The following is shared from an email update from the South Florida Wildlands Association and is re-posted here. It is meant to inform readers of the constant struggle to keep the Florida Everglades healthy and protected. To learn more about this local organization- follow them on Facebook.
South
Florida Wildlands Association
P.O. Box
30211
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33303
In the years since South Florida Wildlands has been working to
protect wildlife and habitat in the Greater Everglades, we have never faced a
combination of issues that have such capacity to destroy and degrade this
unique landscape. Folks who live in South Florida and follow local media
are aware that a company (Kanter Real Estate LLC) has just applied for a permit
to drill for oil and dig limestone mines on 20,000 acres of Everglades it owns
in Broward County. Stories below from CBS 4, the Sun-Sentinel and
Miami-Herald provide maps and lots of background (including sound bites from
South Florida Wildlands) on this breaking story:
Town hall meetings and further action alerts are coming soon on
this brand new issue (though very similar to a battle we and our allies fought
- and won - over oil drilling in the Western Everglades).
But that's not all. We recently learned that Florida and
Power and Light (FPL) is still intent on developing 3,000 acres of primary
Florida panther habitat they bought just north of the Big Cypress National
Preserve and Seminole Reservation for the purpose of building the largest
gas-fired electrical generating plant in the nation. Having lost a
lawsuit with the Seminole Tribe of Florida over agricultural zoning on the
property, FPL is now asking Hendry County to create a new land use type
(Electrical Generating Facility) and move the property into that new
classification.
The FPL property is surrounded by public lands that were acquired
at tremendous cost and effort (e.g. the Big Cypress National Preserve, Dinner
Island Wildlife Management Area, Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest) and contain
some of the most important contiguous upland habitat for Florida panthers,
black bears, and other wildlife in South Florida. For years, the entire
property had been expected to be protected by a Florida Forever land protection
project called "Panther Glades." Unfortunately, funds were never
available to complete that purchase prior to FPL buying the land for their own
purposes. From the standpoint of our stressed out wildlife in South
Florida, FPL could not have chosen a worse location for their new power plant
if they had tried. Article from the Clewiston News explains more about
what FPL is trying get the Hendry County Commission to do for them:
Earlier story on the proposed power plant and its expected impacts
on wildlife is here:
Description of Panther Glades is here:
But wait - there's more. In the Big Cypress National
Preserve, another company (Burnett Oil Company of Ft. Worth, Texas) is applying
for a permit to conduct seismic testing for oil across 110 square miles (70,000
acres) in the heart of the preserve. The intent is to locate oil deposits
before opening up the Big Cypress to additional oil drilling. A federal
comment period is open until the middle of August. For those wondering
how this can take place inside a national preserve - most of the below ground
oil rights are owned by a company named Collier Resources while the National
Park Service controls only the surface. Collier Resources has leased some
of these rights to Burnett Oil for the purpose of the seismic survey.
Another news story from the Sun-Sentinel summarizes this project - which would
take place on some of the most sensitive and biodiverse wetlands in Florida:
Finally, FPL continues to pursue their plans to construct two new
nuclear reactors at Turkey Point on the shores of Biscayne Bay - next to some
of the lowest lying land in South Florida (expected to be inundated with only a
6 inch rise in sea level) and right next door to Biscayne National Park.
We also expect a final decision this summer from the National Park Service on
the request to turn over the eastern side of Everglades National Park to FPL
for the purpose of constructing three massive power lines from Turkey Point to
points north. An article from the Broward and Palm Beach NewTimes
explains how we reached this strange point - in spite of congress having
told the National Park Service years ago to buy out all land necessary to
protect the lifeblood of fresh water into Everglades National Park:
If you're exhausted reading this email - imagine how we felt
writing it. Yes - we also wish the regulatory system worked differently
and efficiently to fully protect rare and dwindling natural resources.
And that many of the folks involved in pushing these projects forward had a
different set of priorities. But these fights will take place under the
current conditions and are not going away. This email is meant as a heads
up on what's happening in the Everglades - and what's coming Some people
call it "America's Everglades." It is. But the Everglades
is also one of the most unique habitats on our planet. It deserves far
better treatment than it's getting. Please share this email and this
information far and wide.
