Keep informed on the Florida Everglades

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:

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/07/13/company-wants-exploratory-oil-well-west-of-miramar/

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article27014374.html

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-broward-oil-drilling-20150710-story.html

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).

http://www.local10.com/news/south-florida-environmentalists-stop-oil-drilling-plans/26942746

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:

http://florida.newszap.com/clewiston/139732-113/florida-power-and-light-asks-hendry-county-to-change-its-comprehensive-plan

Earlier story on the proposed power plant and its expected impacts on wildlife is here:

http://www.scrippsmedia.com/fox4now/news/134352173.html

Description of Panther Glades is here:

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/FFAnnual/Panther_Glades.pdf

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:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-big-cypress-oil-20150617-story.html

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:

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/will-fpl-run-power-lines-through-the-everglades-6353489

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.