| Everglades restoration plan gets
official start
(Note: While Terri Schiavo spent yesterday with no food and no water, Florida Governor Bush was 'officially' beginning The Wildlands Project in Florida. By whatever 'politically correct' name it is called at the moment, this is part of TWP -- which has been ongoing unofficially, for years, and only in the last week has 'gone public.' FL state senator Burt Saunders apparently has it on good authority that, no matter what the voters want, "There will be no problem in terms of funding [Everglades restoration] as far as the state Legislature is concerned." Still resisting eminent domain are the Miccosukee tribe of Indians and 67-year-old disabled veteran Jesse Hardy, who lives on 160 acres with his adopted 7-year-old son, Tommy. Gov. Bush 'doesn't like to' pursue eminent domain, but seems to think that Jesse Hardy will be pleased with being 'well-compensated' -- never mind that this is Jesse's home, that he lives on Naomi Street, a street he named after his mother, and that he's lived there almost as long as Governor Bush has been alive. This is the depopulation of a massive area of Florida by humans and private property, whether said humans/private property owners want it or not. Notice that the 'holdout' property owner is painted as being money-hungry and opportunistic, but that in the end, he still must move. See 'Additional recommended reading' below article for a letter from Governor Bush from earlier this year. It is not a 'nice' read. This 'restoration plan' reminds me of other illicit things that have come 'out of the closet' in recent decades of decay and decadence, disarray and dismal delving ever deeper into the decline of American freedom.) October 17, 2003 By Eric Staats Naples Daily News Naples, Florida To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@naplesnews.com Gov. Jeb Bush donned a hard hat and grabbed a shovel Thursday at the edge of a canal in rural Collier County to break ground on the first construction project of the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration plan. The project will tear out roads and fill in canals to restore natural water flows across 55,000 acres in Southern Golden Gate Estates, where developers once dreamed of building the world's largest subdivision between U.S. 41 East and Interstate 75. Thursday's ceremonial start of work seemed as much about shoring up federal support for the larger Everglades restoration plan as it was about moving dirt. Some in Congress expressed skepticism about the state's commitment to restoration after Bush signed a bill earlier this year that delays the deadline for sugar companies to clean up polluted runoff into the Everglades from sugar cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee. "We're committed to the future of the Everglades, to honoring our commitments and promises, to protecting the natural treasures of our state," Bush said. "You know what, actions speak louder than words, actions speak louder than words and results outlast rhetoric," he said. "Today's actions and today's results are proof positive of Florida's commitment to restoring the River of Grass and the power of working together." State Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, among those sharing the dais with Bush, added his own assurances for good measure. "There will be no problem in terms of funding (Everglades restoration) as far as the state Legislature is concerned," Saunders said. So far, the state's money is the only money going toward the Southern Golden Gate Estates restoration project, which is estimated to cost $50 million. The South Florida Water Management District is moving forward alone on a so-called "early start" in Southern Golden Gate Estates. A team of state and federal engineers and scientists still is mired in the details of the rest of the restoration. The plan is to ask Congress to authorize the project next year. "We've accelerated this in anticipation of the federal government catching up," Bush said. The "early start" phase will fill in seven miles of the Prairie Canal on the eastern edge of Southern Golden Gate and tear out 25 miles of roads. Work could be done by October 2005. "I hope we might see more of this kind of progress in the future," said Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs, who also wielded his own shovel. During the ceremony, South Florida Water Management District Director Henry Dean credited Struhs with getting "personally involved" in pushing the early start six months ago. He called Struhs "the straw that stirred the drink." Southern Golden Gate Estates restoration has been in the talking stages since the 1980s, and getting to Thursday's groundbreaking has been a fight all the way. Almost 4,000 landowners in Southern Golden Gate Estates filed lawsuits in 1988 and 1992, claiming the state wasn't offering fair prices for their land and was violating their rights to use it. A 1997 settlement required new appraisals and set the stage for a massive wave of successful eminent domain claims in Collier Circuit Court. In 1997, the state owned 17,180 acres in the restoration area. Now, less than 2,000 acres remain in private hands. The state has bought 13,000 parcels since 1997, according to state figures. The buyout, comprising 19,000 parcels, has cost $110 million, about $38 million of which came from the federal government. Complaints persist to this day about the state's use of eminent domain in Southern Golden Gate Estates and about landowners getting raw deals from the government. On Tuesday, though, Bush and the Cabinet approved an $880,000 deal with holdout property owner George Miller. Miller bought his 20-acre parcel in 1988 for $6,000. Still holding out are the Miccosukee tribe of Indians and 67-year-old disabled veteran Jesse Hardy, who lives on 160 acres with his adopted 7-year-old son, Tommy. Bush said Thursday that it looked as if negotiations with Hardy would not succeed and that the state would have to pursue eminent domain against him, something Bush said he doesn't like to do. He said Hardy would be "well-compensated." As for the Miccosukees, negotiations are continuing, Struhs said Thursday. Even Collier County was threatened with eminent domain when county commissioners refused to hand over miles of roads in the restoration area. Commissioners approved a roads deal last month. Under the deal, the county gave up the roads in exchange for $1 million a year for up to 20 years for maintenance of the county's drainage system and a pledge that the state will find 640 acres for an ATV park for angry riders pushed out by the restoration. Commissioner Frank Halas was the only county commissioner to attend the ceremony, which drew about 250 people, many of them employees of state and federal agencies connected to the restoration. Many of them rode to the event in chartered buses through Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. Bush arrived by helicopter, landing on a patch of pavement at the end of Stewart Boulevard. The Water Enhancement and Restoration Council, a public-private group spearheaded by the region's largest developers, footed most of the bill for the event -- including a catered lunch of barbecue sandwiches, cole slaw, green beans and swamp cabbage -- contributing $5,000, said South Florida Water Management District spokesman Kurt Harclerode. Restoration advocate Nancy Payton said the groundbreaking was worth celebrating after years of talking about it. "I had hoped it would happen in my lifetime, but I didn't think it would happen so soon," said Payton, field representative for the Florida Wildlife Federation. http://naplesnews.com/03/10/naples/e39080a.htm Photos and map that accompany article: Map: Everglades Restoration Groundbreaking Source: Everglades Restoration Plan. Kori Rumore/Staff http://naplesnews.com/03/10/graphics/17breakmap-sm.JPG Full-size map: Everglades Restoration Groundbreaking Source: Everglades Restoration Plan. Kori Rumore/Staff http://naplesnews.com/03/10/graphics/17breakmap.JPG Florida Gov. Jeb Bush answers questions from reporters after a groundbreaking ceremony for Everglades restoration at the intersection of Janes Scenic Drive and Prairie Canal in the Southern Golden Gate Estates area of Collier County on Thursday. At left is David Struhs, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. David Ahntholz/Staff http://naplesnews.com/03/10/graphics/17break2.JPG Mike Barry, from left, of the Florida Division of Forestry; Win Everham, a professor of environmental studies at Florida Gulf Coast University; and Melinda Schuman, a biologist with The Conservancy of Southwest Florida stand on a walkway over the Prairie Canal near Janes Scenic Drive on Thursday after a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction work on the $8 billion Everglades restoration project. Prairie Canal is the first canal to be filled in an effort to slow freshwater drainage as part of the restoration project in Southern Golden Gates Estates. David Ahntholz/Staff http://naplesnews.com/03/10/graphics/17break.JPG Additional recommended reading: http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/wildlndsprjctfrms.htm http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/articles/statement_from_governor_jeb The Wildlands Project Press Page http://www.wildlandsproject.org/roomtoroam/press/ http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/florcnts.htm http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/interior_department_praises_ever.htm http://www.twp.org (The Wildlands Project "Official Site") http://www.twp.org/action/cebadillas/index.html ("Cebadillas") http://www.twp.org/action/maine/index.html ("Maine Wildlands Network") http://www.twp.org/action/siwn/index.html ("Sky Islands Wildlands Network") http://www.twp.org/action/ytoy/index.html ("Yellowstone to Yukon") http://www.twp.org/site_contents/index.html http://www.twp.org/vision/index.html ("Vision") http://www.tws.org The Wilderness Society www.propertyrightsresearch.org/all_in_the_name_of_environmental.htm www.propertyrightsresearch.org/wildlands_project_comes_to_hidal8.htm |
