Former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor Bob Graham makes urgent appeal for help for Florida’s world renowned Silver and Rainbow Springs

In conjunction with the Florida Conservation Coalition, former Governor Bob Graham has asked Governor Rick Scott to take action that will begin the process of protecting and restoring Silver Springs, Silver River, Rainbow Springs and Rainbow River.   

Pointing out the apparent continued decline of these storied Florida treasures, he asked the Florida Governor to consider setting up a Resource Planning and Management Committee to identify the causes and generate options for reversing the problems. 

Saying time is of the essence, he asked Scott to, “… take the lead in preventing further damage to Silver Springs and Rainbow Springs by ensuring the implementation of effective restoration plans and strategies that can be replicated in other areas of the state.” 

The letter is the culmination of growing public concern for the water resources of Florida and its unique natural features characterized by the world’s greatest concentration of first magnitude springs.   

In addition to Governor Graham, the letter was signed a number of charter members of the Florida Conservation Coalition including Nathaniel Pryor Reed, Former Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Former Chairman SFWMD, Founder and Chairman Emeritus 1000 Friends of Florida, and Lee Constantine, Former State Senator, Former State Representative, Former City Commissioner and Mayor of Altamonte Springs. 

Here's the letter in full:

June 18, 2012

Governor Rick Scott

Plaza Level 05, The Capitol

400 South Monroe Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001

Re: Two Florida Signature Spring and River Systems – Silver Springs and River and Rainbow Springs in urgent need of your immediate attention

Dear Governor Scott,

             As members of the Florida Conservation Coalition, we are writing to ask for your leadership and assistance in protecting Florida’s freshwater resources.  Springs, rivers, lakes, and groundwater throughout the state are suffering from dangerously low levels and unhealthy water quality conditions. As Floridians, all of us have the responsibility to do everything within our power and ability to protect and restore these natural resources that are so critical and inextricably linked to our health, quality of life and economy.

            Two of Florida’s signature spring and river systems – Silver Springs and River and Rainbow Springs and River -- are in urgent need of your immediate attention and decisive action.  Dramatic declines in the water flow and quality of these two first-magnitude spring systems in Marion County have been scientifically documented, confirming that current programs administered by state, regional, and local government are simply inadequate to protect and restore the health of these valuable aquatic resources.  We believe these two springs and rivers can be saved, and by focusing now on their restoration, effective tools and strategies can be developed to address and resolve the pollution and flow problems impacting springs and other waterways throughout the state.

            Accordingly, we are requesting that you direct the Department of Economic Opportunity, with assistance from other appropriate state agencies, to assess and report to you within the next six months on the feasibility of establishing a Resource Planning and Management Committee, under Section 380.045, F.S., which could harness the power of public and private stakeholders to develop a plan to correct the problems.  Another alternative is to use the model of the stakeholder task force process that led to the passage of the Wekiva River Protection Act, Section 369.301-369.309 F.S., in 1988, and the Wekiva Parkway and Protection Act 369.314-369.324 F.S., in 2004.  These approaches succeeded in protecting a river while accommodating expanding urban development in the Orlando area and formulation of a plan for a needed new highway. The Executive Orders issued by Governors Martinez and Bush establishing these task forces are worthy of examination by your staff.

The State, St. Johns River and Southwest Florida Water Management Districts, and Marion County have expended considerable effort and resources in the Silver and Rainbow Springs and Rivers watersheds.  Yet these efforts have failed to protect or restore these valuable resources.  “Minimum flows and levels” and “total maximum daily loads” have not been established, and recommendations of DEP’s Florida Springs Task Force have not been implemented.

Silver Springs is a registered National Natural Landmark and the Silver River is a designated Outstanding Florida Water.  Iconic Silver Springs is Florida’s largest and best known spring.  Despite its importance, the flow of water from the spring has dropped dramatically and nitrates have increased 20-fold, clouding its water and triggering excessive algal growth.  Native fish species are declining, and exotic invasive fish species are multiplying.  The changes are well documented in the “Fifty-Year Retrospective Study of the Ecology of Silver Springs, Florida,” published by the St. Johns River Water Management District.  For your convenience, attached is a reference list of literature and a letter.

Rainbow Springs is the state’s fourth largest and one of its most picturesque springs, and the source of Rainbow River, which flows 5.6 miles before joining the Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon.  The spring is a registered National Natural Landmark and the river is a designated Outstanding Florida Water and an Aquatic Preserve.  Yet, like Silver Springs and River, water flow has declined dramatically while nitrate pollution has increased significantly.

The economic impact of these springs and rivers and the recreational opportunities they provide is significant for Marion County and downstream communities in adjacent Lake and Sumter counties.  More than 800,000 visitors (many from out of state) visit Silver Springs annually.  These aquatic assets also enhance property values, adding wealth and increasing ad valorem revenue for local governments. 

While it is unthinkable that Florida’s springs might get pumped dry or lost to pollution, there is precedent.  Kissengen Spring in Polk County went dry in 1950, and White Sulphur Springs in Hamilton County has become a trickle. Given continued neglect, the damage to Silver Springs and Rainbow Springs, too, could become irreversible.

Governor, you have previously stated your support for protecting Florida’s natural resources.  We are asking that you and your administration take the lead in preventing further damage to Silver Springs and Rainbow Springs by ensuring the implementation of effective restoration plans and strategies that can be replicated in other areas of the state.  Time is of the essence.

We thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Bob Graham

Lee Constantine

Charles Pattison

Victoria Tschinkel

Eric Draper

Allan Milledge

Jimmy Orth

Lisa Rinaman

Manley Fuller

Martha Musgrove Craig Diamond

John Robert Middlemas

Deirdre Macnab

Sonny Vergara

Gary Kuhl

Bill Kerr

Auley Rowell

Roy Rogers

Estus Whitfield

Andrew McElwaine                   Vivian Young

Attachments (2)

Robert L. Knight letter and presentation

Rainbow and Silver Springs literature

“Speak Up for Silver Springs & Florida's Waters”

Here’s the itinerary for this weekend’s FCC signature event at Silver River State Park.  Show your concern for this state “Waters”.  Be there!  

 -Sandspur

The Florida Conservation Coalition is pleased to present the “Speak Up for Silver Springs & Florida's Waters” event itinerary and speaker line up. We hope that everyone will join the FCC and our local partners on June 23 from 10-4, at Silver River State Park, for a fantastic day of education, outreach, entertainment and action in support of protecting Silver Springs and all of Florida's imperiled waterways.

This event will include public addresses by former Senator Bob Graham and State Senator Lee Constantine, Silver Springs expert Dr. Robert Knight, renowned photographer and environmental advocate John Moran, and FCC leaders from across Florida.

Please forward this announcement to any and all who are concerned with protecting Florida’s waters. For any questions about the event please contact Ryan Smart at rsmart@floridaconservationcoalition.org.

Itinerary

10:00 a.m. – Event Area Opens to Public – Free To Public for first 500 cars

-        Park entry fees donated by Marion County Springs Festival and Felburn Foundation     

10:00 – 3:30 – Activities to Enjoy Throughout the Day

-        Silver River Museum

-        Outstanding Presentations by Jim Stevenson, Dr. Bob Knight, & John Moran

-        Cracker Village

-        Tram rides to the Silver River

-        Conservation themed Exhibits

-        Great Food

10:15 a.m. – Welcoming Address by M.C. Andy Kesselring

10:30 – 11:10 – Talks by John Moran & Conservation Trust in Museum classrooms

11:25 – 12:25 – Addresses by fmr. Sen. Bob Graham & Sen. Lee Constantine

-        Plus Statements from Florida Conservation Coalition Leaders

1:00 – 1:45 – Presentations by Dr. Knight & Jim Stevenson in Museum classrooms

1:10 – 3:10 –Live Music by Whitey Markle and the Swamprooters (Main Stage)

2:00 – 2:45 – Presentations by Dr. Knight & Jim Stevenson in Museum classrooms

3:20 -3:30 –Address by Dr. Knight (Main Stage)

3:30 – 3:45 – Closing Address by John Moran (Main Stage)

Speaker List & Event Itinerary - Speak Up for Silver Springs& Florida's Waters            

Highlands Ranch Mit Bank permit; Has Bersok Kicked the Lid Off?

Thank goodness professional journalists have to be objective and report only facts. Sometimes, however, it’s important to look behind facts and ask what smells.

Craig Pittman who first broke the story about the awful treatment of Connie Bersok by Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection has given us a follow up in yesterday’s (2012.06.06) Tampa Bay Times. Bersok is the state’s chief wetland expert who was suspended by her supervisors at DEP for not giving in to pressure to approve a mitigation bank application near Jacksonville that was against her professional judgment. (See her memo HERE).

Now, it seems, it must have all been a dream. DEP has lifted Bersok’s suspension but makes no mention of the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank fiasco in the recently released inspector general’s investigation and report of findings, according to Pittman.

Strange? Yes.

There’s clearly something going on at DEP that the minions don’t want exposed.

Perhaps, it’s the convoluted background to this story:

·       First, Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank applies for a mitigation bank permit from the SJRWMD. They want some 600 wetland credits which they propose to justify by modifying a former 1500-acre pine tree plantation. 

·       Staff gags at the incredulous nature of the request and instead recommends to the district’s governing board that the applicant be granted less than 200 wetland credits. 

·       Apparently upset at the staff’s recommendation, the applicant files a petition in opposition to its own permit when it is presented to the governing board. 

·       The governing board then forwards the application to an administrative law judge who holds a hearing, finds in favor of the staff’s position and issues a recommended order. When no exceptions were filed by the parties within the prescribed time, the judge issues the permit subject to the permit conditions set forth in the district’s technical staff report.  

·       Meanwhile, newly elected Florida CEO-governor Rick Scott arrives on the scene. A new CEO at DEP, Herschel Vinyard, is appointed (from Jacksonville) who begins replacing the department’s existing supervisors and managers. 

·       Subsequently, the SJRWMD undergoes major organizational and staffing changes brought by the new governor. These changes were, at least indirectly, the result of recommendations pushed by his “transition team” regulatory reform subcommittee chairman, Doug Manson, a Tampa lawyer. 

·       First, the district’s general counsel is fired and governing board member Hans Tanzler (son of a former Jacksonville mayor of the same name) applies for and is appointed to the position by the governing board. Then the executive director is forced out and, again, Tanzler applies for the position and is once more given the position by the governing board which, this time, comes with the approval of the governor. Scott apparently says it’s good. 

·       Sequentially, Tanzler, supported by Scott-appointed, anti-environment, professional consultant, board members like Chuck Drake and others, goes about firing the old permit reviewers at the district and replacing them with new permit reviewers. After this political “cleansing” of dozens of staff members, the rest just hunker down hoping to avoid becoming collateral damage. 

·       Despite the fact that it already has a permit issued by the SJRWMD for the same project, Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank files for a new permit for the same project, this time to DEP rather than the SJRWMD, and this time they have a new consultant, Breedlove, Dennis and Associates. Breedlove now recommends about 400 wetland credits, down 200 credits from the original 600 requested from SJRWMD. No one seems worried about which permit will be in effect if DEP issues a second permit that is different from the one the administrative hearing judge has already issued for the same project. 

·       A new deputy secretary at DEP, Jeff Littlejohn, who happens to be long time buds with Breedlove (the new consultant for Highlands Ranch) becomes convinced after a conversation with Breedlove that there’s a better way to consider mitigation bank applications, but it will take a policy change to get it done. 

·       Littlejohn quickly admits he is not a wetlands expert. So up steps well known Tallahassee lawyer, Eric Olson, who somehow ends up drafting the new policy for him. Olsen, a former assistant general counsel at SJRWMD, is currently a lawyer with one of the most powerful and connected law firms in Tallahassee, Hopping, Green & Sams. He has published articles on mitigation banking in the Florida Bar Journal. By a not so surprising coincidence, Olson is also the attorney for Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank. No one notices the odor. 

·       Apparently, no one questions the obvious and gross impropriety of having an applicant’s lawyer draft a policy memo that will not only tremendously benefit his client but could have far reaching implications well beyond the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank application. And, everyone apparently ignores the fact that any new regulatory policies which have significant, program-wide ramifications should be thoroughly vetted first and even required to undergo rigorous adoption procedures similar to those mandated for administrative rules before implementation. 

·       So the Olson Policy is handed to Connie Bersok who not only cringes at the new edict but puts into writing her unwillingness to recommend the permit because the project is not consistent with current law and the proposal fails to show how 400 wetlands credits can be justified. 

·       Of course, it is not considered relevant that wetland mitigation credits can be worth anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000 each. At the latter price, if only 200 credits were authorized the revenue would barely cover the cost of the project’s land, engineering and legal costs. (The property was reportedly purchased by the investment group for nearly $15,000,000). Getting the additional 200 credits, on the other hand, could bring Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank and its investors, including the Carlyle Group, a tidy profit of perhaps $20,000,000. 

·       Also absent in the conversation is the fact that the legislature passed a new law this year (HB 599) that greatly limits the availability of credits DOT can obtain from water management districts. If I read the new statute correctly (and I don’t guarantee that I have because it’s confusing to say the least), on the one hand, water management districts seem to be prohibited from using land they purchased for conservation purposes to create mitigation credits. If so, they’re essentially out of the game. On the other, this limitation may not apply to DOT road transportation projects which means the districts could still be in the game. In any case, DOT will now be able to get the credits it needs for transportation projects from private mitigation bankers. One can only speculate if and how much the price-rise might be now with the private sector guys involved. Previously DOT was required to get its credits exclusively from the water management districts. 

·        According to the House Summary of CS/CS/CS/HB 599 (CS/CS/SB 824), from 2007 to 2011, DOT‘s mitigation expenditures totaled $169,921,562. Of that amount, WMDs received $116,456,080 (68.54%), while other public and private mitigation banks received only $38,107,600 (22.43%) of the total expenditures. 

·       Clearly, if DOT is denied access to WMD credits, the new law will intentionally force DOT to purchase mitigation credits from private mitigation bankers. And, if that is the case, the financial fortunes of private mitigation bankers will become hugely improved. But even if the WMD’s remain in the game, the private guys will still enjoy a tremendously expanded market for their credits created by the sheer volume needed by DOT each year. HB 599 was introduced by Representative Ray Pilon, was joined with SB 824 and others to become a transportation omnibus bill and was signed into law by the governor on April 29, 2012. 

·       In any case, given the evolving situation where public money coming from DOT will by law now be available to the investors and owners of private mitigation banks, here’s a related matter to watch. Remember how CEO Scott stopped all environmental land acquisition efforts by the water management districts and ordered the districts to surplus any lands found to be “unnecessary”? Those so-called surplus lands could become targeted by aggressive corporate mitigation bankers. Conservation lands are purchased, you'll recall, because of their environmental value. Much of that value is based upon a parcel’s relationship to wetlands. Creating new wetlands adjacent to existing wetlands is much more effective and less costly than attempting it elsewhere. How public lands become defined as “unnecessary” will become crucial and extremely political. Hundreds of millions of public dollars are on the table. And, with land prices as low as they are, it’s a buyer’s market. Buy it cheap from the WMDs, ask DEP for wetland credits based upon a plan known only to you and sell the credits to a government agency that must buy tens of millions worth every year. It’s a sweet deal.

So what’s really happening with Connie Bersok? Is the story about her, or is it really about private sector politics and manipulating government programs to finagle the transfer of public tax dollars to private pockets? And, is this just one isolated scenario or is it systemic under Scott's administration?

Connie Bersok’s career with DEP for all practical purposes is probably over. She has crossed a DEP manager's line, it seems. Organizations rarely forgive and forget. But her courageous refusal to kowtow to political pressure has jarred loose some very smelly detritus from Tallahassee that is generating a more refined scrutiny toward the way Rick Scott is running our state government and ruining our natural Florida. Bersok’s legacy will be how she stood up and while under a clear threat to her long, successful and respected career, said what needed to be said, “This isn’t right and I’m not going to do it.”

_______________________________

Additional Information

From Highlands Ranch website:

“Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank is a privately-owned wetland mitigation banking firm, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. A joint venture of Hassan & Lear Acquisitions Ltd., www.HassanLear.com , and The Carlyle Group, www.Carlyle.com,” 

Source: http://www.hrmb.co/OurMitigationBank.aspx

Wetlands Mitigation
"A wetland enhancement, restoration, creation and/or preservation project that serves to offset unavoidable wetland impacts is known as wetland mitigation or compensatory mitigation. The ecological benefits of a mitigation project should compensate for the functional loss resulting from the permitted wetland impact. Compensatory mitigation activities may include, but are not limited to, onsite mitigation, offsite mitigation, offsite regional mitigation, and the purchase of mitigation credits from permitted mitigation banks."         (Florida Department of Environmental Protection)

Source: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/wetlands/mitigation/index.htm

Florida is in for a dark, destructive time

This is a two part post.  Both are compelling instances that suggest Florida is in for a very dark destructive time if the tactics of this governor and his minions continue.

PART ONE

DEP stepped into something icky when Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn (that’s Chuck’s son), suspended Connie Bersok for doing the right thing, didn’t it?  I mean, here’s an agency that proposes to “get the water right” and then suspends its own chief wetland scientist for not wanting to bend rules and give a non-deserved pass to a well-financed developer from Jacksonville.  Any bets on if and how much this guy or his company has given to the Scott campaign or the RPOF?

And what’s worse, Littlejohn, her supervisor, announced that his decision was based upon a policy he issued which originally came from the applicant’s lawyer, Eric T. Olson.  Olson works for the law firm Hopping Green & Sams, which has one of if not the biggest freaking law office buildings in Tallahassee.  The applicant is Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank. 

Doesn’t it seem to smell a little when the lawyer for a permit applicant writes a policy memo that, 1) without much, if any, internal or external vetting is suddenly adopted by the jurisdictional agency, and, 2) establishes a whole new direction for permit issuance under Florida Law?  Littlejohn claims, according to Craig Pittman who broke the story Monday in the Tampa Bay Times, the new policy was also blessed by his boss Scott-appointed, captain of Jacksonville industry and CEO of DEP, Herschel Vineyard. 

What in the world were they thinking?  Requiring “Reasonable Assurance” is the regulatory basis for issuance of permits that is pervasive throughout Florida’s comprehensive body of water law and water regulations. Saying it’s no longer necessary has the potential for loosening Florida's environmental laws like a bunker busting bomb would loosen up Hoover Dam.

To obtain a permit under the old policy, the applicant would have to provide “reasonable assurance” which typically involved a detailed plan to show how an applicant’s project will perform as required. This would be like requiring a contractor who’s going to build you a house to follow a set of blueprints you’ve seen and approved.  You want to know as realistically as possible how the building is actually going to meet your expectations, right?  Houses cost a lot of work and money.

The new Olson policy, on the other hand, requires only that the applicant agree to a performance outcome.  The Department then presumably will have to wait years and simply trust that however the applicant constructs the project it will deliver the promised performance.  That’s like asking that contractor building your house to just make sure it has a roof and running water when he’s finished and you’ll pay him the $200,000 price because he’s the contractor.  If it only lasts 6 months, well, c’est la vie.  Olson apparently thinks you should be perfectly comfortable with that.  Wonder what lawyer-Olson wrote in the contract for his house.

But listen to this. Deputy CEO Littlejohn then suspends Bersok when she refused to recommend approval of the permit because she believed it was not in accord with the law and because she would not agree with the applicant’s consultant, Dennis Breedlove of Breedlove, Dennis and Associates, Inc., that more wetland credits should be granted.

The saga gets smellier.  Littlejohn, admitted he has no expertise in wetland science or the vagaries of establishing wetland credits, while Bersok is such an expert and widely recognized as such.  Nevertheless, he suspended her two days after she wrote, "I hereby state my objection to the intended agency action and refusal to recommend this permit for issuance."  He said he decided Bersok was wrong not because he knows anything about the issue but because he has known Breedlove “for a very long time”  and what he was saying made sense.

Breedlove must have made a very compelling argument to his long-time friend, Littlejohn, huh?  Without knowing the precise numbers, Breedlove was recommending the project be awarded about 400 wetland credits while Bersok was saying the site could justify not more than half that number.  The difference would be worth millions to Highlands Ranch investors.

Perhaps it is noteworthy that the name of the project is Highland Ranch Mitigation Bank, not Wetland Ranch Mitigation Bank? 

_______________________

Seems CEO Scott can do no good when it comes to the protection and preservation of natural Florida.  He has practically defunded the water management districts to the point of becoming non-functional, even though I heard a spokesman for SWFWMD recently claim funding of projects will stay the same level as the past.  Fact is, SWFWMD plans to use up its reserve funds until they’re all gone and after that neither the district governing Board or staff has any viable plan for how it will be able to manage Florida’s complex water resources effectively.  Raise taxes?  You and I both know how likely that will happen. 

Fact is, the WMD’s are headed for becoming ineffective, do-nothing wastes of taxpayer money because they will not be protecting Florida’s water resources or the natural systems that depend upon it, and will only exist to serve the interests of the corporate elite.

Scott and his minions are systematically dismantling 40 years of evolved processes designed to bring a balanced approach to environmental protection in order to “get the water right” (a favorite propaganda line spewed endlessly from the governor’s office, DEP and offices of the “outreach” folks at the WMD’s).

Everyone I’ve talked to says the Connie Bersok controversy is just more of the same kool-aid that CEO Scott and his boy Vineyard at DEP is forcing any and all government employees to drink.  You either toe the party line or you’re dead meat on the Scott Hi-Roller Express to re-election.  You either do what “The Man” says or you’re road kill.

Part Two

News Alert Just Received 2012.05.30

At this point you should probably sit down.  The following is a News Release just received from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.  Take a deep breath and read.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release (www.peer.org)

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2012

Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337

WACKY PLANS FROM FLORIDA’S TOP ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIALS — Sell State Lands to Foreign Nations, Move Offices to Parks and Pelletize State Forests

Tallahassee — A strategic planning session encouraging Florida environmental officials to “demonstrate your commitment to the Governor’s [Rick Scott’s] vision” succeeded perhaps too well, according to meeting notes released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Managers from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed selling Florida lands to European governments, moving state offices inside parks to save rent and grinding state forests into fuel pellets.

The DEP Strategic Planning Session took place July 12-13, 2011 and was devoted to the topics of “(1) regulatory efficiency and (2) cost reduction” according to the meeting notice (emphasis in original). DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard presided over and participated in the sessions, which produced some truly astonishing schemes according to meeting notes obtained by PEER under Florida’s Public Record Law. They included:

·        Marketing the sale of state owned land…to other countries. “* look @some land we simply own, but strategically don’t need…sell it…perhaps keep an env. easement.” One marginal note read ‘“we know Florida, we don’t know Germany’s needs for land”’;

·        Move state offices into state parks. In a note attributed to Vinyard “Secretary –we have a lot of land to use w/in state park. Satellite offices?”; and

·        “Work w/ Private Sector to build Biomass on State Lands…pellet mills/wood pellets to Eng., Belgium. We are losing business to Georgia. Yes, we have a resource.” The notes also suggested “link it [harvesting] to good stewardship.”

“These guys are supposed to be preserving and protecting Florida’s lands not unloading them to foreign interests,” stated Florida PEER Director Jerry Phillips, a former DEP attorney, noting the similarity of DEP plans to scams of earlier eras in which Florida swampland was peddled to unsuspecting buyers. “The underlying theme of these planning sessions was that DEP is now supposed to be run like it is a business. The actual proposals indicate that DEP would be run like a business in liquidation.”

Meeting notes describe other ideas such as stricter dress codes to improve “customer service” and creating a “startup program for new business – support w/ staff to give prospective business suggestions.” Though, precisely what expertise DEP staff would provide to new business ventures was not specified.

“If these appalling ideas reflect the brain trust overseeing Florida’s natural resources, heaven help us,” Phillips added. “In two days of meetings, there was not a single suggestion as to how to improve Florida’s environment or better protect resources.”

Secretary Vinyard comes to DEP from a career in the ship-building industry and is currently under EPA investigation for violating conflict-of-interest rules required by the Clean Water Act following a complaint lodged by PEER and the Florida Clean Water Network.

Pertinent links:

Read the Strategic Planning announcement

View meeting notes describing state lands plans ­­­­­­­­­

Fla. Conservation Coalition Announces "Major Event" at Silver River State Park

Silver River State Park
(For park information: http://www.floridastateparks.org/silverriver/)

If you’ve been looking for the opportunity to stand up and be counted, to send a powerful signal to the governor and legislature that you want natural Florida and its fragile water resources to be protected and preserved, this is it.

Tell your friends … and be there.

_________________________

Dear FCC Members & Friends,

On June 23^rd Governor Bob Graham and the Florida Conservation Coalition will host a major event to call for the protection of Florida’s springs, rivers, and lakes. The event will be held at Silver River State Park, a short drive south of Silver Springs, one of our state’s most treasured natural landmarks.

With the assistance of our incredible membership we have planned a fantastic day of education, speeches, and nature; all in support of Florida's waters. The FCC would like to invite all of our members and friends from across the state to join Governor Graham and Senator Lee Constantine in showing support for protecting Central and North Florida's imperiled waters. In light of the dramatic decreases in water flow and increases in pollution being observed throughout our state the time to act is now. 

Further information, including the day’s itinerary, speakers, and events will be coming soon. Please a take moment to forward this invitation along to any and all that care about Florida’s natural lands, waters, and wildlife.

If you have any questions, or if your organization is interested in participating in this event, please contact Ryan Smart at rsmart@floridaconservationcoalition.org.

Ryan Smart

Florida Conservation Coalition