Friday, June 3, 2011
Pumps to keep Lake Okeechobee's water flowing south
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-05-27/news/fl-drought-affects-snail-kite-20110527_1_snail-kite-lake-water-lake-levels
Snail Kite Article
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-06-01/news/fl-abandoned-chicks-20110601_1_snail-kites-water-level-lake-okeechobee
A Guide to the Nathaniel P. Reed Everglades Papers
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/manuscript/guides/reed.htm
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Please add the Everglade Snail Kite as a friend on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002428251509
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Leading Florida Statesmen Call for Veto of Damaging Growth Management Legislation, HB 7207
May 18, 2011 – Two of Florida’s leading statesmen are calling on Governor Rick Scott to veto HB 7207 and establish a bipartisan commission to recommend workable improvements to Florida’s growth management process. This sweeping HB 7207 passed in the final hours of the 2011 Legislative Session and decimates Florida’s landmark 1985 Growth Management Act and its predecessors which date back to the administration of Governor Claude Kirk.
Former Democratic Senator and Governor Bob Graham and prominent Republican Nathaniel Pryor Reed, Chairman of the Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control from 1968-71 and Assistant Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Nixon and Ford, have sent Governor Scott a letter outlining their objections to the bill and calling for creation of a bipartisan commission to address growth. A number of notable Floridians from across the state and political parties have concurred and have signed onto the letter.
“Florida’s growth management system was developed and has evolved as a result of careful, informed, bipartisan dialogue on how Florida should grow and develop,” explains Senator Graham, who served as Governor of this state from 1979 to 1987. “HB 7207 sweeps away decades of effort from a broad cross-section of stakeholders—including business leaders, environmentalists, scientists and concerned citizens—to manage growth in a manner that protects this state’s quality of life for residents and visitors and ensure long-term economic prosperity for Florida.”
“If signed into law, HB 7207 would undermine some of the very hallmarks of growth management in Florida,” says Mr. Reed of Hobe Sound. “The bill would restrict the ability of the state to oversee projects with regional or statewide impacts, dramatically reduce citizen involvement in land and water use decisions, and undermine the concept that developers should pay their fair share of the costs of infrastructure supporting new development.”
The 1985 Act was developed in response to serious environmental crises combined with the state’s dramatically growing population. Beginning in the 1960s, many parts of the state began facing serious water shortages and poor water quality due in part to development in inappropriate locations. Local governments approved new development without considering who would pay to build the new roads, sewer systems and schools needed to serve the new development. Taxpayers were faced with accepting a declining quality of life or paying higher taxes to undo the damage caused by unplanned new development.
“Florida’s 1985 Growth Management Act evolved out of extreme citizen outrage over the impacts of poorly planned development,” says Senator Graham. “There is no need to repeat the mistakes of the past,” concludes Mr. Reed. Both men concur that Florida deserves a deliberative and informed debate on how to best manage the impacts of growth in the 21st century.
###
Former Democratic Senator and Governor Bob Graham and prominent Republican Nathaniel Pryor Reed, Chairman of the Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control from 1968-71 and Assistant Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Nixon and Ford, have sent Governor Scott a letter outlining their objections to the bill and calling for creation of a bipartisan commission to address growth. A number of notable Floridians from across the state and political parties have concurred and have signed onto the letter.
“Florida’s growth management system was developed and has evolved as a result of careful, informed, bipartisan dialogue on how Florida should grow and develop,” explains Senator Graham, who served as Governor of this state from 1979 to 1987. “HB 7207 sweeps away decades of effort from a broad cross-section of stakeholders—including business leaders, environmentalists, scientists and concerned citizens—to manage growth in a manner that protects this state’s quality of life for residents and visitors and ensure long-term economic prosperity for Florida.”
“If signed into law, HB 7207 would undermine some of the very hallmarks of growth management in Florida,” says Mr. Reed of Hobe Sound. “The bill would restrict the ability of the state to oversee projects with regional or statewide impacts, dramatically reduce citizen involvement in land and water use decisions, and undermine the concept that developers should pay their fair share of the costs of infrastructure supporting new development.”
The 1985 Act was developed in response to serious environmental crises combined with the state’s dramatically growing population. Beginning in the 1960s, many parts of the state began facing serious water shortages and poor water quality due in part to development in inappropriate locations. Local governments approved new development without considering who would pay to build the new roads, sewer systems and schools needed to serve the new development. Taxpayers were faced with accepting a declining quality of life or paying higher taxes to undo the damage caused by unplanned new development.
“Florida’s 1985 Growth Management Act evolved out of extreme citizen outrage over the impacts of poorly planned development,” says Senator Graham. “There is no need to repeat the mistakes of the past,” concludes Mr. Reed. Both men concur that Florida deserves a deliberative and informed debate on how to best manage the impacts of growth in the 21st century.
###
Friday, April 29, 2011
St. Pete Times
April 28, 2011
Don't let Florida revert to abuses of past
By Nathaniel Pryor Reed, special to the Times
The governor and Legislature seem bent on destroying our state's landmark process to manage growth and development.
It is with an incredible sense of dismay that I watch what is unfolding in Florida this legislative session. The governor and Legislature seem bent on destroying our state's landmark process to manage growth and development, essential considering that Florida soon will pass New York as the third-largest state in the nation.
In recent conversations with three former distinguished governors, I found all appalled by the disastrous course the state leadership is setting for us. The looming agenda is unapologetically probusiness and antiregulation. Florida's new leadership is in complete denial that this state's natural areas are both the foundation and economic engine that drive our beautiful state.
To avoid the problems of overcrowded schools, congested roadways and environmental damage that occurred unchecked after World War II, Florida must maintain a workable system to direct growth into suitable places and away from those lands too sensitive for development. This was, and remains, the mission I shared with several other prominent Floridians when in 1986 we founded 1,000 Friends of Florida, the second organization of its kind in the nation. Over the past quarter-century, 1,000 Friends has worked with leaders from both sides of the aisle to shape one of the most successful growth management systems in the nation.
Current efforts will do nothing less than open Florida back up to the ravages of unchecked development experienced in our state in the 1960s and 1970s. The resulting damage to the Everglades, drinking water supplies and public infrastructure is still being felt to this day. Floridians simply cannot afford to make these mistakes again.
Citizens throughout this state must continue to fight the false premise that Florida can build its way out of the recession by reducing or even eliminating a state oversight role in local development decisions. Such an approach will do untold damage to our environment and create costly future burdens for our children and grandchildren.
My travels throughout the United States and the world convince me that Florida was moving in the right direction to right past wrongs and prevent their recurrence. Sadly, the only kind of legacy we will be leaving to the generations following us is one of missed opportunities that no one can proudly claim.
This is a call to all of those who treasure Florida. The worst thing any of us can do is to go quietly into the night. Our great state is worth fighting for. Stand up and speak out against the outrageous proposals now steamrolling through the Legislature. We implore you to join the fight before it is too late.
Nathaniel Pryor Reed served as assistant secretary of the interior under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and is chairman emeritus of 1,000 Friends of Florida.
Don't let Florida revert to abuses of past
By Nathaniel Pryor Reed, special to the Times
The governor and Legislature seem bent on destroying our state's landmark process to manage growth and development.
It is with an incredible sense of dismay that I watch what is unfolding in Florida this legislative session. The governor and Legislature seem bent on destroying our state's landmark process to manage growth and development, essential considering that Florida soon will pass New York as the third-largest state in the nation.
In recent conversations with three former distinguished governors, I found all appalled by the disastrous course the state leadership is setting for us. The looming agenda is unapologetically probusiness and antiregulation. Florida's new leadership is in complete denial that this state's natural areas are both the foundation and economic engine that drive our beautiful state.
To avoid the problems of overcrowded schools, congested roadways and environmental damage that occurred unchecked after World War II, Florida must maintain a workable system to direct growth into suitable places and away from those lands too sensitive for development. This was, and remains, the mission I shared with several other prominent Floridians when in 1986 we founded 1,000 Friends of Florida, the second organization of its kind in the nation. Over the past quarter-century, 1,000 Friends has worked with leaders from both sides of the aisle to shape one of the most successful growth management systems in the nation.
Current efforts will do nothing less than open Florida back up to the ravages of unchecked development experienced in our state in the 1960s and 1970s. The resulting damage to the Everglades, drinking water supplies and public infrastructure is still being felt to this day. Floridians simply cannot afford to make these mistakes again.
Citizens throughout this state must continue to fight the false premise that Florida can build its way out of the recession by reducing or even eliminating a state oversight role in local development decisions. Such an approach will do untold damage to our environment and create costly future burdens for our children and grandchildren.
My travels throughout the United States and the world convince me that Florida was moving in the right direction to right past wrongs and prevent their recurrence. Sadly, the only kind of legacy we will be leaving to the generations following us is one of missed opportunities that no one can proudly claim.
This is a call to all of those who treasure Florida. The worst thing any of us can do is to go quietly into the night. Our great state is worth fighting for. Stand up and speak out against the outrageous proposals now steamrolling through the Legislature. We implore you to join the fight before it is too late.
Nathaniel Pryor Reed served as assistant secretary of the interior under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and is chairman emeritus of 1,000 Friends of Florida.
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