Blog - Page 56 of 63 - Friends of the Everglades

ACTION ALERT: Send a letter to the Army Corps to support protecting communities from toxic algae

We need your help. The Army Corps of Engineers has formally recognized the serious public health threat posed by harmful algal blooms. As such, it is imperative that they move forward with a proposed deviation from the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS 2008) that would allow for common-sense adjustments to the current lake management plan to avoid sending toxic algae to communities. The Corps is gathering comments from the public to help them finalize the proposed changes to current lake management. Your input can help shape the way the federal government manages South Florida’s waterways. If you’ve seen the impacts of toxic blooms, discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee, or the collapse of Florida Bay and the health of [...]

Allie Preston2020-08-12T15:10:09-04:00July 27th, 2020|Action Alerts, All Posts, Human Health and Safety, Toxic Algae|

2020 LORS HAB Deviation Environmental Assessment Comments

Friends of the Everglades submitted the following comments to the Army Corps of Engineers to express our support for a proposed deviation from LORS 2008, allowing for common sense adjustments to the current Lake Okeechobee management plan in recognition of the serious public health threat posed by harmful algal blooms.

Allie Preston2020-07-22T16:51:18-04:00July 22nd, 2020|All Posts, Friends of the Everglades Statements, Human Health and Safety|

Recording Available Now! Clean Water Conversations: Harmful Algal Bloom Expert Q&A

Thanks to all of you for joining us for another successful Clean Water Conversation. Today our guests, Dr. Walter Bradley and Dr. James Metcalf, covered the frightening topic of human health impacts related to toxic algae exposure. Many of you offered up your questions and concerns for discussion, highlighting very real fears that Floridians face due to toxic Lake Okeechobee discharges. The takeaway was direct and disturbing: these toxins present clear short and long-term risks to humans, to our pets, to animals that share these environments with us, and to crops that are irrigated with polluted water. We’re grateful to Doctors Bradley and Metcalf for their truly remarkable work, dedicated to understanding the dangers of HABs. They are [...]

Allie Preston2020-07-20T17:25:51-04:00July 16th, 2020|All Posts, Clean Water Conversations, Human Health and Safety|

Upcoming Clean Water Conversations: Harmful Algal Bloom Expert Q&A

For more than 70 years, the Army Corps has managed Lake Okeechobee without consideration for the health of those impacted in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds and further south in Florida Bay. As a result, Floridians and their pets have been exposed to an array of serious near-term health threats. Additionally, researchers have linked toxins in discharged lakewater to increased long-term risks of liver failure, ALS, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease. In our upcoming Clean Water Conversation, we’re offering the public a chance to converse candidly with harmful algal bloom (HAB) experts Dr. Walter Bradley and Dr. James Metcalf. We know Floridians have many concerns about Lake Okeechobee releases exposing people to dangerously high levels of toxins. Now is [...]

Allie Preston2020-07-20T17:26:34-04:00July 7th, 2020|All Posts, Clean Water Conversations, Human Health and Safety|

‘Clean Waterways Act’ is incremental at best — and we need more from Florida policymakers

Statement from Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of the Clean Waterways Act (Senate Bill 712) on June 30, 2020: “The Clean Waterways Act is incrementalism at best. It does too little to curtail polluters, and too little to protect Floridians from the harmful effects of toxic algae blooms that have devastating effects on human health and the state’s economy. What’s worse: The bill was amended to preempt local governments from passing ‘Rights of Nature’ initiatives that could have empowered citizens to protect the natural ecosystems in their own communities. Senate Bill 712 does some incremental good by tightening up rules and penalties for septic and sewer systems — but it falls [...]

Allie Preston2020-07-01T13:49:53-04:00June 30th, 2020|All Posts, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades Statements|

Recording Available Now! Clean Water Conversations: Revisiting “The Swamp”

Did you miss today's Clean Water Conversation featuring author of "The Swamp," Michael Grunwald? No worries! We've got you covered. Thank you to all of you who were able to join us today. We invite you to revisit parts of the conversation, or share it with friends, with a recorded version, available here. Huge thanks to Michael Grunwald for sharing his time and his thoughts on what's changed (and what hasn't) since "The Swamp" was published in 2006. It's clear that we continue to face an uphill battle, but let's face it, he's right — “This place is paradise...we have to figure out how we can all live here sustainably.” If you enjoyed this event, please consider helping us fund the [...]

Allie Preston2020-07-01T13:51:40-04:00June 25th, 2020|All Posts, Clean Water Conversations, Everglades Restoration|

In the footsteps of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, we stand with Black Lives Matter

Marjory Stoneman Douglas was, at her core, an advocate for equality. Five decades before she founded Friends of the Everglades in 1969, she blasted corrupt politics and advocated for civil rights in her column for the Miami Herald. Marjory wrote about the injustice of “convict leasing,” a system of penal labor that overwhelmingly targeted black men in the United States, allowing a form of slavery to endure. She advocated to bring sanitary plumbing systems to poor neighborhoods of Miami. She also traveled to Tallahassee to lobby for women’s suffrage, undeterred by the unsympathetic state legislators she faced there. More fundamentally, Marjory recognized and spoke out against the devastating and multi-generational impact of slavery on black people in the United States. [...]

Allie Preston2020-07-01T13:52:04-04:00June 10th, 2020|All Posts, Friends of the Everglades Statements, Marjory Stoneman Douglas|

The Story of a River Kid

Evie Flaugh is no stranger to the wonders of Florida's waterways, or to the environmental crises that plague them. As a co-founder of the River Kidz, she's spent nearly half her life speaking up to protect and preserve them. Now a college student, Evie shares her journey as a river kid, and talks about the full circle moment when her summer internship at Friends of the Everglades offered her the chance to continue advocating in new ways for the waterways she loves as an adult. The Story of a River Kid By Evie Flaugh Growing up on one the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America, I have always had a fascination with the environment around me. My friend Naia [...]

Allie Preston2021-06-10T16:21:40-04:00June 9th, 2020|All Posts, Young Friends of the Everglades|

RECOVER Northern Estuary Salinity Envelope Public Comment

Ms. Ehlinger, Please find Friends of the Everglades' attached line-by-line feedback pertaining to the RECOVER Northern Estuaries Salinity Envelope Performance Metrics. We thank the Army Corps of Engineers and the whole RECOVER team for its work on these draft metrics, which are an improvement over the 2007 targets. That said, we see room for improvement if the RECOVER metrics are to stand as a true measure of CERP’s ability to restore, preserve and protect the South Florida ecosystem while balancing other water-related needs. First and foremost, Friends of the Everglades strongly opposes including any Lake Okeechobee Regulatory Releases in “Optimum” performance metrics for the St. Lucie Estuary. The St. Lucie Estuary requires ZERO cubic feet of water from Lake Okeechobee; [...]

Allie Preston2020-07-01T13:53:48-04:00May 29th, 2020|All Posts, Caloosahatchee Estuary, Everglades Restoration, Friends of the Everglades Statements, St. Lucie Estuary|

Letter of Support To Prohibit Toxic Discharges

Friends of the Everglades submitted the following letter to Congress to express our support for a provision in the Water Resources Development Act that would prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from discharging Lake Okeechobee water into the St. Lucie Estuary when levels of microcystin exceed 8 micrograms per liter.

Allie Preston2020-07-01T13:54:40-04:00May 22nd, 2020|All Posts, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades Statements, Human Health and Safety|