STUART EVENT: Contact Cara Capp, (305) 546-6689, cara@evergladescoalition.org,
Mark Perry, 772-486-3858, mperry@floridaocean.org
CAPTIVA EVENT: Contact David Jensen, 239-470-5389, dave@gocaptiva.com; Rae Ann Wessel, 239-246-0100, rawessel@sccf.org
Two Coasts, One Message:
Buy the Land Now
Rallies to support State Senator Joe Negron for his efforts to open the door to a sugar land purchase and call for further action
When: Wednesday, April 29, 2015
East Coast *** THERE WILL BE VISUALS ***
Where: Flagler Park, 201 SW Flagler Ave, Stuart, FL
Time: 11 a.m. to noon (11 30 a.m. Press Conference)
WHO & WHAT: Elected officials, Everglades Coalition, Rivers Coalition, and River Warriors will laud Florida Senator Joe Negron (R) for planning on introducing legislation asking for $500 million for land purchases, money that could buy U.S. Sugar lands. Will present “Buy the land” letters to Governor, House Speaker, Senate President from 19 local elected officials and resolutions from 11 local governments. Florida Realtors’ water quality/home values study. People will sign a giant poster saying, “With Joe we stand. Let’s buy the land.”
West Coast *** THERE WILL BE VISUALS ***
Where: Jensen’s Twin Palm Resort & Marina, 15107 Captiva Dr, Captiva, FL 33924
Time: 10 to 11 a.m. (10:15 a.m. Press Conference)
WHO & WHAT: SW FL business leaders, Realtors and Chamber of Commerce officials. Boaters, fisherman, kayak and paddle boarders will take to the water in support. Singer/songwriters: North Captiva’s Bob Hipkens and Austin Church from Cocoa Beach. Florida Realtors’ water quality/home values study. Videotaping of messages to the Governor and Leadership will also be captured and Queenies ice cream will be served. Banners, posters. Painted fish.
Background: There is broad public support for exercising the 48,600 acre purchase option in the US Sugar contract, but water managers must take action now for the process to begin. As polluted water is dumped to the coasts, the Everglades multibillion dollar restoration project, is starving for water. The solution, according to the scientific community, is to pursue 48,600 acres of sugar land to store and clean the water.
Bustor Brown and his human Jennie Pawlowsky.
Mark Perry, Florida Oceanographic
Jason Totoiu, Everglades Law
Ed Fielding, Martin County Commission
Irene Nethery Gomes and Takeata King Pang
Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch Commissioner Sewells Point, Blogger, Tireless River Advocate, Plume Chaser
Mark Perry and Troy Macdonald, former mayor of Stuart, FL
“I don’t think it’s healthy for the process (for us) to stay here and continue to talk about something that neither side is changing their view on,” Crisafulli said.
“Hopefully, the Senate president and I can sit down and figure out how to determine when we’re going to come back and hold a (special) session,” he added.”
We don’t think it healthy to have green toxic algae at our doorstep. Its defiantly not healthy. We know that for sure.
There are two main reasons the House and Senate budget proposals were so different: a $2.2 billion federal-state hospital funding program known as the Low Income Pool, and Medicaid expansion. The LIP program provides funding to hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured and Medicaid patients. It is scheduled to end June 30 under an existing agreement with the federal government. The Senate proposed a successor program and assumed the money would come through. The House did not include any LIP money in its budget. What’s more, the Senate’s proposed budget included $2.8 billion in federal Medicaid expansion money to provide health care coverage to more than 800,000 low-income Floridians. The House has long opposed that idea, likening it to an endorsement of Obamacare. Over the course of the session, the two sides refused to back off of their positions. They dug in even deeper this month when the federal government said it was more likely to approve a LIP successor if Florida expanded Medicaid.”
“What happens in a special session?
During a special session, the only legislative business allowed must be restricted to what was stated in the proclamation filed with the Secretary of State, in a communication from the governor, or in the consent approved by three-fifths of both chambers. Because this upcoming special session must address the budget, it will touch on many issues that are tied to state funding. That should make it more of a mini-regular session than a special session. Unrelated topics — such as how much will lawmakers steer into land acquisition from the use of Amendment 1 dollars — won’t get resolved now until special session. It also means lawmakers can negotiate anything into the session using the umbrella of the budget.”
Don’t worry! They’ll just come back to do their job.
TALLAHASSEE — The House quit session three days early, likely killing a controversial water bill while putting in limbo discussions on environmental spending under Amendment 1 and whether to buy land to send Lake Okeechobee water south.
Here’s a little music to read by.
With budget negotiations with the Senate stalled because of an impasse over health care funding and Medicaid expansion, Speaker Steve Crisafulli sent surprised members home Tuesday.
Lawmakers will reconvene this summer to pass a state budget before June 30, when they have to also decide how to use more than $740 million available through Amendment 1, approved by 75 percent of voters last year to buy, restore and manage land and water resources.
Republicans in the two chambers are at odds over healthcare funding. They also disagree on who’s to blame for the deadlock.
“We sent them multiple offers last week they were not willing to negotiate. We made legitimate offers. They didn’t counter with anything reasonable,” house speaker pro tempore Matt Hudson told us after the house adjourned.
Later, Senate President Andy Gardiner accused the House of refusing to cooperate.
“I think we have offered many times to get together and try to come up with solutions,” Gardiner said.
So we’ll see what happens. Please get some rest legislators.
And soon perhaps a permanent vacation.
Here is our Minority Leader, Mark Pafford. He was ready to work.
So one day when my Dad was alive he decided that he was taking my mom and moving from Boca Raton to Boulder, Colorado.
Boulder
One of them was sick and my sister and her family were out of town and I was home with one of my favorite dogs, Blue.
blue
This was a great trip. I wrote a kick ass article about the issues with dogs in the open spaces for Boca Dog Magazine while I dealt with my aging parents medical issues.
One morning I was sleeping and Blue came in and would not leave me alone. This is one of best dogs I have ever known. You could take her anywhere (except to the vet and that’s another story) off leash. I’m having this crazy dream and Blue is waking me up and i’m digging the dream and I’m sleeping and she just won’t stop. I get up and she throws herself up against the window and down below I see this huge black bear feasting on the garbage.
I apologize to Blue and I just stand there and watch because I have no earthly idea of what to do.
I had seen lots of animals here. In the foothills of Boulder there are deer, mountain lions, but I had never seen a bear this close before. So i decided it (he she?)would eventually go away when it (he/she) was full.
Fast forward to a few years ago I was sitting at a table with my friend Maryanne and she’s pitching this film about “The Cape Cod Bear.” I love this idea. I knew about the Boulder bear and other bear stories and I thought it was great.
Fast forward again to last year I went up to Gainesville with Maryanne to the Cinema Verde Environmental Film Festival and Maryanne had invited a guest to come to the screening from Florida Wildlife and the one thing I learned from that day is “Don’t feed the bears.” That was the big sticking point. We, humans, are the worse enemy of the bears. Us.
One other thing I learned is that male bears leave their homes in search of mates far away because genetically that is the right thing to do. At this point the black bears in Florida are smarter than our legislators. They at have sense to follow their good intuition and do the right thing.
Sorry I digress.
So here is the film and maybe you all could watch it and learn something. It’s play all over including
Rewilding America: Lessons Learned from the Cape Cod Bear
In May 2012, a black bear altered the course of Massachusetts wildlife history, completing a journey from the mainland to the tip of Cape Cod. The first bear sighting in centuries captured the imagination, attention and hearts of everyone from locals to tourists, law enforcement to TV crews and Tweeters all hoping to catch a glimpse or even capture the elusive bear himself. The film chronicles this bear’s travels while digging into the dilemma of human co-existence with an increasingly emboldened wildlife population across North America. Blending humor and hard hitting facts, the doc includes a range of perspectives from a wildlife biologist, zoo curator, veterinarian, cub rescuer, park rangers, hunter, Cape Cod nature writer and a Provincetown entrepreneur.
The film examines conservation with a focus on the conditions that lead individuals to participate in environmentally sustainable behaviors, thus assuring the continuity and health of wildlife and our shared landscapes.
Written, Produced and Directed by Maryanne Galvin
Edited by Maryanne Galvin & H. Adam Lenz
So fast forward to now.
Our Florida legislators are considering opening up hunting because we humans can’t stop feeding them.
and they are putting this in place. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/04/27/lawmakers-look-to-curb-bear-gator-feeding TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – As the state tries to reduce dangerous interactions between bears and humans, lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would change the penalties for feeding wildlife.
The Senate on Friday unanimously approved the bill (HB 7021), which passed the House earlier and now goes to Gov. Rick Scott.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, and Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, comes as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission prepares to give formal approval to a black bear hunt this fall — the first such hunt in two decades.
The hunt stems from interactions between bears and humans in some parts of the state, with wildlife officials saying a major cause of the problem is residents leaving out garbage that attracts bears.
The bill, in part, would increase penalties for people charged a fourth time with feeding bears and alligators not in captivity. The charge would be a third-degree felony.
Currently, a fourth offense of illegally feeding wildlife within a 10-year period is a first-degree misdemeanor.
3rd Degree Felonies
Posted on Dec 25, 2010 7:55am PST
3rd degree felonies are some of the most common felony offenses committed in Florida.
Everybody charged with a felony is facing a maximum sentence of state prison.
3rd degree felonies are punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison. If you are a Habitual Offender (HO), you face 10 years for most 3rd degree felonies.
The penalties for 3rd degree felonies can range from PTI (Pretrial Intervention), all the way up to prison.
For the most part, 3rd degree felonies are non-violent property crimes and drug possession-level offenses.
Some examples of 3rd degree felonies are:
Possession of cocaine
Possession of oxycodone
Possession of marijuana (more than 20 grams)
Grand theft 3rd
Burglary of an unoccupied conveyance
Burglary of an unoccupied structure
Driving as a Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO)
Aggravated assault
Felony battery
Battery on a law enforcement officer
Resisting an officer with violence
Uttering a forged instrument
3rd or subsequent DUI
3rd degree felonies are punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison. If you are a Habitual Offender (HO), you face 10 years for most 3rd degree felonies.
The penalties for 3rd degree felonies can range from PTI (Pretrial Intervention), all the way up to prison.
dead bear
So, if my adventure with the bear was today or at least when this law is past – orange would be my new black. As bad as possessing cocaine or battery on a law enforcement officer or forgery.
How in the world did we get here?
Instead of killing bears and going to jail why not educate people on how to deal with bears. This is not grizzly man.
To our legislators in Tallahassee who do you represent? Because your not representing us!
Here is a video of 7,000 citizens of the Treasure coast marching to the locks after we were decimated in 2013. I don’t see anything about party. I do however see a lot of people that want this to stop.
It’s really painful to write this stuff. We have an awesome clean water movement. Its made up of a great group of people who never ask about party. Because clean water is for all not just for some. The toxic discharges affect all the people.
Here is party breakdown for Martin County. Republicans: 51,031 Democrats 26,292
MARTIN
51,031
26,294
5,437
20,630
103,392
So this year the Republicans have a super majority and they think they are so well organized that they leave and go out of the sunshine to talk and they bully members of their party to follow “leadership.”
In Tallahassee people are cut off at the knees if they don’t vote as leadership intended and we all suffer. We’re certainly not represented.
I feel like the Republicans in Tallahassee are not even representing their own base. Because their base needs clean water.
So who are you representing when you do this stuff?
Seem’s like Big sugar is totally represented. Because if you represented us the land would be bought and the discharges would stop.
One thing these guys are really good at coming up with a message and repeating it over and over again until you yourself can’t remember whats true. That’s why excellent documentation is so important.
This is an excellent article written by our own Tyler Treadway. Thank goodness for him and our incredible journalists at the Stuart News.
As a reminder Sen. Joe Negron wanted the UF Study and he found the money to do so. Sen Negron waited for this study before saying anything. After all, he insisted it get done. So it comes out and instead of reading it people glom on to what they want. Which is natural.
The problem is the people who are making decisions about our discharges and our clean drinking water are glomming on also.
This article needs to be read by people who are REPRESENTING the citizens of Martin County.
“Statement: Water district board member Kevin Powers at the April 9 meeting noted that none of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan’s 68 projects has been completed and said, “Nobody wants (the discharges to stop) more than me, but we’re not going to get there if we don’t complete some of these projects.”
Fact: The UF study does call for accelerating “the funding and completion of existing and federally authorized CERP projects designed specifically to provide relief” to the estuaries. It also states those projects won’t stop the discharges. That’s going to require “enormous increases in storage and treatment of water both north and south of the lake.”
Statement: A March 28 Miami Herald editorial stated the study determined the sugar land is “among the must-have pieces of land that a winning environmental strategy requires.”
Fact: The study states reducing discharges and meeting the Everglades’ need for more water will “require between 11,000 and 129,000 acres of additional land” between the lake and the national park, but it doesn’t identify what land. “The U.S. Sugar option land may or may not be the right land, but additional land will be needed to achieve restoration,” Graham said.”
You all still have time to listen and learn and turn this around for the people you represent.
Last week a group of River Warriors got together at the River Warrior Lodge to send messages to Tallahassee. Lead by one of creators of the Solidarity Fish Projects, Janeen Mason , we created messages to send to some of our legislators.
Some were thank you’s and some were pleas. Plea’s to buy the land. Please to use amendment one money as the people who voted for it intended. Pleas to save our drinking water. Pleas to save the Everglades.
Solidarity doesn’t mean we talk at you and you talk at us and we remain at this brick wall. Solidarity means working together for a real solution to end the Toxic Discharges, to save our drinking water, to save our everglades, to stop salt water intrusion.
Together.
Here is Janeen explaining what we were doing.
Here is another video done by Kenny Hinkle on the project.
Solidarity Fish headed back to Tallahassee….Buy the land. Send the water south. Save our River. Save the Everglades.
Stop the discharges. Solidarity y’all.
Captain Mike Connor and Michelle Roberts, granddaughter of Johnny Jones. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/johnny-jones-remembered-as-stubborn-advocate-for-t/nL8Qt/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/johnny-jones-remembered-as-stubborn-advocate-for-t/nL8Qt/ Johnny Jones, a plumber turned environmentalist who spearheaded the Kissimmee River restoration, helped establish the Big Cypress National Preserve and championed the Everglades, is remembered by heavyweights of Florida’s environmental movement as a stubborn, well-connected man who could get legislation passed in Tallahassee. Mr. Jones, a hunter and fisherman, didn’t like what Florida’s explosive growth was doing to the woods, water and wildlife. He used his connections to build political support for major environmental causes.
Solidarity Fish headed back to Tallahassee….Buy the land. Send the water south. Save our River. Save the Everglades.
Stop the discharges. Solidarity y’all.
solidarity fish on their way to Tally Photo by Janeen Mason
“Senator Negron Calls on Army Corps to Immediately Suspend Harmful Releases from Lake Okeechobee Due to Algae Bloom”
Stuart, Fla. – Today, State Senator Joe Negron (R-Stuart) called on the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately suspend the harmful releases from Lake Okeechobee due to the current toxic blue-green algae bloom in water adjacent to the lake.
“I have personally seen video and photos confirming that water adjacent to Lake Okeechobee is currently experiencing a toxic blue-green algae bloom,” said Senator Negron. “With the elevation of Lake Okeechobee at less than 14 feet, there is simply no reason whatsoever for the Army Corps to be discharging water at this time.”
“While releases from Lake Okeechobee are always harmful, discharging water with a toxic blue-green algae bloom is particularly dangerous to our lagoon and estuary,” said Senator Negron.
“Right now, there is zero chance of any breach or damage to the dike,” said Senator Negron. “At the same time, there is a hundred percent chance of damage to our lagoon and estuary when the Army Corps pours hundreds of millions of gallons of polluted water into our community. Why would they do that?”
The Army Corps of Engineers will suspend discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie River so state agencies can run tests on a possible blue-green algae bloom that has been found in the western end of the St. Lucie Canal.
How long the discharges will be curtailed for the testing by the South Florida Water Management District and the state Department of Environmental Protection was not confirmed.
Press Release from Rick Scott’s Office: For Immediate Release, Office of the Governor, Lake Okeechobee Toxic Algae and ACOE’s Halting Releases to St Lucie River.
April 24, 2015
Contact: media@eog.myflorida.com
(850) 717-9282
Governor Rick Scott Dispatches Florida Department of Environmental Protection Team to Test Potential Algae Blooms in Lake Okeechobee
LAKE OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott made the following statement following claims of harmful blue green algae blooms in Lake Okeechobee.
Governor Rick Scott said, “Today, following reports of harmful blue green algae blooms in Lake Okeechobee, I’ve asked the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to immediately dispatch a team to test water for harmful algae blooms. The Army Corps of Engineers did the right thing by halting their releases this afternoon. President Obama also needs to live up to his commitment to repair the dike and responsibly manage Lake Okeechobee.
Today Obama is managing Lake Okeechobee? Wow. Because a few weeks ago it was the state. Oh that’s right it’s suppose to be a partnership.
I want to drive this point home.
1. Even if this water was totally clean and devoid of all the nasty nutrients and toxic green algae it would still kill us because it is fresh water. So the legislature needs to know this – even the clean water will kills us. I don’t understand why this particular important point is never mentioned. NO FRESH WATER! Please find a hydrologist and ask them to explain salinity.
2. Now add on toxic green algae to the mix. been there. done this. bought the t shirt. But know this -it only happens when this stuff comes out of Lake O. So whenI hear talk in Tallahassee of not buying the land because we have enough land (Sen ALAN HAY) and how water needs to be stored north. I have to wonder what kind of information are these people getting and who are they getting it from.
Who are you getting it from?
How in the world do you recharge the aquifers if you store the water north of the lake? How do you fend off salt water intrusion if the water does not flow south?
HOW?
Just proves to me that our legislators have no understanding of what is going on here.
I know its hard but if we can understand this stuff so can you.
and why would any one push this stuff? They do because its sugar speak. Anything to avoid what would save us. We didn’t like but we lived through discharges from our own water shed which was mostly AG BTW. This is what no one tells you and big sugar wants you to believe.
What kind of person does that anyway? What kind of people distorts the truth for their own personal gain? When is enough enough?
Because this is the truth and this what happens and this has got to end. We CANNOT have another toxic summer.
Do the right thing. Buy the land. Don’t destroy us.
and stop taking money from Big Sugar. I’m sure there is lots of other corporate welfare out there.
Here is the poison coming our way. Thanks Kenny and Captain Mike.
When they open the locks toxic algae is coming our way. Lake O with an algae bloom. Watch the video and learn and don’t let people talk sugar speak to you. The algae blooms don’t come from our basin.
Captain Mike Connor holds up a bottle of green water with Toxic Algae in it.
What’s going to take to make this stop?
Here is a video of what happened the last time.
We had beautiful water.
they open the gates.
dreaded green algae came back.
Destroyed our economy.
We had a protest with 7000 people.
The continued destruction of the Indian RIver Lagoon..
The death of 2 million dollars worth of Oysters.
The death of the most diverse estuary in north america
How can the world let this happen to us?
Our legislators can help up.
Yet, They do nothing. nothing to stop this. Its worse that politics as usual.
It’s greed like you’ve never seen before.
We have no representation from the Treasure Coast.
“In the words of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas there are no other Everglades in the World.”
“If we don’t act there might not be an Everglades as we know it.”He talked about salt water intrusion, and how South Florida, 7 million Americans, get their drinking water from the Everglades.”
“The pentagon says that climate change poses a risk to our national security”
“All of this poses a risk to Florida’s 82 billion dollar tourist industry on which many jobs and livelihoods depend.”
“Protecting our parks is a smart thing to do for our economy.” (you know jobs, jobs, jobs)
President Obama said “We want to restore the natural flow of the Everglades which we know is one of the best defenses against climate change and rising sea level.”
“This is not some impossible problem.”
“If you’ve got a storm. You prepare for the storm. You don’t stick your head in the sand.”
The pentagon says that climate change poses a risk to our national security.
That’s so true. Read this book. It was a total non partisan issue to screw up the plumping.
The Federal Government has invested millions of dollars and with out buying the land in EAA Everglades Restoration will never be complete. The Aquifers will not be recharged. The salt water intrusion will continue. We will get discharges forever. The drinking water of South Florida will be destroyed.
So if our President of the United States, a guy who is really busy, understands this simple message why doesn’t our Florida Legislature? Do they hate him so much they would destroy our Everglades, our drinking water and continue to to allow the toxic discharges and the wasting of millions of gallons of water? President Obama, millions of gallons of water are sent out to tide and are destroying our northern estuaries.
When our President says we have to do this we have to do this and our Florida Legislators must make this happen. They can no longer keep their heads in the sand. They need to prepare for the storm.
Please call your legislators today and tell them we must buy the land.
Here’s my award winning short film about an amazing group of people who pick up the garbage in exchange for keeping the dogs on the beach.
Featuring the great music of Big Vince and the Phat Cats.
mike paparo gary frost big vince dave allen
What weighs 20,000 pounds and takes nearly 4,000 people to move it? The Garbage on Jupiter Beach. 15 years ago a local resident Anita Lankler made a deal with the City of Jupiter. You let our dogs on the beach and we’ll pick up the garbage. This little group grew into a membership of 4,000 plus and became the “Friends of Jupiter Beach.” Once a month hundreds of people, 6 to 86, from fifteen zip codes surrounding Palm Beach County, converge onto Jupiter Beach… to pick up the garbage.
Stylin music provided by Big Vince and the Phat Cats.
Archival footage provided by Joanna Aiken
produced, shot, written and edited by Cyndi Lenz
my directors chair- a gift from the friends of jupiter beach
Photography Tina Valant and Cyndi Lenz
Fine Editing and Art and audio mix : Adam Lenz
co won “Best Green Short” at the Delray Beach Film Festival 2010
first place standing in the short documentary category at Moondance Film Festival in Boulder Colorado.
We we the winners of the Calypso award at Moondance!
• MOONDANCE CALYPSO AWARD: This award is to encourage a spirit of enterprise in saving the environment, habitats and wildlife by creative individuals from around the world. The award is presented to the person who expands knowledge of our world, seeks to improve our quality of all life on the planet, and contributes to the betterment of humankind.
Best Eco Documentary Mountain Fest
Best Documentary Palm Beach International Film Festival Local Voices
international premiere at Eco-Fest in Malaysia
(One day i’ll figure out how to add to my IMBD page
for more info contact cyndi at clenz@mac.com
In honor of Mother Earth if you can’t get to an event don’t despair. Grab a bag and head to to your closet park or beach and fill that bag up with garbage. Imagine if the entire Martin County did this. The entire 148 thousand of us (or so). Imagine if all of Florida did this. Imagine if the whole US did this. Imagine if the whole world did this.
This is the time of year when state Sen. Alan Hays usually tries to turn one of his extreme opinions into law by filing a bill that the Legislature has to consider with a straight face.
Session 2013: The Umatilla Republican does not disappoint.
Hays has offered bills in the past that delighted his insurance and development backers but would have left his constituents seething. The worst among them was a bill that would have deregulated the insurance industry, launching the cost of homeowner premiums into the ozone.
The winner of the annual competition for Hays’ Most Bizarre Bill is SB 584, an absurd measure that seeks to prevent the state, counties and cities from buying any more conservation land than they already own unless they sell an equal amount of publicly held property.
Yep, that’s it, folks. Sell some of that “useless” property you’re just hanging onto for no reason if you want another park. You’ve hit the cap.
Sen. Alan Hays, a Umatilla Republican who is chairman of the subcommittee, said the state might already have enough land within its preservation inventory.
Many lawmakers see the issue much differently. They say Florida owns enough land, and argue that the amendment language is broad enough that they can steer nearly all the money to other environmental priorities.
Hays chairs the Senate committee that was responsible for creating an environmental spending plan that conforms with the constitutional amendment.
Of course they do.
This is Florida where the fox is in charge of the hen house.
cyndi lenz 