The Political Hurricane – Florida Political Blog.

By Elroy John

Well before Florida earned notoriety as the poster child for how not to administer a free election, it was the state’s natural beauty that most indelibly shaped her image within the view of outsiders. And while her pristine beaches remain a chief allure, for true nature lovers the crown jewel of the Sunshine State is the great marshy waterways and wetlands that comprise the Florida Everglades. The “River of Grass,” as the late writer and activist, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, called it in her treatise about the arterial water system, once flowed freely over a vast region. More than a century of industrialization and development, however, has decimated the land area of the Everglades and wreaked havoc on the system’s complex hydrology, including that of Lake Okeechobee, a major source of clean water for businesses and municipalities throughout South Florida. One might be led to believe that the implications of that fact alone would be enough to spur a herculean response on the part of state leaders. But this is Florida and we do things different. In 2014, voters must take matters into their own hands and pass a constitutional amendment ensuring that environmental preservation is a priority in this state.

The mission to protect and restore Florida’s unique natural beauty is multi-faceted. A major component of that effort is the acquisition and maintenance of conservation areas like those within the Everglades. The state maintains a number of area leases, but in many cases, it has not provided the funds necessary to adequately manage them. In fact, over the last several legislative cycles, a consistent commitment to environmental funding has been non-existent. In 2011 for example, Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led legislature slashed the budgets of all five of Florida’s water management districts. These entities bear primary responsibility for spearheading conservation and restoration efforts in their respective regions. The result is clear in reports such as the biennial study released by The National Research Council on the progress of Everglades restoration, which noted in its most recent edition that, “…12 years into the [effort], little progress has been made on restoring the hydrology of the historical Everglades ecosystem…”

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Filed under: Florida Politics | Tagged: climate, environment, florida everglades, marjorie stoneman douglas, science, water management districts | 4 Comments »