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Live News Feeds - For a page of live headline updates on environmental news, issues and information, click here. This information is continuously updated by the respective organizations, and includes a link to more information on each story.

City of Palm Bay info

Palm Bay has transmitted their Comprehensive Plan amendment changes to the Florida Departmnet of Community Affairs (DCA). The DCA has issued their "Objections, Recommendation and Comments" opinion as of June 29, 2007. The following is one of the DCA comments -

"Staff identifies potential objections to some or all of the FLUM amendments based on the lack of appropriate date and analysis regarding the discouragement of urban sprawl and the lack of a needs analysis, lack of demonstrated compatibility, environmental suitability, transportation planning, and public facilities (potable water, sanitary sewer, and drainage)."

Suppporting information - provided by the Concerned Citizens of South Mainland(documents are in the Microsoft Word format)

Sample comment letter
Background information

The light green area bounded in red is the area of concern.

Contact Information - send your comments to the Governor, the DCA and your appropriate Senator and Representative. You may also want to copy your county commissioners too.

GOVERNOR Charles Crist
The Capitol
400 South Monroe
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
charlie.crist@myflorida.com

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
SECRETARY Tom Pelham
Sadowski Building
2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100
www.dca.state.fl.us

FLORIDA STATE SENATORS

Bill Posey – District 4
1802 South Fiske Boulevard Suite 108
Titusville, Florida 32955
Posey.bill.web@flsenate.gov

Mike Haridopolos – District 26
2955 Pineda Causeway Suite 215
Melbourne, Florida 32940
Haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov

FLORIDA STATE REPRESENTATIVES

L. Ralph Poppell District 29
Capitol Office:
405 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 488-3006

District Office:
Suite 1C
400 South Street
Titusville, FL 32780-7610
Phone: (321) 383-5151
or
1225 Main Street
Sebastian, FL 32958-4165
Phone: (772) 770-6708
Email: www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4266&SessionId=54

Thad Altman District 30
Capitol Office:
203 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 488-9720

District Office:
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 411780
Melbourne, FL 32941-1780
Phone: (321) 752-3138
or
Office Location: Suite 108
7025 North Wickham Road, Suntree Station
Melbourne, FL 32940-7503
Email: www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4329&SessionId=54

Mitch Needelman – District 31
Capitol Office:
209 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 488-2528

District Office:
Suite A
1565 Sarno Road
Melbourne, FL 32935-3851
Phone: (321) 984-4848
Email: www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4203&SessionId=54

Bob Allen – District 32
210 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 488-4669

District Office:
321 Magnolia Avenue
Merritt Island, FL 32952-4817
Phone: (321) 449-5111
or
PO Box 541532
Merritt Island, FL 32954-1532
Email: www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4204&SessionId=54

New wave of Baby Boomers ready to descend on Florida

The Sunshine State is about to boom with Boomers.

Between 2010 and 2030, Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are expected to descend on Florida in even larger numbers and will increase their standing as the state's largest age group. The reason: They are nearing retirement age, the state's housing prices have become more affordable and Florida's tropical climate remains a draw.

Click here to read the full story.

Dredging hits halfway point in Sebastian

SEBASTIAN — Some positive signs already may be sprouting forth halfway into a $20 million project to remove large layers of muck from the St. Sebastian River bottom.

"It's like the river is not starving all the time for oxygen," said Capt. Doug Gronley, who operates fishing charters and works with Capt. Kathleen Benjamin on the Mangrove Mama tour boat out of the San Sebastian Marina.

Benjamin said she is also seeing more seagrass beds in the area, although she attributes that primarily to a separate dredging and channel-marking project done by the Sebastian Inlet District. Benjamin and others say that project has given boaters a clear path so they are no longer running over seagrass beds when traveling back and forth to the inlet.

Many river observers say it is too early to notice a real impact from the dredging, although all seem to agree it will be beneficial in the long run.

As the sediment is removed and measures are taken to slow the influx of more into the river, the hope is that the river will become clearer allowing for the production of more seagrass.

"Ultimately, we hope it will result in more fish and wildlife in the river," said Tim Glover, president of the Friends of the St. Sebastian River.

Gronley said the fishing has been excellent recently in the river, although Capt. Tom Bauer said it can be "off and on."

Bauer said it is hard to see a big difference when it comes to the fish, which he said are mainly year-round residents of the river.

Click here to read the full story.

Indian River County Ranchers might get $9.5 million to settle land dispute

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Veteran cattle rancher Pat Corrigan says he and his family would rather accept millions of dollars from regional water managers to settle a flooding dispute than fight public sentiment against a proposed land trade.

"We just got to where we said to heck with it, we've got to get this over with some time," Corrigan said Friday.

Last summer, the Corrigans were ready to add almost 1,300 public-owned acres, known as Sand Lake, to their 9,000-acre ranch near Fellsmere and get a check for $657,000 in tax dollars from the St. Johns River Water Management District.

The district was going to get 460 flooded acres from Corrigan's ranch in the trade — but also avoid lawsuits the family was considering after years of district operations flooding parts of the ranch.

Indian River County officials filed a legal challenge in October with Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet, arguing the 1,300 acres of conservation land should not be classified as surplus and allowed to be traded away.

Click here to read the full story.

St. Johns calls off Sand Lakes land exchange

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - A controversial land exchange between regional water managers and a local ranching family could be resolved by Indian River County purchasing the disputed land for conservation, officials said last week.

St. Johns River Water Management District officials reached a tentative agreement to retain ownership of a 1,250-acre tract of conservation land west of Interstate 95.

"We have worked out an alternative agreement that benefits everyone involved," said Robert Christianson, director of the water district Department of Operations and Land Resources. "We are encouraged by discussions with Indian River County staff that the county and others in opposition to the former agreement will embrace this settlement."

Water managers initially planned to swap the land to end a legal challenge by the Corrigan ranching family.

Now, the water district is asking Indian River County to consider purchasing a 460-acre parcel.

County Commissioner Peter O'Bryan said local officials would consider the request. Appraisals valued the land at $7,000 per acre. If Indian River County considers buying the land, new appraisals would be needed, Mr. O'Bryan said.

"Most importantly, they're not going to use conservation lands as any type of lawsuit settlement," Mr. O'Bryan said.

Click here to read the full story.

Proposal seeks to stop land exchange in Indian River County

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — County commissioners are expected to meet today with a representatives of St. Johns River Water Management District regarding a proposal that would settle a dispute concerning a 1,300-acre tract of conservation land.

St. Johns officials said Wednesday a tentative agreement has been reached that would negate an earlier deal that would have returned the land to private ownership.

Under the proposed agreement between the district and the Corrigan family, the Sand Lakes property west of Interstate 95 will remain in public ownership.

Originally, the district was going to exchange the land plus give the family more than $650,000 for a 460-acre parcel of land it owned, as well as other considerations.

District officials said the exchange would settle a dispute with the Corrigans involving the district's operation of its Blue Cypress Water Management Area, which the Corrigans said was causing flooding on the 460-acre parcel.

The deal had caused an outcry from local conservationists, including the Pelican Island Audubon Society and Friends of St. Sebastian River. Those organizations, along with Indian River County and local conservationist David Cox, sought a review of the decision by the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission.

Click here to read the full story.

State targets Indian River Lagoon for clean-up

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - State environmental officials have targeted the Indian River Lagoon for the final year of a five-year restoration program.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, each state in the nation must identify ailing rivers, lakes and estuaries for clean-up. Pollution limits, called total maximum daily loads, are then developed for each damaged waterway.

A total maximum daily load is the maximum amount of a specific pollutant a body of water can absorb and still meet its designated uses, such as fishing, swimming, shellfish harvesting or as a source of drinking water.

Click here to read the full story. Scroll down this web page to the story entitled above.

Florida Identifies 272 Impaired Waterbodies for Cleanup

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, December 21, 2007 (ENS) - The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, DEP, has identified five groups of waterbodies that are impaired and in need of water monitoring, cleanup and restoration.

In the latest round of evaluating impairments in the surface waters of Florida, DEP Deputy Secretary Mimi Drew signed a final order on December 12 targeting 272 impaired waters for cleanup in the Everglades, Indian River Lagoon, Perdido, Springs Coast and Upper East Coast Basins.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, each state must identify impaired rivers, lakes and estuaries for cleanup.

Pollution limits, called total maximum daily loads, TMDLs, are then developed for each impaired waterway. A TMDL is the maximum amount of a specific pollutant a waterbody can absorb and still meet its designated uses, such as fishing, swimming, shellfish harvesting or as a source of drinking water.

Click here to read the full story.

Fort Pierce scientific team brings water quality monitoring to the public

Environmental data are like air: they are everywhere around us but usually invisible. More environmental data are collected every day than has ever been collected before, but only in the case of weather related observations is it routinely put into a readily accessible form available to and readily tailored to the public's daily activities.

If Dr. Edie Widder, president and senior scientist at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Fort Pierce, and her colleagues can implement the program they envision, the public will have access to continuously collected coastal water quality data.

The researchers' goal is to build and deploy a constellation of inexpensive and reliable sensors that will relay data to an automated display system on line. The front end seen by the public will be, perhaps, a local map with color coded transparent overlays illustrating water quality conditions over a geographic area such as the Indian River Lagoon in a single county.

Click here to read the full story.

Editorial: Orlando gulps, Florida swoons

Cities’ big water grab on the St. Johns River exposes problems throughout Sunshine State

The South Florida Water Management District announced new, water-saving initiatives last week. It’s hard to argue against them. Water is a precious resource and conservation is a good thing.

But Florida’s water problem goes much, much deeper than these marginal measures will ever reach. Real or anticipated shortages are not due to folks who let the faucet run while brushing their teeth. It’s not even because Mother Nature has delivered a drought to the Southeast.

The problem is that Florida’s unsustainable growth has tapped out more surface supplies and is steadily draining the ages-old Floridan Aquifer.

While SFWMD dispatches the sprinkler cops, water managers ignore the 800-pound gorilla at the northern end of their region. There, Orlando and its neighboring cities want to take 250 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River.

Orlando & Co. are desperate. Regional basins are drying up and officials know their 500 million gallons-a-day fix from the Floridan Aquifer won’t last. Water quality is dropping as salt intrusion threatens to increase.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Palm Bay talking to annexed owners

PALM BAY -- - City officials are meeting with nine property owners to share the cost of a study and development plan for 20,000 acres in the southeastern part of the city.

City Manager Lee Feldman said the group met Dec. 10 and will meet again Jan. 14 behind closed doors to continue discussions. Under the plan, the city budgeted $200,000 toward the cost, and the property owners would contribute an additional $200,000.

"The study could take a year or more," Feldman said. The city annexed properties in 2006 and 2007 around Micco Road near Babcock Street that total 1,500 acres and the city is in the process of annexing another 3,358 acres.

Most of the land sits between Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Land and the St. Sebastian Buffer Preserve.

Land use changes include single-family homes, multi-family housing units, commercial and recreation and open space. The county allows a single home per acre under its zoning, while the city's proposed changes are for 2.5 homes per acre.

Click here to read the full story.

Editorial: Interlocal talk comes up dry

In their eagerness to draw bigger boundaries, cities leave key question of water on the table

Last month’s headline teased, “Annexation battle near end?” Perhaps. But the real war — the water war — hasn’t even started.

For the past several months representatives from Fellsmere, Sebastian and Indian River County’s three other municipalities have been poring over maps to forge an “interlocal” agreement on municipal boundaries. Talks hit a snag in July when the Sebastian council voted to sue Fellsmere, objecting to Fellsmere’s refusal to include a pending 22,000-acre annexation in the discussions.

The latest word from the city halls is that the skirmish is almost over.

Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker was quoted as saying, “We would like to put this to bed as soon as possible.”

Add that to the “Haste Makes Waste” file.

Whatever the lawyers and the line drawers come up with, the interlocal conversation will be moot because it explicitly failed to discuss the water needs of Fellsmere and its neighbors.

The cities’ decision to take water service off the table was both bizarre and irresponsible at a time when liquid resources are literally drying up throughout Florida. Indeed, this omission runs afoul of state statutes, which stipulate that municipal services — that includes water — be addressed in any interlocal agreements.

The stakes in Fellsmere go deep. The expansionist-minded city administration has big, long-range plans for development a la Palm Bay or Port St. Lucie. But those plans come apart when it comes to water.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Climate change may cost Florida $345 billion a year: study

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - If nothing is done to combat global warming, two of Florida's nuclear power plants, three of its prisons and 1,362 hotels, motels and inns will be under water by 2100, a study released on Wednesday said.

In all, Florida could stand to lose $345 billion a year in projected economic activity by 2100 if nothing is done to reduce emissions that are viewed as the main human contribution to rising global temperatures, according to the Tufts University study.

That equals about 5 percent of what economists project the state's gross domestic product will be by the end of the century.

"The status quo, the climate that we have right now, is not an available option unless we act immediately," said Frank Ackerman, a professor at Tufts' Global Development and Environmental Institute and co-author of the study.

"Doing something may seem expensive, but doing nothing will be more expensive."

Click here to read the full story.

Broward County, here we come

By carving up ‘reserves’ in unincorporated Indian River County, cities lay the foundation for more bad growth here

When the Indian River County Commission scuttled plans for “Charter Lite,” residents were left with the hope that an “Interlocal Agreement” would rein in Fellsmere’s ambitious annexation agenda.

Instead, local municipalities are joining the party, staking out tens of thousands of acres for possible expansion.

Meeting quietly and out of public view, city managers, planners and attorneys have carved out large swaths of unincorporated county territory and put them inside city limits. Some 10,000 acres are pulled in from beyond the urban service boundary.

This is “growth management” on a South Florida scale.

“It’s looking like Broward County, where cities have claimed basically all the unincorporated areas,” says County Commissioner Peter O’Bryan.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Don't trust politicians on Hometown Democracy

The Town Council of Indian River Shores chose to create an esoteric and elitist response to a simple issue in explaining its opposition to the Florida Hometown Democracy ballot initiative. The council members have done their citizens a thorough disservice.

The expertise involved with the planning or changing of land uses has always been in the hands of paid staff — employed people who are specifically educated and experienced in these matters. When the staff work is completed it goes to the elected politicians, who then vote for or against a land-use change, presumably, or arguably, representing the wishes of the people they were elected to serve.

The Florida Hometown Democracy initiative places one more step in the process: final approval by the voters. This places a check on the influence of the development community upon the elected officials.

Click here to read the full letter.

Florida's Shame Day 1: The big con

Who could blame folks in Indian River County eight years ago for wanting to preserve forever more than 1,200 acres just west of Interstate 95? After all, the imperiled scrub jays and snail kites call it their home. Even better, the land is a key part of a 10-mile ridge along the interstate, not only for the wildlife that can get from one side to the other through underpasses but to cleanse the Indian River Lagoon's increasingly fouled water. Wow. Florida is finally serious about preserving land -- even land that can be turned into the next megasubdivision.

No wonder the St. Johns River Water Management District said it wanted in as well. It told Indian River commissioners not to worry. Trust us. It would buy the land with state preservation dollars that give ironclad guarantees that this land would never be developed -- not a small promise because it could easily be annexed into the development-hungry city of Fellsmere next door.

Or at least Indian River commissioners thought it was a promise.

Sept. 11, 2007: In a 7-2 vote, the St. Johns bosses decide they, well, don't want to keep the land after all. Instead they want to swap it with a nearby landowner's 460 acres -- and throw in $657,000 to boot -- in exchange for the owner's not suing. They say they may have wrongly flooded his land. Huh? What about the promise they made to Indian River just eight years ago? And doesn't "preserve" actually mean preserve when it comes to state dollars?

Click here to read the full editorial.

Group plots out maritime guidelines

A panel that advises Brevard County on marine issues approved a comprehensive plan Thursday for how to make the county's waters cleaner, more boater-friendly and more profitable.

The Marine Advisory Council unanimously approved the 7-page maritime master plan, which includes goals for how to promote more recreational and business opportunities along the Indian River Lagoon.

The plan now is expected to go before the Brevard County Commission in late October.

If approved by the commission, it could help guide how many new boat slips, ramps, marinas and mooring fields go in along both rivers and which areas see more navigation signs. It also could be used to set priorities for muck dredging and other water quality cleanups.

Click here to read the full story.

One-sided wildlife panel

Someone other than developers should oversee environmental protection

Charlie Crist, the self-described People's Governor, looks more like the Developers' Governor after a recent round of appointments to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

This month, Crist reappointed a Jacksonville construction company president and named two new members, a Winter Park development attorney and a Fort Lauderdale developer, to the panel.

The three will join a Miami developer and a Delray Beach general contractor that Crist appointed earlier this year.

The seven-member panel is now composed entirely of people from the development industry. The other members -- appointed by Crist's predecessor, Jeb Bush -- are a Tampa developer and an executive of the St. Joe development company.

Rare Black Bob Cat Captured

For years there have been stories of Black Florida Panthers prowling in our wilderness, but there's never been any official record they exist.

Now that mystery may be over.

A cat has been captured and researchers at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary say they now know what people were referring to when they said they saw the panther.

We're all familiar with the Florida Panther, golden in color and about 130 pounds.

You may have also heard of a "Black Panther," which has been like our local Lochness Monster; people have said they've seen it, but it's never been caught.

One woman recently called the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary because she said she had one right in her back yard.

Click here to read the full story and see pictures of the animal.

For sale: One state, everything must go

Wipe out 2,000 acres of wetlands in the Florida Panhandle to build an airport?

Sure. We have to do it.

Otherwise, developers might miss a spot of the state. And we can't have that.

Here's what was striking about last week's approval of a $330-million airport northwest of Panama City:

It felt like the year was around 1965, and a bunch of guys in horned-rimmed glasses were bragging about how they were going to Put Florida on the Map.

Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, hailed the airport's approval because, he said, it will "attract new businesses and jobs to grow and diversify the local economy."

(Then Crist went out and appointed a couple more gator rasslers to the Florida Fish, Wildlife and Manatee-Eatin' Commission.)

Realtors predicted the airport would be just the thing for jump-starting the Panhandle's real estate market.

"Once they start turning dirt," one declared, "we'll see things really rapidly escalate."

Click here to read the full editorial.

Crist names team to make Fla. ‘green’

Gov. Charlie Crist took another step Monday in his fight against global warming, naming 21 members of an “action team” to recommend sweeping changes in state policy.

“The people of Florida are eager for this,” Crist said at a morning news conference.

Headed by Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole, the group includes Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, members of some of the state’s largest environmental groups, university scientists and business leaders.

The team faces a tight deadline. By Nov. 1, it has to produce an inventory for measuring and reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and a plan to promote alternative fuels to reduce the state’s 70 percent reliance on fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas, for its electricity needs.

Click here to read the full story.

Crist blows it on his FWC appointments

From its title, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sounds like an agency dedicated to, well, the conservation of fish and wildlife.

Names, however, can be deceiving.

In recent times, the seven-member panel has been stacked with pro-development types, including: a shopping mall builder from Tampa, a construction executive from Delray Beach, a bigshot with a huge Panhandle development firm and a politically connected Miami lobbyist.

Not surprisingly, the conservation commission has compiled a record of environmental stewardship that cannot be called distinguished. Its most notorious sellout was continuing the barbaric ''pay-to-pave'' policy that allowed developers to bury gopher tortoises alive.

Over the past 16 years, the state has issued permits for the ''entombment'' of 94,000 tortoises whose burrows stood in the way of highways, subdivisions and shopping centers. In exchange, developers paid into a special fund for the purchase of habitat elsewhere, a gesture of negligible benefit to the many tortoises they were mashing with their bulldozers.

After a public outcry, the tortoise policy was terminated in July, although numerous unused permits remain valid.

Gov. Charlie Crist had an opportunity to restore some balance and credibility to the FWCC by appointing three new members last week. He blew it, big-time.

Click here to read the full story.

Underwater reef building boom a boon

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — When Sebastian Capt. John Conlon heads out for a day of offshore fishing, he'll make at least one stop over a group of reefs in 70 feet of water 12 miles northeast of the Sebastian Inlet.

Artificial reef structures created there during the past 20 years by Indian River County, the Sebastian Inlet Sport Fishing Association and the state have provided important fishing spots that yield live bait, kingfish, amberjacks, cobia, grouper and snapper.

This summer, Treasure Coast artificial reef programs operated by county engineering departments have seen a period of unprecedented activity. Eight artificial reefs have been built in area waters since June 1. In St. Lucie County alone, six have been placed since January.

The reef building boom is as important for shelter-seeking fish as it is for the recreational anglers, divers and commercial fishermen who rely on those fish for their livelihoods.

Click here to read the full story and access more information and video clips.

Some homework for Indian River County Commission

While officials enjoy a month-long paid vacation, citizens feel the 'impact' of bad growth policies

OK, let's resist the knee-jerk temptation to condemn Indian River County commissioners for taking off the month of August (paid, of course). Just think of all the benefits:

• No interminable discoursing over the commission's new executive aides — their pay scales, their duties, their workstations, etc.
• No self-serving speeches from Joe Paladin about his "2050 Plan" for development of western lands.
• No cute country aphorisms from Wesley Davis.
• No 3-2 votes against charter government, or any other growth-controlling initiatives.
• No density increases or zoning changes.
• No bureaucratic spinning over billing snafus at the Utilities Department.
• No convoluted excuses about public-works projects coming in late and over budget.

Indeed, less can be better. Who was it who said, "He who governs least, governs best"?

Click here to read the full editorial.

Area looks at growth

Central Florida officals ponder sprawl trend

Take a drive across Brevard County and Central Florida. Do you like what you see?

That was the crux of a regional planning meeting Friday for a seven-county area of Central Florida, including Brevard.

The event was aimed at getting leaders in 86 represented communities to support the idea of changing the current trend of suburban sprawl development -- the theme of a campaign titled "How Shall We Grow?"

The meeting was impressive in that it drew about 600 officials and other community representatives from across the region, indicating a desire to move away from the continued development of strip shopping malls and cookie-cutter housing subdivisions, organizers said.

"We've got to be more creative about how we get things done in this region," said Shelley Lauten, director of myregion.org, a campaign that originated at the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Click here to read the full story.

Is Everyone Seeing Green?

The word “green” no longer just describes a color but has come to represent an energy efficient way of life. Apparently the times are a changin’ – more and more people are making their homes green and now the first green-certified Habitat for Humanity (HFH) home in the state is in Indian River County. Indian River County HFH built the house, sponsored by WCI – a leading builder of communities in Florida, with green certification as a requirement. It was a success according to Jennifer Languell, vice president of the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC), which officially certified the house under the FGBC Green Home program. Now Indian River County HFH is considering which green features they will adopt as standard practice. Languell, speaking to TC Palm News said, “This just shows that affordable housing can be green. That’s a contrast from the usual impression that pro-environment modifications are reserved for high-end housing.”

Click here to read the full story.

Our view: Our seas at risk

County should conduct more rigorous testing of ocean and lagoon waters

Come on in, the water's fine.

That's the good news from a new report by the National Resources Defense Council, which examined pollution tests around the country and ranked Brevard County's surf among the cleanest in the nation.

That could put to rest concerns that contaminants are threatening our near-shore Atlantic Ocean waters, which are a recreational haven for locals and the foundation of Brevard's $2 billion a year tourism industry.

But does the report really sound the all-clear?

Click here to read the full editorial.

Brevard's beaches among cleanest

Bacteria bypasses Brevard beaches, report finds

Brevard's surf ranked among the nation's cleanest for the second consecutive year in an environmental group's annual survey of America's beaches.

But surfers such as Greg Gordon still wonder how much wastewater escapes undetected from septic tanks and sewage plants on the beachside and the cruise ships that head out to sea from Port Canaveral.

"Generally, our county is a lot less polluted," said the Cocoa Beach teacher and member of the Sebastian Inlet chapter of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation. "But we do have members that report ear, nose and throat infections."

A report issued today by the Natural Resources Defense Council found the number of days the nation's beaches closed or posted advisories jumped 28 percent to a record 25,643 last year.

Click here to read the full story.

Fellsmere adds 14K acres to west side

City officials swelled the size of Fellsmere on Thursday night with a 5-0 vote to annex 14,000 acres of citrus land.

But Fellsmere doesn't have unanimous support from its neighbors, which is why the fight over the long-awaited annexation will continue in court.

Thursday's annexation adds acreage to the west side of city limits, connecting with the 4,000 acres annexed from Fellsmere Joint Venture earlier this summer. The vote takes city limits all the way north to the C-54 Canal, a few miles west of Babcock Street. There's no imminent plans to develop the agricultural land.

"The annexation agreement has been a long process and has been laboriously worked out," said Richard Carnell, attorney for Fellsmere Joint Venture, also known as Fellsmere Farms.

The annexation comes two weeks after Sebastian leaders filed a lawsuit against Fellsmere in opposition of the city's plan to bring the property into the city.

Sebastian leaders said the annexation is in violation of the pending Interlocal Services Boundary Agreement, which will dictate which parts of the county the cities potentially could annex or provide services for.

Click here to read the full story.

Officials play the market, and Treasure Coast pays

"Let the market work." This capitalistic creed works most of the time.

But when Adam Smith's hidden hand motions in the wrong direction, people get slapped.

Take the Treasure Coast housing market. Flush with cash, investors and speculators sent our real-estate prices soaring in the first half of this decade. Then, almost as quickly, the bottom dropped out.

Market watchers are still looking for the basement, but prices keep tumbling.

"Buyers will come back only when they see blood in the streets," predicts Alan Hunter, an analyst for MetroStudy, which tracks the Florida housing market.

Click here to read the full editorial.

State makes impact in step to protect gopher tortoise

When developers' bulldozers move in, Florida wildlife usually moves on, finding other places to live.

An exception — with a potentially big impact beginning today — is the state-protected gopher tortoise. When threatened, they retreat into their underground burrows.

And from now on, the state is no longer accepting new applications for permits for burying tortoises during construction. The change affects everything from large housing developments to single home lots, said Greg Holder, a regional director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

However some tortoises can continue to be buried under previously approved state permits.

Conservation groups pushed for ending a state policy that gave land owners an option: moving tortoises — at a cost of about $2,000 each — or burying them, in exchange for paying the state money for buying conservation lands. Through the years, developers have contributed $33 million the state used in buying 9,700 acres, at 11 sites in Florida, for protecting gopher tortoises.

Now all tortoises have to be moved, state officials say.

Click here to read the full story.

Couple find it's easy building 'green'

Envirohome energy efficient

Black mold inspired a green passion in Mark Baker and his wife, Nonnie Chrystal.

Their vision began with a microburst from Hurricane Frances that tore off the roof from Baker's mother's Indialantic home.

The storm provided fertile ground for mold -- and an opportunity for Baker and Chrystal.

Baker had the know-how. Chrystal, the idea.

They're building Florida's Showcase Envirohome on the footprint of the original 1967 house Baker's mother bought in 1970 for about $27,750.

By January, the couple -- and Baker's mother, Betty Baker Farley, 74 -- plan to move into what they hope will be among the most energy efficient homes in Florida, America, maybe even the world.

Click here to read the full story.

Climate Change Debate Hinges On Economics

Lawmakers Doubt Voters Would Fund Big Carbon Cuts

Here's the good news about climate change: Energy and climate experts say the world already possesses the technological know-how for trimming greenhouse gas emissions enough to slow the perilous rise in the Earth's temperatures.

Here's the bad news: Because of the enormous cost of addressing global warming, the energy legislation considered by Congress so far will make barely a dent in the problem, while farther-reaching climate proposals stand a remote chance of passage.

Despite growing public concern over global warming, the House has failed to agree on new standards for automobile fuel efficiency, and the Senate has done little to boost the efficiency of commercial office buildings and appliances. In September, Congress is expected to start wrestling with more ambitious legislation aimed at slowing climate change; but because of the complexity of the likely proposals, few expect any bill to become law. Even if passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, the final measure may not be tough enough to slow global warming.

"I don't think there's any question that what is being talked about now would, over the long term, be insufficient," said Philip Sharp, president of the think tank Resources for the Future and a former House member. "The issue is: Will Congress get in place a larger architecture that sends a signal to the economy that accelerates change?"

Click here to read the full story, plus access to several other resources and a Special Report.

Leaving No Tracks

On energy and environmental matters, the vice president has had a clear mandate

Sue Ellen Wooldridge, the 19th-ranking Interior Department official, arrived at her desk in Room 6140 a few months after Inauguration Day 2001. A phone message awaited her.

"This is Dick Cheney," said the man on her voice mail, Wooldridge recalled in an interview. "I understand you are the person handling this Klamath situation. Please call me at -- hmm, I guess I don't know my own number. I'm over at the White House."

Wooldridge wrote off the message as a prank. It was not. Cheney had reached far down the chain of command, on so unexpected a point of vice presidential concern, because he had spotted a political threat arriving on Wooldridge's desk.

...By combining unwavering ideological positions -- such as the priority of economic interests over protected fish -- with a deep practical knowledge of the federal bureaucracy, Cheney has made an indelible mark on the administration's approach to everything from air and water quality to the preservation of national parks and forests.

It was Cheney's insistence on easing air pollution controls, not the personal reasons she cited at the time, that led Christine Todd Whitman to resign as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, she said in an interview that provides the most detailed account so far of her departure.

Click here to read the full story.

Homeowners use water-wise plants

Xeriscaping can reduce need to irrigate yards

Landscape adaptation. Xeriscaping primarily focuses on selecting plants that easily thrive in the conditions in which they are planted. The concept is appealing to environmentalists, as well as gardeners, who can save lots of money and time by not struggling to keep plants alive that are not suited to the area.

How to get started

Hank Largin, spokesman for the St. Johns River Water Management District, suggests the following steps to get started in xeriscaping your home:

1. Obtain a soil analysis from a source such as the county extension services office. The analysis will tell you which plants are best suited for your backyard.
2. Choose proper plants.
3. Use turf wisely. Grass is the biggest water-guzzler.
4. Irrigate efficiently. Hydrozone, or place plants that need the same amount of water close together.
5. Use mulches to hold moisture in the soil. 6. Perform proper maintenance.

While her neighbors fret over watering their yards, Vicki Williams sits back and enjoys the view from her West Melbourne home.

About a decade ago, Williams began swapping her landscape plantings from water-guzzling to water-wise.

"I replaced my tropicals with some hardy native plants," Williams said. "They're doing very well, as predicted. I don't have to mess with them, even to this day."

Click here to read the full story.

ANOTHER VICTORY FOR FLORIDA'S WATERS

IMPAIRED WATERS RULE SINKS A LITTLE DEEPER

Appeals Court Ruling Could Affect New Coal Plant Permits.

Environmental groups made new progress this week in their efforts to get Florida’s polluted waters cleaned up. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta once again ruled largely in favor of Sierra Club, Save Our Suwannee, Florida PIRG and Linda Young (Clean Water Network of Florida) regarding the EPA’s approval of Florida’s method of listing impaired waters.

The ruling requires some parts of the controversy to be remanded to the lower court (Northern District) for further litigation. The decision should require the Florida DEP to reconsider its upcoming hearing before the Environmental Regulation Commission where the agency will attempt to adopt the Impaired Waters Rule into Florida’s water quality standards.

To read the full commentary by Linda Young, please click here and scroll down to the "June 2-23 Updates" section.

Click here to read the full story.

Our view: Saving our wildlife

State commissions should step up to aid manatees and gopher tortoises

Florida's wildlife is under assault by development and pollution, with some of the most endangered animals facing worsening risks along the Space Coast.

They include manatees and gopher tortoises, which walk a tightrope between survival and a downward spiral that could lead to the point of no return.

That makes it critical the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is holding hearings today and Thursday in Melbourne on a range of issues, strengthen protection for the two species.

On manatees, the commission should reverse its preliminary decision last year to change the manatees' status from endangered to the less-serious threatened.

The commission took the action based on population surveys that indicated manatees are increasing -- proof that strong protection measures are working and should stay in place.

We are deeply concerned the plan would result in fewer slow-speed boat zones and heighten the risk that more of the mammals would fall victim to boat strikes -- already a major cause of their death.

A status change also could ramp up boat dock construction and other development that would increase pollution in places such as the Indian River Lagoon, home to one of the state's largest manatee populations.

Click here to read the full editorial.

It's really smart growth

Development plan would not harm environment

Recently FLORIDA TODAY published an editorial headlined "Say no to density" regarding the comprehensive plan amendment related to approximately 1,600 acres of land on the south side of Micco Road, east of Interstate 95.

As the city manager of Palm Bay, I think it is important to discuss the facts of this proposal versus the emotion-based myths that have been propagated.

Click here to read the full guest editorial.

Editorial: Taking aim at the right to vote

Charlie Crist says he's the "people's governor." He can do the people's business — and uphold their voice — by vetoing Senate Bill 900.

The measure, authored by state Sen. Bill Posey, would throw up several high hurdles designed to block citizens' proposed constitutional amendments.

Though the Rockledge Republican invoked his mother's name in branding his bill the "Beatrice T. Posey Truth in Petition Act," there's nothing American, apple pie or "mom" about this.

By imposing tight submission deadlines and fueling revocation campaigns before a vote even occurs, SB900 chips away at the democratic process and the people's right to petition their government.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Editorial: Annexing problems

"We'd be insane not to accept the annexations, and any other city would do the same," Cheryl Hampton told the Press Journal with regard to a proposal to quintuple the size of Fellsmere by adding 18,000 acres.

The City Council member is wrong: Not every city would do the same. Take Sebastian — the No. 1 reason why the Fellsmere council tonight should reject the annexations. Voters there realized that compact cities are more economical to serve. Rejecting future annexation, they chose quality over quantity.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Our view: Say no to density

Palm Bay's plan to develop sensitive lands should be rejected

It's the wrong plan in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Palm Bay's effort to get a change in land-use standards that could allow more than 9,000 homes in an environmentally sensitive area should be dropped.

Its effect on taxpayer-financed environmentally protected lands could only be destructive, resulting in a waste of public dollars.

But there are far more problems than that.

Palm Bay already has major challenges meeting its current infrastructure needs, such as roadwork and sewers.

Brevard County, meanwhile, is more than $420 million behind in money to meet road needs, and this plan would dump tens of thousands more cars on county-maintained roads.

Worse, both are facing revenue cuts as a result of proposed tax reform.

The massive development also would result in more pollution pouring into the already sickened St. Sebastian River and Indian River Lagoon.

And it would create a far greater drain on the area's dwindling drinking water supplies.

Those are just some of the reasons why the Brevard County Commission -- from which Palm Bay last year annexed the 1,490 acres in question -- was right recently to send a letter of concern to the state agency now reviewing the proposal.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Editorial: Fellsmere leads county in wrong direction

Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker says he "wouldn't have a problem" with Sebastian expanding north to Roseland Road, south to County Road 510 and west to 101st Avenue.

That's mighty big of him, considering that his little city is steaming full-speed ahead on its own 18,000-acre annexation, with approval expected as early as next month. Thousands more acres are on the drawing board.

If these are the fruits of "interlocal agreements," county residents will surely rue the day that urban-boundary referendums and charter government died.

Instead of a countywide conversation, the chatter among cities sounds increasingly territorial and provincial. Rather than looking at the whole, municipal officials appear more focused on extending their spheres of influence before someone else does.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Overcrowding? Nature will fix that

In the absence of a sane growth-management policy, nature is becoming the great equalizer in Florida.

A 17-month drought has made a puddle of Lake Okeechobee and has parched the Biscayne Aquifer. Parts of the Everglades are drying up, while advancing seawater endangers the well fields that serve hundreds of thousands of residents in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Water managers warn that, unless consumption is drastically reduced, the taps could run dry -- or, at the least, start spitting salt -- in several coastal communities. Forget about watering your lawn; you won't be able to water your kids.

The emergency is so dire that even a busy hurricane season may not make it go away. Florida, one of the wettest states in the country, is running dry.

Drought cycles here are nothing new, but this is the first one to occur with 18 million people encamped on the peninsula. They might cut back on sprinkling their geraniums, but they won't stop taking showers or washing their laundry.

Not many politicians are brave enough to cite overpopulation as a cause of the current crisis, though it is. There are too many people using too much water, but it's easier to blame the weather.

Click here to read the full opinion article.

Editorial: Blanket policy is objectionable

The state's wetlands are under attack — again.

And this time it's not just from developers.

A bill snaking its way through the Florida Legislature — House Bill 957 — contains an amendment that would prohibit local governments from imposing regulations on impacts to wetlands that are tougher than the state's.

The brainchild of Rep. Will Kendrick, D-Carrabelle, the amendment is designed to cut the cost of government by eliminating some of the bureaucracy from the planning and permitting process.

However, in counties that have strict wetlands regulations — Martin County is one — the amendment would have an unacceptable, negative consequence: dumbing down county regulations that protect wetlands.

The addendum to HB 957 would "preclude counties from enacting wetlands rules that are tougher than the state's," said Martin County Commissioner Michael DiTerlizzi, who testified against this provision recently in Tallahassee. "Consequently, Martin County would have to allow wetlands mitigation and some destruction of wetlands in accordance with state law."

This is preposterous.

Wetlands mitigation, which allows developers to "lessen" the damage to wetlands by giving the county another wetlands site or buying into a large wetlands mitigation bank — in exchange for developing wetlands property — is flawed policy. Unfortunately, it's the policy of the state.

And it will become the policy of each county in Florida if the legislature passes the version of HB 957 containing this amendment.

State lawmakers need to strip this ill-conceived, heavy-handed amendment from HB 957. No county should be forced to adopt a lower standard than the state's with respect to wetlands protection.

And all counties, such as Indian River and St. Lucie, need to review their environmental regulations and, if necessary, toughen their standards.

Wetlands are a valuable natural resource. They protect shorelines from erosion, replenish underground water supplies, provide sanctuary for plants and animals, and filter pollutants from upland runoff.

State and local governments should be taking aggressive steps to protect wetlands, not creating loopholes that foster the destruction of our natural environment.

Time for the governor to show love of state's rivers

When it comes to the health of Florida's lakes, streams and rivers, let's hope that Gov. Charlie Crist isn't exaggerating.

When asked about a bill moving through the House that would weaken wetland protections, Crist told reporters in Tallahassee that he would probably veto it if the bill reached his desk.

As way of explanation, according to The Tampa Tribune, Crist described himself as a conservationist in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt.

He said it's important that Floridians "be good stewards of our land and our water and our rivers."

That was on Monday. Then on Tuesday, in discussing the possible veto further, Crist declared to reporters: "I'm an environmentalist."

Now is the time to put those words into action.

As governor, Crist appoints the head of the state Department of Environmental Protection. In other words, DEP Secretary Michael Sole works for him.

Crist - the environmentalist - needs to make it clear that he won't tolerate the DEP lowering water quality standards.

The DEP is getting dangerously close to that with proposals to change how the state's waterways are classified.

Click here to read the full story.

Our view: Ravaging our wetlands

State proposal that would gut local protection cannot be allowed to pass

If you like what rampant development is doing to Brevard County, especially when it comes to despoiling our natural resources, then you'll love this:

A bill in the Legislature would strip local governments like Brevard of their power to protect wetlands, putting more of the fragile areas in the path of the bulldozer.

One guess who's behind this attack:

Yup, the powerful development industry and the lawmakers who are eagerly doing their bidding in Tallahassee.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Florida's quiet counties poised for a new housing boom

A decade ago, South Florida home builders moved into St. Lucie County, offering $80,000 homes to middle-class buyers unwilling to pay Palm Beach County prices.

Now there's a new frontier: Indian River and Brevard counties, where land is plentiful and cheap and construction approvals relatively easy to get.

"Indian River and Brevard have become the logical next step along the way," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com, a North Palm Beach financial information company. "Home values are much more reasonable up there than they are in South Florida, and it's a slower pace of life for people who desire that sort of thing."

Click here to read the full story.

Bill would threaten wetlands, critics say

Science needed, backers argue

TALLAHASSEE - Lawmakers, urged on by developers, are proposing to strip local governments of their power to protect wetlands, environmentalists and critics warn.

"This would be a huge step backward for wetlands protection in Florida," Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, said Friday. "We're spending millions and billions of dollars to restore the Everglades, and this is just a total contradiction."

Sponsors of the measure, including Rep. Will Kendrick, R-Carrabelle, say they just want to strike a blow for common sense in a Byzantine growth management process.

Click here to read the full story.

If you like polluted rivers, you'll love this

Say goodbye to the days when you dipped a toe in a lake to see if it was warm enough for a swim.

Soon that toe will be the only part of your anatomy that you'll dare immerse in certain waters, and only then if you're not especially worried about arsenic, cyanide or fecal bacteria.

Florida's Department of Environmental Protection is steaming ahead with plans to reclassify state waterways for the benefit of corporate and agricultural polluters.

Rather than requiring paper mills, phosphate mines and ranches to clean up their effluent, the DEP has devised a ranking system that could forever surrender some of the most damaged rivers, lakes and canals to those who are using them as a sewer.

Click here to read the full story.

Stop killing gopher tortoises

For the past 16 years, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has allowed developers to crush gopher tortoises under bulldozers and bury them alive under subdivisions and strip malls. Once buried, it can take months for tortoises to die. Appallingly, with most Floridians unaware, the state has authorized the killing of more than 80,000 tortoises that lived on the same land coveted by developers.

This spring, Florida policy makers have the opportunity to stop this cruel policy. Until April 4, the commission is seeking public comment on a new, more humane plan for gopher tortoises. Floridians now have a chance to tell the conservation commission what they think.

Currently, developers can pay a fee for an "incidental take" permit to get permission to bury tortoises. The state uses the permit money to buy gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere. But only a small portion of the tortoise's habitat has been recovered, and the state doesn't require that the purchased land have gopher tortoises already living on it.

Click here to read the full story.

Is another inlet needed?

WABASSO ISLAND — A non-navigable inlet to help "flush out" or provide better flow for the Indian River Lagoon was one of the more unique ideas presented Tuesday by people interested in helping improve the lagoon's water quality.

For the most part, though, people who attended the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program's "listening meeting" at the Environmental Learning Center on Wabasso Island thought the issues facing the lagoon were more commonplace problems, especially stormwater runoff.

The series of meetings being held from New Smyrna Beach to Stuart are designed to come up with a communication plan to increase public participation and awareness in the restoration of the lagoon.

The ideas presented at the meetings will be forwarded to a new Indian River Lagoon Citizens Advisory Committee, composed of various environmental groups and others with an interest in the lagoon. The committee will be in charge of developing a new communication plan to get the word out about the lagoon.

About 50 people attended the meeting on Wabasso Island, including several members of the Friends of St. Sebastian River. Stuart Borton, who will serve as that group's representative on the advisory committee....

Click here to read the full story.

Our quality of life: Is bigger really better?

What happens when you let an economist define your "quality of life"? You buy into a pyramid scheme of land speculation, environmental degradation and an even higher cost of living.

Palm City-based consultant Bill Fruth would disagree, of course. He calls his prescription for jobs, population, wages and economic development — which he peddled in Vero Beach last week — the key to building a healthy community.

But this "growth" tonic in nothing new, and its side effects are well known to Floridians: more houses, more sprawl, more traffic, more crowding, more crime, more government and more low-paying jobs.

Fortunately, some economists have gotten wise to the growth game that's played under the guise of "economic development."

Click here to read the full editorial.

Indian River County buys $13.7M land

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The last 163-acre tract of undeveloped land in Sebastian will stay that way, the County Commission decided Tuesday.

In a 5-0 vote, the commissioners agreed to spend $13.7 million to buy the Sebastian Harbor Preserve, northeast of Englar Drive and South Easy Street, from Lincoln Land Development LLC of Melbourne.

Easy Street resident Dale Simchick, who is running for the Sebastian City Council, recalled a pair of nesting bald eagles return to the property after Hurricane Jeanne knocked their tree down.

"And there are ospreys, great-horned owls, indigo snakes, gopher tortoises, scrub jays — and these are just the protected species," she said. "It's saturated with wildlife."

Another council candidate, Eugene Wolff, however, felt quite the opposite.

He questioned spending almost 30 percent of the county's $50 environmental-cultural bond fund to make Lincoln Land richer.

Click here to read the full story.

Couple's hard work grows into beautiful backyard in Grant-Valkaria

GRANT-VALKARIA — Owls, egrets, blue herons, king fishers, wild turkeys and even squirrels now have a new place here to hang out.

Frank and Nancy Harris recently had their back yard designated a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation and an abundance of Florida wildlife has already found this new habitat.

"I head to the back door every morning with my coffee in hand to see what is out there," Frank Harris says. "I never know what I'll see!"

Harris and his wife, Nancy, bought an acre and a half in Grant-Valkaria about three years ago and have been busy adding all sorts of native trees and plants and developing their quarter-acre pond ever since.

Click here to read the full story.

Sebastian may toughen tortoise rules

SEBASTIAN — The city needs to protect gopher tortoises from development, such as finding out whether there are suitable homes for them on publicly owned land.

That's according to members of the city Environmental Advisory Committee, which works to protect wildlife and the natural environment in Sebastian.

Trish Adams, who leads the committee and works as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the committee also wants a liaison between it and city staff. The city does not have its own set of tortoise protection rules, she said.

"That's part of the problem, and that's what we want to start working on," Adams said recently. "Right now, we don't know what the solution will be. The city relies on the state (to protect tortoises)."

City Manager Al Minner said Margie Reynolds, who last month became the environmental planner in the Growth Management Department, will serve as the committee's liaison and is drafting a tortoise protection ordinance.

Click here to read the full story.

2006 a deadly year for manatees

While the first injured manatee of 2007 was seen on the Treasure Coast Wednesday, state biologists said more manatees died in state waters in 2006 than any previous year on record.

That includes a record-high number of deaths in Martin County, where it only took until May for sea cow deaths to exceed the 2005 total.

"We started off the year high, and there's a number of factors that play into that," said Ken Arrison, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

Click here to read the full story and link to some additional information.

New Heights - Southwest

Land Use

In 2005, St. Pete Beach adopted a land-use plan that increased the height limit for hotels from five to 15 stories and increased the density to 90 units per acre. City officials said that the changes were needed to sustain tourism along the six-mile stretch of barrier island in southern Pinellas County.

But the move caused an uproar among residents who believed the height allowances would transform their beach community into a concrete canyon. Organizing as Citizens for Responsible Growth, a group of residents mounted a petition drive to try to force the city to put the new land development plan to a vote by referendum. City commissioners sued unsuccessfully to keep the petition off the ballot. In November, St. Pete Beach voters decided to give the city’s 7,000 residents final say over proposed increases for buildings exceeding 50 feet. What’s still unclear, however, is how all the voting will work and how often the public will vote on such matters.

Patrick Slevin, a Tallahassee public relations consultant who led the campaign against the citizens group’s amendments, says the vote could have dire economic consequences, including endangering jobs, tourism and future investment. “If you don’t have some level of predictability, as we do through our representative processes, then no one is going to be able to invest, develop and grow in this state,” he says.

But Citizens for Responsible Growth attorney Ken Weiss says his clients only resorted to the ballot box because city commissioners weren’t listening.

Both sides predict the St. Pete Beach scenario could inspire revolts in other municipalities and may add momentum to the Florida Hometown Democracy campaign to put a similar statewide initiative on the 2008 ballot. “Once this is really disseminated to the public, you’ll really see this taking off,” says Weiss.

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Activist says Indian River County gave road contractor wrong plans

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Tim Glover, president of the Friends of the St. Sebastian River, isn't blaming the county's road contractors for clearing the wrong property in October on County Road 512, burying at least one gopher tortoise, breaking the cap off an artesian well and letting the water carry silt into the St. Sebastian River.

Rather, he said Tuesday, crews with J.W. Cheatham Co., of West Palm Beach, got the wrong set of plans from the county.

"As far as I know, the contractor is fine," Glover said. "The problem seems to be the county provided the wrong information. ... This is a real can of worms."

Click here to read the full story.

Everglades restoration bill 'officially dead'

WASHINGTON — So close, yet so far.

The massive water bill that would have poured billions of dollars into South Florida for Everglades restoration funding is "officially dead," Senate leaders confirmed Wednesday.

The Water Resources Development Act, a bipartisan measure that contained $1.2 billion for the Indian River Lagoon, passed though both chambers of Congress in July but was held up in a conference committee where House and Senate members attempted to iron out differences between two versions of the bills.

But those differences were far-reaching and lawmakers couldn't come to a consensus as the clock on the current congressional session ran down.

Along the Treasure Coast, the money would go to projects to focus on aquatic habitat in the St. Lucie Estuary and the southern portion of the Indian River Lagoon, removing deposits of muck and phosphorous in lakes and canals that have polluted the lagoon's sea grasses and oyster flats.

Click here to read the full story.

Palm Bay feels its way through growing pains

Increased values, habitat loss follow annexations

PALM BAY - Imagine Melbourne being annexed into Palm Bay.

In just two years, Palm Bay has voluntarily annexed unincorporated land the size of its neighbor to the north.

Motivated by a desire to shape its own future, the city has annexed -- or is in the process of annexing -- 24,210 acres, or nearly 38 square miles, bringing it to more than 100 square miles.

The undeveloped land is a boon to the city, officials believe, bringing construction work and impact and city fees, adding to the tax base, and generating the impetus for providing needed drainage, sewer and water lines to the outskirts of the city.

Click here to read the full story.

Part of dredging phase has finished

ROSELAND — Endangered manatees might have an easier time searching for food in a portion of the C-54 Canal, now that part of the first phase of a huge muck-removal job has ended.

Last July, St. Johns River Water Management District officials began overseeing an $18.6 million project to remove about 1.8 million cubic yards of muck from the canal and the adjacent St. Sebastian River. The overall project is scheduled to be completed Nov. 30, 2010, and removing the muck is expected to recharge sea-grass beds vital to supporting aquatic life.

So far, workers from Orlando's Subaqueous Services Inc. have dredged about 300,000 cubic yards of muck, St. Johns Project Manager Ralph Brown said Tuesday. He said workers stopped dredging Tuesday where the canal meets the river.

The work halted just before the start of manatee restrictions, which prohibit dredging in the river between December and April.

Click here to read the full story.

Citrus growers question water proposal

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Plans for an expanded system of north county water wells have raised citrus growers' concerns of losing pressure from their own wells — and prompting both sides to ask residents for ideas of where to get drinking water in the future.

"We don't feel, in the long term, that our (deep well) water system can provide water for a rapidly growing county without impacting agriculture," Bob Adair, vice chairman of the county Soil and Water Conservation District board of supervisors, said Monday.

Adair became concerned in the spring when county Utility Services Director Erik Olson spoke of meeting the needs of growth by expanding the 13-year-old North County Water Treatment Plant, northwest of 77th Street and 58th Avenue, from three wells to nine.

Click here to read the full story.

Manatees coming to warmer waters near you

Manatees are on the move seeking warm-water sites to spend the winter.

Boaters need to make sure they watch out for the state's official marine mammal and for changing speed zones on waterways.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission changes seasonal speed zone signs in mid-November on many waterways to accommodate manatee migration.

Boaters should scan the water near or in front of the boat looking for swirls resembling a large footprint, a repetitive line of half-moon swirls, a mud trail, a snout or fluke (tail) breaking the water's surface.

Kipp Frohlich, leader of the commission's Imperiled Species Management Section, said boaters should give manatees plenty of room and:

• Stay in marked channels and obeying speed zones.
• Wear polarized sunglasses to improve vision and having someone help scan the water.
• Use poles, paddles or trolling motors when close to manatees.

Manatee speed zones in Indian River and Brevard counties this winter include:

Indian River County:

• Slow speed: (Nov. 1 to April 30) Within the Sand and Shell islands area, Channel Marker 66 south to Channel Marker 75; Indian River area from Hobert Lodge Marina to North Canal, and from Channel Marker 156 south to St. Lucie County line, west of the Intracoastal Waterway.
• No entry: (Nov. 15 to March 31) The portion of the canal adjacent to Vero Beach Power Plant.

Brevard County:

• No entry and motorboats prohibited: (Nov. 15 to March 31) North Indian River area around discharge canals of the Reliant Corp. Power Plant and Florida Power and Light Frontenac Power Plant.
• Idle speed zone: (Nov. 15 to March 31) West of the Intracoastal Waterway in the general vicinity of power plants.

Humane Society rushes to rescue 30 wild tortoises

WABASSO — The local Humane Society's rush to rescue 30 wild tortoises is accelerating because of flooding of their burrows.

Until recently, the society temporarily was holding the tortoises in a fenced-in safe area, out of harm's way, at a residential development in central Indian River County. That was a temporary move pending relocating the animals, in about a month, to a new home in an old pasture behind the Humane Society's headquarters at 6230 77th St.

... The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is in the middle of a major revision of its gopher protection rules, to greater safeguard the animals. Gopher tortoises only live in the Southeastern United States. About 250,000 tortoises are in Florida and each year the state has been allowing developers to bury 8,000 to 10,000 tortoises.

Click here to read the full story.

Work on nature trail in Brevard may start next year

BREVARD COUNTY — County leaders could clear the path next year for a proposed nature trail that would wind through several miles of the southern part of Brevard County.

District 3 Commissioner Helen Voltz said it's her goal for the County Commission in January to give staff direction for what to do next for the proposed Al Tuttle Trail. The issue could appear on an agenda for a meeting that month.

The proposed path would stretch from the Malabar Scrub Sanctuary north of Malabar Road down to to the Micco Scrub Sanctuary and the St. Sebastian River Buffer Preserve. Hikers and horseback riders would have have more than 22 miles of trails to explore, county officials said.

Click here to read the full story.

Just too many people

"Balancing Land Use and Preservation," an otherwise informative recent panel discussion in Vero Beach, failed to answer one crucial question: "If growth drives our environmental challenges, aren't all the 'solutions' merely tinkering around the margins if they don't squarely address the population issue?"

The presenters, who, collectively, have authored dozens of books on planning and the environment, offered many informative and entertaining anecdotes about Florida.

Bill Belleville noted the 100,000 exceptions made to "growth management plans" around the state.

Jeff Klinkenberg reported that 84,000 acres of wetlands have been lost since 1990. That's the equivalent of eight Jonathan Dickinson State Parks.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Indian River County criticized over river protection during road work

SEBASTIAN — Indian River County officials haven't done enough to protect the South Prong of the St. Sebastian River and failed to save many nearby mature trees during the ongoing $15 million project that includes widening County Road 512 on the west side of Sebastian, according to Richard Baker, president of the Pelican Island Audubon Society.

In a recent letter to the county, Baker said it appears "the project is not being handled with the care it deserves in an area with many environmental concerns."

But county Engineer Chris Kafer, who is managing the project for the county, said a county inspector is at the site every workday and officials have addressed or are addressing any issues.

Click here to read the full story.

Stormwater pollutants a drain on lagoon

Stormwater drains -- 2,000 of them -- are the bad boys of the Indian River Lagoon, spewing chemicals and trash into the estuary.

Some of the drains are just pipes going into the river. Others are canals, but they all funnel unwanted pollutants into the water.

"They're 2,000 points of darkness," said Amy Tidd, volunteer coordinator for the Marine Resource's Council Adopt-a-Drain program.

The Council hopes that volunteers will come forth to help straighten out these waterway delinquents.

Click here to read the full story.

Our view: Poisoned to death

Killer toxins in Indian River Lagoon show need for stronger pollution fight

T he waters of the Indian River Lagoon have entranced people for generations and provide a diverse bounty of marine life found nowhere else in North America.

But beneath those waters a killer is lurking, posing a danger to humans and the creatures struggling to survive in the endangered estuary.

It's called saxitoxin, which scientists believe is spread by an algae that has been around for decades but which now is blooming in higher concentrations than previously seen.

The precise reason hasn't been nailed down, but there is a suspect.

Higher amounts of nitrogen that may be getting into the water from leaking septic tanks and lawn fertilizers that, combined with lower water circulation and cooler temperature, may be triggering the poison.

Click here to read the full editorial.

Sebastian Inlet's manatee zone rules now official

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — There have always been manatee zone regulations in the Sebastian Inlet, but now law enforcement officials said they can enforce them.

Clearly marked signs and buoys designating a channel through the Sebastian Inlet were recently erected. Officials said boaters can go up to 30 mph through the channel just like in any other channel in the Indian River Lagoon, but they have to obey slow-speed manatee zone regulations from the markers to the shoreline.

"We didn't enforce them (the laws) that much through there before because it was confusing" without signs, said sheriff's Sgt. Charles Gibbons, marine unit supervisor. "Now that it's marked, we are out enforcing it."

Click here to read the full story.

The electric ride

Why six local men love their battery-powered cars

There are some things you just expect to run on batteries: an iPod. Flashlights. Toys that make noise. But cars? Well . . .

Putt putt putt putt putt.

That's the first thought, right? Gutless wonders with all the oomph of a vacuum cleaner, OK for senior citizens in golf carts tooling around Delray Beach, maybe, or Ed Begley Jr. driving 10 self-righteous miles at a time.

With a national ethos of "my car, myself," and a collective expectation of being able to jump in the car and drive 80 mph for 300 miles, electric cars just haven't caught on. They might even be dead. The documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? came to movie theaters last month.

And yet they're out there. That Lamborghini zooming down I-95? Could be electric. The Toyota RAV 4 parked at Publix? Possibly has 18 batteries.

As for the people who drive them: Zealots? Maybe. Speed freaks? Visionaries? Tinkerers who just like messing around with cars? Yes, yes and yes.

Driving an electric car is to take one step beyond just loving a car, and identifying with it. It is a statement of sorts. And the statements are as varied as the drivers.

Charles Whalen, Delray Beach

Two fully electric Toyota RAV4's

While some electric cars are more novel than anything, others look no different from their gas counterparts. And that, Whalen says, is the point.

Lagoon looks healthy

Experts see improvement to Indian River's sea grass

PALM BAY - Troy Rice of the St. Johns River Water Management District offered some encouraging news on the state of the Indian River Lagoon.

Presenting a general overview of the lagoon and programs designed to help it, Rice told a Brown Bag Lunch gathering at the Lagoon House that researchers have been pleasantly surprised by how well sea grasses have been doing in Brevard and Indian River counties.

The most recent studies "didn't find any significant long-range impact on sea grasses," said Rice, who directs the Indian River Lagoon Project. "In fact, we have a resurgence in the north and central parts of the lagoon."

Click here to read the full story.

Save Brevard backing amendments to slow growth

BREVARD COUNTY — Micco residents said they're ready to go to Viera next week to lobby the Brevard County Commission to put two controlled-growth measures on the November ballot.

The commission will discuss placing the charter amendments on the Nov. 7 ballot at 1 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Government Center in Viera. The commission had set the date for Aug. 22, but rescheduled the matter for the following day.

Members of Save Brevard, a political action committee, is backing the amendments. One proposal would allow property owners to vote on voluntary annexations near them. The second would ask voters if building permits should be suspended in areas where added development might tap out such services as schools and utilities.

Click here to read the full story.

Sebastian River state park has new manager

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The "L House" at the massive St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park has a new tenant.

He's Kevin Jones, who recently transferred from managing St. George Island State Park, in the Panhandle, to become the local park's new manager. Jones, 44, is required by the state Park Service to live at the park.

Click here to read the full story.

Oysters slowly returning to St. Sebastian River

SEBASTIAN — Bill Arnold remembers attending the Grant Seafood Festival in the 1960s when all they served were oysters.

Forty years later, those oysters are slowly returning to the St. Sebastian River, and Arnold, who now holds a doctorate in marine science and works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, is keeping track.

"When I was a kid, my dad brought us down (from Cocoa) to the Grant Seafood Festival and nobody ever heard of clams," Arnold, 51, told about 50 members of the Friends of the [sic] St. Sebastian River, who gathered at the North Indian River County Library on July 25. "They served strictly oysters because the Indian River Lagoon used to support a lot of oysters."

Click here to read the full story.

St. Sebastian muck dredging under way

SEBASTIAN — As the waves of applause washed over George Koraly as his decades-long mission to remove muck from the St. Sebastian River came to fruition Wednesday, he tried to divert the attention to others he believed deserved recognition.

He asked that a photo be taken of him wearing his Friends of the St. Sebastian River hat, acknowledging the group of local residents who have worked by his side over the years to get the dredging project under way. Most importantly, he believed, was acknowledgment of his late friend, Gordon Maltby, who went out in the river with him in the mid-1990s to manually measure the depth of the muck clogging the river.

State Rep. Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, who championed the state funding for the $18.6 million project, said the project showed what a small group of determined citizens can accomplish.

"One man, a man like George, can make a difference," said Mayfield at a ceremony Wednesday at Dale Wimbrow Park before the start of the dredging project.

Click here to read the full story and view photos and a map of the project area.

Dredging project officially under way

Biologists fear harm to wildlife

The St. Sebastian River will get deeper and cleaner. But tell that to the opossum pipefish or the big-mouth sleeper, which could suffer from the muckraising cleanout.

Subaqueous Services Inc. of Orlando on Wednesday began pumping the first gobs of about 2 million cubic yards of muck that a 3-year, $17 million dredging project will remove from the river between the C-54 canal and U.S. 1 bridge. That's enough to fill 200,000 dump trucks.

A group of politicians ushered in the long-awaited project with a ceremony at Dale Wimbrow Park.

The project should help improve the water quality of the river and the Indian River Lagoon, officials from St. Johns River Water Management District said. But it's an area some biologists say should not be dredged because of the unique creatures that live along the bottom.

Biologist Grant Gilmore worries about the opossum pipefish, at least four varieties of snook and several other imperiled fish that rely on the river's unique habitat.

Clcik here to read the full story.

Muck, the dirty demon of the deep

I've arrived early for my appointment with George Koraly, which was fine by me since it gave me more time to admire his stunning home and enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the waterfront community of Little Hollywood.

I've come to talk to him about his efforts to restore the St. Sebastian River and he's laid out some maps and charts for me to examine.

Actually, though, I'm more interested in looking around this finely built home Koraly designed and gazing at the nearby river. I think it's in my genes since I come from a long line of builders who love to fish, although my skills in both are lacking.

Koraly, though, appears to be highly proficient in both areas. But it's been his fight against a life-sucking invader that has been bedeviling the gentle waterway flowing past his home where he's truly excelled and why I've come today.

Standing at his window, Koraly points to the place where he had his first up-close encounter with the dirty demon of the deep.

Click here to read the full story.

Florida to Remove Manatee From State's Endangered List

MIAMI, June 8 — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to remove the Florida manatee from the state's endangered species list. The move is already creating controversy among environmental groups that say manatees will not get the protection they need.

"The commissioners are very much being pressured by development interests and to some extent boating interests that depend on consuming Florida wildlife and habitat," said Patrick Rose, a biologist with the Save the Manatee Club.

The commission voted 7 to 0 to reclassify the manatee as a threatened species. The reclassification means that while the species is still at a high risk of extinction, the commission no longer considers it to be in imminent danger.

On the federal level, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is re-evaluating the manatee's designation in the Endangered Species Act.

Click here to read the full story.

Manatees' ranking expected to change

Regulations divide developers, conservationists

If you fancy a dock someday or a chance to boat faster, or you think there's too much of both going on, pay attention. Things soon could change along the waterfront, depending on what happens with the humble sea cow.

State wildlife officials today plan to move ahead with "downlisting" manatees from "endangered" to "threatened," reflecting healthier numbers in recent years.

The manatee is one of four species up for review Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the first to fall under a new listing process created last year.

Conservationists worry the changes could open the door for more docks, fewer slow-speed boating zones and other "downlistings" that would give developers free rein to build in ways that harm habitat -- wet and dry.

Click here to read the full story.

Flawed classification further endangers species

Conservation and animal welfare groups from Florida and around the nation have petitioned the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, urging the state to revise its imperiled species classification system.

Using this flawed system, the FWC already has downgraded the red-cockaded woodpecker despite opposition from many scientists. If the current classification system is not changed, many of Florida's at-risk species such as the manatee, northern right whale, Florida panther and Florida black bear could suffer the same fate as the woodpecker, resulting in less protection and misleading the public into thinking these species have recovered.

Florida is being developed rapidly, increasing the threats to wildlife and making not only survival, but also the state's goal of endangered species recovery, an enormous and difficult challenge. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in five years, Florida will surpass New York in population, making it the third-most-populous state.

In 1999, the FWC modified its classification system to incorporate the listing criteria of the World Conservation Union, a world authority on endangered species, except for one critical difference. Modifications were made in 2005, but the changes failed to fix this major flaw: The FWC did not align the IUCN's risk categories with the IUCN's category names and definitions.

Click here to read the full story.

The northern curlytail lizard is taking over from native species

With a ferocious little predator called the northern curlytail lizard, South Florida may finally have the exotic reptile it deserves.

Native to rocky areas of the Bahamas and nearby islands, the lizard has made a home in sections of southeast Florida that mimic its native habitat, such as sidewalks, parking lots and strip malls.

As it spread through coastal areas of Broward and Palm Beach counties, it has crowded out native lizards and devoured the prey of native mockingbirds, grackles and shrikes.

Click here to read the full story.

Brevard loses $3M in state budget

Lagoon project survives veto

TALLAHASSEE - More than $3 million in Brevard County projects lost state funding Thursday as Gov. Jeb Bush issued a record number of budget vetoes, signing a pruned version of the $71 billion budget lawmakers passed earlier in the month.

... More than $7 million of the Indian River Lagoon funding is for muck removal in the Sebastian River, a line item Rep. Stan Mayfield said the governor's office asked quite a few questions about.

"I'm very glad he decided to let that one through," said Mayfield, the Vero Beach Republican who chaired the House budget committee responsible for funding environmental and water projects.

Click here to read the full story and for a list of items vetoed and those kept in the budget.

Oh never mind

The DEP's continuing attempts to lower water quality standards harm our rivers and give polluters a pass.

The St. Johns River is known for its unique northward-flow, broad sweeping vistas, and, of late, spectacular algae blooms. The latter fed by the nutrient poisoning of a river that receives discharges from 33 sewage plants and a paper mill.

The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (aka the Department of Environmental Accommodation) has been trying hard to lower allowable water quality standards for the St. Johns - as opposed to, say, forcing polluters to clean up the river. But environmental groups have sued to prevent the state from watering down water standards.

But DEP is persistent. Having lost a battle in federal court to permit lower dissolved oxygen levels for the St. Johns (more nutrients equal lower dissolved oxygen levels) the state is now petitioning the federal government for broad discretion to set lower water quality standards, not only for the St. Johns, but for other Florida rivers.

Click here to read the full editorial.

FSSR 2006 George Schum Award Winner Also Wins Journalism Contest

Phaedra Tinder was the winner of this year's George V. Schum Memorial Award, which the Friends awards to a graduating senior at the Sebastian River High School each year. Phaedra was also recently the second place winner of the national Edward R. Murrow High School Journalism Contest. Click here to read more about the contest. There is also a link on this web page to Phaedra's winning essay, entitled "Cypress Mulch is Environmentally Incorrect".

"Edward R. Murrow’s journalistic courage earned him a place in history as an example of the media’s duty to protect the public good. Like Murrow, entrants in our High School Journalism contest are helping restore faith in the media’s fundamental mission by reporting on issues that are important to their schools and communities."

by Jim Petrone, Hometown News, April 7, 2006

Weak treatment proposed for sick St. Johns River

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is once again using its hocus-pocus to allow polluters to dump more pollution into the St. Johns River.

In the meantime, the St. Johns River Water Management District is reporting algal blooms have already been spotted in the river in Putnam, Clay and St. Johns counties.

Great news, eh? That’s several months earlier than when the blooms normally appear.

Do you think the river is telling us again that it’s sick, just like it did last summer when large parts of the river turned into a stinking, sickening green mess?

Well, if so, the DEP isn’t listening.

Setting pollution limits for the river, which, by the way, should have been done years ago under the federal Clean Water Act, is a complicated business.

Let’s simplify it:

The river is unhealthy because, in large part, it’s overloaded with nutrients, which feed algal blooms like fertilizer feeds a lawn.

Last January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established rules that require a significant reduction in the amount of nutrients going into the river. The DEP is now proposing to lower those standards and we’re not talking about by a little bit either.

According to what the DEP says are “preliminary” figures, the standards DEP is proposing would allow an additional 1,043,997 pounds of nitrogen to be poured in the river each year.

To put that into perspective, that would equate to 139,200 50-pound bags of fertilizer containing 15 percent nitrogen being dumped into the river annually.

For a river already choked with nutrients, that’s insane.

The DEP insists its proposed standards are based on “good science” and would protect the health of the river.

The cynical among us might question that because last December a DEP official told an audience made up mostly of polluters that the DEP’s lower standards would eventually prevail.

That was before the so-called “good science” was completed.

Also, much of that “good science” is based on studies done in the Virginia Province on water bodies from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras.

It’s not a stretch to say the St. Johns River might be a different ball game.

In a letter to The Florida Times-Union, the DEP’s northeast district director, Greg Strong, wrote that the DEP has been working to restore the river, that the state has spent $48 million on that effort and that those questioning the DEP are driven by “personal agendas.”

If the DEP has been such a protector of the river, then why did it turn green last summer?

And you bet people have personal agendas when it comes to the river. They want it to be healthy, not green.

Strong’s letter also says the DEP process “encourages public involvement.”

A DEP release says the proposed rule changes will be discussed during a public hearing Thursday, May 25 beginning at 9 a.m. at the DEP’s district office, 7825 Baymeadows Way, Suite B200.

The release also says if anyone has questions they should contact Eric Shaw in Tallahassee at (850) 245-8429 or by e-mail at Eric.Shaw@dep.state.fl.us.

If you have a personal agenda for the river and can’t make the May 25 public hearing, Shaw might be a good person to let know.

Water managers share details of St. Sebastian River dredging plan

The long-awaited dredging of the St. Sebastian River is expected to begin sometime in mid to late May, although the dimensions of the project have changed as the project cost has escalated.

The $18 million bid from Subaqueous Services Inc., of Orlando, to dredge about 2 million cubic yards of muck from the river, was $8 million higher than an earlier estimate by the St. Johns River Water Management District.

Under the original proposal, the first phase of the dredging project was to be in the main branch of the river, from about 150 feet west of the U.S. 1 bridge to just west of the Florida East Coast Railway bridge. About a million cubic yards of muck was to be removed during this phase, which was anticipated to take about two years.

Click here to read the full story.

Sebastian's champion trees to be honored Saturday

SEBASTIAN — Aided by Mother Nature and occasional trimmings, a live oak tree and slash pine tree have grown into champions in the city's southwest corner.

The trees stand outside the home of Shirley Kilkelly on Franciscan Avenue, south of County Road 512 and west of Laconia Street. The live oak is 60 feet tall, with a circumference of 108 inches and a crown spread of 60 feet. The pine also is 60 feet tall, with a circumference of 69 inches and a crown spread of 40 feet.

Click here to read the full story.

Florida's Shame: Losing paradise

FIRST IN FIVE-PART SERIES

We feel duped. How about you?

SPRING 1974: Florida declares that the Green Swamp in Lake and Polk counties won't be paved over for the next get-rich-quick scheme. Hallelujah! In putting this swamp in the same category as the Everglades, legislators must have recognized even then that this was exactly what was needed to preserve it. Central Florida's Everglades, if you will. Not only does it intersect five major river systems, this 560,000-acre swamp between Orlando and Tampa teems with rare plants and animals. The scrub jay, the wood stork, the black bear. Even the elusive Florida panther roams its forests. Name an endangered species in Florida, and you can bet you'll find it here. Quite a stand for a state that usually bends over backward to accommodate every fast-buck artist who shows up at the state line. Must be real precious land.

SUMMER 2005: Wait a minute. What's this we hear about the Lake County city of Groveland fighting to allow a megadevelopment in this very swamp? The developer even has the nerve to call itself Banyan, the name of a popular Florida tree. The developers will plop down as many as 532 homes in a part of the Swamp that was slated for 57 homes. Do the math: It means that developers stand to make almost 10 times more than if the 361 acres remained rural. Didn't 72 percent of Groveland just vote to ban so many homes in the swamp? Why, yes, but Groveland commissioners will have none of that. They actually went to court to get around their own voters and gain the right to help kill the Green Swamp. So much for the Legislature's 1974 vision.

And you wonder why we feel duped. Bet it's nothing compared to how 72 percent of the Groveland voters feel. And this commission is supposed to be looking out for them? Come again? Our only comforting thought is that this is an isolated incident for Central Florida.

Or is it?

Click here to read the full story.

Trouble roiling in Treasure Coast waters

WASHINGTON — There's more troubling news for the nation's waterways — including those on the Treasure Coast.

A study released Thursday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group indicated that more than 62 percent of the country's industrial and municipal facilities are releasing more pollution into the waterways than allowed by Clean Water Act permits.

Locally, those facilities include the Indian River County water treatment plant near Oslo and the Florida Power and Light utility plant in western Martin County. The Indian River plant released a considerable amount of intestinal bacteria in the South Relief Canal while the FPL plant released iron and other pollutants to the St. Lucie Canal, PIRG officials said.

Click here to read the full story.

Coral dying on St. Lucie Inlet reef

Scientists say coral bleaching is a result of Lake Okeechobee discharges

ST. LUCIE INLET STATE PRESERVE — Covered in murky, brown water for months, this isolated park's coral reef is beginning to die.

Local scientists who dived the reef recently discovered the first major outbreak of coral bleaching — a sign of stress that can lead to death — with around 15 percent of the coral reef already dead.

"It's the worst we've ever seen it," said Jeff Beal, marine habitat coordinator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It probably took many months of water quality problems for those corals to finally start bleaching and dying."

Access to story removed by the Press Journal.

Algae bloom choking the life out of Indian River Lagoon

State scientists began an investigation Wednesday into the cause of a thick blanket of reddish-brown algae piled along the banks of the Indian River Lagoon, after being alerted to the problem by Indian River Drive residents.

Dead stingrays, catfish and horseshoe crabs were found trapped in large clumps of seaweed, which had begun to decay and stink like sewage. Underneath, shaded sea grass beds were starting to die, residents said.

The algae bloom, which can occur annually, has happened this year in much colder water and at a much greater magnitude, residents said. Such an early bloom could warn of even worse problems throughout the lagoon this summer.

St. Sebastian River Greenway gets county's OK

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A five-mile stretch of wetlands and dry lands, from 82nd Street north to the Indian River Lagoon, got a new name Tuesday — and a preservation goal — when county commissioners designated it the St. Sebastian River Greenway.

"It's a great opportunity when the (professionals in) ecology and economy are interested together in planning to protect the St. Sebastian River," Sebastian ecologist David Cox said.

He referred to the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce joining a host of environmental groups — the (sic) Friends of the St. Sebastian River, Indian River County Historical Society, Indian River Land Trust, Pelican Island Audubon Society and the Marine Resource Council of East Florida — to support the designation.

Access to story removed by the Press Journal.

Harrell tells House lagoon needs help

TALLAHASSEE — An official request for federal funding to restore the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee passed its final committee vote Wednesday on the way to a vote on the House floor.

Almost $500 million in state funds have been set aside for Everglades restoration, including $30 million for the Indian River Lagoon.

Congress has yet to spend nearly $1.3 billion it has pledged to improve water quality in the lagoon and farther south, a critical initial project in the $16 billion Everglades project.

"The entire ecosystem is in imminent danger of collapse due largely to the mixing of saltwater and freshwater and runoff into the lagoon," Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, told members of the House State Resources Council.

If approved by both chambers, a joint resolution would have no force of law, but act as an official plea from the Florida Legislature for federal assistance.

25 years of study: Growth 'winning out' over lagoon

After a quarter-century of studying the Indian River Lagoon's water quality, animal health and habitat, area scientists are meeting this week to discuss the trends in their findings.

Overall, it isn't positive.

While sewer plants have stopped discharging directly into the lagoon and public awareness of the issues is greater than ever, rapid development and population growth in the past 25 years have affected dolphins, turtles, fish and their salty habitat to such an extent that the damage may be irreversible, they said.

Access to story removed by the Press Journal.

Protecting clean water

Long-term program needed to test Brevard injection wells and local surf

Brevard County should finally put an end to questions about the effectiveness of trying to dispose of polluted wastewater by pumping it underground.

It might be out of sight, but no one can afford to let it be out of mind.

Many citizens -- we among them -- have expressed growing concern in recent years about the possible seepage of treated sewage into our near-shore ocean waters.

Click here to read the full editorial.

$1.1 million land purchase helps Indian River Lagoon

Land preservation should prevent more water runoff

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Marine Resources Council of East Florida has just won a major victory in the name of conservation.

Last Thursday, the nonprofit, Palm Bay-based environmental organization closed on the $1.1 million purchase of eight acres of land next to Sebastian Creek, which connects to the South Prong of the St. Sebastian River. This parcel of undeveloped land is southeast of County Roads 512 and 510 and south of the future Sebastian River Landing neighborhood.

The publicly-owned eight acres will be conserved and improved, with native plants and trees replacing evasive ones, to help protect these waterways and the Indian River Lagoon from pollution, Jim Egan, the council's executive director, said Tuesday.

Access to story removed by the Press Journal.

Groups seek funds to help clean up lagoon and other waterways

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — More than $26 million in state money will be sought next year to help clean up the Indian River Lagoon and other waterways flowing through the Treasure Coast.

Much of the money being sought by officials from St. Johns River Water Management District and the St. Lucie River Issues Team next fiscal year will be used to try to prevent sediment and other pollutants from entering the waterways.

... St. Johns will be seeking about $18 million for projects including the long-awaited muck removal project in the St. Sebastian River.

Access to story removed by the Press Journal.

State's buck-passing won't protect our waterways

This summer's battered coasts offer Florida a lesson: Hurricanes are getting fiercer and our years of destroying wetlands are making the damage worse.

Wetlands absorb the storm surge that comes rushing at our coasts. But year after year, developers are getting leaders to weaken the regulations that keep wetlands intact. Developers pushed a bill through the Legislature last spring that ordered the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to start taking over wetlands permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, initially for projects that cover 10 or fewer acres.

More than 90 percent of all wetlands destruction requests affect 10 acres or less. After the bill passed, the St. Petersburg Times got records showing that a Florida Home Builders Association lobbyist, Frank Matthews, helped write the bill.

Access to story removed by the Press Journal.

Too many agencies imperil lagoon

Our Indian River Lagoon is dying.

This is true in spite of the many government agencies involved in trying to protect the lagoon — two water management districts (St. Johns River and South Florida Water Management Districts), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, National Marine Fisheries, a National Estuary Program, many buffer preserves, state parks, and aquatic preserves, six county governments (health and environmental departments), six mosquito control districts and numerous local water-control districts.

Signs of impending death abound. Muck averages 4