Author name: bruce

The Nature Conservancy and state forestry officials are asking the state to buy 10,087 acres along Wolfe Creek in Okaloosa County. The state Acquisition and Restoration Council on Friday voted to move forward on five new proposed purchase areas, including two that would be landowner conservation agreements. The Wolfe Creek area, owned by International Paper […]

A House panel on Thursday saw some of the prettier and uglier sides of coastal oil drilling and production. The House Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning held another hearing in a series towards developing legislation to allow drilling in Florida waters, which extend 10.3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. On Thursday,

What a difference a year makes — when it comes to a bill to require that neighbors be notified of groundwater contamination from a pollution site. HB 207 by Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, Wednesday was temporarily passed by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee after Kriseman acknowledged that members appeared ready to

A revised bill that would allow the state to grant state permits to limestone mining operations for the life of the mine was approved by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee. Permits for the life of a mine now are granted for heavy minerals operations but not limestone mines, according to a bill

Springs rally coordinator Jim Stevenson prepares to introduce Rep. Alan Williams as the Creature from the Black Lagoon looks on. The upcoming legislative session will be crucial to winning passage of springs legislation, speakers on Tuesday told a crowd of more than 400 at a springs rally outside the state Capitol. Springs across the state

Farmer Rod Land of Lafayette County on Tuesday told federal officials at a hearing in Tallahassee that he is a fifth generation farmer and may be the last in his family if proposed a proposed federal water rule is adopted. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding hearings in Florida this week on the proposal

A bill that would restrict lobbying by former Public Service Commission members and staff was revised Tuesday to match tougher recommendations made by the commission. SB 1034 was introduced by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who said public trust was shaken last fall by news reports of private communications between commissioners and representatives of

The Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida narrowly avoided getting targeted for elimination on Monday. The commission, whose members are named by the governor, Senate president and House speaker, was established in 2005 to issue recommendations for maintaining Florida’s quality of life as the state’s population continues to grow. The commission now is studying the

State officials for the first time are saying they know at what level of nitrate in groundwater that springs lose their ecological balance. Florida has more than 700 named springs, several of which are the central attraction at state and local parks across the state. But many of those springs have become choked with weeds

A World War II memorial is silhouetted against a gray sky along the St. Johns River in Palatka PALATKA — Marihelen Wheeler of Gainesville today told a Senate committee hearing along the St. Johns River that when she’s been to hearings in the past on environmental issues, government representatives listened and nodded their heads but