Other than the public, the residents of Florida who are now indulging in our
beautiful estuaries,
or the fishermen who make a living growing oysters and
catching shrimp,
who else are the stakeholders in this struggle?
What are the names of the major ideas that were planned to deal with this
ecological problem?
-
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
– A partnership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida
Water Management District, and many other federal, state, local and tribal
partners to restore the Everglades.
-
The Comprehensive Everglades Planning Project (CEPP)
–A new emphasis on planning in a shorter time frame, the CEPP reduces a 5-6
year process down to 18 months.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) - Florida voters have passed (75%) a measure that
designates billions of dollars to conservation efforts over the next 20 years.
Amendment 1 will draw its funding
from an existing real estate tax, and would dedicate 33 percent of it
annually to conservation. That would be about 1 billion a year. About
half of the money will fund Florida Forever, a conservation
land purchasing program that saw its budget slashed by 97 percent since 2009 due
to the Great Recession. The money was never restored after the economy
rebounded.
Martin County’s
Economic Council (opposed
to River of Grass)
Article extracted from: Sally Swartz, who is a former member of The Post Editorial Board.
sdswartz42@att.net
4/20/2015
Members:
-
Chairman is Joseph W. Capra of CAPTEC Engineering Inc.
-
Vice Chairman is
Dan Carmody of Olde Florida Realty.
-
Treasurer is Alex Beringer of Fair Wind Air Charter.
-
Secretary is Sara Wingfield Lindgren of JP Morgan Chase.
-
Ed Weinberg,
an environmental consultant whose past reports failed to favor Martin gopher
tortoises or Palm Beach County’s offshore reefs, is past chairman.
-
The council’s at-large members include
Tom McNicholas of McNicholas and
Associates. His public relations firm often supports growth industry causes and
clients. Until I wrote about it in a Jan. 25 column about sugar
industry-supported One Florida, his firm’s website touted its success at
“marginalizing” environmental groups protesting Florida Power & Light Co.
projects. South Florida Water Management District paid McNicholas’ firm
to put a positive spin on Lake O dumping in 2005.
-
Dan Morris
of Corsair Capital Group and Robert S. Raynes, a Gunster lawyer who often
represents developers trying to win exceptions to Martin’s protective growth
plan, are other at-large members.
-
Board members also include another Gunster employee, representatives of a bank,
development and construction companies, office supply, accounting and
telecommunications firms and two real estate companies.
-
So, no surprise, the
Economic Council has no environmentalists. But why
the deceptive emails? Especially when the council claims to support saving
local waterways by sending more Lake O water south?
-
The Economic Council’s secretary said
CEO Chuck Gerardi is the only one
authorized to talk about it. After three phone calls and three messages left,
his secretary said he just “doesn’t have time” to explain.
The Martin County Conservation Alliance
website seeks to inform
residents about development projects and Comprehensive Plan amendments which
threaten our special Martin County quality of life. We invite the public to
attend our monthly meetings. The state has severely weakened the
Growth
Management Act
-
·
2015
Growth Management Forum will
be March 7, SAT, from 1 - 4 pm (I did attend)
-
·
at the Morgade Library, 5851 SE Community Dr,
Stuart, FL.
14th ANNUAL CITIZENS GROWTH MANAGEMENT FORUM
Stand Strong for Our River and our Martin County Difference.
elzer@gate.net or 286-9845. Speakers:
-
·
Maggy Hurchalla
– Martin Commissioner for 20 years; National Awards for Lagoon and
Everglades work; acclaimed for work on the Comp Plan Protections.
-
·
Charles Pattison
– 1000 Friends of Florida – working for growth management throughout
Florida.
-
·
Virginia Sherlock, Esq.
– Citizens’ attorney for our quality of life.
-
·
Mark Perry
– Executive Director of Florida Oceanographic Society, Award-Winner for
his IRL work.
-
·
Greg Braun
- Ecologist, including efforts for The Guardians of Martin County
Sponsors:
South Florida WMD
|
Broward, Collier, Dade, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Martin, Monroe, Palm Beach,
St. Lucie, and portions of Charlotte, Highlands, Okeechobee, Orange,
Osceola & Polk |
3301 GunClub Road
West Palm Beach, FL
33406-3089
561/686-8800
800/432-2045 (Florida only) |
URGENT
-- MORE EMAILS NEEDED ABOUT SENDING CLEAN
WATER SOUTH:
Tell
them the top three priorities must be:
-
• Buy the US_Sugar parcel
-
• Get CEPP authorized (planning)
-
• Finish buying land for authorized CERP (restoration) projects
Orlando Ramos-Gines
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Orlando.Ramos-Gines@usace.army.mil
Beth Kacvinsky
South Florida Water Management District
bkacvins@sfwmd.gov
Susan Ray
South Florida Water Management District
sray@sfwmd.gov
Riverkeeper
Marty
Baum
Keeper@IndianRiverKeeper.org
· St. Lucie County, Water Quality Division
lestrangec@stlucieco.org
· 2300 Virginia Avenue Fort Pierce, Florida 34982 (772) 462-2511
|