"Any day that you don't go for a walk and enjoy nature is a wasted day." Henry David Thoreau
From the Desk of Eric Draper, Director of Audubon of Florida Earlier this week marked the first day of the 2011 Florida Legislative session in Tallahassee. I am happy to report to you that Audubon is ready to bat for the issues you care most about: Florida's wildlife, wildlands and water. Our top priorities this year are the passage of renewable energy legislation and to gain needed funding for Everglades restoration and the Florida Forever land-conservation program.
Although Audubon's dedicated staff will be working round-the-clock over the next few months, your help outside of the Capitol will be the reason for our success inside. Here are some ways you can help protect our environment, right now:
Read our weekly Advocate Newsletter! Each Friday we will send you a legislative update on the happenings of the week - be sure to read these so you can stay on top of the most breaking news out of the Capitol. Some of these updates will contain action items, such as signing a petition or an option to write a letter to your legislators - please take advantage of these! Being able to show legislators that our members are engaged on an issue makes our message that much more effective. This point leads us to our second way you can help Audubon this session...
Share Audubon's News! Read something from one of our newsletters that you care a lot about? Share it! You can easily send a copy of our emails to your friends, family and coworkers by pushing the "Tell Your Friends" link on the right or simply forwarding the email to your contacts list. Engage your network on Facebook and Twitter, post our content to your wall and start the conservation conversation!
Follow the Legislation for yourself! Make use of MyFloridaHouse.gov and FLSenate.gov and check out the bills being filed by our state's legislators. Throughout the legislative session we will mark important bills on the Audubon of Florida News blog, but we encourage you to follow them yourself as they wind their way through the process. On the House and Senate websites you will see which committees a bill was heard in, how a member voted, what amendments were offered and, if they make it through, how they fared on the floor. Don't like what you see? Call your Senator and Representative and let them know how you feel.
If we want to have an impact this session, we need you to speak up and make some noise. Our organization is unique in that we have thousands of dedicated and engaged members with a genuine stake in the future of Florida. You can help us harness that passion by encouraging others to stay involved.
Urge Your State Legislators to Stand Up for Florida's Wildlife, Water and Special Places The Florida Legislature is considering two approaches to revising the Growth Management laws in Florida – those laws that determine how local governments regulate the use of land, and how the state reviews and approves those local decisions.
One approach essentially takes the state entirely out of the picture. The Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida advocate that approach. Under this "get rid of it all" approach, only local elected officials would have anything to say about how land use is regulated. Under that scenario, a local government could allow private landowners to propose new development right out into sensitive ecosystems such as the Everglades, and that would be the final decision – the state could do nothing about it.
The other approach is coming from new Department of Community Affairs Secretary Billy Buzzett, who is advocating for a streamlined Growth Management system, one which would still have state agency review in place to give the State of Florida a final "yes" or "no" on land development proposals that would impact key state interests – such as our pristine ecosystems and treasures like the Everglades. Secretary Buzzett's approach is much more favorable to environmental protection.
It is time for our voices to be heard, email your legislators here
Boating on Lake O As water levels fall slowly due to evaporation from sun and wind, the two navigation routes across the lake and times available to lock through will be impacted.
Boaters will need to check ahead to ensure safe passage especially if a dry winter and spring are ahead for Central Florida.
The lake level Wednesday was at 12.08 feet above sea level. When the lake drops to between 12.5 and 11.5 feet, St. Lucie and W.P. Franklin (Fort Myers) locks only open every two hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
To view times and restrictions check the Army Corps of Engineers website at www.saj.usace.army.mil and search for the Navigation Bulletins page.
Read about wildlife around the world
Birds
Senator Cardin Introduces Bird Conservation Act Last week, Audubon filled the great hall at the Organization of American States, joining conservation leaders from the U.S. and beyond to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Senior Interior Department officials were in attendance, as were Ambassadors from Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic. Both the Interior Department and our international partners recognized the important contributions of this seminal act to hemispheric conservation and called for its continued support. Meanwhile, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), one of the most steadfast and outspoken champions for bird and wildlife conservation in the U.S. Senate, introduced his bill aiming to reauthorize the Act and increase funding.
Judge upholds Interior on endangered sparrow A federal judge has upheld an Interior Department decision not to set aside critical habitat for an endangered species of Florida sparrow.
The judge in Washington, D.C. ruled Wednesday that the agency used its discretion properly in opting to make Everglades restoration a priority over the Cape Sable seaside sparrow. The bird has been on the endangered list since 1967 and is found only along the southern tip of Florida.
The department decided that designating certain areas sparrow habitat would interfere with restoring more natural water flows through the Everglades. The rule had been challenged by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups.
The judge agreed that the Interior Department had shown the restricted habitat restoration was not likely to trigger immediate extinction of the bird.
Audubon: Spoonbill nest count plummets in bay Fewer roseate spoonbills built nests in Florida Bay this winter than in any nesting season since 1952-53, according to researchers at Audubon of Florida's Tavernier Science Center.
What caused the dramatic decline, from 223 nests last year to just 69 nests this year, for now remains a mystery, those researchers say.
"With this kind of work you want to see how they nest the next few years in a row, and then look back and see what is different," said Karen Dyer, Audubon's lead field worker for the spoonbill count.
Because they are especially dependent upon the normal summer wet/winter dry seasonal cycle of the Everglades, the spoonbill is considered a key indicator species on the health of Florida Bay.
Nest counts often go down in years when the dry season is not as dry as usual, a scenario that robs spoonbills of foraging grounds. That's what happened last year, when the nest count of 223 was the lowest since the late 1960s.
But what makes this year's exceptionally low count especially vexing is that climatic conditions have been ideal. A fairly typical wet season has been followed by a dry winter.
"All the data, from banding, from satellite tags, from nest monitoring over the years would indicate we would have had a good year this year. But it wasn't," Dyer said.
Still, the news might not be as bad as it sounds for South Florida's spoonbill population as a whole. Traditionally, Florida Bay is the primary nesting spot in the region for the beloved pink, red and white bird.
But this year the nest count in what is called Water Conservation Area 3 -- a swath of the Everglades watershed to the west of Fort Lauderdale -- was more than 100, up from just four last year.
"I think the birds breeding up there are very likely Florida Bay birds," Dyer said.
Spoonbills have also moved nests inland in Everglades National Park and to areas along the gulf coast, park service biologist Dave Hallac said.
Florida Ornithological Society Meeting near Tampa The Florida Ornithological Society meets this weekend near Tampa. The focus of the meeting will be to help compile information on the wintering sparrows at Starkey Wilderness Preserve and nearby sites and also to enhance native sparrow identification skills through a series of workshops on Saturday afternoon. Marianne Korosy and Jim Cox lead sparrow drives both on Saturday and Sunday mornings where several sparrows will be banded and released. Images from a similar sparrow drive a few weeks ago are provided at the bottom of this note to provide a hint of what might be in store. Chris Wood from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology will provide an overview of eBird, and Jon Greenlaw and others will lead field trips for marshland sparrows and rails.
For more information on the meeting, visit http://www.fosbirds.org/Events/Meetings/Spring2011/FOSMeetingRegistrationForm-Spring2011.pdf
New sea bird discovered off Chile A new species of seabird has been found. A five-person multi-national expedition led by British seabird expert Peter Harrison, captured twelve of the mystery storm-petrels at sea near Puerto Montt, Chile on 18, 19 and 21 February, and can now confirm the existence of a new species, the first new sea bird found in 55 years, and the first new storm-petrel in 89 years.
This tiny black and white seabird belongs to a group of seabirds known as storm-petrels which appear to dance on the water, pushing off with webbed feet on long legs and wings spread, they are able to gather small food items from the surface of the water.
"These birds are likely to be a completely new species, as they are so different from any other storm petrels we know," says Harrison. "There are just twenty-two known storm-petrels world wide."
The key to the success of this project was the involvement of two New Zealanders with specially designed net-guns. Chris Gaskin and Karen Baird have been involved in capture and searches for the breeding sites of the recently rediscovered New Zealand storm-petrel, a bird that was thought to be extinct for over 100 years. Using 'chum' (oily fish-bits immersed in the sea) to attract the birds close, they were able to capture the tiny birds and enable the biologists to take photos, measurements and biological samples.
One of Chile's leading ornithologists Dr. Michel Sallaberry Ayerza of Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Science at the University of Chile (Santiago), who also handled expedition logistics, collected blood samples and feathers which will be analyzed to confirm the identity of the new species. "This is a very important discovery for Chile" said Sallaberry, "and it seems the birds are in good numbers, in fact during our visit they are the most common seabird in the waters here in Seno Reloncavi."
It is extraordinary to think that a new species of bird is in existence within sight of the beaches at Puerto Montt, which at the time of the expedition were crowded with Chileans on vacation. The waters of Seno Reloncavi are plied by cruise ships, cargo vessels and fishing boats. This northern fiord region of Chile is very beautiful with tall snow-clad volcanoes and steep forest clad mountains to the east, a maze of low islands lie to the west. The expedition was fortunate to enjoy fine, if blustery conditions, making catching the small birds from a small boat very challenging.
"Once the DNA work is completed the next step will be to try to find out more about these birds, where they breed and if the migrate away from the area during the winter, or remain resident" said Sallaberry.
Harrison concludes: "To discover a completely new species is a special moment in any biologist's life. Our discovery is made more significant because the new species is a seabird. Worldwide there are just 350 or so seabird species and storm-petrels are the smallest of all seabirds. Without doubt this discovery is a red-letter event for seabird enthusiasts of the world."
Second bald eagle shot in Tennessee - $8500 reward offered The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency are investigating the shooting of a mature bald eagle in Tennessee. This is the second bald eagle killed in Tennessee in less than a month. Another eagle had been recently found shot and killed in adjacent Bledsoe County. The birds were found approximately 30 miles apart.
The first person who provides information resulting in the successful prosecution of the person or persons responsible in these investigations will be eligible to receive an $8,500 reward.
Anyone with information concerning the eagle found in Cumberland County is asked to call Special Agent John Rayfield at 615-736-5532, or Cumberland County Wildlife Officer Casey Mullen with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency at 800-262-6704.
While bald eagles were taken off the Endangered Species Act in 2007 after a successful national recovery effort, they are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, both federal wildlife statutes. Violations of these statutes carry maximum criminal penalties of up to $100,000 and/or one year in federal prison.
Tennessee currently hosts about 140 eagle breeding pairs, according to Scott Somershoe, ornithologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Oldest known wild bird in the US hatches another chick The oldest known wild bird in the U.S.A. - a coyly conservative 60 - is a new mother. The bird, a Laysan albatross named Wisdom, was spotted a few weeks ago with a chick by John Klavitter, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and the deputy manager of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
The bird has sported and worn out 5 bird bands since she was first banded by U.S. Geological Survey scientist Chandler Robbins in 1956 as she incubated an egg. Chandler rediscovered Wisdom in 2001. In 1956, he estimated Wisdom to be at least 5 years old (since this is the earliest age at which these birds breed) though they more typically breed at 8 or 9 after an involved courtship lasting several years. This means, of course, that Wisdom is likely to be in her early sixties. There must be something to all that fish oil she consumes because Wisdom does not look her age.
"She looks great," said Bruce Peterjohn, the chief of the North American Bird Banding Program at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland. "And she is now the oldest wild bird documented in the 90-year history of our USGS-FWS and Canadian bird banding program," he added. "To know that she can still successfully raise young at age 60-plus, that is beyond words. While the process of banding a bird has not changed greatly during the past century, the information provided by birds marked with a simple numbered metal band has transformed our knowledge of birds."
Bald eagle death highlights US power-line threat The electrocution of Alaska's second oldest bald eagle highlights the threat large birds face from power lines, says American Bird Conservancy, the US's leading bird conservation organization.
The bald eagle, which was possibly one of the ten oldest ever recorded, brings the issue into sharp focus at a time when America is looking to increase wind energy generation.
'The threat to birds from power lines comes in two forms: electrocution when a large bird comes into contact with two lines or a line and a pole simultaneously, and collisions with the hard-to-see line,' said George Fenwick, ABC's president.
'We are very concerned that with the rapid expansion in wind power, numbers of both causes of mortality will rise. To meet the 2030 goal, the nation will need to produce about 12 times more wind energy than in 2009, which will dramatically increase the threat to birds such as the bald eagle unless appropriate mitigation takes place.'
A band retrieved from the dead eagle confirmed that it was the second oldest on record in Alaska. The oldest found in the United States was a 32-year-old bird from Maine. A wildlife biologist from the US Fish and Wildlife Service said that, based on records she has seen, the bird may have been one of the ten oldest bald eagles ever recorded. The bird was captured in 1989 following the Exxon Valdez oil spill that happened earlier in the year.
"That eagle survived one of Mother Nature's harshest climates for 25 years, only to find death on a man-made utility pole," he added.
"Wind farms require the installation of large numbers of utility poles and power lines. Unless buried or properly insulated, those power lines can electrocute large birds such as bald and golden eagles that perch on poles and lines while hunting," he said.
"Wind farms are typically located in more remote areas that also require significant build-out of massive high-tension power lines to connect them to the grid. Unless properly marked, these lines can also result in bird deaths through collisions, a particular concern for birds such as the endangered whooping crane," he said.
Invasive species
Non-native Burmese pythons having negative impact on native birds of the Everglades Many may worry about the effect of domesticated pet cats on the bird-life in their locale - but in the Everglades of Florida, it is escaped pet-snakes which seem to be having the biggest impact on native wildlife. Now a dietary study, of the tens of thousands of Burmese pythons living there, has shown that local birds have a lot to be afraid of, in the southernmost wetlands of the US.
The Everglades National Park is one of the most diverse of US habitats, home to a vast number of native species. But it is the recent immigrants to this natural haven that have scientists worried. The Burmese python comes from SE Asia, and established itself here after pet-snakes escaped in the 1970s. The population of these snakes is now thriving, so a team from the South Florida Natural Resources Center, the University of Florida and the Smithsonian Institution was bought together to assess their impact on the indigenous wildlife.
As part of that work, between 2003 and 2008 over 300 of the pythons, which can reach 19 feet in length, were collected and their gut contents analyzed. Bird remains were among the commonest prey found, partially-digested in their crop - making 25% of the total. It seems they are particularly vulnerable as they have not had to cope with such a threatening predator in recent evolutionary history.
Birds netted by the pythons ranged from house wrens to 4 foot long great blue herons - as well as several species, such as the snowy egret, wood stork and the white ibis, that have been placed on watch-lists by local and federal conservationists. Commenting on the paper in the journal BioOne, ornithologist Carla Dove, from the Smithsonian, said ''These invasive Burmese pythons are particularly hazardous to native bird populations in North America because the birds didn't evolve with this large reptile as a predator. ''
And with no natural predator to hold the snakes in check, there is a concern that the invading pythons will continue to have a detrimental effect on local ecosystems - and may even expand their range. As Dove says ''The python's high reproductive rate, longevity, ability to consume large prey and consumption of bird species are causes for serious conservation and control measures. These pythons can also inhabit a wide variety of habitats, so their impact is not restricted to just the native species within the Everglades.''
First week in March is invasive species week Information about all types of invasive species can be found at http://www.eddmaps.org/florida/species/ Learn about invasive species near you and help control their spread!
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary: Invasive Apple Snails on the Move in Southwest Florida While invasive apple snails have not yet been observed in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, scientists and land managers know that unfortunately, it's only a matter of time.
Our native 'Florida apple snails' are a common sight in wetlands, along canal banks and in ponds and other permanent water bodies. They are a preferred food source for many animals, including Everglade snail kites (an endangered raptor native to Florida and Cuba), limpkins, turtles and otters. While these snails are well camouflaged to avoid predation, empty shells can often be found in piles along the edges of wetlands. Often more obvious than the adult apple snails, white clusters of Florida apple snail eggs can commonly be seen above the surface of the water on cypress trees, plants and canal banks.
In the last decade or so, three species of invasive apple snails (native to South America) have become established in South Florida and scientists fear they may pose a threat to our native ecosystem. While the shells of adult snails are very difficult to tell apart, apple snails can easily be identified by differences in the egg masses that they lay.
Island apple snails are the most widespread invader in the Southeast U.S., currently established in coastal states from South Carolina to Florida to Texas. At full size, adults are noticeably larger than our native apple snail, but younger individuals cannot be easily distinguished. Island apple snail egg masses are bright pink and the individual eggs are smaller than those of our native (native apple snail eggs are also pink when they are first laid, and they turn white as their outer shell dries).
Spike-topped apple snails are established throughout South Florida and have been collected in several places farther north on the Florida peninsula. Egg masses are salmon-colored.
Titan apple snails are currently established only in Palm Beach County and their egg masses are a seafoam/pastel green color.
While these non-native apple snails rapidly spread throughout our region, scientists are working hard to better understand their potential impacts. Early observations suggest they are displacing native apple snails, perhaps by consuming young native snails.
The effects of these invasions on apple snail predators are unknown. While we currently have no known control methods for adult snails, egg masses can easily be destroyed by crushing or drowning them. Caution should be taken, however, to ensure eggs are from non-native snails before destroying them. Information on identifying apple snails and reporting non-natives you encounter can be found online using FWC's Nonnative Apple Snail Reporting page.
Florida Keys Wildlife Need Protection from Exotic Invaders Wildlife in the Florida Keys face serious threats to their survival because of effects from non-native species, ranging from green iguanas eating the host plant of the state-listed Miami blue butterfly to direct predation of small endangered mammals by exotic pythons and free-roaming cats. Without action, the future of these endangered species is uncertain.
Four national wildlife refuges (Crocodile Lake, National Key Deer, Great White Heron and Key West) protect some of the largest tracts of native habitat remaining in the Florida Keys. These refuges are home to more than 30 threatened and endangered species, some of which are endemic, or occur nowhere else in the world. Species such as the Lower Keys marsh rabbit, with its darker fur and smaller size, is genetically distinct from other mainland marsh rabbit populations. The Key Largo woodrat, another endemic, is now found only on northern Key Largo. Tracking and re-introduction efforts to help both of these species on refuge lands have been seriously compromised by predation by domestic cats.
Cats are also significant predators of birds, killing an estimated one billion every year in the United States. The Florida Keys is a critical migratory pathway for hundreds of bird species traveling between their wintering and breeding grounds.
Florida Panthers
Is The Florida Panther Up Next For Extinction? Word earlier this month that the eastern cougar has been declared extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leaves just one native panther species alive in the East -- the Florida panther that resides in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.
A question that arises in the wake of that announcement is whether the Florida panther, too, will fade into memory, or if additional landscapes can be found for the big cat to expand its currently tenuous population.
For the eastern cougar, development apparently overran the cat. And that apparently occurred a long, long time ago, as well. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists say there really haven't been documented sightings of the cats also known as Catamounts, Pumas, and Painters, as well as panthers, mountain lions, and cougars, in the wild since the 1930s.
"We recognize that many people have seen cougars in the wild within the historical range of the eastern cougar," Martin Miller, the Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast Region Chief of Endangered Species, said in making the official extinction announcement. "However, we believe those cougars are not the eastern cougar subspecies. We found no information to support the existence of the eastern cougar."
There is, however, another big cat that very definitely is roaming at least a portion of the East.
"We do have what everybody agrees is still a population of breeding pumas in the East, which is the Florida panther," points out Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been striving to see that the Florida panther does not follow the eastern cougar into extinction.
There are an estimated 100-120 Florida panthers alive in the wild, living in Everglades and Big Cypress and surrounding lands in south Florida. Under the Fish and Wildlife Service's Florida Panther Recovery Plan, according to Mr. Robinson, three distinct populations of at least 240 individuals must be documented before the panther can lose its "endangered" tag.
There are, however, impediments to that goal, he noted last week during a phone conversation from his New Mexico office.
One is that the Fish and Wildlife Service has not designated critical habitat for the Florida panther. Such a designation might have blocked the National Park Service from threading the Addition lands tract of Big Cypress, an area known to be panther habitat, with a network of off-road vehicle routes possibly stretching for 130 miles. For if critical habitat for the panthers' survival had been designated, and had it included that area of Big Cypress, the Park Service would have had to prove that the ORV routes would not adversely impact the cats, said Mr. Robinson.
"We certainly think the ORV network they're approving will imperil the panther even more," he added.
Other conservation groups share those concerns, and last week some filed a Notice of Intent to sue the Park Service over the Addition lands ORV plan if it's not altered.
The other major impediment to the survival of the Florida panther is that so far there's only that one population of panthers -- in southern Florida -- and it is being squeezed by development: panthers are being run over on highways and dying in territorial battles, which biologists refer to as "intraspecific aggression." According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, at least three panthers were killed in territorial battles in Big Cypress last year, one of which occurred in the Addition lands section. (In the "good news" category, at least four kittens have been born in Big Cypress so far this year.)
While loss of habitat is behind some of the territorial battles at Big Cypress, Superintendent Pedro Ramos believes the 720,000-acre preserve simply has all the panthers it can reasonably handle given the preserve's management mandate, which is more "multi-use" than national parks.
"... every room is taken here at Big Cypress when it comes to panthers. We have a significant amount of panthers living at Big Cypress," he told the Traveler in January. "They have been living here despite the fact that there is hunting and there is ORV use and there is oil and gas activities taken place," he said.
Mysterious Florida panther deaths have officials concerned In the past two years, three of the endangered panthers have been killed under mysterious circumstances, prompting federal investigations that so far have not yielded an arrest. The most recent one was discovered a week ago.
At least one of the three panthers was shot. Federal officials won't say what killed the others.
"This has us worried," said Laurie Macdonald of Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental group whose Florida headquarters is in St. Petersburg.
Panther advocates fear the mysterious deaths may be connected with a growing problem of panthers killing domestic livestock such as cows and goats, said Nancy Payton of the Florida Wildlife Federation.
As the ranchers lose more cattle and other animals to the big cats, "some people finding a panther on their property may shoot them and then bury or dump them someplace else," Payton said. "There are some frustrated men out there, some frustrated ranchers and farmers."
Endangered Species
The 25 Most Endangered Turtles in the World Lonesome George may be the world's last remaining Abdington Island giant tortoise, but he is not alone in his plight. The Yangtze giant softshell has just four remaining individuals, and China's yellow-headed box turtles number 150.
According to a new report co-authored by the Wildlife Conservation Society working in conjunction with the Turtle Survival Coalition, many more turtle species will go extinct in the next decade unless drastic conservation measures are taken. The report lists the 25 most endangered turtle species from around the world, most decimated by illegal hunting and habitat loss. Among those turtles and tortoises listed, 17 live in Asia, 3 in South America, 3 in Africa, 1 in Australia, and 1 in Central America and Mexico.
Illegal hunting for turtles in Asia for food, pets, and traditional medicines is a particular problem, the report says.
"Turtles are being unsustainably hunted throughout Asia," said co-author Brian D. Horne of WCS. "Every tortoise and turtle species in Asia is being impacted in some manner by the international trade in turtles and turtle products. In just one market in Dhaka, Bangladesh we saw close to 100,000 turtles being butchered for consumption during a religious holiday, and we know of at least three other such markets within the city."
Better enforcement of existing trade laws, habitat protection, and captive breeding are all keys to preventing turtle species from going extinct while bolstering existing populations.
Liz Bennett, Vice President of WCS's Species Program, said: "Turtles are wonderfully adapted to defend themselves against predators by hiding in their shells, but this defense mechanism doesn't work against organized, large-scale human hunting efforts. The fact is that turtles are being vacuumed up from every nook and cranny in Asia and beyond."
The report was released at a regional workshop hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore and WCS. Its authors include the Turtle Conservation Coalition, which is made up by IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservation Fund, Turtle Survival Alliance, Turtle Conservancy/Behler Chelonian Center, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, WCS, and San Diego Zoo Global. Copies can be downloaded at www.turtlesurvival.org.
March is Seagrass Awareness Month Beneath Florida's shimmering surface waters is a whole other world brimming with brilliantly colored fish, living coral reef systems and about 2.2 million acres of seagrass beds – the largest seagrass meadow in the world. Many economically important commercial and recreational fish and shellfish species depend on healthy seagrass beds for critical stages of their life cycles. Juvenile fish species depend on the protection that seagrasses provide while some marine species, particularly manatees, rely on the underwater greens for their nutrition.
This extremely valuable resource contributes to ecological services worth more than $40 billion each year. Recreational fishing activity alone injects more than $4 billion into Florida communities in the form of retail sales, employment compensation and business earnings. So not only are seagrasses crucial for the marine species, but they are also a key factor for keeping Florida's economy afloat.
Seagrass beds are extremely susceptible to injuries, though, by boat propellers and vessel groundings. With nearly one million registered boats in Florida, boating activities can severely impact or even completely wipe out localized seagrass meadows if appropriate safety precautions are not used. Learn how to protect Florida's seagrasses by developing and practicing proper boating etiquette.
Another major concern among leading marine and estuarine scientists is the impact to seagrasses from coastal eutrophication. Eutrophication is caused when water is depleted of oxygen due to overgrowth of competing smaller plants resulting in limited sunlight which in turn slows seagrass growth. However, major efforts taken to improve and restore water quality have had positive impacts in some Florida estuaries resulting in seagrass expansion.
March is set aside to educate residents, visitors and all Florida boaters about the threats facing our vital seagrass meadows. Learn more about Florida's underwater resources on the web at www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal.
Hard winter for Gulf manatees, as well as dolphins Cold weather has taken a toll for the second year in a row on one of the Gulf Coast's most interesting creatures - the gentle, half-ton manatees that winter in Florida waters and that some believe have inspired legends about mermaids.
Manatees have died in near-record numbers since New Year's Day, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data.
They aren't the only Gulf Coast creatures whose deaths have been notable of late. Baby and adult bottlenose dolphins also have been dying in large numbers from an unknown cause. But scientists say the spike in manatee deaths is clearly related to cold; the dolphin deaths are still under investigation.
Babies accounted for only seven of the 161 manatees that have died from Jan. 1 through Feb. 25, according to figures posted Wednesday on the commission's website. That's not an unusually high number. But, with a few days left in February, it was already the second-highest manatee death toll on record for the first two months of the year.
"Anywhere in Florida, we haven't seen the problems in small calves like they've seen in dolphins," said Martine DeWitt, a veterinarian at the commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
More dead dolphin babies found along Gulf Coast The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the number of dead dolphins found since Jan. 1 in the area affected by last year's oil spill is now 67, with 35 of them premature or newborn calves.
NOAA regional spokeswoman Kim Amendola says five dead calves were reported Friday in Mississippi or Alabama.
Scientists are looking into whether any unusual deaths in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill area may be related to toxins from oil or dispersants. However, they're also investigating whether it could be related to the cold weather or a disease.
Megan Broadway, spokeswoman for the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss., says diseases are among known causes of so-called "abortion storms" in dolphins, when numerous females give birth prematurely.
Everglades and Water Quality Issues
Glades' new drinking water plant loses more than 50 million gallons a month Four of every 10 gallons of drinking water produced by the new Glades plant are lost through leaky pipes, bad meters and theft, plant managers say - more than 50 million gallons a month.
Replacing the pipes, some of which date from the 1920s and were not maintained, could cost $100 million, said Bevin Beaudet, county water utilities director.
"We knew there was leakage," Beaudet said. "We knew it was bad. We never in our wildest dreams imagined how bad it really was."
The $58 million Glades plant, which began operating in 2008 and gave Glades residents clean drinking water for the first time in decades, sends out roughly 144 million gallons of treated water a month to its customers. But officials say that on average, 57.7 million gallons of that water vanish.
The 40.1 percent loss is the highest reported among the county's major utilities.
West Palm Beach's utility comes in a distant second, reporting a 13.7 percent water loss in 2010.
Local leaders spent time in Tallahassee last week lobbying state lawmakers for money to help fix problematic pipes in the Glades. Officials are asking the state for $4.5 million in aid and are pushing for $9 million from the federal government.
U.S. Sugar land bought for Everglades restoration could get leased to another grower Citrus grower, not the Everglades, may get some of the earliest benefits from farmland acquired in an environmental restoration deal that cost South Florida taxpayers $197 million.
The South Florida Water Management District in October bought 26,800 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. with plans to eventually put the mix of citrus and sugar cane land to use storing and cleaning stormwater that could help replenish the Everglades.
Now the district faces budget cutbacks that threaten to delay the agency's construction projects longer than expected.
On Wednesday, March 9, the district's board agreed to explore leasing out an almost 18,000-acre chunk of the land it bought to citrus growers or another agricultural operation.
The citrus land in Hendry County was supposed to be some of the first of the U.S. Sugar property that the district put to use for Everglades restoration. When the land deal was approved in October, early estimates projected that Everglades restoration work could start on some of the property within two to five years.
But leasing out the land would likely give the winning bidder at least five years to use the bulk of the property.
The district estimates that the proposal could generate more than $400,000 a year of revenue on property that U.S. Sugar can use rent free until the district is ready to start building.
SFWMD Begins Pilot Program to Help Restore the Loxahatchee River "The Loxahatchee River is a unique and special slice of Florida, and providing the right amount of water is critical to its health and our community," said SFWMD Governing Board member Kevin Powers. "What we learn from this effort is intended to provide information necessary to help transform a test into lasting benefits for the ecosystem and residents."
The pilot test involves delivering water to the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River from the L-8 Reservoir, located northwest of the Village of Wellington, through Grassy Waters Preserve in West Palm Beach. The test will provide the District with a picture of
how the system would operate with a practical estimate of how much water could be delivered to the river during the dry season. District scientists will document factors such as evapotranspiration and seepage as water is pumped from the reservoir through a series of existing canals and wetlands to the river.
The 950-acre L-8 Reservoir was constructed to store and convey water for the restoration and preservation of natural resources associated with the Loxahatchee River watershed. The District expedited the reservoir's construction as well as several additional water control structures, which reconnected historical flow paths. The project will eventually be eligible for a 50-50 cost share with the federal government as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) once federal approvals are obtained.
"The L-8 Reservoir, with its unique geological features, represents an important resource to store a significant amount of water," said Ken Ammon, P.E., SFWMD Deputy Executive Director – Everglades Restoration and Capital Projects. "This tool gives us an additional option to help meet the critical freshwater needs of the Loxahatchee River."
The pumps were turned on Monday and began delivering 20 cubic feet per second of water toward the river. The City of West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County and the Loxahatchee River District are assisting the District with the test, in coordination with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP.
Report: Excessive nutrients damaging Great Lakes A U.S.-Canadian report says parts of the Great Lakes are suffering from excessive nutrients such as phosphorus, which promote growth of algae blooms that can damage ecosystems and human health.
In a biennial report on the lakes released Wednesday, The International Joint Commission calls for stepped-up research and monitoring to deal with eutrophication, or over-abundant plant growth in nearshore areas.
It may be caused by substandard wastewater and septic systems, manure and fertilizer runoff from farms and climate change, which causes more intense storms. The report urges governments to promote restoration of wetlands that filter out pollutants before they enter the lakes.
It also says urban runoff is degrading water quality at many beaches and calls for improved methods of determining when beaches should be closed to protect human health
Cash-strapped corps to seek cheaper Lake Okeechobee dike repair After Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, engineers fearing a similar fate here declared the aging, leaking dike around Lake Okeechobee a "grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida."
In a 2006 report that spurred a $1 billion repair job, they argued that the Herbert Hoover Dike "needs to be fixed now, and it needs to be fixed right." As a result, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers embarked on the gold standard of dike repair to erect a 2-foot-thick, 70-foot-deep wall in the center of the 80-year-old earthen berm.
After spending $200 million on a half-completed 22-mile section, corps officials plan to announce next week that they're not going to continue the Cadillac plan. Instead, they'll re-engineer, looking for less-costly alternatives that meet safety goals. The reason is the high cost of the wall construction - $10 million a mile - and competition for scarce federal money, spokeswoman Susan Jackson said.
A second factor, however, is the refusal last year by the South Florida Water Management District to pay for land needed to expand and strengthen the berm.
In 2006, the water district's "grave-and-imminent-danger" study said the levee has "a one in six chance of dike failure with each year that passes." The corps announced it would spare no expense to ensure the dike's safety. A corps study termed the levee a "unique structure," governed under stricter dam criteria because of the potential for "catastrophic life-safety, economic and environmental consequences should a breach occur."
It was a decision embraced by area congressmen, who were taken by surprise Wednesday by the corps' new approach.
"Our approach is that it's imperative that the corps find the most reliable option and utilize the best, safest, up-to-date technology," said a spokesman for Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta.
Corps officials say they are doing that by testing four alternatives before the next stage of construction. Instead of a 70-foot-deep wall that goes beneath bedrock, the corps will experiment with 40- or 50-foot walls.
"If we can demonstrate a wall that doesn't have to go beyond rock layer and affect an overall solution, then we've saved a lot of money," project manager Tim Willadsen said. "That's what this is all about."
Everglades Restoration Faces Steep Cuts As Governor Scott proposes a 66% budget cut, at least 4 polls show that the citizens of Florida don't want to scale back on Everglades restoration.
Florida's Everglades restoration plan faces a 66 percent cut in the Governor's budget proposal, but environmentalists say the cut is too step coming on the heels of previous cuts in recent years. The Everglades Foundation commissioned a poll which found widespread support for continued funding. Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation says a sweeping majority of Floridians believe job creation and protecting drinking water through restoration is very important.
"We've already taken a significant hit–from 200 million, to 100 million, down to 50, and now, potentially, down to 17 million annually," Fordham said. "We believe that everyone needs to share the pain, but again, the Everglades restoration has already taken a disproportionate hit."
The poll found that a majority of likely 2012 voters believe job creation and economic growth are tied to an abundant supply of clean water. The current restoration project is expected to create 22 thousand jobs.
Poll shows support for Glades growth management
Poll: Voters don't like Scott's proposal to cut Everglades funding
Poll: Majority oppose Gov. Rick Scott's proposal to cut Everglades restoration funding
Conserve water -- and pray for rain You may have missed the headlines, but we've just finished the driest five-month period for rainfall in the past 80 years.
Drought conditions prevail throughout the 16-county area served by the South Florida Water Management District. You may have seen the television news coverage this week of the wild fires that shut down parts of I-95 in Brevard and Volusia counties and closed parts of the Tamiami Trail in west Miami-Dade County Friday morning.
Here in the Keys, we're suffering through the driest October-February period in decades. And we obtain our drinking water from south Miami-Dade, which has the most extreme deficit in rainfall of any area in South Florida.
Tommy Strowd, deputy director at the water district, warns that "surface and ground water supplies are declining at a significant rate." Water levels in Lake Okeechobee stand at 12.12 feet, more than two feet "below its historical average for this time of year."
One reason you haven't heard much about this water crisis is because the on-again, off-again watering restrictions of past dry spells have gone by the wayside. Starting last year, all 16 counties in the district adopted year-round limits on landscape irrigation.
In Monroe County, those watering rules limit watering plants and lawns to three days a week, only before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Those with odd-numbered street addresses can water on Mondays, Wednesdays and/or Saturdays; even-numbered street addresses can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and/or Sundays.
Moving to year-round restrictions is important for the Florida Keys not because we're big water users, but because we rely for our drinking water from wells that tap underground aquifers near Florida City.
Excessive use of irrigation depletes the region's underground water reserves, forcing water utilities like ours to spend more on treatment of brackish water or even more expensive reverse osmosis plants.
With Keys visitors at peak numbers now, the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority is pumping nearly 3 million gallons per day from the new reverse osmosis plant in Florida City to supplement the 16.5 million gallons drawn from the underground aquifer.
Melissa Meeker, previously on the SFWMD Governing Board is new DEP Deputy Secretary of Water Policy and Ecosystem Projects
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
For those of you that have not yet heard, I have accepted a position with FDEP as the Deputy Secretary of Water Policy and Ecosystem Projects. I expect to start mid-March and am looking forward to working with you as we work to strengthen Florida's water policy and move forward on several long-standing ecosystem challenges.
For those of you that have business with Hesperides Group, Richard will assume ownership of the company and shift its focus slightly. For obvious reasons, the firm will not do any work with the FDEP.
If there is anything I can do for you in the future, please do not hesitate to call.
Thank you for your guidance and help over the years!
Warmest regards,
Melissa
Water managers are threatening to sue the Corps over pollution cleanup project State water managers, who have spent more than $1.2 billion in taxpayer money to meet federal demands to clean up pollution flowing into the Everglades, are accusing the federal government of failing to meet the same standards.
The South Florida Water Management District is threatening to sue the Army Corps of Engineers over what the state agency contends are a host of design and construction flaws in a pollution treatment marsh originally constructed by the Corps adjacent to the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in western Palm Beach County.
The problems, water managers say, result in dirty water being sent into the Loxahatchee, the largest remnant of the Northern Everglades.
District General Counsel Sheryl Wood warned in a letter that water managers intend to sue — "the least desirable alternative" — because the Corps had rejected requests to enter into a formal dispute resolution process. "The Corps' failure to accept its contractual responsibilities has significant consequences to the SWFMD, its taxpayers, and ultimately to the health of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge," Wood wrote in a Feb. 10 letter to Col. Al Pantano, commander of the Corp's Jacksonville district.
The 5,350-acre stormwater treatment area, known as STA 1 East, was built by the Corps but is operated by the water district. It is one of six similar, engineered marsh lands, covering some 45,000 acres, which the district uses to scrub damaging phosphorus, a nutrient in fertilizer, that runs off farms and suburbs after every storm. The STAs — paid for by state funding and taxes collected from 16 counties that the district oversees, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe — are designed to meet pollution standards mandated under a court-ordered settlement with the federal government.
But the district contends that STA-1 East has been beset by structural and design problems that compromised its effectiveness. District records show it is the worst performing treatment marsh and has exceeded water quality targets set by the federal government.
Pantano, in a January letter, said the Corps would complete some structural repairs this year but had limited authority to perform other improvements demanded by the district — at least without additional approval from Congress. He also asked for further meetings with the district to clarify matters in dispute.
A Corps spokesman said the agency could not discuss potential litigation. The district did not respond to a call for comment.
Despite progress in the restoration projects over the last year, relations between the two agencies that share responsibility for Everglades restoration have been strained by water quality disputes and lawsuits. Last year, water managers rejected a dramatically expanded, $1.5 billion cleanup plan drawn up by the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency at the order of U.S. District Judge Alan Gold, who had ripped the district for "glacial delay'' in cleaning up the Glades. Water managers said the agency, struggling with deep budget cuts, didn't have the money to do additional work.
Dams for the Cape Sable With the pristine beaches of Cape Sable stretching to the horizon behind him, Stephen Davis, a wetlands ecologist for the Everglades Foundation, talks about the precarious balance between the interacting eco systems of the fresh-water Everglades and the salt waters of Florida Bay.
The fishing shacks were swept away by hurricanes three-quarters of a century ago. Crocodiles now nest where cows once grazed. But old canals dug by the would-be settlers of the southwestern tip of the Everglades remained behind — scars that grew wider and deeper with every eroding tide. By month's end, Everglades National Park will wrap up work on a $7 million project to plug two of the most damaging canals and finally stem the surge of seawater deep inland that has dramatically altered one of the most isolated and breath-taking landscapes in the Everglades.
"It really is such a huge step forward in restoring the cape,'' park superintendent Dan Kimball said.
The two new dams won't preserve a coastline vanishing from the dual forces of erosion and rising sea levels. But scientists hope they will slow the fast-expanding impacts to an interior maze of creeks, lakes and marshes that shelter rare crocodiles and roseate spoonbills and boast enough snook, tarpon and other fish to entice scofflaws into an area off-limits to motorboats.
Stephen Davis, a wetlands ecologist for the Everglades Foundation, said the two dams should help stabilize a brackish and freshwater system that was choking on slugs of salt water.
EPA's new Florida rules roil D.C. The fight over the federal Environmental Protection Agency's new water pollutant rules for Florida could soon be decided in Washington.
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to stop the EPA from enforcing its water nutrient standards for Florida's waters. It did so by cutting off funding to the federal agency to carry out the program.
The Senate is now looking at its own 2011 Continuing Resolution budget and considering a similar rider to nip EPA's enforcement of nutrient pollutant standards for Florida waters.
Environmental groups across Florida are asking residents to urge their senators to not interfere with the EPA's plans.
The new rules set standards for both nitrates and phosphorus, excess amounts of which can cause harmful algae blooms. The pollutant often originates from sewage, manure and fertilizer.
The new rules were approved by the EPA last year but don't to go into effect until mid-2012 to give impacted businesses time to work with the EPA to meet the standards. The EPA estimates that 60 percent of Florida's waters are impaired. Dozens of Florida industries — from mining to the farming and wastewater industry — oppose the new standards, claiming they are too stringent, costly and not based on good science.
Wildlife and Habitat
Good News for the Tongass! You may remember back in 2001 when the Clinton administration created the Roadless Conservation Area Rule. The purpose of the Roadless Rule was to protect water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, biological diversity, recreation, and other values associated with undisturbed watersheds. This prevented commercial logging and road building on 58.5 million acres of "inventoried roadless areas" on national forests. In 2003, the Bush administration excluded the Tongass from the national rule. In 2009, the Organized Village of Kake, ecotourism businesses, and environmental groups filed a lawsuit to challenge the Bush-era exclusion.
On March 4, U.S. District Judge John W. Sedwick reinstated the Roadless Rule in the Tongass, finding that the reasons the Bush administration gave for the exemption were "implausible" and "contrary to the evidence in the record." The decision restores protection for millions of acres of roadless areas, which were not otherwise protected. Some critics of the recent court ruling have stated the decision will prevent mining and personal use wood permits. In fact, the rule will not interfere with access to mining claims, and specifically allows for personal use wood cutting.
Audubon hopes the recent decision will encourage the U.S. Forest Service to continue their on-the-ground work to transition out of old-growth logging and into sustainable second-growth forestry, together with restoration work to rehabilitate streams, remove old logging roads, repair damaged culverts, and refocus management on the protection and enhancement of salmon resources in the Tongass.
Feds proposal to limit ATV access in national parks has environmental groups upset In a decision that has pleased neither environmental advocates nor sportsmen, the National Park Service has proposed that Congress designate 47,000 acres in the preserve in eastern Collier County as wilderness, a classification that would prohibit off-roaders.
On Wednesday, four groups put the Park Service, the Interior Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on notice that the groups will sue the agencies in 60 days unless they reconsider the decision. The groups say the decision violates the Endangered Species Act because it does not protect the Florida panther, eastern indigo snake and red-cockaded woodpecker.
The Sierra Club, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the South Florida Wildlands Association and the Florida Biodiversity Project filed the notice.
The wilderness designation proposal backs off earlier determinations that found as much as 128,000 acres were eligible for the designation.
The size of the wilderness designation should not be a matter of compromise but a matter of keeping wildlife habitat from getting chopped up, a Sierra Club representative said Wednesday.
Global Warming and Climate Change
Hallandale Elementary Wins Conservation Challenge Hallandale Elementary School is the winning entrant in the Conservation and Climate Change (C3) Challenge coordinated by Broward County's Pollution Prevention, Remediation and Air Quality Division. The C3 Challenge is an educational competition intended to engage students, teachers, school administrators, staff and parents in practical strategies to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions school-wide and at home.
Hallandale Elementary performed an energy audit that resulted in the elimination of energy vampires, which are electronic appliances that consume power while they are switched off or in a standby mode. The school provided energy conservation tips during the morning announcements and checked the rooms each day to ensure lights and electronics were off. The school also met with city officials to initiate a recycling program. For more information about the challenge, visit www.broward.org/PollutionPrevention .
Energy
Enbridge prepares to put pipeline project to bed During a 12-hour procedure, crews successfully pulled 3,450 feet of 30-inch-diameter pipe through the tunnel under the St. Clair River from the Canadian side in Sarnia to the U.S. side in Marysville about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Enbridge community relations consultant Joe Martucci said.
The pipeline had been welded together and pressure-tested on the Canadian side of the river, Martucci said, before being pulled through the pipe starting about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Enbridge on-site inspector Jim Sevarns said there were no complications during the procedure at the drill site in Marysville Municipal Park.
As the final part of Enbridge's horizontal directional drill project, crews drilled a 12-inch pilot hole underneath the river. It took between 10 and 12 hours each day, six days a week, beginning Feb. 12. After its completion Feb. 18,
the hole was reamed to form a tunnel 42 inches in diameter.
Now that the new pipe is in place, the next steps of the project will involve installation of new valves on both sides of the river
as the new pipe is connected to the existing system, Martucci said.
The new pipeline is about 30 feet below the riverbed in a layer of clay, Martucci said.
Once the new pipeline is a functioning part of the system, the Line 6B segment will be decommissioned.
Progress Energy prepares to bring nuke plant back on line After multiple delays, more than $440 million in repairs and power replacement and 18 months of down time, Progress Energy said it plans to fire up its Crystal River nuclear plant in April.
It is the fourth time the utility company has pushed back the date it will start up its facility since it was shut down for repairs in September 2009, and later when a crack was found in the containment wall.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding a public meeting at 1 p.m. on March 22 to discuss the utility's preparation and readiness to restart it's 34-year-old facility.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting March 22. The meeting will be held in Room 150 of the Crystal River nuclear plant training center, 8200 West Venable St., Crystal River.
First Deepwater Drilling Permit since BP Spill Goes to … a well Co-Owned by BP Offshore drilling regulators this week approved the first deep water drilling permit since BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster, and as many have pointed out, it's going to a well owned and operated by Noble Energy.
But here's a lesser-noticed fact, which Reuters reported today: BP co-owns the well – 46.5 percent of it, to be exact. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the revamped offshore drilling agency, made no mention of BP's ownership of the well in its press release, which touted the newly approved permit as a "an important step towards safely developing deep water energy supplies offshore."
(BP confirmed with us its stake in the well, but referred further questions about its involvement in operating the well and its expected revenue to Noble Energy.)
Regulators had asked oil companies to prove their ability to contain oil spills occurring in deep water before granting any more permits for deep water drilling, and two systems have been proposed — one by a company called Helix Energy Solutions and another by the Marine Well Containment Company, a group of oil companies led by Exxon. Just last month, Bromwich said that neither system was ready yet, and allowing deep water drilling would be "simply irresponsible." He stated this week that Noble — which has a contract with Helix — "is capable of containing a subsea blowout."
Thinking about an EV? Nine Myths about electric vehicles
Utility-backed renewable energy legislation returns in the Senate State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, has introduced a bill similar to a measure that passed the House last year but died in the Senate, which would have allowed private utilities to charge customers for renewable power.
Bennett's bill would allow private utilities to pass on to customers the cost of increasing their mix of renewable sources, up to an amount equal to 2 percent of their revenues in 2011 and 2012, with the limit gradually rising to 4 percent by 2014.
The bill would cover various forms of renewable energy, including solar and biomass.
In an interview last year, FPL project management director Buck Martinez said such a "cost recovery" measure would eventually allow the utility to install hundreds of megawatts of solar panels, which would help jump-start a solar industry in Florida.
Now, when the company builds solar installations, he said the company imports many of its parts from Asia, and much of its expertise from places like California and Germany. Large-scale solar companies would need to know the demand will last over the long term before setting up shop in Florida.
Another bill introduced by Bennett would create a fund to pay for energy rebates and allow independent producers — such as businesses or homeowners that install solar panels on their roofs — to sell renewable power at rates equal to those charged by utilities to recovery their costs. That measure, he said, is open to tweaks.
One measure favors concentrated, utility-owned solar generation, while the other favors small-scale, "distributed" power. Some renewable energy advocates favor a combination of the two approaches.
Land Conservation
Florida may team up with Jack Nicklaus to build golf courses on state park lands Florida could allow the construction of at least five golf courses on state park lands under a proposal filed Friday that will likely come under fire from environmentalists.
The golf courses would be named after golf legend Jack Nicklaus as part of the "Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail of Florida" and one of them would have to be located at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County. The legislation also states that all of the courses would have to be designed by Nicklaus Design, which has developed courses across the world.
Nicklaus, who is one of the most celebrated golfers in the history of the sport, met with Gov. Rick Scott in late January. News reports at the time mention that Nicklaus talked with Scott about "economic development" and that Nicklaus talked to the governor about how "golf can be involved."
The measures sponsored by Rep. Pat Rooney, R-West Palm Beach, and Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, would also allow the golf course construction to be financed by revenue bonds issued by the state.
The argument behind the bill is that it would help boost the state's tourism industry.
House moves bill to 'streamline', or 'unravel', environmental permitting laws A developer-backed bill that would streamline rules to build new landfills, locate bio-fuel facilities in urban areas and limit citizen feedback in environmental permitting made its way through the first of five committees Tuesday, opening the door to what opponents warned is a substantial weakening of state environmental protections.
The measure by Rep. Jimmy Patronis and written with the help of development lobbyist Frank Matthews was approved by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on a party line vote and will be heard in four more committees. Patronis said his goal with HB 991 is to take the subjectiveness and delay out of environmental permitting and "make it more of a black and white and less of an emotional issue."
"This bill is by no means perfect,'' Patronis said. "With four more stops left there will be plenty of time to correct some concerns." He said that Matthews wrote "about 30 percent of the bill." But the 64-page proposal includes input from cities, counties and other interest groups who met privately Monday with Patronis to help craft an amendment that revamp his original bill.
But several environmental groups said they were not invited to the meeting and warned that the bill needs much more work to earn their support.
"It is unraveling 30 years of environmental regulations,'' said Eric Draper of Audubon of Florida. "Nothing is repealed. It just makes it harder to enforce the law and to say no to a polluting industry."
The measure, for example, has the support of the solid waste association because it makes it easier to expand the number of landfills "in areas with vulnerable water,'' he said. The measure also makes is easier to locate a wood-burning and bio-fuel waste facility in urban areas by preventing local governments from writing restrictive zoning laws.
Patronis said the bill attempts to streamline environmental permitting to save money and resources. He said he hasn't spoken with Gov. Rick Scott, who has also called for the repeal of hundreds of regulations. But the governor supports anything that will create jobs and the ideas "come from members of the business community.".
America's Great Outdoors Report Released On February 16, President Obama released the final report of his America's Great Outdoors initiative. The report outlines a 21st century vision for conservation in America that encompasses public and private lands, prioritizes our waters as recreational and community resources, and commits to long-term investment in conservation and outdoor recreation.
Some of the report's central recommendations address key League priorities, including fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and connecting children with the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and conservation. The report is a very encouraging step forward, with specific recommendations to address pressing problems and capitalize on new conservation opportunities. The challenge will be implementing the recommendations. The League looks forward to working with the administration, Congress, and our partners in the hunting, angling, and conservation communities to implement components of the report and achieve on-the-ground results.
Read the Izaak Walton League summary
Conservationists hail Everglades court ruling Conservationists are hailing a court ruling against the construction of a home improvement store on the edge of the Everglades in Miami-Dade County.
They said on Tuesday that the decision is not only a victory for Everglades restoration but will set a statewide precedent for compliance with local growth management plans.
The 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee on Monday rejected the county's appeal of a decision by then-Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet to deny a comprehensive planning amendment for the proposed Lowe's store.
The National Parks Conservation Association, 1000 Friends of Florida and Everglades Law Center intervened on the state's side.
$1.2 million Bird Key Park overhaul complete Bird Key Park, which residents once complained looked more like a parking lot than a park, has been given a face-lift. Local, state and federal dollars and grants paid for the $1.2 million overhaul that includes amenities, landscaping and shoreline repairs.
The park's main attraction is a 10-foot wide multi-use recreational trail that runs from the Ringling Bridge through the length of the park to Coon Key Bridge. The 1,500-foot trail extension now allows walkers and cyclists to travel between Bird Key Park and the Ringling Museum.
Recent renovations have local resident Bill Edwards taking more walks with his wife and children. "The park is safe, the paths are really well-marked, and it looks a lot better than it did a few years ago," Edwards said on a recent Saturday as he strolled through the park.
The surrounding Florida-friendly landscape is a mix of palms and native wildflowers. Plants were carefully selected based on sustainability reasons such as salt-tolerance.
Longboat Beach project begins next month The North Shore Road beach access will remain closed until a beach project restores sand to the area next month.
Slowly, but surely, a dredge is on its way to Longboat Key to pump sand ashore on the north end of the island.
An emergency beach project that will bring 133,000 cubic yards of sand to the north end will commence in early March, and a pipe will be laid out across the beach as early as next week.
The project originally was slated to begin in December, but the dredge has undergone maintenance, permitting and inspection delays.
Pedestrian and beach access parking will be partially restricted during construction at the Broadway beach access. The North Shore Road beach access will remain closed until the beach is restored.
Sand will be placed on the beach from just south of Broadway to just north of the North Shore Road beach access toward Beer Can Island. The project is expected to be completed in 90 to 120 days, weather permitting.
Beachgoers are advised to stay clear of construction equipment on the beach, exercise caution and respect access-restricted construction zones.
Town staff had been working to receive a permit from FDEP all year, which allows the town to rebuild the entire beach profile, or a 200-foot-wide beach that used to exist in that area.
Air Quality
EPA Soldiers on Despite strong anti-EPA sentiment in the House, the Environmental Protection Agency continues to roll out a series of new rules aimed at reducing air pollution. Findings that carbon dioxide is a harmful pollutant has prompted the agency to begin reducing emissions from mobile sources (cars, trucks) and is working to do the same from large stationary sources (utilities, factories, etc.). This week it released its initial rule on reducing mercury and other toxins. Mercury is a major pollutant from coal-fired power plants and poses a wide range of threats to people and wildlife. Fish-eating birds are particularly susceptible to mercury poisoning. Further, the neurological damage it causes poses a risk to developing fetuses and small children; one in six women have enough mercury in their bodies to create a risk to their child should they become pregnant. EPA is also moving to reduce soot (fine particulates that lodge in our lungs), ozone, and other pollutants that create respiratory and cardiac problems, and increase the risk of asthma attacks.
In a recent bill on government funding, the House cut EPA's budget by $3 billion dollars, the biggest cut ever. Multiple bills have also been introduced in both the House and Senate to prevent or delay EPA from regulating greenhouse gas pollution, in some cases even legislating a denial of the science behind climate change.
Audubon and others are fighting back to restore funding for EPA, as well as other conservation funding priorities, as the Senate and House continue negotiations on how to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends September 30. Look for an alert soon on the mercury rule as we voice our support for a stronger Clean Air Act and cleaner air for all.
Earthjustice, Sierra Club, NRDC & Environmental Defense Challenge Attempt to Weaken Emissions Reporting Requirements for Oil and Gas Facilities Earthjustice is representing Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund in an intervention opposing a lawsuit filed by several natural gas and petroleum industry groups which challenges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's reporting requirements for greenhouse gas emissions.
The eight industry groups, which include the American Gas Association, the Gas Processors Association and the Chesapeake Energy Corporation, filed challenges to the EPA's rule in January 2011. The rule requires facilities, including onshore and offshore production wells and platforms and oil and gas transmission and storage operations, to begin tracking their greenhouse gas emissions on January 1, 2011, and to submit annual emissions data to EPA beginning in early 2012. EPA estimates that emissions from such oil and gas facilities amount to more than 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide released each year. These facilities also are one of the nation's largest sources of methane, a greenhouse gas more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide.
"Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and the public has a right to know about the extensive methane pollution that is leaked, vented, and flared from the oil and gas industry," said Dr. Ramon Alvarez, an atmospheric scientist with Environmental Defense Fund. "EPA's action in requiring disclosure of this harmful pollutant will mean more rigorous information and smarter policies to address these emissions."
"Once again, dirty polluters are trying to block the EPA from doing its job, which is to protect the American public from the very real danger of carbon emissions," said Tim Ballo, senior associate attorney with Earthjustice. "Sound safeguards depend on comprehensive and accurate emissions data from all industrial sectors."
"Gas claims to be a clean fuel source, but leaky production systems can spew methane, a powerful global warming gas, into the atmosphere," said Deb Nardone, Sierra Club Natural Gas Reform Campaign director. "The industry wants us to look the other way. But we need to measure and control this pollution."
According to recent EPA estimates, the petroleum and natural gas industry may be the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions outside of power plants. On behalf of Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice also is intervening to defend a separate EPA rule that requires reporting from industries emitting fluorine-containing greenhouse gas emissions.
Miscellaneous
Broward County facts In 2010, Broward County had 10.8 million visitors. Total visitor spending was $8.6 billion – which equates to $23 million each day, $992,000 each hour or $16,500 every minute!
Last year, 640 business groups visited Broward County, booking more than 1 million room nights at local hotels – an economic impact just under $1 billion.
Florida's Women Who Could ... and Did March is Women's History Month which recognizes the great accomplishments by women throughout the years. Floridians can be proud to acknowledge these women as fellow Floridians, and to this day and into the future will benefit from their courage and determination to protect and preserve Florida's magnificent natural resources.
There are probably many more, but here we will highlight Ellie, Dagny, Marjorie, Marjorie and ... Marjory.
Philanthropist Elmyra Felburn Schiller's latest honor was the renaming on her behalf of the extremely popular Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. As director of the Felburn Foundation, her generosity benefited many of the wildlife species in the park contributing to the black bear exhibit, roseate spoonbill aviary and red wolf habitat. She was also instrumental in both phases of the Wildlife Walk, and the 8,000 square-foot Felburn Wildlife Care Center that houses the veterinary clinic, quarantine section, park offices and accommodations for biologists, interns and other park-related scientists. Her generosity along with that of the Felburn Foundation Board also benefits children with the installation of two specially designed barrier-free Boundless Playgrounds on the Cross Florida Greenway enabling those of all capabilities and talents the freedom to enjoy outdoor recreational equipment and activities. Her dozens of endowments for conservation and education continue to benefit Florida's springs, forests and wildlife.
Anna Dagny Johnson On the northern third of Key Largo, a 2,400-acre piece of paradise was named for local environmental activist Anna Dagny Johnson, whose efforts with the Upper Keys Citizens Association, the Izaak Walton League and other environmental organizations throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s helped put an end to the development planned for the lush tropical forest. Although development had already begun with the paving of roads and several buildings, most have now been replaced with native vegetation and trees. The Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park offers protection for more than 80 plant and animal species including the American crocodile and the Key Largo Woodrat while also helping to protect South Florida's fragile coral reef system.
Marjorie Harris Carr was a pioneer in protecting Florida's wildlife habitats. Along with her husband, the noted sea turtle expert Dr. Archie Carr, she was strongly committed to improving Florida's environment. One of her early efforts led to the formation of Payne's Prairie Wildlife Refuge, now known as Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Perhaps her best known environmental victory came from her efforts to stop construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal and as a result, 16 miles of the previously dammed Ocklawaha River was restored. The area which is now a favorite recreational area and natural habitat for many Florida wildlife species was renamed the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. DEP honored the Carr's memory with the renaming of one of its Tallahassee buildings, the Archie and Marjorie Harris Carr Building.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings A tiny community in Cross Creek, Florida, is what attracted Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings to the quiet farm life. There she was inspired by the rural lifestyle and quickly adapted to the ways of her neighbors, growing herbs, flowers and vegetables and tending her citrus grove. She took solace in her small cracker farmhouse nestled beside Cross Creek and Lochloosa and Orange lakes, and it was there that she penned her famous Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Yearling, which was also released as a movie. Some of her other books include Cross Creek and Cross Creek Cookery, The Sojourner, South Moon Under and Golden Apples. Her little piece of paradise was named the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Today, visitors to the park are provided a glimpse into her life. Dressed in 1930s clothing, staff and volunteers take guests inside the cracker farmhouse to a kitchen filled with fresh herbs and garden vegetables and onto the veranda where Marjorie sat at the typewriter that would tell her stories.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Often referred to as "Mother of the Everglades," Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an activist, crusader for women's rights, a journalist and playwright, the first woman in the U.S. Naval Reserves and an environmentalist who tirelessly fought for the causes she believed in. In her best-selling book, The Everglades, River of Grass, she wrote, "There are no other Everglades in the world. Nothing anywhere else is like them," bringing national attention to the vast wetland and its fragile ecosystem. Twenty years later, at the age of 78, she became absorbed in the need to preserve it and formed Friends of the Everglades, spearheading legislation to protect it and the wildlife habitat it provided. Throughout her 108 years, she was honored many times. She was a recipient of the Wellesley Award in 1977 and the Medal of Freedom in 1993. She was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 and honored with a DEP building renaming in 1981.
To learn more about Women's History Month, visit www.womenshistorymonth.gov .
Illegal Disposal Leads to Arrest, Possible Prison Time An investigation conducted by DEP's Miami Division of Law Enforcement's Special Agent Kathy Martinez revealed a permitted waste tire hauler illegally stored, abandoned and disposed of about 35,000 waste tires inside buildings in Miami last summer without the owner's knowledge, consent and authorization. The suspect, who was not permitted to store more than 1,500 waste tires at an unpermitted facility, was observed bringing the tires to the property, baling the waste tires and dumping them inside the building. The suspect was instructed to remove the waste tires from the property by the property representative, and could have legally disposed of them for about $1 each, but failed to do so when he vacated the building in August. Therefore, the suspect was arrested on March 7, 2011, for violating the Florida Litter Law, a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine up to $5,000. Bond was set at $5,000. Additional misdemeanor charges will be filed with the State Attorney's Office. Great job, Agent Martinez!
Victory for Tongass National Forest Last week, conservationists won a big victory when a federal judge overturned the Forest Service's exclusion of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska from the Roadless Rule. That means that millions of acres of old-growth trees won't be cut and some of the most beautiful and pristine wilderness in America will, for now, stay that way.
The Sierra Club has been working to protect wildlands like the Tongass for more than 100 years now -- it's in our organizational DNA. And, without a doubt, many of our biggest successes have been in Alaska. But the Tongass National Forest also plays a crucial role in a more recent Club priority: avoiding climate catastrophe. That's because the Tongass is one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world.
Of course everybody knows about the great tropical rainforests in the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and central Africa. But it's not the location that makes a rainforest -- it's the rain. And, as anyone who's ever been to Seattle knows, the tropics don't have a monopoly on rain. Much of the Pacific Northwest is -- or once was -- rainforest habitat, stretching in a thin band from Northern California, up through British Columbia into Alaska.
Rainforests -- regardless of where they're located -- contain incredible biodiversity, from the butterflies of the Amazon to the brown bears of the Tongass. Less apparent is that they also store enormous amounts of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere when those forests are mowed down. In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that deforestation is responsible for almost 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
It turns out that temperate rainforests, like the Tongass, actually store more carbon per acre than their tropical counterparts. More than a third of these rainforests are in North America, and the biggest, by far, is the Tongass. In fact, by itself, the Tongass accounts for more than one-third of all the remaining old-growth, temperate rainforest habitat in the world.
Sadly, rainforests aren't just threatened by logging, mining, and oil and gas companies but also by rising temperatures around the world. Recent droughts in the Amazon have put countless species at risk. The fires raging once again in Indonesia are dumping ever more carbon into our atmosphere.
The good folks at Rainforest Action Network know this best: We can't protect rainforests unless we stabilize our climate. But we can't stabilize our climate unless rainforests are protected. The health of our forests and that of our climate are deeply intertwined. Or, as John Muir put it: "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."
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