Some environmental groups may be in agreement with Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard that the state’s land-buying list needs closer scrutiny. Vinyard last week announced that $700 million was being cut from budgets of the state’s five water management districts. More than $200 million of the cuts were from the districts’ land […]
State environmental chief questions land-buying program 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 »
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 »
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 »
The Florida legislative session went off track early Saturday, taking several bills with it that were supported by business and industry groups and opposed by environmentalists. But environmentalists were not in a celebratory mood as the Legislature passed bills gutting state growth management and placing the burden of proof on those who file legal challenges
Session could have been worse but it was still bad, environmentalists say Read More »
Growth management, fertilizer and septic tanks are some of the environmental issues awaiting action by the Legislature on Friday, its final scheduled day of the regular session. Renewable energy, permitting and growth management were the big three issues heading into the session. There also was an outcry from some rural residents against last year’s requirement
Final day of session: Energy dead but growth overhaul, septic bills very much alive Read More »
With the Legislative session more than half over, some environmentalists are saying the session already has been bad enough. But at least one veteran environmental lobbyist says the worst could be yet to come. The Legislature is showing little interest in providing new money for the Florida Forever land-buying program while at the same time
Florida environmentalists uneasy as legislative session enters second half Read More »
A proposal by state fisheries managers to increase the daily recreational catch for red drum in North Florida recalls the “redfish wars” of the late 1980s, according to a veteran recreational fishing activist. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday will consider raising the limit for red drum from one to two in
Commission faces heat for considering increase in redfish catch Read More »
