Environmental Conservation and Economic Prosperity in Florida Fact Sheet

Below is the "Environmental Conservation and Economic Prosperity in Florida" fact sheet.  Feel free to distribute it widely. This paper has been almost a year in the making.  It has been reviewed by several top Florida resource economists, and is totally based on documented sources.

This is Chapter One.  Look for another chapter over the next several months that deals with the "avoided costs of preventing environmental degradation". 

FCC encourages that it be used in speeches, op-eds, discussions with public officials, and however else the message that the environment is the bedrock of Florida's economy and they are inextricably linked together.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY IN FLORIDA

Principal author: Jeff Rood; with major assistance and editing by Ryan Smart: prepared by the Florida Conservation Coalition, 2012

The responsible management and preservation of Florida’s natural resources is vital to the success and sustainability of Florida’s economy, including its three main economic drivers - tourism, agriculture, and development.  Empirical research suggests that a sustainable and healthy economy is inextricably linked to the health of the State’s natural environment. Floridians have expressed a desire and willingness to pay for land conservation and environmental restoration, and support candidates who favor strong environmental policies.

Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham recently said “Water is the lifeblood of Florida. It ties our state together, provides untold recreational opportunities and draws millions of visitors each year to our state, supporting jobs and economic growth.  The pollution and usage issues affecting every facet of our water supply are serious and immediate, and we must address them in order to protect our heritage and preserve our quality of life.” According to a 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report 80% of Florida’s assessed miles of rivers and streams; 90% of assessed lakes, reservoirs, and ponds; and 97% of assessed bays, estuaries, and coastal shorelines are impaired (polluted).^[i] The degradation of Florida’s natural lands, waters, fish and wildlife is a threat not only to Florida’s environment, but to its economy as well.

Florida’s Ecology  

• No part of Florida is more than 60 miles from the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.[ii]
• Florida contains 36,000 square miles of forests, croplands, and ranches;[iii] 10,500 square miles of offshore State lands (Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico);[iv] and 825 miles of sandy beaches. [v]
• Florida has almost 10,000 lakes and streams, and more than 700 springs (the largest concentration of freshwater springs in the world).
•  The Floridan Aquifer is the most prolific in the United States.[vi]

Florida’s Economic Drivers

Tourism & Recreation

Impact on tax revenue and job generation

·        Produced $61.1 billion in taxable sales in 2011.[vii]

·        Contributed nearly 25% of 2011 state sales tax revenue ($3 billion).[viii]

·        Directly supported 1.01 million jobs in 2010.[ix]

·        Visit Florida Board Chairman Tony Lapi said that every 85 visitors support 1 Florida job.[x]

·        Governor Rick Scott said that tourism is a leading driver of the rebounding economy.[xi]

·        Sales from tourism and recreation, which were up 7.2% statewide from November 2010 to November 2011, are on the leading edge of Florida’s economic recovery.[xii]

Floridians & Tourists Use Protected Lands and Waters

·        In 2006, 5.9 million Florida residents and nonresidents fished, hunted, or watched wildlife.[xiii]

·        In 2011, 63% of Florida residents enjoyed beach activities, 49% viewed wildlife, 46% fished, 44% bicycled, and 40% picnicked. [xiv]

·        In 2011, 49%t of tourists enjoyed beach activities, 47% viewed wildlife, 37% picnicked, 29% swam in public pools, and 26% visited historical or archaeological sites.[xv]

Fishing

• Florida’s 2.8 million recreational fishers are the most of any state.
• The cumulative economic impact of recreational fishing in Florida is over $8.3 billion. [xvi]
• Retail fishing sales in Florida exceeded $4.8 billion in 2011. [xvii]
• Recreational fishing supports more than 79,000 jobs in Florida. [xviii]
• Recreational fishing in Florida generated over $440 million in state and local taxes.[xix]
• Commercial fishing and seafood processing generated $5.6 billion in sales and 108,695 jobs in 2011.[xx]
• Over 1 million marine recreational fishing licenses were sold in Florida in Fiscal Year 2008, generating over $29 million in state revenue. [xxi]

Boating

·        In 2008, boating amounted to a $16.8 billion economic impact and 202,743 jobs.[xxii]

o   Nearly 100,000 of these jobs were in the manufacturing sector. [xxiii]

Outdoor Recreation

Category	Retail Sales	State and Local Taxes	Economic Impact	Jobs
Hunting	$447,090,434	$49,231,663	$780,058,076	10,675
Freshwater Fishing	$1,536,222,314	$143,699,808	$2,630,617,741	24,802
Saltwater Fishing	$3,329,756,876	$345,766,792	$5,691,949,544	54,516
Wildlife Viewing	$3,456,599,022	$351,026,035	$5,784,257,906	51,380
Total	$8,769,668,646	$889,724,298	$14,886,883,267	141,373

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 2011[xxiv]

Park Attendance

• Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection reported that park related activities generated $970 million in direct economic benefits and supported approximately 19,347 jobs in 2010. [xxv]
• In 2010 Everglades National Park attracted 915,538 visitors who contributed $135,494,000 in economic benefits and supported 1,956 jobs in the local area.[xxvi]
• The Florida State parks system provides $70 million in state sales tax revenue.[xxvii] 
• For every 1,000 visitors to a Florida state park there is a $43,400 direct impact on local communities.[xxviii]
• The National Park Service reported 9,222,981 recreational visitors to Florida in 2010.[xxix]
• Tourists visiting National parks in Florida spent $513,999,000 in 2010, which supported 7,608 jobs.[xxx]
• On average, a state park closing for 1 year would result in a loss of nearly $5.9 million in revenue for the State’s economy. Similarly, if Florida’s State parks enjoyed an increase of 10% in annual attendance during the next fiscal year, the State’s economy would enjoy an increase of $65 million.[xxxi]

Development

Emerging Opportunities for Green Development

• RLRCo, a national real estate research firm, found that one-third of people searching for a home prefer development that is compact, less harmful to the natural environment, walkable, and mixed use.[xxxii]
•   Fewer than 10% of U.S. cities provide these features.[xxxiii]
• Florida could take the lead in this emerging opportunity to attract desirable new residents who prefer environmentally sensitive development.

Green Development Saves Taxpayer Dollars & Improves Quality of Life

·        Communities developed in the traditional automobile driven sprawl pattern incur increased infrastructure costs when compared to compact green communities. [xxxiv]

·        Compared to traditional development, compact green development was found to save municipalities an average of 25% on sewer and water infrastructure, and 33% in road costs.

·        These costs require the raising of additional tax revenue or the reduction of municipal services. [xxxv]

·        The end result is a reduction in quality of life for those living in urban sprawl communities. [xxxvi]

Land near Natural Areas is More Valuable

·        A 2009 study by The Nature Conservancy found that single-family homes within 100 feet of natural areas were worth $14,400 more than comparable homes not located near a natural area.

·        The study estimated that the aggregate positive impact on land values from natural areas was $159 million in Leon County alone.[xxxvii]

Military & Defense

Land Preservation Near Military Basis

·        Land conservation surrounding military bases is a priority for the Federal Government and Florida Forever.

·        Since 2002 the Department of Defense has provided Florida with $14.45 million for land conservation, which has protected over 16,000 acres of natural lands.

Agriculture

Economic Impact

·        Agricultural is an essential element of Florida’s economy and relies on clean and abundant water resources and protected lands.

·        Agriculture has an economic impact estimated at over $100 billion annually. [xxxviii]

·        Agricultural sales add $2.98 billion annually to state and local tax rolls.[xxxix]

·        Direct employment in agriculture, natural resources, and related industries (1.3 million full time and part time jobs) represented 13.4% of all employment in Florida. [xl]

Environmental Stewardship is Sound Economic Policy

Water Supply

Protecting Water Resources

·        If current water use trends continue, by 2050 Florida will need 12,800 million gallons of water per day to meet demand – and increase of more than 57% from 2000. [xli]

·        Traditional ground and surface water supplies may be insufficient to meet this need.

·        Desalination, the major alternative to traditional water supply sources, would cost the state of Florida nearly $6 billion per year to produce the additional water necessary at today’s cost of $3 per 1,000 gallons. [xlii]

Economic Benefits of Environmental Preservation and Restoration

Everglades Restoration

·        The restoration of the Everglades will increase economic welfare in Florida by at least $46.5 billion.[xliii]

·        The benefit to cost ratio for Everglades restoration is estimated at greater than 4:1.

·         Everglades restoration will support 442,664 jobs over the next 50 years. [xliv]

Economic Benefits of Ecosystem Services

• Natural coastal resources provide more than $11 billion a year in storm protection services.[xlv]
• A study of ten Florida conservation areas found they generated $1.8 billion annually in ecosystem services.[xlvi]

Businesses Favor Natural Resource Protection and Preservation

The Emerging Green Business Industry

·        Green businesses in America constitute a $175 billion industry that employs nearly 2 million people.

·        In Florida alone, environmental businesses and eco-friendly products contribute an estimated $9 billion a year to the economy and employ nearly 200,000 people.[xlvii]

·        82% of large companies in Europe and the U.S. believe sustainable business practices increase their company value.[xlviii]

·        A national survey of 1,200 high-tech workers found that quality of life in a community increases the attractiveness of a job by 33%. [xlix]

Floridians Support Land and Water Conservation

Floridians are Willing to Pay for Land and Water Conservation

·        Floridians are willing to pay $59-$79 annually per household to restore the Everglades.[l]

·        Residents of the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) are willing to pay nearly $44 each for the conservation of 250,000 acres of land within the District.[li]

o   SJRWMD residents put the highest value on land conserved for the primary purpose of protecting water resources.

Floridians Favor Conservation Policies

·        63% of Floridians would be more likely to vote for a legislative candidate who supports continued funding for Florida Forever.[lii]

·        Sixty four percent of Florida voters favor increased funding for Everglades restoration.[liii] 

·        67% of Floridians support continued legislative funding for Florida Forever.[liv]

·        In 1972 the voters of the State of Florida passed a referendum with 70% of the vote to allocate the first $200 million in land acquisition funding.[lv]

·        Since 1988 Floridians have passed 78 ballot initiatives in support of land conservation.[lvi]

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[i] “Florida Water Quality Assessment Report, Assessed Waters of Florida by Watershed.” http://iaspub.epa.gov/waters10/attains_state.control?p_state=FL#STREAM/CREEK/RIVER

[ii] Julie Hauserman. Florida’s Coastal and Ocean Future- A Blueprint for Economic and Environmental Leadership. September 2006. http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/florida/flfuture.pdf

[iii] Economic Contributions of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Industries in Florida in 2009. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published August 2011 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/FE89700.pdf

[iv] “Florida’s Ocean Future: A Report Toward a State Ocean Policy.” Prepared for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budgeting, Environmental Policy Unit. March 1989.

[v] “Florida’s Ocean Future: A Report Toward a State Ocean Policy.” Prepared for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budgeting, Environmental Policy Unit. March 1989.

[vi] Water Resources, Atlas of Florida, Fernald, E. A.and D. J. Patton, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 1984, p 16

[vii] “Florida’s Key Tourism Indicators.” Visit Florida. http://www.visitflorida.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Key_Indicators&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=13117

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] John Hielscher. “Florida Attracts Record Number of Tourists in 2011.” Herald-Tribune. January 18, 2012. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120216/ARTICLE/120219623/2416/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

[x] Ibid.

[xi] “Florida Tourism off the Charts: Record-Setting Number of Visitors in 2011.” The News Service of Florida. February 18, 2012. http://www.sunshineslate.com/2012/02/18/florida-tourism-record-visitors-2011/

[xii] “Florida tourism rises to all-time highs.” February 16, 2012. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/16/2645279/florida-tourism-rises-to-all-time.html

[xiii] “2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.   http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/fhw06-fl.pdf

[xiv] 2011 Florida Outdoor Recreation Participation Survey. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Division of Recreation and Parks.

[xv] 2011 Florida Outdoor Recreation Participation Survey. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Division of Recreation and Parks.

[xvi] Economics of Fish and Wildlife Recreation. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Estimates through July 2011 http://myfwc.com/media/1496521/EconomicsOfFishAndWildlife-July2011.pdf

[xvii] Economics of Fish and Wildlife Recreation. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Estimates through July 2011 http://myfwc.com/media/1496521/EconomicsOfFishAndWildlife-July2011.pdf

[xviii] Economics of Fish and Wildlife Recreation. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Estimates through July 2011 http://myfwc.com/media/1496521/EconomicsOfFishAndWildlife-July2011.pdf

[xix] “The Economic Impact of Freshwater Fishing in Florida.” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 2006. http://myfwc.com/conservation/value/freshwater-fishing/

[xx] Ibid.

[xxi] “The Economic Impact of Saltwater Fishing in Florida.” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. http://myfwc.com/conservation/value/saltwater-fishing/

[xxii] Economics of Fish and Wildlife Recreation. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Estimates through July 2011 http://myfwc.com/media/1496521/EconomicsOfFishAndWildlife-July2011.pdf

[xxiii] Economics of Fish and Wildlife Recreation. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Estimates through July 2011 http://myfwc.com/media/1496521/EconomicsOfFishAndWildlife-July2011.pdf

[xxiv] Economics of Fish and Wildlife Recreation. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Estimates through July 2011 http://myfwc.com/media/1496521/EconomicsOfFishAndWildlife-July2011.pdf

[xxv] 2011 Florida Outdoor Recreation Participation Survey. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Division of Recreation and Parks.

[xxvi] “Everglades National Park = visitors, money, and jobs for local economy.” March 16, 2012. http://www.nps.gov/ever/parknews/parkequalseconomicseverpr031612.htm

[xxvii] Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2008. “Florida State Park Economic Impact Assessment for Fiscal Year 2007-2008.” Tallahassee, FL.

[xxviii] “Economic Benefits of Land Conservation: A Case for Florida Forever.” The Nature Conservancy. March 2009. http://serppas.org/Files/economic_benefits_of_land_conservation.pdf

[xxix] Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010. http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/docs/NPSSystemEstimates2010.pdf

[xxx] Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010. http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/docs/NPSSystemEstimates2010.pdf

[xxxi] “Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economies Report. Facts and Figures.” June 2008.  http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/reports/Facts_and_FiguresII.pdf

[xxxii] “Why Planning is an Effective Economic Development Tool for Florida.” February 2011. http://www.1000fof.org/PUBS/2011/2011economicdevelopmenttool.pdf.

[xxxiii] “Why Planning is an Effective Economic Development Tool for Florida.” February 2011. http://www.1000fof.org/PUBS/2011/2011economicdevelopmenttool.pdf.

[xxxiv] Ibid.

[xxxv] Ibid.

[xxxvi] Ibid.

[xxxvii] “Economic Benefits of Land Conservation: A Case for Florida Forever.” The Nature Conservancy. March 2009. http://serppas.org/Files/economic_benefits_of_land_conservation.pdf

[xxxviii] USDA Report Shows Impressive Five-Year Gains For Florida Agriculture. February 17, 2009. http://www.freshfromflorida.com/press/2009/02172009.html

[xxxix] USDA Report Shows Impressive Five-Year Gains For Florida Agriculture. February 17, 2009. http://www.freshfromflorida.com/press/2009/02172009.html

[xl] Ibid.

[xli] Stanton, E. and Ackerman, F. “Florida and Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction.” Tufts University. November 2007. http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/Florida_lr.pdf

[xlii] Stanton, E. and Ackerman, F. “Florida and Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction.” Tufts University. November 2007. http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/Florida_lr.pdf

[xliii] “Economic Benefits of Land Conservation in Protecting Water Resources.” The Conservancy of Southwest Florida. November 2011.

[xliv] “Economic Benefits of Land Conservation in Protecting Water Resources.” The Conservancy of Southwest Florida. November 2011.

[xlv] “Economic Benefits of Land Conservation: A Case for Florida Forever.” The Nature Conservancy. March 2009. http://serppas.org/Files/economic_benefits_of_land_conservation.pdf

[xlvi] Bowden, K., Casey, F., Kroeger, T., Macdonald, L., “A Preliminary Assessment of the Economic Benefits of Land Conservation Areas in Florida.” Defenders of Wildlife. 2008)

[xlvii] Nick Tate. “More businesses are going green.” April 15, 2012. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/15/2747120/more-businesses-are-going-green.html

[xlviii] Arthur Little. Realising the Business Value of Sustainable Development. 2000. http://www.managementplace.com/fr/adl/sustainable.pdf

[xlix] “The Importance of quality of life in the location decisions of new economy firms.” David Salvesen and Henry Renski. January 2003. http://curs.unc.edu/curs-pdf-downloads/recentlyreleased/neweconomyreport.pdf

[l] Milon, W., A. Hodges, A. Rimal, C. Kiker, and F. Casey. 1999. “Public Preferences and Economic Values for Restoration of the Everglades/South Florida Ecosystem” University of Florida.  Gainesville, FL

[li] Brian Condon, “Services and Conservation Alternatives: A Case Study of Public Preferences and Values in Norteast Florida,” University of Florida Thesis, 2004.

[lii]  Public Opinion Strategies Poll for The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, and the Florida Forever Coalition. 2009

[liii] “Don’t Let Funding for Everglades dry up.” March 16, 2012. http://www.news-press.com/article/20120229/OPINION/302290017/Don-t-let-funding-Everglades-dry-up

[liv] Public Opinion Strategies Poll for The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, and the Florida Forever Coalition. 2009

[lv] Rubino, R and E. Starnes, Lessons Learned, The History of Planning in Florida, Syntery Press, Tallahassee, FL 2008, p, 216

[lvi]  The Trust for Public Land, “LandVote” 2009

Video of NPR on Lake O

Friends of the Fakahatchee remarks given by Nathaniel Reed on December 3, 2011

1970—that seems like a long time ago—a great deal of water has gone through the everglades since then!

What do I remember? Age steals memories but 1970 was a “special year”. My loving wife kept a large book that contains newspaper clippings, overly long speeches, comments on critical state environmental issues and a flow of memorandums on a vast variety of environmental issues. I reviewed them in preparation for this evening. 1970 was a “full year” for Florida and me!

Governor Claude Kirk was in his final year. He continued to support my efforts to clean up our ocean, bays, our rivers and lakes from years of pollution. Every sewer from Palm Beach to Homestead on the east coast delivered millions of gallons of raw sewage to the ocean daily. The St. John’s River was the recipient of raw sewage, industrial wastes, Navy shipyard caustic chemicals and tons of nutrients. The only sewage plants on Florida’s west coast were primary treatment plants at Tampa and Pensacola. The Tampa plants discharge was so toxic that it totally killed hundreds of acres of grass flats.

The Pensacola plant had a long record of “failing 40% of the time” so that it released raw sewage into the once highly productive bays.

The bays were also polluted by massive discharges of chemicals mixed with paper mill wastes – a rich toxic diversity of man’s indifference.

I was the chairman of a tiny department that the legislature approved and began to fund. I seized control from the inept Board of Health. That pathetic group stated that they had no state laws that could control even the worst examples of human wastes.

I needed help and the governor gave me permission to invite the experts from the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration stationed in Atlanta to join me in enforcement actions in Jacksonville, Miami-Dade and Pensacola. Florida was a very conservative state and the “Old Guard” was furious that a young whippersnapper dared to work with the enemy—“agents of the federal government”.

We made progress. Thanks to a series of huge federal monetary investments in sewage plants and enforcement against companies that discharged their untreated chemical wastes into the Great Lakes, the Hudson River, San Francisco Bay, Pensacola and Escambia Bays, Biscayne Bay— name a body of water and I promise you that companies had managed to persuade their state health departments that the cure of their pollution was dilution.

Simultaneously, the jetport - Big Cypress proposal began to hit the front pages of the American newspapers and evening television news. It’s an interesting fact that the plight of the everglades had become a “national issue”.

We have Margery Stoneman Douglas, Joe Browder, Alice Wainwright, Charles Lee and a cast of fascinating concerned citizens to thank. Years of being deprived of adequate amounts of clean water, the ‘Glades became a symbol of gross mismanagement by the state of Florida and what is now the South Florida Water Management District. Big Ag ran the water management agency without a blush!

My friend and colleague, Joe Browder, National Audubon’s youthful, energetic, indomitable Florida director, joined with Margery Stoneman Douglas and a cast of caring Floridians to protest the threat that a jetport in the Big Cypress posed to the future of Everglades National Park and the Ten Thousand Islands. One of Florida's greatest fisheries and breeding grounds for thousands of “water birds” and millions of fish was threatened by the unwanted development that would surely follow a “Futuristic Jetport”.

The developers ached to acquire land from a variety of people who had camps in the Big Cypress for hunting or just getting away from the bustle of a frantic growing south Florida.

Joe brilliantly “worked the issue”. It became obvious that the Dade County Commissioners and the federal DOT had made an investment in a runway - a long expensive runway in the midst of the Big Cypress without really thinking about how passengers were to be transported to the site or returned to Miami. They failed to understand that a road through Conservation #3, the last best example of the River of Grass would be destructive and would be subject to every known environmental legal assault.

Alan Stewart, Dade’s Port Authority boss had an extraordinary short temper and was the project’s worst enemy.

At Governor Kirk’s insistence a committee of environmental experts prepared 102 questions for the Port Authority to answer with their consultants before any more commitments by the state or federal government should be made.

Months later we met at a Miami hotel’s ballroom, that I later learned was owned by a Miami Mafia family to receive Stewart’s and the then ridiculous Mayor’s responses to the very valid carefully considered questions.

Stewart in a monotone: read the first question and replied: “This question is under study.” Questions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were answered identically to the first question: it became abundantly clear that all questions were “under study”.

I stood in the front row and stated calmly and clearly that the meeting was a “ruse” that was inexplicable and showed distain for the very valid questions that needed to be carefully analyzed prior to any further discussion of the merits of a “Futuristic Jetport” in the Big Cypress.

Joe Browder who was sitting next to me and who had spent long hours working with Art Marshall, the dean of Florida’s environmental experts and a cast of experts from federal and state agencies who prepared the questions bellowed: “You have blown it! You have ignored a legitimate process. Do you think we are fools?”

Mayor Hall and Stewart went “bananas” accusing us of being “White Radicals” who opposed anything and everything. Stewart stated that “he would build me a glass house filled with butterflies for me to spend useful time chasing”. The room filled with serious environmental experts went berserk. It was inconceivable - incredible that so called Dade County Aviation Department “experts” who had supposedly prepared and planned the proposed project could not answer a single legitimate question! The fiasco became a lightning rod, very news worthy crisis of confidence.

The Nixon White House became interested, as the Secretary of Transportation had made a significant grant to build the runway.

Secretary of Interior Hickel, still smarting from an uncomfortable highly controversial confirmation hearing where the growing environmental non-governmental organizations really took him to task as an “Alaskan Boomer” who had no environmental credentials, seized the opportunity to gain “green spurs” by joining with the governor to oppose the jetport.

Governor Kirk and I were summoned to Washington. We met with Russell Train, the then Under Secretary of Interior and the leader of the Nixon Administration’s environmental team, in his Washington living room. I unfolded maps and aerial photographs and explained the long-term threat that the proposed airport would open the Big Cypress to unwanted development in the last major natural flow-way into the western reaches of Everglades National Park. Train agreed, but couldn’t help wonder what the future of the Big Cypress would be. Acquisition seemed unlikely. Land use restrictions or easements seemed far-fetched. We left the meeting deeply concerned but without affirmative action other than to force the abandonment of the one runway.

We met at the White House the next day. We were informed that President Nixon had decided that the “jetport would be canceled—he was confident that it was a dream crafted by the speculators and developers all connected to the incumbent Democrat majority in Dade County”. Nixon may not have canceled the jetport plan on environmental grounds, but in 1971 he sent to Congress a bill with an Environmental Impact Statement written by Art Marshall, members of my staff and experts on the hydrology of south Florida. The proposal was overseen by Dr. Luna Leopold, the head of the United States Geological Service, urging Congress to acquire the Big Cypress. Dr. Leopold’s fame was needed, as Dr. Marshall although revered in Florida was not well known on the Hill or nationally. The Congress created the Big Cypress National Preserve, an extraordinary victory. In later years, 147,000 additional acres were added to the preserve.

Now to the subject at hand. I had been invited by Franklin Adams repetitively to join a curious man named Mel Finn and him to explore a “swamp of unusual characteristics - a wild, untamed swamp filled with unique plants and trees”. Franklin maintained it was a swamp that was “world class” and as important as all the other subjects that were on my list.

At the time, Secretary Udall, head of the Interior Department, was making commitments to Lloyd Miller and his indomitable group to spare Biscayne Bay and create a National Monument that would doom forever the hoax of the “Mythical City of Islandia”.

I was at loggerheads with Mr. Macgregor Smith, Florida Power and Light’s chairman over the problem of cooling one million gallons of heated water per minute that would come from the Turkey Point Nuclear plant. He wanted to pump it back into Biscayne Bay even though the heated water would destroy thousands of acres of rich, aquatic grasses. I refused to grant the company the needed state permit.

Although the state was receiving federal Land and Water Conservation Funds and Environmental Land Bond Funds it seemed improbable that we could add the mysterious Fakahatchee Swamp to the list of “must buys” and the full plate of issues that the governor and I faced.

This was my “excuse” for dodging Franklin’s repetitive requests to join Mel and him and visit the Fakahatchee Swamp.

His persistence paid off.

I had met Franklin Adams and recognized that he was a truly significant environmentalist. He had incredible knowledge of the Big Cypress, having camped and hunted within its boundaries since childhood. Further, he was highly respected among the nascent south western Florida environmental community as a man who kept his word and could not be swayed by the omni present developers who traded in mangrove and swamp lands.

Franklin kept urging me to find time in my schedule to tramp - a wade through a portion of the Fakahatchee Swamp with the mysterious Mel Finn and him. I delayed and delayed, as there was always another priority; another crisis.

I finally confirmed a date May 1, 1970. I was accompanied by Ney Landrum, the Director of our state’s park system, Joel Kupperberg who had vast knowledge and experience in southwest Florida’s environmental issues and George Gardner, my newly appointed assistant, a recent graduate of the University of Florida.

The Governor assigned us a twin engine state plane and we landed at the Everglades City grass airfield.

Franklin’s mother had passed away the evening before our trip. We missed him as he is, in fact, the reason for our visit and subsequent efforts made to protect this unique swamp.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of Franklin Adams to this story of a great experience.

The “mysterious Mel Finn” met the two state trooper vehicles that brought us to the starting site. He no longer remained a “mysterious swamp man”. In a matter of minutes we all recognized Mel as a fascinating fellow, a Miami attorney who hated practicing the law and lived for the weekends to explore the last great wildernesses of the Big Cypress and his find - his glorious find - The Fakahatchee Swamp.

We were briefed by Mel. Despite the dry time of the year, there was knee deep water; even waist deep water on the route that Mel led us into the swamp. We were outfitted with 5 foot long forked sticks that were useful in persuading water snakes and water moccasins to move quietly out of our way. George Gardner had brought along a machete. I had urged him to leave it with the state patrol officer. He was last in line and he could not resist the temptation of having a machete hanging from his hip.

You know what we saw! We gaped at wonder. The cypress leaves had turned the wonderful light green that signals their spring. The cypress trees, many growing from stumps of trees cut for lumber 80 years in the past, had regrown into leafy towers. The Royal palms reached through the cypress trees – 60 - 75 feet - even 100 feet high. Orchids and bromeliads were everywhere, growing with rare abandon, undiscovered and untouched by man.

We stopped frequently and Mel briefed us on some oddity, something special, and something that he and we found uniquely exciting.

There were long periods of silence as the majesty of the excursion dawned on all of us.

As we began to return to the starting site, suddenly, there was a cry from the rear of the troop. George had taken out his machete and swung it against a vine hanging from a cypress tree. The machete bounced off and cut his leg very seriously.

I helped apply a tight tourniquet. I said: “George, you are too big to carry. You are simply going to have to be very brave and we will move as quickly as possible back to the road where we can get you tied up better than what we have tied around your leg.” We mushed our way back to the waiting trooper’s car. I sent George back to the airport in one of the trooper’s cars with a note for the pilot to take him to the nearest hospital. For reasons never fully explained, the pilot flew him to Marathon where an ambulance took him to their tiny hospital. George survived despite the fact that he had to do battle with all kinds of interesting bacteria.

The rest of us huddled together, overcome by the sights of the Fakahatchee and as one we held our right hands high in the air and swore we would not rest until the Fakahatchee was preserved. I maintained it was as important as the Roman “Oath of the Horatii”.

As we waited for the return of the vehicle that had rushed George to the plane, an obvious rental car drove up and paused next to me. Two delightful ladies in their mid-fifties inquired where they were. I answered they were in the middle of the Fakahatchee Swamp. “No, no”, snapped one of them, “Our ranch which we bought from the Gulf American Company is right around here.” I had the unpleasant assignment of informing her that the Rosen Brothers were facing both state and federal governmental legal actions as peddlers of “swamp land” all across southwest Florida.

That’s another story in itself. Sufficient to report that it took many of my remaining months in Tallahassee working with a superb group of young men from every cabinet member’s staff to force the Rosen’s and their land schemes out of Florida.

I became Assistant Secretary of Interior on May 12th, 1971, and working with Joel who Governor Askew wisely appointed to head the state’s land board and Ney Landrum, my great friend and coworker who made the Florida State Park system the envy of the nation, Ney set about acquiring hundreds of properties, mostly 1.25 acres each that the Rosen’s had sold to unsuspecting suckers. It took years to identify the owners of ranchettes and quote “Gulf side properties” deep inside the swamp. The majority sold out for $100 an acre. Ney used funds from the Endangered Lands State Bonds and acquired the major portion of the swamp from GAC (General Acceptance Corporation), bought the canal system to prevent them for ever being used for drainage and slowly but surely identified and bought out the vast majority of the swamp’s 57,297 acres paying the various owners a total of $12, 223,000. It was exhausting, time consuming work requiring total dedication to the task. Friends of the Fakahatchee and the citizens of Florida have much to be grateful for during Ney Landrum’s incredible leadership of the state’s park system, but one of the greatest jewels of his extraordinary land acquisitions is “our Fakahatchee Swamp”!

In time the Fakahatchee’s headwaters, the 13,000 acre Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest and surrounding high ground were preserved insuring a continuous natural water supply.

Finally, the swamp was “ours”, “ours” - for the people of Florida, “ours”- for the American people – “ours” to be shared with tourists from around the world – one visit and the Fakahatchee is theirs too.

Mel Finn’s spirit is still there - he lived a life that is embodied by this Native American statement: “We pray for the world, that the people of the world will embrace harmony, that they will show respect, tolerance, and acceptance for each other and for all living things. This is what my people have taught me and it is my responsibility to continue living this way of life. In doing so, I am telling my ancestors that: “I’m still here practicing your teaching so that my children and all other generations will continue to practice this way of life---life will go on and on, even after I am gone.”

We have lost Joel and the indomitable Mel, but the rest of us who gave our oaths are still living: never forgetting our mutual pledge to save this precious gem.

I think Clyde Butcher’s April 24, 1999, photograph of us sums up what I cannot adequately express: the quiet satisfaction of success, the fellowship and the incredible leadership of Mel and Franklin who would not give up and finally got the right players to the field of action.

What can I say to you in the way of thanks - genuine thanks for your devotion in patrolling the swamp, for leading tours, for sharing an experience of excitement and wonder with hundreds of visitors?

It took time, energy, foresight, determination, lots of our money and love of our land to have saved the Fakahatchee Swamp forever!

Volunteerism is a great American tradition. It is one of our national “hallmarks”. You are Fakahatchee Stands loving stewards. Continue to take care of this unique, irreplaceable part of untamed, um-trampled Florida.

I am reminded of Margaret Mead’s famous quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has!”

Thank you for the pleasure of inviting me over to join you at this wonderful part of the Florida that I love!