The head of the new department that will house Florida’s growth management division says he’ll have to decide future growth management decisions on a case-by-case basis. SB 2156, signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott on June 14, abolishes the Florida Department of Community Affairs and transfers its planning division to a new Department of […]
Future of state growth management in question under new department Read More »
Nestlé Waters North America on Wednesday told state officials the company no longer is considering a water-pumping operation along the Wacissa River in Jefferson County. Nestlé, a global water company which includes bottling operations near Blue Spring in Madison County and near Crystal Springs in Pasco County, said testing of Allen Spring along the Wacissa
Nestlé drops idea of water pumping near Wacissa River Read More »
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that gopher tortoises warrant federal Endangered Species Act protection in Florida and Southern states east of the Mississippi. The tortoise will become a candidate for listing as threatened and endangered east of the Mississippi River including Florida. But the gopher tortoises won’t be listed for protection
Gopher tortoises become candidate for federal protection Read More »
The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday rejected energy conservation plans proposed for the state’s two largest electric utilities because of concerns about cost. Instead, commissioners said they may reconsider the conservation goals set by the PSC only two years ago — before the Legislature removed four of the five commission members at the time.
Florida PSC may reconsider energy goals set in 2009 Read More »
Honeymoon Island State Park Maybe the slow economy is encouraging people to rediscover nature. Or maybe the weather just was more inviting this past year. For whatever reasons, attendance at Florida state parks increased slightly in 2010-11 following a sharp dip the previous year, according to state park officials. Park attendance in fiscal year 2010-11
Florida parks increase visitors after drop in previous year Read More »
The environment didn’t cause the recession so it shouldn’t become victim of the current political climate. So says Florida nature writer Bill Belleville, author of “Salvaging the Real Florida: Lost and Found in the State of Dreams.” He hopes his new book will help people develop their own environmental ethic that may turn the political
Author hopes nature stories will turn around Florida politics Read More »
Scott told reporters after visiting DEP in February that he enjoys visiting state parks and they should be protected. After a week of controversy involving Florida Park Service proposals to put recreational vehicle campgrounds in four state parks, Gov. Rick Scott announced last Friday he was pulling the plug on at least the proposal at
Gov. Scott’s late parks announcement not a sneak attack, aide says Read More »
Gov. Rick Scott last month reappointed Cari Roth to the state Environmental Regulation Commission. But if recent history is an indicator, she shouldn’t find the position to be too time-consuming. The ERC sets standards and rules for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Most issues that go before the commission deal with air pollution, water
Florida environmental commission is a shell of its former self Read More »
With the stroke of a pen last month, Gov. Rick Scott turned Florida from a conservation land-buyer to a land seller. Florida had the largest land-buying program in the nation with more than 2 million acres purchased since 1990. The Florida Forever program received $300 million a year until state revenues started slipping in 2009,
Nation’s largest land-buying program appears doomed by veto Read More »
An employee enters the Department of Community Affairs headquarters where more than 20 workers were told last week they’re being laid off. With some state planners being handed their pink slips this week, the question arises over what really happened to the debate over the fate of Florida’s growth management agency — the Department of
Florida growth agency “boogeyman” disappearing without debate Read More »
