Mar 4, 2015 | Blog, Environment
Of more than 760 plants in Everglades National Park, an exhaustive new 10-year study identifies nearly 60 that are critically imperiled. Poaching remains the biggest threat to most plants, particularly rare orchids and ferns that top the list of species presumed extinct. But in the 25 years since the last study was last done, another threat has emerged for coastal plants: rising seas triggered by climate change. “We now have a snapshot of how things are going,” explained park botanist Jimi Sadle, who said the study is intended to serve as a “blueprint” for managing the park’s resources.
Feb 22, 2015 | Blog, Environment
Sending water south from Lake Okeechobee to meander naturally through the Everglades — the “flowway” endorsed by the Everglades Foundation as the only way — “will never happen, it’s pie in the sky,” admitted one of Florida’s leading voices on environmental policy. But Eric Draper, executive director of Florida Audubon, cautioned Sunshine State News Wednesday not to think that just because Plan 6 (the flowway) isn’t where the Legislature should focus, doesn’t mean Big Sugar should be allowed to escape its obligation to help solve water problems.
Feb 20, 2015 | Blog, Environment
A bill pushed by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam to overhaul the state’s water management system won bipartisan approval Thursday from the House Appropriations committee. At nearly 100 pages, HB 7003 outlines numerous revisions to the state’s management of water quality and quantity that supporters, including House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, say modernizes Florida’s water policy to accommodate future growth. Next stop is the floor of the Florida House.
Feb 17, 2015 | Blog, Environment
The clock is ticking on a deal to buy thousands of acres of land needed to revive Biscayne Bay and the Everglades, say environmentalists who packed a South Florida Water Management District board meeting Thursday. The deal, a fraction of a once-massive purchase brokered by former Gov. Charlie Crist to scoop up all of U.S. Sugar’s 180,000-acre empire, is set to expire Oct. 15. Environmentalist worry that unless the district acts quickly, time will run out. The deal covers 46,800 acres south of Lake Okeechobee that could be used to store and clean excess lake water before sending it south to the Everglades.
