Taxpayers Recover the Salaries of the Reclaimants of Picayune Strand | James Pat Guerréro

Not only a budget axe befell Mike Duever but also a moral axe, speaking metaphorically. At this time it is unknown how many families, businesses, and private properties were displaced by the federal and state environmental protection agencies. One guesses many, very many. Now the South Florida Water Management District has to do its environmental thing with a more conservative philosophy with no pun intended.

One doesn’t fantasize (if that’s an appropriate word to use) that any scientific study could prove that the Picayune Strand was really saved considering the immensity of God’s creation of the Florida Everglades that can and will repair itself, that is, if one believes in God’s great nature. Even Albert Einstein appreciated wondrous nature on how so little one knows about it.

It’s a very good thing to hear the budget reduced. But it’s greater to hear the taxpayers recovered the salaries of those who reclaimed Picayune Strand. It’s okay that Mike Duever continues to volunteer his efforts. The Florida Everglades will be around for a long time with or without him. The Spanish Extremadura (the other Everglades) will be around for a long time, too.

Read More: 10 local positions among 134 layoffs at South Florida Water Management District » Naples Daily News.

Conservancy of Southwest Florida – Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed

The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) encompasses 60,000 acres of open spaces that stretch between Interstate 75 and Lake Trafford in Immokalee and then south along the Camp Keais Strand, spanning both Collier and Lee Counties. This area contains 16,000 acres of preserved land, including the Corkscrew marsh.

CREW has been identified by the Florida Forever program as a priority acquisition project because of its extraordinary natural resource value. CREW shelters some of the most imperiled species in the United States, including endangered Florida panthers, woodstorks and several species of rare orchids. Protecting CREW is also crucial to preserving southwest Florida’s water supply. Protection of these lands will preserve connections between three conservation areas critical to the restoration of the Everglades, thus providing a corridor for both wildlife and water flows.

Conservancy policy staff serve on the Board of Trustees for the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) Trust and provide advocacy and policy support towards completing the acquisition as well as ensuring proper management of the exceptional environmental lands within the CREW. (Descriptions excerpted from the Florida Forever Five Year Plan Annual Report 2007, Florida Department of Environmental Protection.)

Agripartners

The Agripartners parcel, located in the CREW area, is a highly-sensitive parcel of land. It is almost 4,000 acres in size, is located within the CREW Florida Forever boundary, is contiguous with already protected lands and provides critical habitat to the Florida panther.

Owner of the parcel received approval from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to build a 5-foot deep, 4-mile long canal, intended to drain the wetlands. The “ditch” would impact southwest Florida’s drinking water supplies in an important area designated in South Lee County for water replenishment.

Support from engaged citizens, such as those in The Brooks and Estero communities, increased public awareness and political will needed to bring closer scrutiny to this detrimental project. The Conservancy took action to challenge this permit and as a result, the owner withdrew his approved application the day before the Conservancy was scheduled to question the initial expert in the permit challenge.

While this is an important win for our water supplies, it would be wishful thinking to believe the challenge is over. The Conservancy will continue to stay engaged in future proposals for the protection of wetlands and sloughs so existing residents are protected from floods

via Conservancy of Southwest Florida – Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed.

Another Mess Inspired by Commie Jim Coletta: Settling with South Florida Water Management District | James Pat Guerréro

Another mess inspired by Commissioner Jim Coletta: settling with the South Florida Water Management District. The Collier County shouldn’t even be on the same level with that district. And what was the issue? Coletta wanted an ATV riding park and didn’t get one? To satisfy who? What? Why? No answers, just questions. Is it a business economic development thing? Can’t be a private concern involved here because that’s anti-Collier County.

Note that the Commissioners voted 3-2 with Commissioners Hiller and Henning voting negative. That says something about a deal that went haywire, like Jackson Laboratory. Understanding that the lawsuit is still in litigation, there isn’t much information. Only that the deal looks swampy and turbid, like the deal had taken a wrong turn way early on. Can’t say much for the whole Lake Trafford mucking, disposal site, water conservation, angry ATV riders, etc. dramatic play over time that leads to a tragic ending – nothing to show for the government doing a job.

Read More: Collier commissioners agree to take $3 million to settle ATV mess » Naples Daily News.

Florida Water Districts Can Be Replaced by Private Concerns | James Pat Guerréro

Truly wasting money, water districts in Florida do not govern well and are just an arm of “environmental friendly contractors.” The time has come to let them go. Water districts think they have a great task before them. But this task was closely engineered over time. It’s called a make-work program. Besides, it’s not like the water districts are essential. They don’t break the law of neighborhood effects. The law of neighborhood effects says that no other entity could do as good a job as the water districts. There are private concerns that could do a good job more efficiently and less costly than the public sector. It’s a start that the current Florida legislature reduced the water districts’ budget by 30%. Hopefully, it will continue to be reduced over the next and continuing legislative cycles.

The water districts aim to balance flood control and water conservation on some undefined goals, costs, and benefits.

Read More: Environment ‘the big loser’ with water district budget cuts, Naples leader says POLL » Naples Daily News.

State finalizes Everglades deal with U.S. Sugar » Naples Daily News

WEST PALM BEACH — A $197 million attempt to restore the Everglades by turning over a swath of sugar farmland to the state was finalized Tuesday, ending two years of court battles and scaling back of the initial deal.

The South Florida Water Management District transferred all but about $3 million of the funds to U.S. Sugar to complete the agreement for 26,791 acres. The balance was the company’s contribution toward cleanup costs.

Though the deal is a fraction of the size initially planned when it was announced with fanfare in 2008 by Gov. Charlie Crist, environmentalists lauded the news.

The Everglades Foundation called it a “significant advancement.” The Sierra Club said the move would “give future generations of Floridians a chance to enjoy the Everglades as it was before the 20th Century.”

via State finalizes Everglades deal with U.S. Sugar » Naples Daily News.

Commentary: One piece at a time, boys and girls. It will grow into an imagination, which will one day result into ‘still-a- dream’ by those of us, Governor Charlie Crist, THE Everglades Foundation and THE Sierra Club. – And, HOW can the Everglades be enjoyed more than it is now?

U.S. Sugar land deal in Everglades shrinks again; Crist, McCollum, lawyers, environmentalists put on their happy faces – OrlandoSentinel.com

Image via Wikipedia

U.S. Sugar land deal in Everglades shrinks again; Crist, McCollum, lawyers, environmentalists put on their happy faces – OrlandoSentinel.com.

Commentary: 

The Tea Party in Action sent me this article which I found edifying to read. I always wanted to know the deal between Charlie Crist and U. S. Sugar. Names like U.S. Sugar make me cringe a little bit not because its a big large business but because it must have hired and let go many, many employees. Employees worked the sugar cane fields for many years; they were hard-working poor to middle class people, the working class. I don’t believe in corporate welfare or bailouts because I see the funding moving in the wrong direction. This is exactly what has occurred. This time we used the guise that the land must be returned to the Everglades, and the way to do that is to bailout the large business (buy the land) by the government of course, and then, the government will repair the land. Afterall, the land is contaminated and the groves are diseased. However, the funding disease also needs repair. Why didn’t U.S. Sugar just give the land back to the state, or sell it to another private concern? Was there not any other buyer besides the government (taxpayers)? Did the taxpayers really want to buy this land, anyway? The land doesn’t belong to the taxpayers; it belongs to U.S. Sugar. By golly, if this land doesn’t really belong to U.S. Sugar because of some rural stewardship arrangement, then why is the government even paying for it? I don’t have anything against large corporations. I want to see them gain and prosper and create jobs and return on investment. This is social responsibility, but it has turned into bail responsibility by the government. Our current leadership, Democrat and Republican alike, have bailed out U.S. Sugar. At the same time, they used the middleman, South Florida Water Management District, to regulate and thereby increase government costs. The South Florida Water Management District thinks its saving the taxpayer money by downsizing the deal. Not so. The fees for the deal-making (whatever they are) and the lobbyists fees remain the same because of the amount of work they justify it costs to make the deal in the first place. U.S. Sugar should either find a private buyer or give the land back to the state consisting of part of the working class that really farmed that land. Is it too late? Maybe not.

Related Articles

• Florida Everglades Protection Effort Scaled Down Drastically (huffingtonpost.com)
• Scaled-down Everglades plan would secure 27K acres (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Florida Everglades Plan Shrinks on Thwarted Bond Sale (businessweek.com)
• Florida Considers Cash for Smaller Everglades Buy (businessweek.com)
• The Miracle That Wasn’t: Everglades Restoration (green.blogs.nytimes.com)
• For the Everglades, a Dream Loses Much of Its Grandeur (nytimes.com)