Blog - Page 41 of 63 - Friends of the Everglades

VIDEO: SB 2508 was a “full on assault”

This year's legislative session may have produced a litany of bad environmental bills, but the surprise attack that was SB 2508 took the cake. During today's Clean Water Conversation, we tackled the details surrounding why SB 2508 would have detrimental consequences for Florida's environment, economy, and public health. Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch clued us in to the South Florida Water Management District's "unanimous stance against attempts to intimidate them with this bill," and Roy Gardener spelled out the dangers of delegating wetland “dredge and fill” permit reviews to utility companies. For a variety of reasons detailed throughout, Friends of the Everglades remains staunchly opposed to its passage. As egregious as this bill itself is, Gil Smart was right that the process with which is [...]

Allie Preston2022-04-13T16:11:16-04:00February 23rd, 2022|Clean Water Conversations, Florida Legislature, SB 2508|

Remembering Maggy Hurchalla — We lost a legend

Maggy’s impact on Florida’s conservation movement cannot be overstated. She’s the reason developers can’t fill in wetlands in Martin County, and the reason I-95 bends away from Stuart. During her 20 years as a Martin County commissioner, she helped craft development rules that made the community a leader in the state for environmental preservation. Her advocacy was fueled by a deep love for Florida’s wilderness. She kayaked as often as she could, and spoke about the Everglades to anyone who would listen. Those of us who had the honor of joining Maggy for a paddle gained a new appreciation for the magic of mangrove tunnels, and we were often treated to a recitation of poetry by Maggy. She was inspiringly [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-20T11:11:05-05:00February 20th, 2022|All Posts, Friends of the Everglades Statements|

They blinked. Now keep your eyes open.

The Florida Senate didn't kill SB 2508 — Now what? The Florida Senate blinked. Now we need to keep our eyes wide open. Senate Bill 2508, pushed by Sen. Ben Albritton and backed by Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, was amended late Wednesday to remove some of its most damaging provisions. That amendment was a direct response to outrage from the people of Florida — including roughly 1,700 messages you, our Friends of the Everglades, sent to lawmakers, calling on lawmakers to reject the bill in its original form. But our work isn’t done. The amended version remains very concerning, and it passed the Senate today, in a 37-2 vote (with only Sens. Gary Farmer and Jeff Brandes opposing). It [...]

Allie Preston2022-04-13T16:11:24-04:00February 17th, 2022|Clean Water Conversations, Florida Legislature, SB 2508|

Friends of the Everglades 2022 Legislative Update

The 2022 Florida Legislative Session has reached the halfway point, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most environmentally contentious sessions in recent history. Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson shocked the environmental community Feb. 4 when his chamber filed a toxic stew of measures that ultimately could undermine efforts to create a more equitable Lake Okeechobee management plan. Simpson is defending the measures, while Gov. Ron DeSantis and his appointees on the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board are crying foul — which means the second half of session is going to be intense. But there is a glimmer of good news: Some of the legislative proposals we believe could further harm Florida’s fragile waters appear to [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-15T12:03:20-05:00February 11th, 2022|Florida Legislature|

Roll call: This is who pushed SB 2508 through

Yesterday, the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee approved a proposed piece of legislation that prioritizes Florida’s sugarcane industry and is poised to have devastating effects on Florida’s water and Everglades restoration efforts. Specifically, SB 2508 touched on 3 main areas of concern: Language in this bill forces the South Florida Water Management District to maintain existing, overly generous water-supply promises in the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). This would lead to more toxic algae blooms on Florida’s east and west coasts. It would delegate some wetland “dredge and fill” permit reviews to utility companies, meaning major companies like FPL and Duke Energy could potentially evaluate their own permit applications. This would not be necessary if DEP was properly staffed [...]

Allie Preston2022-06-17T13:42:23-04:00February 10th, 2022|Florida Legislature, LOSOM, SB 2508|

SB 2508: “How could Florida let this happen again?”

https://youtu.be/QGThHiUGxMY "How could Florida let this happen again?" In an egregious display of disregard for our state’s waterways, the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee voted in favor of Senate Bill 2508 today in Tallahassee. It’s a toxic stew of bad proposals that undermine Florida’s environmental protections and protect powerful industries — most notably Big Sugar. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ben Albritton, a citrus farmer, deflected pointed criticism from environmental groups, including Friends of the Everglades, and many fishing guides who attended the hearing to object. Albritton claimed opponents had been “misled” about the true intent of the bill — but he failed to dispel our concerns. The video above of Friends of the Everglades policy director Gil Smart outlines several of [...]

Allie Preston2022-04-13T16:11:46-04:00February 9th, 2022|Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades Statements, LOSOM, SB 2508|

Bad bill alert: Proposed Senate Bill 2508 poses multiple environmental threats

https://youtu.be/iLKPqfQm0K8 A terrible new bill emerged from Florida’s legislative session late last week. In this video, our executive director Eve Samples breaks down the reasons that it’s a cause for concern on many environmental fronts — not least of which is the threat it poses to the new Lake Okeechobee plan. Among other things, this bill would lock in benefits to water supply users under the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), degrading environmental benefits of the new plan and making downstream estuaries more susceptible to toxic algae blooms. It would allow expedited "dredge and fill" wetland permits if they serve a “public purpose," and would spread thin state funding for critical Everglades restoration projects. These are terrible ideas, and [...]

Allie Preston2022-04-13T16:11:53-04:00February 8th, 2022|All Posts, Florida Legislature, SB 2508|

Everglades Illustrated: Cane burning risks human health

https://youtu.be/_89aQ3YSt-g Watch this video. Orange flames spit through the air as sugarcane leaves are burned from the stalk for harvest. Thick black smoke swirls and a single white bird wings its way above the fire. Florida Forest Service Active Burn Tracking Satellite Map - Feb. 8, 2022 Now look at this map. Each of those cones on the map indicates a sugarcane burn notice happening today and the direction of its plume. Dozens of these burns can happen on any given day from October to May, filling the air of surrounding towns with smoke and soot that can travel miles from the initial burn sites. At greatest risk are the children and the elderly residents of the Glades [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-08T11:38:53-05:00February 8th, 2022|All Posts, Everglades Illustrated, Sugarcane Burning|

Old Laws and New Health Threats

On February 1, 2022, environmentalist Maggy Hurchalla gave a presentation at The Edward and Bonnie Foreman Environmental Diversity Lecture Series at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, FL. The presentation, outlined in full below, discusses the frightening impacts of cyanobacteria as a world-wide problem and the challenges faced by the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as they work to implement the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan amid this new public health threat. Old Laws and New Health Threats By Maggy Hurchalla I’m going to talk to you today about water law and water reality in a warming world and the real or imaginary conflicts that now exist. We didn’t have any water law in Florida until 1973. The [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-07T12:48:53-05:00February 7th, 2022|All Posts, Human Health and Safety, Lake Okeechobee, Toxic Algae|

Your moment of Everglades zen: Take the road less traveled

The road less traveled A friend of the Everglades, Dave Preston, shared images with us of a recent trip to Big Cypress National Preserve. Though not a part of Everglades National Park, the freshwater flowing through Big Cypress is essential to the health of the Everglades and many restoration efforts in South Florida intertwine the fates of the two ecosystems. When a plan arose in the 1960s to build an "Everglades jetport" on 39 square miles of wetlands in Eastern Big Cypress, Marjory Stoneman Douglas joined the resistance, founding Friends of the Everglades to galvanize support for preserving the swampy wilderness. We won that first fight — construction was halted after a single jetport runway was built — [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-07T15:03:26-05:00February 1st, 2022|Everglades Zen|