Acceptance remarks at the Atlantic Salmon Federation New York Dinner

Nathaniel Reed’s

Acceptance remarks at the Atlantic Salmon Federation New York Dinner

November 13, 2013

I really don’t know what to say besides: THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU for being present to support the Atlantic Salmon Federation!

Would you join me in a toast to Donal O’Brien?  Don and I worked together on numerous conservation-environmental issues for nearly 40 years as a partnership of devoted advocates of wise stewardship.  Donal, will all miss you!

His son and daughter-in-law Carolyn and Don Jr. are present this evening and I am confident that Donal’s spirit is here, right here among us.

All Rise: To Donal with boundless thanks!

Among Don’s many outstanding efforts on behalf of the Atlantic Salmon Federation was his driving force to select Bill Taylor to become the Federation’s leader.  Bill was best known as the toughest ice hockey player that did not make the National Hockey League.  Donal and the selection team members choose Bill.  Bill was not only a fearless hockey player, but a passionate fisherman, conservationist and leader.  His development into our leader of the Atlantic Salmon Federation has been remarkable and his influence is still growing.  His ability to work with great leaders of our organization such as Lucien Rolland, John Houghton, Wilf Carter, Michael Meighen and Richard Warren is testament to his skills as a hard worker, a fine communicator and a man of sound decisions.

Bill, I promise you that working with our new American Co-Chairman, Christopher Buckley, will be easy, as he is an astonishing able, thoughtful expert on water law and the Endangered Species Act but above all, he is a superb, caring human being.

Chris is a fine salmon fisherman and an advocate of the role that the ASF has played in the difficult decisions that have been made and must be made IF the Atlantic salmon population is to grow, prosper and be able to increase in numbers.

I cannot begin my short remarks without thanking the dynamic duo: Paul Fitzgerald and Eric Roberts for the weeks of work that produced the incredible array of auction items and made all the arrangements for this beautiful room and delicious food and drink.  We all thank you both - boundless thanks!

We should thank every member of the Leadership Committee.  Their generous donations will fund the vital work of the Federation.

You are looking at the world’s luckiest man!

Besides being married to a supportive wife who only questions the importance of spending large sums of money to fish, catch and then release the quarry: whether it be bonefish, permit, snook, trout or Atlantic salmon, she presented me with three children: Nathaniel Jr., Lia and Adrian who are present this evening, as is my nephew Joseph Pryor.  Wonderful!

Besides being my offspring, they are among the closest friends and my most successful critics that I can count on.  My love and admiration of them is boundless. 

I owe thanks to Dan Lufkin, who invited me to join the Whale River Salmon Club and for 25 years provided wings to make the long trip to Kuujuac possible.  What years we had!  Not only superb salmon fishing on one of the great wilderness rivers in the world, but the joy of life friendships with the likes of Bill Mapel, John Scully, Henry Armstrong, Hobie Claiborne, Jacque Robinson, brother Samuel Reed and an annual cast of characters.

Dan, I am forever in your debt as a friend and as a fellow ‘earth steward’.  Donations by you and through the Sharp Foundation bought the ASF time to work with the Greenlanders to dramatically reduce their catch and allowed thousands of salmon to make it back to their North American natal rivers to reproduce and give anglers opportunities that were nearly lost.

I must add a word of thanks to Mary Barley and Paul Tudor Jones, the founders of the Everglades Foundation who are here.  They are my compatriots and leaders in one of the most difficult assignments ever attempted: the restoration of the vast everglades ecosystem that has been severely damaged by avarice, greed and incredible errors by the Corps of Engineers.  We are now attempting restoration of a battered ecosystem.  They both have been invaluable donors and supporters of the ASF.

Mark Birkbeck – master of the House of Bruar, the second most important tourist attraction in Scotland, has flown over to join us – Mark, you are the greatest!

My memory is faltering, but I distinctly remember seeing my first Atlantic salmon!  It was in mid-June, probably 1939 or 1940.  A beautifully made wooden box arrived by Railroad Express at the back door of our Greenwich, Connecticut, home.  It had ‘curious’ holes in the top of the box and it leaked ice cold water.  My father took a small crow bar and opened the box. There wrapped in a bed of ferns, iced cold, was a 25 pound cock Atlantic salmon sent by one of the family’s  greatest friends, Sherburne Prescott, from the Restigouche Club’s waters.

I stroked its silver side, felt its muscles, examined its body head to tail and was captured by this magnificent fish forever. 

20 years later, I was a guest of “Uncle Sherb” Prescott at the Restigouche Salmon Club.  We enjoyed incredible salmon fishing.  The guides were my instructors – forgiving a “trout strike”, amazed by my 8½ foot Orvis split bamboo rod at a time when the membership were still using long double handed Leonards’ and Thomas’.  I can never repay him for his guidance and companionship that continued until his “passing”.  I fished at the club for the next four summers and was hooked for life.

Can you imagine an era when a fresh Atlantic salmon could be loaded onto trains all over the Gaspe, iced several times by the train crew before arriving in Montreal and then re-iced and sent to its destination, being iced all the way, and delivered in three days to any town in the northeastern states or four days to any place as far as Florida or even Texas?

Warren Gilker, the manager of the Engelhard Camp and the former manager of the Restigouche Club remembers stacks of the wooden boxes filled with salmon wrapped in ferns and iced, sitting at their town’s railroad stations waiting for the next train.  The boxes were made in the winter. The ice was cut from the frozen rivers and was stored under sawdust in innumerable ice houses along all the Gaspe Rivers.  What an era; never to be duplicated.

To the business at hand.  What is the future of our sport and the great fish that we love with a passion?

Thanks to Rick Warren and Andy Goode’s leadership, the ASF and an associated team of caring organizations have given the remnant population of Penobscot salmon the ability to reach a meaningful amount of spawning water by breaching the Great Works and Veazie dams.  

Wouldn’t it be a triumph to see the historic schools of Atlantic salmon returning not only to the Penobscot, but to the Kennebec and all of the seven Maine salmon rivers -- and I might add, we need a review of the Green Lake Hatchery Program that produces beautiful parr and smolts but none of them seem to find a natal river?  It’s worth a mighty effort.

One of the Federation’s most significant achievements: the broad acceptance and practice of Catch and Release has been incredibly successful.

Personally, I made the transition easily.  Although not embarrassed by photographs of salmon caught and killed, I am now overjoyed to hold a salmon after landing it and have it leave my hands on its way to its spawning grounds.  I always add an admonition: “Find a large mate and produce thousands of fertile eggs as your reward for tender handling: Go On, God Bless You!”

Despite our efforts far too many salmon are killed.  The figures are unsettling: anglers in Canada killed 35,000 grilse and 2,700 large salmon, all of the large salmon from the Quebec Rivers.

The conclusion of First Nation’s netting at the mouth of the Grand Cascapedia is an example that should be followed at the mouth of the Restigouche!  It will take a concerted continuing effort to persuade the tribe to use traps instead of gill nets so the large female salmon can be released to the river to continue the prolific Restigouche systems salmon runs.

The Greenland quota has been negotiated to a comparatively small catch, but it is becoming more difficult to negotiate with the Greenlanders when they read the NASCO report that anglers killed extraordinary numbers of large salmon on the Matapedia.  That figure stands out like a very sore thumb in comparison to the successful efforts to voluntarily embrace the catch and release ethic, now a feature of the other Gaspe Rivers.  

Matapedia anglers killed 512 large salmon in 2012 and an astonishing 1,016 in 2011, far too many, and in time unsustainable.

The Gaspe Rivers all show definite signs of healthy runs of extremely fit salmon that have fed well off the southwest coast of Greenland and along the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts.  The impact of warming is difficult to assess, but so far the food sources that must be found promptly by migrating smolts seem not to have been adversely impacted.

Regrettably, the annual report from the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization indicates that the Irish and Scottish nets kill thousands of wild salmon.  Those countries fisheries staffs have not only permitted the netting but have encouraged large salmon farms to be placed in the estuaries of some of their once great salmon rivers thus guaranteeing massive numbers of sea lice will confront hundreds of thousands of departing smolts, ready to suck the life blood out of them.  It is hard to believe but in 2011 and 2012, the last two years of record, the combined kill by netters off Ireland and Scotland totaled 58,395 salmon.  One wonders how salmon returning to famous Scottish rivers survive this onslaught.

The Norwegians, considered by the majority of the world as a land with a social conscience and a leader in environmental affairs, are the largest villain when it comes to allowing extensive sea and even fjord netting and permitting salmon farms often at the mouths of their once highly productive rivers.  Their kill figures are neatly obscured by their reporting to NASCO the tonnage of salmon killed, not the number of salmon killed.  This is a trick to avoid the truth that thousands of salmon are being killed in long, well placed nets.

They are destroying their own river’s salmon stocks and have even taken to intercepting the migrating salmon headed for the northern Russian salmon rivers.

The figure jumps off the NASCO report: 696 tonnes of salmon killed!  That represents 128,000 plus salmon over the same timeframe permitted if not encouraged to be killed and sold all over Europe.

Over a twelve year period, the Greenlanders killed 100,000 wild salmon while anglers in Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland and Norge killed 3.3 million salmon.

Our dream that farmed salmon would force a reduction in netting has not been realized.

Why do wild Atlantic salmon command such a devoted loyalty when the prices are nearly 50% higher than farmed salmon?  Could it be the fear that farmed salmon are genetically reproduced and have a harmful concentration of chemicals in their bodies?

I do not know, but I cringe when I visit a fine American delicatessen and am offered “wild Irish, Scottish or Norwegian salmon fresh or smoked”.  We should seriously consider supporting a ban on the sale of all “wild Atlantic salmon” -- fresh or smoked anywhere in North America!

Our friend and great ally, Orri Vigfússon, the leader of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund has spent the better part of his lifetime attempting to urge, even beg the countries who flagrantly disregard the damage that their net men accomplish by killing so many potential spawners.  The three governmental agencies located in Ireland, Scotland and Norway allow, if not encourage, the scandalous netting of so many salmon reducing the value of the riverside owners’ leases.  They should be ashamed!  Their agencies have been infiltrated by the netters, the salmon farmers and their distributors.

Orri’s recent flash: “for every 1,000 wild salmon they spare in the Faroese waters, Scottish nets kill 980 of them!”  ----- Madness!

Why should any of us care about the gross mismanagement of Atlantic salmon stocks off the coasts and in the estuaries of the once great Irish, Scottish, and Norwegian rivers?  It is because we are “stewards of the Atlantic Salmon”.  We need to speak out clearly and forcibly about gross mismanagement anywhere within the Atlantic salmon range!

We collectively must be constantly aware of the danger to our prized North American salmon rivers and salmon stocks.  Reckless forestry practices, water quality concerns, disease and new predators in the salmon rivers and their estuaries are all continuing threats.  We must be prepared to assist Bill and the senior staff of the ASF: Bill Mallory, Andy Goode, Sue Scott, Kirsten Rouse, Todd Dupuis and my new hero: Jonathon Carr.  North American salmon are not immune to the madness that prevails in Europe.

ASF finally has financed my “dream come true” – an effective science program that can unravel and potentially solve unacceptably high losses of smolts as they enter and circulate within the receiving estuaries before they head to the open sea.

We need to learn far more about the perils that kelts face, having survived through the winter on body fat.  They can “mend”, grow and return as large salmon ready to deliver sport and spawn once again.  They need to be protected, as they are swimming “Gold Mines of thousands of eggs” for many of our rivers.  We need to know the source of the perils they meet when entering salt water.

This vital scientific effort could be far better financed if every board member and every guest this evening made an extra specified donation to the Federation for Jonathon’s extraordinary research efforts.

Michael Meighen, it is impossible to adequately thank you for your nine years as the Co-Chair of the Federation.  The annual board meeting held in Montreal and the magnificent new city of Toronto were always special delights to attend.  You have been a special joy to work with.  The Canadian Board members of the Federation have been great partners and communicators.  We do need more assistance from the Canadian Government especially in addressing the many serious threats of salmon farming.

But you and you colleagues have highlighted the need to reexamine ocean salmon farming and the need for continuing research.

I know you and your Canadian colleagues have worked diligently to make the name and reputation of the Atlantic Salmon Federation known by every salmon angler across your great country.  Michael and the contingent of Canadian ASF board members here this evening: we thank each of you for your contributions to the Federation’s success story and wish you continuing sucesses!

So, my friends, colleagues, avid fellow salmon fishermen and fisherwomen, thank you for coming to the Annual New York Dinner.  Thank you for your financial support of the Federation.

Above all, thank you for the honor you have bestowed on me. 

We share a passion for the privilege of fishing for Salmo Salar.  We are custodians of a great fishing legacy and are modern day stewards of the river systems that give anglers of all ages, wealth and skills the privilege of fishing for the “King of Fish”.

God Bless you and again: Tight lines and boundless thanks!

 

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Atlantic Salmon Federation Award Dinner

In the News...

Gov. Rick Scott remains mum on option to buy sugar land

By Jonathan Mattise

Posted September 10, 2013 at 11:57 a.m., updated September 10, 2013 at 7:48 p.m.

WEST PALM BEACH — With the deal’s deadline about a month away, Gov. Rick Scott didn’t offer a preference Tuesday on an option to buy sugar land to send more Lake Okeechobee water south into the Everglades, away from the St. Lucie Estuary.

Over a two-week period in August, Scott promised more than $130 million for projects related to the St. Lucie. But Scott and state officials haven’t prioritized the land buy. Scott opposed a U.S. Sugar Corp. land purchase deal as a tea party candidate in the 2010 Republican primary, claiming the deal was crafted to benefit special interests.

The Republican governor addressed the land buy Tuesday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, his first stop on a statewide tour to brainstorm new tax cuts.

“We work with our Department of Environmental Protection and water management districts to see what land they need to continue to make sure we have the quality of water we want (flowing) through the Everglades,” Scott told reporters Tuesday. “So it will be a decision they focus on.”

Oct. 12 is the expiration date on the South Florida Water Management District’s three-year option to buy up to 153,200 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land at a set price of $7,400 an acre, about $1.1 billion. Also under a deal negotiated with U.S. Sugar, the state has the option to buy 46,800 acres, most of it on the south end of the lake between Clewiston and Belle Glade, at the same per-acre price — a total of about $346 million.

After the deadline passes, the district has six years left to buy all or part the land, but at market price.

The district has said there is no active negotiation to buy the land, which local environmentalists argue is the best move to divert Lake Okeechobee releases away from the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries, and into the River of Grass. The problem, the district has said, is lack of money.

Representatives from U.S. Sugar have said the plan for a “flow way” south was deemed not viable multiple times. But at an Aug. 22 Senate hearing on Lake Okeechobee discharges, Bubba Wade Jr. of U.S. Sugar said his company was not opposed to having a panel revisit the flow-way concept.

The other sugar giant, Florida Crystals Corp., was willing to swap lands necessary to create a flow-way in 2008. But a Florida Crystals spokesman said he’s not sure about the swap now, since it hasn’t been brought up to the company.

“Now, I don’t know,” said Gaston Cantens, Florida Crystals vice president of corporate relations. “No one has approached us about it.”

Then-Gov. Charlie Crist announced the sugar land purchase idea in June 2008. The $1.7 billion deal would have bought out U.S. Sugar and its 187,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area. After the economy tanked, the district approved only a 26,800-acre land buy that cost $197.4 million.

Scott tied his 2010 Republican opponent, Bill McCollum, to the scaled-down deal, bashing him for taking huge donations from U.S. Sugar.

For his 2014 re-election try, Scott has since accepted at least $430,000 from U.S. Sugar and affiliates through his political committee, Let’s Get to Work.

“Voting in favor of this sweetheart deal for U.S. Sugar places the interests of one company above those of the 7.5 million people who will end up being taxed to pay for this political favor,” Scott said about the U.S. Sugar deal in August 2010.

“During the course of his campaign, McCollum and his attack groups have directly or indirectly received nearly $1 million from U.S. Sugar. He has cut a secret deal supporting a secret tax. Unfortunately for U.S. Sugar, I can’t be bought.”

After he toured the St. Lucie Lock and Dam on Aug. 22, Scott started promising cash for water projects benefiting the St. Lucie.

He dedicated $40 million for the C-44 project and $90 million to raise 2.5 miles of Tamiami Trail, a Miami-Dade County stretch of highway blocking the flow of water into the Everglades. The C-44 stormwater treatment area and reservoir will use state and federal dollars to clean runoff into the canal that ends up dirtying the St. Lucie. But the project won’t limit the lake discharges into the estuary.

Staff writer Tyler Treadway contributed to this report.

 

TOXIC WATER: Martin County declares state of emergency for Indian River Lagoon

Stuart also passes resolution to move water south

STUART, Fla. - The paddle boards stand ready at attention.

 

But no one is coming to Coastal Paddleboarding to use them.

 

"I'm just mad. I'm sick and tired of talking about this," said Dan Neumann, owner of Coastal Paddleboarding.

 

Dan Neumann lost almost all of his summer business thanks to the toxic algae in the water. But the rent still has to be paid for his Port Salerno space.

 

"Every day is worth money to us in some way, whether it's money coming in or money going out.  Right now, it's just money going out," said Neumann.

 

Stories like this have garnered headlines, but now local governments are trying to get more attention, and resources to the problem.  

 

Tuesday night, Martin County Commissioners approved a resolution asking the governor to declare a state of emergency for the Indian River Lagoon.

 

"I think anything we can do to protect our residents and to protect our resources we should do," said Commission Chairwoman Sarah Heard.

 

Monday night, Stuart city commissioners passed a resolution supporting the restoration of the southerly flow of water from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades.

 

"We hope to build a lot of support and momentum and hope this is the first of many to come," said Commissioner Jeff Krauskopf.

 

For business owners, like Dan Neumann, he's tired of all the talk because a resolution doesn't keep his business afloat.

 

"Unfortunately on a selfish note, for us there's no quick fix," said Neumann.

 

The hope is that if the Governor declares an emergency, it could cut through some red tape for potential short and long term fixes for the health of the Indian River Lagoon.

Spirit of Defenders Award for Advocacy

2013 Wildlife Conservation Awards Dinner    

Thursday, September 19, 2013 6:00 PM       

The seventh annual Wildlife Conservation Awards Dinner celebrates and honors individuals with a lasting and exceptional commitment to wildlife conservation in the categories of legacy, public service, science, and citizen advocacy.  We hope you will join our Board of Directors, honorees and guests for a great evening in support of wildlife.

2013 Honorees

Professor John D. Leshy
Defenders of Wildlife Legacy Award

 

Nick Wiley
Spirit of Defenders Award for Public Service

 

Dr. David Wilcove
Spirit of Defenders Award for Science

 

The Honorable Nathaniel Reed
Spirit of Defenders Award for Advocacy

Stuart New Editorial: Laboring for the lagoon from A to Z

Editorial: Laboring for the lagoon from A to Z

It's been an amazing several weeks for Our Indian River Lagoon; vote for the folks you think are making a difference

By Editorial Board

Sunday, September 1, 2013

This Labor Day weekend, we recognize and celebrate the men and women who build our roads, teach our children, protect our homes and lives, help to feed and clothe us, and all the others who work to keep our community and our country running.
It’s also a fitting time to recognize the many men and women on the Treasure Coast who work tirelessly on protecting and preserving our Indian River Lagoon. The following are a few of those special people we believe are making a difference in ways big and small.
Go to TCPalm.com and vote on your top five picks of those laboring for the lagoon. We’ll report back on the folks you think are making the greatest impact.
Feel free to write in the names of candidates if we missed them.
Or if you prefer to use this page as a ballot, circle your five favorites and return to us at Scripps Newspapers River Advocates, c/o Michael Goforth, P.O. Box 9009, Stuart, Fla. 34994.
LEON ABOOD: A Martin County Realtor, Abood is the longtime chairman of the Rivers Coalition, which was founded in 1998 to support and protect the health of the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
RICHARD BAKER: A nationally-recognized conservationist and professor emeritus of the University of Florida, Baker is president of the Pelican Island Audubon Society and has served on the society’s board for more than two decades.
MARTY BAUM: Baum is the Indian Riverkeeper, part of a national alliance of organizations protecting the nation’s waterways. The Indian River is his focus for public education and advocacy.
CHRIS DZADOVSKY: A St. Lucie County commissioner, Dzadovsky has become a leading government voice for protecting the lagoon and has initiated efforts to reduce pollution.
GRANT GILMORE: After 32 years with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution and Dyamac Corp., at the Kennedy Space Center, Gilmore founded Estuarine, Coastal and Science Inc., in 2004. A scientist, he is internationally recognized for his studies of fish communities and the ecology of Florida waters.
CHARLES GRANDE: A former St. Lucie County commissioner, Grande has been recognized for his governmental work on behalf of the Indian River Lagoon. He is a board member of the Rivers Coalition and president of the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund.
SARAH HEARD: A longtime Martin County commissioner, Heard has been an advocate for the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. The Martin County Commission created the Speak Up for the St. Lucie project to educate the public and urge support for the river.
KEVIN HENDERSON: The president of Evergreen Engineering, Henderson has been on the board of the St. Lucie River Initiative and the Rivers Coalition for many years. In May, he revealed an analysis that showed more water could be stored south of Lake Okeechobee in existing stormwater treatment areas.
MAGGY HURCHALLA: A former 20-year Martin County commissioner, Hurchalla is nationally recognized as an environmentalist for her work on behalf of the Everglades and Indian River Lagoon and has been instrumental in helping raise awareness of conservation issues in Martin County.
BRIAN LAPOINTE: A research professor at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, Lapointe has been doing extensive study into the sources of pollution of the Indian River Lagoon.
JACQUI THURLOW-LIPPISCH: A Sewall’s Point commissioner and former mayor, Thurlow-Lippisch is a member of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation and the South Florida Water Management District’s Water Advisory Committee.
JOE NEGRON: A powerful leader of the Florida Senate, Negron organized the recent Senate select committee hearing to look into state and federal policies that might reduce pollution of the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie River.
PETER O’BRYAN: An Indian River county commissioner with a degree in marine science, O’Bryan has crafted a proposal for restoration of the Indian River Lagoon in Indian River County and was instrumental in the county’s adoption of a new fertilizer ordinance.
JOHN ORCUTT: A marine biologist and financial broker, Orcutt has served on the Pelican Island Audubon Society Board and currently serves on the board of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association. He is a founder of the Indian River Lagoon Coalition.
MARK PERRY: Perry is executive director of the Stuart-based Florida Oceanographic Society with which he has been associated for 35 years. He has proposed scientific plans for redirecting water and reducing discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
NAT REED: A Jupiter Island resident, Reed served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior under two presidents, is a founder of 1000 Friends of Florida, a member of the statewide Conservation Coalition, and serves as vice chairman of the Everglades Foundation.
JUSTIN RINEY: Founder of Mother Ocean and Expedition Florida 500, Riney, of Vero Beach, is on a year-long paddleboard journey on Florida waters and raising public awareness of the health of the state’s waters, particularly the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie Estuary.
KEVIN STINNETTE: A marine science educator, Stinnette served as the first Indian Riverkeeper. He’s presently a member of the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County.
KARL WICKSTROM: Wickstrom is the founder and editor of Florida Sportsman Magazine and a leader on the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund. He is a frequent writer on the importance of the health of the Indian River Lagoon.
EDIE WIDDER: A former marine researcher with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award, Widder co-founded the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Fort Pierce in 2005. ORCA is using collection of scientific data to map pollution in the Indian River Lagoon.
TIM ZORC: An Indian River County commissioner, Zorc has made the lagoon a top priority and is creating a committee of scientists and citizens to draft a plan of action for lagoon restoration and preservation.

Stuart New Senate lagoon forum: 10 big ideas that emerged. Will they work? | Social media report

Senate lagoon forum: 10 big ideas that emerged. Will they work? | Social media report

Read our expert journalists' take on them

By staff report

Friday, August 23, 2013

STUART — Scientists, water managers, agricultural interests, environmental activists and the public gave testimony that was often impassioned about how to help the troubled Indian River Lagoon in a hearing that lasted from 1 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Much of the discussion was centered on the high-volume releases of Lake Okeechobee’s fresh water into the St. Lucie Estuary.
An estimated 500 people showed up, some of them to testify and some to hear what political and industry leaders had to say in response to residents’ concerns.
The panels ran long, so they didn’t stay on schedule. But Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who spearheaded the committee, made adjustments to ensure people had enough time to air their views. He took their comments until 9 p.m.
“There will be changes,” Negron said.
Here are the 10 big ideas that emerged from the Senate committee hearing and our journalists’ take on why each is or isn’t feasible.
1. Revise the Lake Okeechobee schedule
State Sen. Joe Negron repeatedly said he believes the Army Corps of Engineers should update the 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, the document that determines when releases are made to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. But Army Corps Col. Alan Dodd told the committee the document will not need an update until more of the Herbert Hoover Dike is restored.
Our take: Revising the lake schedule would be a time-consuming bureaucratic exercise. Even if a new schedule required holding slightly more water in the lake, it still wouldn’t protect the estuaries from the most damaging releases during rainy years such as this one.
2. Declare eminent domain on sugar lands
Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, a Republican commissioner in the town of Sewall’s Point, said she believes the state should consider taking land owned by sugar cane farmers south of Lake Okeechobee to restore the natural southward flow of water.
Our take: There’s no political will in Florida for taking of private property, but all possibilities for acquiring land owned by U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals — including eminent domain — should be analyzed for costs and benefits.
3. Re-examine a flow-way south
One of the most notable moments of Thursday’s hearing came when Bubba Wade, an executive with U.S. Sugar Corp., said he supported publicly re-evaluating the idea of building a flow-way south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades. Wade has previously dismissed the concept, known as Plan 6.
Our take: In light of the current crisis, Plan 6 deserves a fresh analysis from the South Florida Water Management District and the state. It is the most feasible proposal on the table for restoring the natural flow south from Lake Okeechobee, and it should be seriously considered.
4. Septic tanks need to be removed
Brian LaPointe, of FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, said septic tanks and nutrients are a real problem killing the Indian River Lagoon and the wildlife in it and need to be removed.
Our take: Yes, this is serious problem. The 237,000 septic tanks in the northern lagoon counties of Indian River, Brevard and Volusia are adding nitrogen at a rate of 9 pounds per person per year, and generating “brown tide” events that have killed off sea grasses, manatees and dolphins. This is a long-term and expensive solution that must one day be achieved. The more immediate priority is to stop the water coming from Lake Okeechobee.
5. Rehabilitate the Herbert Hoover Dike
Herschel Vinyard, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, said the dike needs to be rehabilitated and called it part of the “ultimate solution.”
Our take: It won’t change the quantity or quality of water pouring into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. Lake Okeechobee environmentalists would never allow the waters of the lake to be maintained at a higher level because it would destroy the aquatic plant life that serves as critical habitat and helps clean the water there, too. It’s an expensive solution needed for public peace of mind in the ’Glades communities, but not germane to a solution for the river and Indian River Lagoon.
6. Put water from Lake o onto the sugar lands
Monica Reimer, EarthJustice, stressed the need for politicians to have the will for this solution.
Our take: This solution would satisfy some of the problems with the discharges, namely quantity. The problem is a certain group is using that land to make a living. It would be an expensive fix, and probably not a short-term one either by the time the infrastructure to do so would be permitted, contracts awarded and the plan executed.
7. Shut the gates sending polluted water from Lake Okeechobee
Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society, said to “close ’em all down.”
Stop sending polluted water from Lake Okeechobee east to the St. Lucie Estuary and west to the Caloosahatchee River.
Our take: While certainly a dramatic proposal, it doesn’t seem very feasible and could be downright dangerous. Perry himself said earlier in the hearing that because of the way the South Florida drainage system has been built, the Army Corps of Engineers currently has no alternatives to sending water east and west.
Asked if stopping the discharges would put the Herbert Hoover Dike around the lake and the communities to the south at risk, Perry replied, “Absolutely. ... But there’s a risk in sending water to the east and west.”
8. Ask Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency for both estuaries
This was suggested by Perry, who showed the panel a plastic bag of water with toxic blue-green algae taken from the estuary Thursday morning.
Our take: There’s no doubt the estuary in particular and the Indian River Lagoon in general are in an emergency, environmentally and economically. What exactly the declaration would accomplish is unclear. Are we sure we want Scott to have increased power to bring about changes in our lagoon environment?
9. Take control of Lake Okeechobee water levels and discharges away from Army Corps of Engineers and give it to a state agency
State Sen. Joe Negron has made the suggestion to take Lake O control away from the Corps before, suggesting that a state agency subject to popular election would be more in tune with residents needs.
Our take: It’s true that in most cases, after the Corps builds a project, it hands over control to a local authority. For that reason alone it’s worth consideration, with the understanding that control not simply go from one bureaucracy to another.
10. Store water on public and private lands
Negron, R-Stuart, continued pushing for an option to store more lake water on a variety of lands, both public and private.
Our take: Negron has a goal to reduce the discharges by 50 percent within 90 to 120 days, a plan that centers on finding land to store the water. But the acreage available is limited, and it’s simply a partial short-term fix.

Stuart News: Editorial: Wanted: A new generation of Treasure Coast, Florida politicians untethered, financially, from Big Sugar

Editorial: Wanted: A new generation of Treasure Coast, Florida politicians untethered, financially, from Big Sugar

By Editorial Board

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The seeming hypocrisy is infuriating.
Big Sugar has been one of the biggest impediments to the creation of the best viable, long-term solution to the discharges of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. That solution? A flow-way south of the lake to carry water into and through the Everglades to Florida Bay.
That solution would be as close to the way Mother Nature had it plumbed before people messed it up.
Not only does Big Sugar own and control huge tracts of land in the Everglades Agriculture Area south of Lake O — land necessary to create a flow-way — it also receives federal price supports, quota and tariffs that artificially prop up sugar prices.
Big Sugar greases the skids of this process by actively contributing to the election campaigns of political candidates and incumbents in Congress. Then, when price supports, quotas and tariffs come up for a vote, our elected officials are more than willing to do the bidding for Big Sugar.
Recently, when an effort was made in the U.S. House to limit the sugar program, only three of Florida’s 27 House members voted to enact the limitations. The amendment died, 206-221. U.S. Both Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat, helped kill a comparable amendment in the Senate.
Not surprisingly, all but two members of the state’s U.S. House delegation have taken sugar campaign money since 2007. (Freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, is a member of this small minority, yet he has not ruled out taking donations in the future.) Both Nelson and Rubio have accepted political donations from Big Sugar.
Coincidence? Hardly.
The relationship between Big Sugar and politicians gives the appearance of a quid pro quo — you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
At the state legislative level, many political candidates and incumbents are more than willing to accept donations from the sugar industry.
At least $57,750 of the millions of dollars donated last year by U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals Corp. and their subsidiaries went directly to the campaigns of legislative candidates from Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, according to a report by Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Additionally, the sugar industry gave $728,500 to political committees associated with Sens. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, and Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, who represent parts of the Treasure Coast.
WANTED: a new generation of state and federal lawmakers willing to reject political contributions from the sugar industry.
We ask again: Who will be the first politician in our region to hold a press conference and announce he/she is rejecting any and all contributions from Big Sugar?
We’ll be watching.
We hope readers will, too.
It’s worth noting Martin County’s Democratic Executive Committee announced recently it will no longer support or endorse state legislative, county commission or other local candidates who have accepted campaign donations from the sugar industry. The committee’s view is welcome, yet it rarely fields a full slate of candidates.
Ultimately, we — the voters — bear the responsibility for charting a new course. As long as we continue returning elected officials to office who accept political contributions from Big Sugar, we will continue getting what we always have gotten: Huge volumes on polluted water in our river, estuary and lagoon.