August 15, 2002

By Robert P. King, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

bob_king@pbpost.com

The Palm Beach Post

P.O. Box 24700

West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4700

561-820-4401 or toll-free 800-432-7595, Ext. 4401

Fax: 561-820-4407

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A long-running land dispute west of Miami is halting a crucial part of the Everglades restoration -- just as many of the project's supporters have warned for years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week that it is suspending all planning on efforts to recreate natural flow in the heart of the Everglades by 2016, possibly the most ecologically important element of the $8.4 billion restoration.

The work can't continue until Congress, the courts or somebody decides what to do about more than 300 homes on the marshy eastern fringes of Everglades National Park, corps restoration Project Manager Dennis Duke said Wednesday.

The corps and South Florida water managers have at various times proposed buying out the sometimes-waterlogged community -- known as the 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area -- or building a levee to protect residents from the floods that would result from restored flows.

A federal judge last month rejected the corps' most recent plan, which would have forced out 102 homeowners while protecting the rest.

The corps has yet to decide whether to appeal the ruling, and attempts in Congress to support the buyout have gone nowhere.

"We need to know what the final solution is," Duke said. He said the delay in the Everglades planning could take from two months to two years.

The 8 1/2 -Square-Mile logjam is part of a monumental drainage bottleneck in the southern Everglades that also involves often-flooded Miccosukee Indian land and competing lawsuits over the plight of the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow.

"At some point, somebody needs to make a decision about what we're going to do," said Mike Collins, a board member of the South Florida Water Management District. "It's a complete gridlock."

The work being halted includes the planning needed to elevate part of Tamiami Trail, fill most of the Miami Canal and knock down some of the levees that carve up the central Everglades in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Those steps are supposed to recreate natural flows in the heart of the Everglades and replenish the sloughs feeding the national park and Florida Bay, which biologists hope will increase populations of birds, fish and other creatures.

Some environmentalists call the flow restoration the only part of the $8.4 billion plan aimed purely at helping the Everglades, as opposed to supplying more water to South Florida's cities.

Without the flow projects, "you'd just have a bunch of impoundments, like we have right now," said West Palm Beach environmentalist John Marshall. "We might as well go back to the status quo."

The corps and the water district had been scheduled to finish drawing detailed plans for the first half of the flow work in 2006. Construction of the first flow projects was supposed to finish in 2010, with the rest done in 2016.

But Congress said two years ago that the flow projects will get no construction money until the corps finishes a smaller project to add modest amounts of water to Everglades National Park. And that project has been stymied since 1989 by the 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area dispute.

The largely Hispanic community includes dirt roads, horse farms, orchards and bee hives, along with residents enjoying what they call some of the last vestiges of rustic life in Miami-Dade County. Many residents are Cuban exiles who have compared the proposed buyout to Fidel Castro's seizures of private property.

The residents also have attracted staunch support from the Miccosukee Indian tribe. "Minorities must stick together," tribal Chairman Billy Cypress told Congress two years ago.

Environmentalists called on Congress to end the jam by supporting the partial buyout.

"Resolving the 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area is the keystone to putting the river back into the River of Grass," said Everglades Coalition Chairwoman Shannon Estenoz.

But the buyout's opponents said they suspect the corps is playing chicken, imposing an unnecessary halt to increase pressure on judges and lawmakers.

Indians support residents

"There's no reason to stop (the Everglades work) ... except maybe to throw Congress into some kind of emotional frenzy," said Miccosukee environmental consultant Terry Rice, a former corps colonel and a frequent critic of the buyout. "Sounds like a ploy to me."

Utah congressman involved

An attempt by some lawmakers to support the partial buyout failed in the House last month following the intervention of Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, a committee chairman who had received thousands of dollars in donations from buyout opponents in South Florida.

But environmental lobbyists said they expect similar language to appear in a Senate spending bill in September.

The water district's board voted in 1998 to buy out the entire 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area, but board members appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush later reversed that decision.

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5407400e8.html(250-word limit)

A long-running land dispute west of Miami is halting a crucial part of the Everglades restoration -- just as many of the project's supporters have warned for years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week that it is suspending all planning on efforts to recreate natural flow in the heart of the Everglades by 2016, possibly the most ecologically important element of the $8.4 billion restoration.

The work can't continue until Congress, the courts or somebody decides what to do about more than 300 homes on the marshy eastern fringes of Everglades National Park, corps restoration Project Manager Dennis Duke said Wednesday.

The corps and South Florida water managers have at various times proposed buying out the sometimes-waterlogged community -- known as the 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area -- or building a levee to protect residents from the floods that would result from restored flows.

A federal judge last month rejected the corps' most recent plan, which would have forced out 102 homeowners while protecting the rest.

The corps has yet to decide whether to appeal the ruling, and attempts in Congress to support the buyout have gone nowhere.

"We need to know what the final solution is," Duke said. He said the delay in the Everglades planning could take from two months to two years.

The 8 1/2 -Square-Mile logjam is part of a monumental drainage bottleneck in the southern Everglades that also involves often-flooded Miccosukee Indian land and competing lawsuits over the plight of the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow.

"At some point, somebody needs to make a decision about what we're going to do," said Mike Collins, a board member of the South Florida Water Management District. "It's a complete gridlock."

The work being halted includes the planning needed to elevate part of Tamiami Trail, fill most of the Miami Canal and knock down some of the levees that carve up the central Everglades in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Those steps are supposed to recreate natural flows in the heart of the Everglades and replenish the sloughs feeding the national park and Florida Bay, which biologists hope will increase populations of birds, fish and other creatures.

Some environmentalists call the flow restoration the only part of the $8.4 billion plan aimed purely at helping the Everglades, as opposed to supplying more water to South Florida's cities.

Without the flow projects, "you'd just have a bunch of impoundments, like we have right now," said West Palm Beach environmentalist John Marshall. "We might as well go back to the status quo."

The corps and the water district had been scheduled to finish drawing detailed plans for the first half of the flow work in 2006. Construction of the first flow projects was supposed to finish in 2010, with the rest done in 2016.

But Congress said two years ago that the flow projects will get no construction money until the corps finishes a smaller project to add modest amounts of water to Everglades National Park. And that project has been stymied since 1989 by the 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area dispute.

The largely Hispanic community includes dirt roads, horse farms, orchards and bee hives, along with residents enjoying what they call some of the last vestiges of rustic life in Miami-Dade County. Many residents are Cuban exiles who have compared the proposed buyout to Fidel Castro's seizures of private property.

The residents also have attracted staunch support from the Miccosukee Indian tribe. "Minorities must stick together," tribal Chairman Billy Cypress told Congress two years ago.

Environmentalists called on Congress to end the jam by supporting the partial buyout.

"Resolving the 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area is the keystone to putting the river back into the River of Grass," said Everglades Coalition Chairwoman Shannon Estenoz.

But the buyout's opponents said they suspect the corps is playing chicken, imposing an unnecessary halt to increase pressure on judges and lawmakers.

Indians support residents

"There's no reason to stop (the Everglades work) ... except maybe to throw Congress into some kind of emotional frenzy," said Miccosukee environmental consultant Terry Rice, a former corps colonel and a frequent critic of the buyout. "Sounds like a ploy to me."

Utah congressman involved

An attempt by some lawmakers to support the partial buyout failed in the House last month following the intervention of Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, a committee chairman who had received thousands of dollars in donations from buyout opponents in South Florida.

But environmental lobbyists said they expect similar language to appear in a Senate spending bill in September.

The water district's board voted in 1998 to buy out the entire 8 1/2 -Square-Mile Area, but board members appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush later reversed that decision.

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