that manage waste.

Tuesday's debate before the Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee rang of an issue that has dragged on too long.

Environmental groups testified that the state's rules don't address downstream waters or adequately protect drinking waters.

Yet, the debate among lawmakers — who seemed determined to accept the proposal and move on — was short.

"When this issue first came up, I made the comment, 'How can we resolve this issue without succeeding from the union?' " said Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City. "We obviously found a way to do that."

[Last modified: Jan 24, 2012 10:27 PM]

The state is seeking a 90-day delay in any federal court action to allow time for negotiations on cleaning up the Everglades.

A House committee unanimously accepted a measure that would allow the state to apply individual health standards to each body of water.

The changes, which would allow Florida to override federal water protection rules, cannot take effect until the Environmental Protection Agency approves them.

At issue is fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns combined with waste from old, faulty septic tanks. Those and other contaminants can lead to water with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous, known as nutrients.

Waters with too many nutrients can be permanently polluted and bloom enough algae to damage entire ecosystems.

Experts have worked for decades trying to restore damage to the Everglades caused by high nutrient levels. The Miami area, which traditionally cleans its wastewater and sends it to tide, also struggles to meet environmental standards.

Ambitious wastewater management in Tampa, on the other hand, has partially reversed damage to Tampa Bay.

“We can ask farms to implement best-management practices, but the real challenge today is urban runoff,” Rep. Matthew Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres, said before the meeting. “How do you regulate every single person’s yard?”

Although lawmakers' approval paves the way for the federal government to work with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the changes won't be enforced until an administrative court rules in March on a lawsuit against the federal government led by Earthjustice and other environmental groups.

Another 2010 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi on behalf of the state is also in limbo.

That suit arose after the EPA settled with environmental groups in 2009, and asked Florida to maintain a uniform nutrient level across waters. It contends that the EPA asks the state to accomplish too much too soon, to the possible peril of Florida businesses, local governments and utility companies that manage waste.

The debate before the Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee rang of an issue that has dragged out too long.

Environmental groups testified that proposed rules don't go far enough.

“Millions of people in the state rely on our water for drinking, and there are not enough protections in this rule to protect our drinking water,” said Stephanie Kunkel of Clean Water Action.

Yet, the debate among lawmakers—who seemed determined to accept the proposal and move on—was short.

January 20, 2012  | mericans think an awful lot about sucrose -- table sugar -- but only in certain ways. We crave it and dream up novel ways to combine it with other ingredients to produce delectable foods; and we worry that we eat too much of it and that it is making us unhealthy or fat. But how often do Americans think about where sugar actually comes from or the people who produce it? As a tropical crop, sugarcane cannot grow in most U.S. states. Most of us do not smell the foul odors coming from sugar refineries, look out over vast expanses of nothing but sugarcane, or speak to those who perform the hard labor required to grow and harvest sugarcane.

Of course, sugar can be made from beets, a temperate crop, and more than half of sugar produced in the United States is. But globally, most of the story of sugar, past and present, centers around sugarcane, not beets, and as biofuels become more common, it is sugarcane that is cultivated for ethanol. What's more, some conscious eaters avoid beet sugar as most of it is now made from genetically modified sugar beets.

While I do not fool myself that sugar is "healthy," if I am going to satisfy my sweet tooth, I prefer cane sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey over the other choices: beet sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners. Of the bunch, most Americans can find only honey and perhaps maple syrup sustainably and locally produced, but cane sugar is often the most versatile product for baking.

As a major consumer of cane sugar, I was disturbed to learn the realities of cane sugar production when I visited a sugarcane-producing area in Bolivia.

Sugarcane grew as far as the eye could see on the degraded soils of the deforested industrial agricultural area in Bolivia's lowlands. At one point, the van I was riding in got stuck in a traffic jam of enormous trucks, each full of sugarcane, delivering their loads to a refinery. The area around the refinery smelled terrible, and the locals told us the smell came from oxidizing ponds that hold the refinery's wastewater. When the refineries are washed out, typically once a year, the wastewater is dumped into local waterways, resulting in fish kills. This spurred me to learn more about how sugar is made, both in the U.S. and around the world, and how it impacts the land and the people who produce it. Sadly, the story of sugar is also the story of the African slave trade. Today, sugar production still uses exploitative labor practices and can cause serious environmental problems.

Sugar's Rotten History

Nobody alive today remembers a day when sugar was not a cheap, ubiquitous food in our diets, but historically speaking, it's actually a relatively recent addition to the European diet, one very tightly intertwined with the African slave trade. As Sidney W. Mintz chronicles in his book Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, when cane sugar first appeared in England in the 12th century, only royalty could afford it, and even then, only in small quantities. This is hardly surprising, considering the journey sugar made to reach England.

Sugarcane, a fast-growing tropical grass that reaches 12 to 15 feet high at maturity, was domesticated around 8000 B.C.E. in New Guinea and was carried to India, the Philippines, and perhaps Indonesia some 2,000 years later. By 500 C.E., Indians were making sugar, a process that involves pressing the two-inch-thick cane to extract a dark green juice, rich with nutrients as well as sucrose, then boiling it down to remove liquid and crystalize the sugar. Various processes can be used to refine the sugar so that it is anywhere from a brown color to the chemically pure, white crystal we know today. Of course, until relatively recently, sugar refiners were never able to achieve a mass-produced commodity product so pure that it was completely white.

Europeans have the Arabs to thank for their introduction to sugar. Although the Spanish had nothing nice to say about the Moorish occupation of their land, it was the Arabs who introduced sugar production to the European mainland in the seventh and eighth centuries. Arab sugar production likely involved some slave labor, but never on the scale that European sugar production did. European crusaders discovered and took over Arab sugar plantations in the Middle Ages, and from that point forward, sugar production was a job done mostly by slaves.

As Europeans figured out more cost-effective ways to mass-produce sugar and transport it to their countries, sugar became within reach of the nobility and then later, within reach of the common people. Mintz tells how three bitter stimulants, each consumed with sugar, reached England at roughly the same time, in the third quarter of the 17th century: tea from Asia, coffee from Africa, and cacao from the Americas. "The success of tea... was also the success of sugar," writes Mintz, "That it was a bitter stimulant, that it was taken hot, and that it was capable of carrying large quantities of palatable sweet calories told importantly in its success."

On the production side, the sugar industry briefly moved to the Atlantic islands of Spain and Portugal, and it was here that the use of African slaves was firmly integrated into the business model. In the two decades before Columbus stumbled into the Caribbean, sugarcane production grew by a factor of more than 1,000 on the island of Madeira. There, sugar was produced with slaves.

But it was on the island of Sao Tome off the Western coast of central Africa, which harbors mosquitoes carrying both malaria and yellow fever, that resulted in the use of specifically African slaves (as opposed to slaves of other origins). Europeans who came to Sao Tome usually died quickly. And the land was divided into large plantations instead of small parcels. This solidified the model for sugar plantations that was then transferred in the New World and applied to other crops.

Columbus brought sugarcane to the Caribbean in 1493, and it was not long before Caribbean islands and Brazil produced sugarcane for export back to Europe -- with African slaves, of course. In 1619, the British brought both slaves and sugarcane to their colony in Jamestown, but sugarcane would not grow in Virginia. Determined to satisfy their sweet tooth with their own colony for sugar, the British took over Barbados soon thereafter.

These were also the years of England's industrial revolution, when much of the population transitioned from a peasant diet of eating what they grew to an urban diet of eating what was convenient and cheap, namely bread, accompanied by tea with sugar. Sugar dropped in price during the 18th century and lost its status as a luxury good. Sugar was eaten in tea or in pastries. And, by the 1870s, jam became an important food for the working classes. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, desserts were first introduced to the nobility and then gradually became standard as a sweet course at the end of the meal.

All in all, cane sugar consumption grew from an estimated 2 percent of the British diet in 1800 to an estimated 14 percent a century later. Sugar now makes up 20 percent of the American diet. Today most Americans see sugar as a necessity, but most of our ancestors lived entirely without it.

Legalized slavery is now long in the past, but sugarcane is still almost universally produced with unjust labor conditions, including modern-day slavery. In Brazil, a study found that, "Modern-day slavery ... is short in duration; the victims are treated as though they were commodities; total power is exercised over the victim, although only temporarily." In 2007, half of Brazil's 5,877 workers freed from slavery -- many of them indigenous -- worked in sugarcane cultivation. Harvesting sugarcane is so arduous that workers can become physically broken after just 10 or 12 years.

Whereas modern-day slavery might be the exception, backbreaking work with long hours, low pay, and few benefits (if any) is still the rule. When I visited San Mariano, Isabela, a sugarcane-growing area in the Philippines, the workers were paid as little as one-tenth minimum wage (for weeding) and as much as half of minimum wage for harvesting sugarcane, with a six-day work week and no overtime pay. One worker I met had been injured on the job with no worker's comp for his injury. At that time, he had been out of work and unable to walk for several months without any disability pay. Workers also complained of being compensated for harvesting only if they also loaded the sugarcane into a truck. Occasionally, no truck showed up when the harvest was done, and the workers were never paid for that day's work.

Globally, sugarcane covers an area larger than the state of Minnesota, and much of it is harvested manually, even though mechanized harvesting is possible. Sugarcane is a perennial, and plantations typically replant it every four or five harvests, as production declines after each harvest. Mechanical harvesting reduces future yields even further, so when cheap labor is available, it is often more cost-effective than a machine.

America Gets Its Fix

An overwhelming percent of world sugar production occurs in Brazil and India, but if you are an American, your sugar fix is likely satisfied by U.S. sugar, whether cane or beet. The U.S. has long had policies that limit sugar imports, keeping the U.S. price of sugar well above the world price -- often double or more. By setting a high tariff on all sugar imports over a set quota, the U.S. protects its own sugar industry (both cane sugar and beet sugar). Producers of high fructose corn syrup also support this system as it allows them to price their product below the cost of sugar, making it attractive as a cheaper alternative.

The U.S. can only produce it in a few states, mostly growing it in Florida and Louisiana, with a little bit in Hawaii and Texas. (Hawaii used to grow more before the high real estate prices drove most sugar out of the state.) Together, those four states produce sugarcane on an area just smaller than Rhode Island. Measured by area, this makes up just 1.5 percent of global sugarcane cultivation. Yet, as any discussion with Floridians familiar with the industry will reveal, the area impacted by sugarcane is far larger than just the land planted with the crop. The list of Floridians' complaints usually centers more around the Everglades than around labor issues. (Louisiana's sugar industry is not immune from environmental problems either, but lacks the national outcry to protect the Everglades that shines a spotlight on sugar in Florida.)

Sugar in Florida owes its existence to the draining of a large area of the Everglades. As recently as the 1800s, South Florida was dominated by a freshwater wetland the size of Delaware, much of it in the form of a 50-mile-wide shallow, slow-moving river. While it was first considered "wasteland," its agricultural potential was realized in the late 1800s, and humanity set to work draining areas using levees, canals and dams. But destructive and deadly storms in the first decades of the 20th century proved that more work was needed if this area was to be safely settled and put to "productive" uses. The Army Corps of Engineers set to work building even more levees, canals and dams to control the water.

Thus, by the 1940s, the original Everglades was divided into four areas: the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), Water Conservation Areas, Big Cypress National Preserve, and Everglades National Park. The Everglades Agricultural Area is home to Florida's sugar industry, and it sits between Lake Okeechobee (the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. after the Great Lakes and the source of the water in the Everglades) and Everglades National Park. Anything that goes into the water in the EAA then flows into Everglades National Park and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Most consequential is phosphorus fertilizer, which is needed to produce sugar but toxic to the Everglades ecosystem.

Americans, especially Floridians, are impacted by sugarcane production by the elevated sugar prices Americans pay, the taxes paid to drain the land and manage the water to meet the industry's needs, the taxes paid to clean up the industry's pollution, and by suffering the consequences of pollution that is not cleaned up at all. John Adornato, regional director of the Sun Coast Region of the National Parks Conservation Association, describes the combined impact of government intervention and the pollution by the sugar industry by saying, "Americans' waistlines are growing due to sugar but their pocketbooks are shrinking."

Interestingly, reducing the impacts of sugar production is a cause that both treehuggers and those motivated by economic self-interest can get behind together. Florida's economy revolves around tourism, and tourists flock to Florida because of its natural environment -- but environmental destruction from the sugar industry threatens that.

"People who live on the east and west coasts of Florida who live on a canal where there are regularly dead fish that surface... how do you sell your house?" asks Adornato. "How do you entice someone to come? How do you entice a retiree who wants to go fishing to come live on a canal where all they can smell and see are dead fish? You go to the beach on your vacation and the red tide on the west coast of Florida produces a stench -- the algae events that happen over there -- no one wants to go over there. You're destroying your fishery, you're killing off coral reefs. You're harming your water supply.

"These are direct economic effects at every level," he continues. "Over 6 million people, one-third of Floridians, get their water supply from the Everglades. If it's not clean, we are going to have to spend more money to clean it up. Those are the kinds of impacts that we need to deal with. Our economy is a tourism-based economy. If people don't want to come and sit in the beach or they don't want to go fishing, we have seriously harmed our future."

Sugar is not the only culprit in harming the Everglades ecosystem or the coastal ecosystems where water from the Everglades drains into the ocean, but it is a major cause of the area's problems along with the cattle and dairy industries situated north of Lake Okeechobee. Fortunately for the Everglades' wading birds whose populations have declined by 90 percent in the last century and a half, Floridians love the Everglades. Activist Tom Sadler noted that even Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott made an appearance at the recent Everglades Coalition Conference, "and he's not the type of person who would go out and hug a tree."

His appearance there denotes the political importance of Everglades conservation, if not Scott's commitment to actually achieving it. Sadler said Scott spoke at the conference, "professing his undying commitment to the Everglades although that didn't manifest in any money for the Everglades." That could be because of the enormous influence the industry has on politics. Virginia Chamblee of the Florida Independent reported that, "Big Sugar gave more than $4.2 million to federal candidates and party committees during the 2008 election cycle alone, 63 percent of which went to Democrats."

Chamblee writes about Florida Crystals, a subsidiary of sugar giant Flo-Sun: "Companies with ties to Florida Crystals (which has contributed nearly $4.5 million to campaigns since 1991) gave at least $100,000 to now-Gov. Rick Scott's gubernatorial campaign. The head of Florida Crystals also hosted a large campaign fundraiser for Scott only four weeks after he blasted the company's rival -- U.S. Sugar -- over its role in a planned Everglades restoration project."

Flo-Sun is owned by the Fanjul family, called the "First Family of Corporate Welfare" by CNN in 1998. The four Fanjul brothers use a failproof strategy for getting their way from politicians: playing both sides. Alfonso is a major contributor to the Democratic Party, and his influence earned him a role as co-chairman of Bill Clinton's Florida campaign in 1992. Meanwhile, Pepe Fanjul does the same for the Republicans. It cannot hurt that they are strategically positioned in Florida, one of the most crucial swing states in presidential elections.

But even the Fanjul's influence cannot dull the nation's love for the Everglades entirely. In 2000, Everglades restoration became a national cause, with the signing of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) by President Clinton. According to its official Web site, "The goal of CERP is to capture fresh water that now flows unused to the ocean and the gulf and redirect it to areas that need it most. The majority of the water will be devoted to environmental restoration, reviving a dying ecosystem. The remaining water will benefit cities and farmers by enhancing water supplies for the south Florida economy."

Naturally, the Everglades experiences a very wet rainy season from about May to November, and a very dry season during the rest of the year. In the wet season, wildlife like deer take refuge on "tree islands" to stay above the water; in the dry season, fish and other aquatic animals are concentrated into holes dug by alligators that retain water, providing a veritable feast for any predator looking for a meal. The Everglades needs these natural cycles, but the people of Florida need water year-round. With its drained agricultural land, the Everglades system now holds less water overall than it used to, sending any excess water out to tide. And since Florida lacks deep aquifers, the plentiful rainfall received in the rainy season is mostly not stored for use during the dry season.

Adornato feels that CERP is spending extra money on risky projects in order to store water without harming the sugar industry. He is critical of the plans to use Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wells, which entail injecting water deep into the ground during the rainy season for use during the dry season. He prefers the approach of former Republican Governor Charlie Crist who, he says, "pretty much expended all of his political capital," in an effort to acquire the land of U.S. Sugar Corporation to use it for water storage and cleanup, delivering clean water to the Everglades.

Crist's plan, first announced in 2008, initially proposed purchasing 187,000 acres for $1.75 billion. By 2010, the area was reduced to 26,800 acres, or 14 percent of the original area, and the cost was down to $197 million. However, a 2010 New York Times article revealed that the deal might have helped U.S. Sugar Corporation as much or more as it helped the Everglades: "United States Sugar dictated many of the terms of the deal as state officials repeatedly made decisions against the immediate needs of the Everglades and the interests of taxpayers."

The initial deal would have put U.S. Sugar, which was mired in debt, out of business by purchasing all of its land, but the downsized deal leaves it in business but sells off its citrus groves, which were not profitable for citrus anymore (and some say are useless for restoration) due to a plant disease epidemic. U.S. Sugar was represented in the deal's negotiations by Gunster, a law firm whose chairman, George LeMieux, was Governor Crist's chief of staff.

Understanding how various restoration schemes will affect both the Everglades and Florida's sugar industry (which enjoys a symbiotic relationship with both major American political parties) is complex, but even those who care deeply for the Everglades understand the issue in the context of believing sugar is a necessity. Adornato says that he does not simply have a sweet tooth, he has "sweet teeth," and sugar has to come from somewhere. "The bottom line is that sugar grown in Florida does not pay the consequences for its impact."

Sadler, who unsuccessfully campaigned to assess a penny per pound "polluter pays" fee on sugar companies, agrees, noting that if sugar is not grown in Florida, where we have some environmental and worker protections, it will be grown elsewhere in the world where conditions may be worse.

While sugar consumption is not a necessity, production is going up, not down, given the popularity of biofuels and the relative efficiency of sugarcane compared to other feedstocks. But perhaps the answer is not giving up sugar but reducing our intake to reduce its ecological footprint as well. Sugar ranks alongside factory farmed animal products as unsustainably produced foods that Americans eat in quantities greater than are healthy.

Likewise, both foods benefit from lax federal environmental standards that stick taxpayers with the bill to clean up pollution or simply force citizens to live with a mess that is never cleaned up, and producers of both foods benefit from federal commodity policies that make their products more profitable. Most of all, both tell of a broken political process in which the needs of the majority are overlooked as long as a powerful and wealthy few finance the political campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans. 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is the lead agency in charge of protecting Florida's natural resources -- our water, land and air. As such, we are focused on three priorities: ensuring a more efficient regulatory process that is interpreted consistently across the state, and is protective of the environment; getting the water right in Florida; and giving Floridians and visitors more opportunities to enjoy Florida's award-winning state parks.

Environmental protection and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. In fact, we cannot have one without the other. At DEP, we want to foster a culture of customer service and regulatory efficiency and consistency across the agency and water management districts. This doesn't mean we're relaxing our standards. It means that we're taking a closer look at how we do things, to make sure our processes make sense both for the environment and for our customers.

For example, here in the Central District, staff members from each program area are making great strides to streamline our permitting processes, eliminate waste and improve efficiency. Providing great customer service to the citizens of our state is an important part of our work here at DEP. You deserve a process that is fair, understandable and unchanging as you travel or do business across the state.

Second, DEP is committed to getting the water right in Florida by improving the quality of our water while ensuring we have an adequate water supply. The future of our state's environment and economy depend on the health of our water bodies. From the tourists who flock to the beaches of Daytona to the citizens living on the Indian River Lagoon (the most diverse estuary in North America), our waterways play a vital role in our way of life here in Central Florida.

DEP is dedicated to partnering with local communities to get our water right. One of the ways we're currently doing this is by working with domestic wastewater facilities in the Wekiva Study Area to improve the water quality of Wekiwa Springs. On the east coast, we've been working with local governments that discharge domestic wastewater to the Indian River Lagoon to reduce or eliminate the discharge in accordance with state requirements.

Finally, we want to give Floridians more opportunities to enjoy Florida's award-winning state parks. Florida is home to the best state park system in the country. Have you seen the hundreds of manatees gathering at Blue Spring State Park (a designated manatee refuge), made pancakes right at your table at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant in DeLeon Springs State Park or stayed in a beautiful cabin at Lake Louisa State Park? If you haven't yet visited these or one of the many other state parks in Central Florida, you're missing out on a pleasurable and easy-on-the-pocketbook excursion that the whole family can enjoy. Florida's state parks are more than just a source of fun and recreation --they also benefit our state's economy.

Last year, the more than 200 million visitors that headed outdoors to enjoy Florida's natural resources at a state park contributed nearly $1 billion to local economies. DEP is committed to ensuring a healthy environment, and we believe we can effectively protect our natural resources without suppressing the economy in the process. In fact, a healthy environment and a healthy economy go hand-in-hand. And we are committed to balancing and protecting the needs of both. 2012-01-11T15:43:45+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/stork-status-to-be-settled-soon/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/stork-status-to-be-settled-soon/

After years of delays and, now, a lawsuit threat, the feds promise a decision.

More than four years after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists recommended the endangered wood stork be reclassified as threatened, the agency is expecting to make a final decision on the species early this year.

The Wildlife Service’s 2007 status review of the wood stork said the species had met criteria for reclassification.

In 2009, the property-rights advocate Pacific Legal Foundation petitioned the Wildlife Service to follow the review’s recommendation; on Jan. 3, the foundation threatened to sue the federal government if the wood stork wasn’t reclassified within 60 days as a threatened species; if the bird is reclassified, it would continue to receive protection under the Endangered Species Act but would be one step closer to removal from the Endangered Species List.

“We have a decision that’s in the process of being finalized,” service spokesman Chuck Underwood said. “We’re close to being able to publish it. We’re dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. “For the people who are petitioning, it gets frustrating. It gets frustrating for us, too. I wish we had the budget to respond quicker, but we don’t. No one does.”

According to the Pacific Legal Foundation, the stork’s classification as endangered is an economic hardship for Florida’s developers because under the Endangered Species Act, thousands of square miles of wetlands, the species’ primary habitat, are off-limits for development.

“The habitat of this bird as it remains in existence impacts the ability of someone to develop property,” said Alan DeSerio, the foundation’s managing attorney. “If you have a large acreage, you have to take the habitat into consideration, and you’re not permitted to destroy that habitat.

“When the bird is no longer endangered, we can try to have it delisted entirely. This is the first step.”

Michael Reitmann, head of the Lee County Building Industry Association, agreed.

“If that’s what the law says, let’s follow it,” he said. “Give everybody a fair playing field. When a population is no longer endangered, maybe we ought to loosen up the restrictions a little bit.”

Developers are often allowed to destroy wetlands if they mitigate the damage. Forms of mitigation include restoring or creating wetlands on the site and restoring or creating wetlands at another site.

“A lot of the cost of mitigation is pretty expensive,” DeSerio said. “The idea of paying to mitigate probably puts development of property out of reach from a financial stand point, especially today.”

Stork exchange

Reclassifying the wood stork is all about nesting numbers.

Before 1970, 70 percent of the United States wood stork breeding population nested south of Lake Okeechobee.

In the 1930s, the U.S. breeding population was about 20,000 pairs.

With loss of South Florida’s wetlands, the breeding population dropped to a low of 2,500 pairs in 1978 – wood storks were listed as endangered in 1984.

While South Florida’s breeding population was steadily dropping (fewer than 500 pairs in the late 1980s and early 1990s), the Georgia and South Carolina populations increased. Wood storks started nesting in North Carolina in 2005.

“One reason we recommended reclassification is that wood storks have adapted,” Underwood said. “They used to be found primarily in the Everglades and Big Cypress, but those populations are not doing well. The birds have moved out and established colonies elsewhere.

“The historical core area is still important, but not at the same level as it used to be. The species is showing growth,” Underwood added

Under the Wildlife Service’s wood stork recovery plan, the species could be reclassified as threatened if it showed a three-year average of at least 6,000 nesting pairs of wood storks.

For three three-year periods from 2001 through 2006, an average of 7,417 wood stork pairs nested throughout the species’ range.

A total of 11,279 pairs nested in 2006; 2,648, or 23 percent, of those were in the historical core area of South Florida.

Questions

Despite the wood stork’s expansion northward, wildlife officials should be cautious about changing its status, said Jason Lauritsen, a resource manager at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County, the largest wood stork nesting colony in North America.

“There are some question marks for me,” he said. “What kind of development pressure is there where the storks are feeding in the northern range? What are the survival rates for juveniles (that) fledge up there?”

Satellite data show wood storks nesting in the northern range flock to wetlands in Lee, Collier and Hendry counties to feed during the winter, Lauritsen said, and allowing development in prime feeding areas would have negative effects on breeding.

“This is the breadbasket for wood storks,” Lauritsen said. “It’s critical for their survival. Immediate downlisting is not as much a concern as how we look at the population long-term. We might get into a bind by putting all our eggs in the northern portion of the range.”

Wood storks could be removed from the Endangered Species List if an average of 10,000 pairs nested over five years; 2,500 of those would have to be in the Everglades and Big Cypress systems.

“The fact that the downlisting criteria for wood storks has been met is an indication that a species can recover to the point where it doesn’t need protection,” said Marty Berghoffen of the Center for Biological Diversity, which also called for the stork to be reclassified. “Downlisting is the first step in showing the species is recovering, but it&rsqu]]> 2012-01-11T15:35:44+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/editorial-pulling-together-for-the-everglades/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/editorial-pulling-together-for-the-everglades/

No big, bold new initiatives emerged from the 27th annual conference of the Everglades Coalition.

Still, the fact that an estimated 300 representatives of government and nonprofit agencies dedicated to the restoration of the Everglades ecosystem convened in Stuart in an atmosphere of teamwork is terrific news.

As an Army Corps of Engineers leader puts it, "It gives people hope."

Teamwork is crucial when money is tight. Lobbying has to be focused and execution seamless. There is no room for overlap and every possible efficiency merits exploitation.

A personal appearance and remarks by Gov. Rick Scott, who has become a supporter of finishing the massive and already expensive Everglades project, bodes well.

It is good to see the Everglades getting the footing it deserves among other causes competing for limited resources these days. For the sake of our wildlife and future water supplies, all the ef]]> 2012-01-11T15:27:56+00:00 http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/eve-samples-gov.-scott-is-saying-the-right-things-about-the-everglades-but-/ http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/news/entry/eve-samples-gov.-scott-is-saying-the-right-things-about-the-everglades-but-/ Gov. Rick Scott said all the right things.

Like any practiced politician, he knew his audience.

He reminded attendees at this weekend's Everglades Coalition conference that he's pushing to get $40 million for Everglades restoration included in the state budget.

It was an easy applause line, and it worked.

He promised the group of environmentalists, researchers and policymakers that he would work with the federal government to get moving on critical Everglades restoration projects.

"The Everglades are a national treasure and an economic engine, a job creator — and the future of Florida depends on its health," Scott said Thursday night at an opening reception for the 27th annual conference, held this year in Martin County.

Praising Everglades restoration has become de rigueur for elected officials in Florida, and it wouldn't be notable if any other politician was heaping it on.

But this is the same Rick Scott who last year slashed Everglades funding in his proposed budget, recommending only $17 million.

The same Rick Scott who gutted the state's water management districts.

The same Rick Scott who blew off the Everglades Coalition conference last year — the first new governor in a quarter century to decline the invitation.

So, why the change of heart? Was it driven by his approval ratings, which last month stood at 26 percent?

"No, it's not a new attitude," Scott replied when I raised the question during a sit-down with Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers' editorial board Thursday.

He pointed out that he met with federal officials in October to push for a faster, more unified approach to Everglades restoration.

But later, when Scott spoke at the conference, he hinted at the education he's undergone during his first year in office.

"I can tell you, you learn a lot in this job," he said.

Whatever Scott's motivation, Everglades advocates have been quick to praise Scott for his new tone.

Before he uttered a word into the microphone Thursday night, he got a standing ovation from the Everglades Coalition crowd. Many were pleasantly surprised when he fielded tough questions from the audience.

Dick Pettigrew, former speaker of the state House, asked him if he would commit to protecting the Water Resources Act of 1972, which created the state's five water management districts.

Scott replied, "Absolutely."

Not all of Scott's past sins were forgotten, though.

Nathaniel Reed, former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, said he still "yearns" for a Department of Community Affairs — the growth watchdog agency that Scott abolished last year.

Yet Reed called Scott's latest stance on the Everglades "encouraging."

"I've seen a remarkable change in his attitude, and that of his senior staff," Reed said.

I asked Reed what he would like to see Scott do for the Everglades this year, beyond allocating the $40 million for restoration. Reed pointed to the valuable land the state owns south of Lake Okeechobee.

"I think a very shrewd negotiator could negotiate land swaps with the Fanjuls (the owners of Florida Crystals) and U.S. Sugar," Reed said.

That could set the stage for restoring the natural flow of water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades — what some call the "holy grail" of Everglades restoration. It's also vital for the St. Lucie River, which is now forced to accept polluted discharges from Lake O whenever the lake gets too high.

Mark Perry, executive director of Florida Oceanographic Society, admitted that he was apprehensive about the governor's appearance at the conference. But Scott's remarks struck him as sincere.

"I think he got the message over the past year — hey, Everglades and water are important to this state," Perry said after the governor's talk.

"If he's open to learning," Perry added, "I think we've got a chance to train him well."

Yes, Scott said the right things here at the Everglades conference — but his audience will change when he returns to Tallahassee for the start of the legislative session Tuesday.

There, he will face pressure from special interests and die-hard party loyalists.

Will he say the right things then?

Eve Samples is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects her opinion. For more on Martin County topics, follow her blog at TCPalm.com/samples. Contact her at 772-221-4217 or eve.samples@scripps.com.

STUART — They didn't exactly all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya," but people who attended the 27th annual conference of the Everglades Coalition last week say the proceedings were unusually congenial and cooperative.

Several participants said the conference represented the start of a new phase of Everglades restoration, moving from planning and permitting to shovels in the ground on projects including the $400 million C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment project in western Martin County, and the first mile of bridges designed to raise the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County and allow more water into the Everglades.

Cooperation from state and federal governments was shown in a pledge by Gov. Rick Scott, who addressed the group Friday evening, to seek $40 million for Everglades restoration in this year's legislative session and the spending bill recently approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama that contains $142 million for restoring the Everglades and the Kissimmee River.

"It gives people hope," said Col. Alfred Pantano, head of the Army Corps of Engineers district that includes South Florida, "that even though ... every government agency has an extremely tight budget, things are still moving forward. We've got seven Everglades projects under way right now. People can see big, yellow pieces of equipment digging holes and moving dirt rather than just talking about it."

The conference at the Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina attracted about 300 representatives of government and nonprofit agencies dedicated to restoration of the Everglades ecosystem. Besides Scott and Pantano, big names from state and federal government included Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; and Rachel Jacobson, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"In the past you'd see a lot of groups at odds with each other," George Jones of Port St. Lucie, the Indian Riverkeeper, said as the conference wound down Saturday afternoon. "This year, I've seen a lot of that easing up. It's just that sometimes people are so passionate about their beliefs that it gets a little personal."

Melissa Meeker, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District, called it a case of "everyone wanting to do good, to do the right thing. We just have to try to figure out what that is, and then get it done."

Attending her 11th coalition conference, Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard said each year "has dynamics shifts. This is one of the more collaborative meetings. That's the mood."

Heard said representatives from federal agencies were particularly out in force this year, and being particularly cooperative.

"The federal leg of the stool seems to be all in," she said, "saying that the (Obama) administration is prioritizing restoration. And that's great, because that hasn't always been the case. The federal government has been a good partner (in restoration efforts), but not a great partner. Now they're making joyful noises that they're going to do more."

Julie Hill-Gabriel, state co-chairwoman of the coalition and director of Everglades policy for Audubon of Florida, agreed that participants were excited that "we're no longer just in the building-up-to stage, we're getting things in the ground. Now that we're actually implementing some of these plans, it makes it easier to recognize that we can be successful."

Hill-Gabriel said it was exciting to see the various groups represented at the conference "saying they're going to work together to get things done, to take the challenges of Everglades restoration head-on. I don't think it's ever been like this in the past. In the past there's always been this, well, tension. Is it really a 'Kumbaya' moment? C'mon. But there really has been a concerted effort to get face-to-face, eye-to-eye and work things out."

"If you sit there and brush your teeth with the water on, shame on you," said Col. Alfred Pantano, district commander of the Army Corps of Engineers. Pantano, the Corp's no-nonsense, shaved-head overseer of Everglades restoration, jokingly chided women in the audience with long hair about the amount of water they use to shampoo and rinse their hair.

"I do believe as Americans we got to get real about conservation," Pantano said. "If you water your lawn every day, shame on you. You're a hypocrite."

Pantano's comments came amid a panel discussion about managing Lake Okeechobee's water: "Who gets what, when and how much?" The Corps is responsible for the lake's level, which dropped so low during last year's drought that gravity could not pull the water south to the Everglades or through the canal that provides West Palm Beach with its drinking water.

Competing interests for what little water was left in the lake heightened tensions among agriculture and environmentalists, perennially at odds over the lake's water quality and supply. Echoing Pantano's warnings, Maryann Martin, owner of Roland and Maryann Martin's Marina and Resort in Clewiston, offered her own gritty opinion.

"There's going to come a day when you turn on the tap and nothing comes out," Martin said. "We are spoiled rotten - rotten fat people."

Lake Okeechobee is considered the heart of the Everglades. Water flowing from as far north as Orlando feeds the massive lake, which, in turn feeds man-made canals at the south end of the lake. Those canals supply water - polluted by runoff from farms and urban areas - to the region's billion dollar agriculture industry and the Everglades.

When asked to identify the biggest hurdles facing the lake, Pantano turned his back to the audience and faced the panelists, which included representatives from environmental groups and agriculture.

"I think your greatest challenge is your relationships," Pantano said. "I think you get too consumed in fighting your battles. You gotta win the war here. You all are gonna have to figure out how to get along, children."

That theme permeated the conference, which brought together an unprecedented contingent of environmental officials from Washington, including Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; state leaders, including Gov. Rick Scott; and environmental groups.

"It's not that we don't have enough water, it's that we waste it," said Paul Gray, the Lake Okeechobee science coordinator for Audubon of Florida. Billions of gallons of storm water is flushed to the ocean every year because there is no storage. "The biggest barrier is we are boneheads."

christine_stapleton@pbpost.com

Though Scott was met with distrust by many environmentalists when he took office, he garnered a standing ovation as he took the stage at the Everglades Coalition's annual conference, and was interrupted by loud applause after promising to push for the funding.

"We've got to do everything we can to put the money in there," he said.

Scott's budget request is $10 million greater than the current allocation. Though the Republican has made headlines with his budget slashing, he told the crowd gathered in Stuart that Everglades restoration efforts are necessary and worthy expenditures.

"The future of Florida depends on its health," he said. "They're worth every penny."

To some, the governor's comments are surprising given his first year in office.

Restoration funding was cut from $50 million to $29 million. Property taxes for the state's water management districts were cut $210.5 million, which required substantial layoffs at the agency leading Everglades efforts. And funding was withheld from the Florida Forever land-buying program, which aided in restoring the flow of water to the River of Grass.

For now, at least, environmentalists appeared ready to put those differences aside, eager to defend Scott after his budget proposal and prepared to fight lawmakers who might try and cut the number.

"What happened last year is behind us. 2012 is a new year and right now it looks like a year of bountiful opportunity for the Everglades," said Jerry Karnas of the Everglades Foundation. "Trust is built step by step, and right now the governor is taking positive steps."

The Everglades have been dying for decades from the intrusion of farms and development, cut by dikes, dams and canals, effectively draining much of the swamp and polluting it with fertilizers and urban runoff. The state and federal governments' efforts to restore the wetlands have been stymied for years by funding shortfalls, legal challenges and political bickering.