Come support our state parks this Saturday!

Sixteen "Love Fests" will take place across Florida on Saturday, April 5, to show the public's appreciation for Florida's awesome state parks and to urge legislators to better protect them.

Two bills are moving through the legislative process, CS/SB 80 and HB 209, but as written/amended they can't prevent the development threats we fought to stop last year.

VoteWater will be at the "Love Fest" for Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County; to find an event near you, click the button.

Zoning hearing for EAA rock mine

Thursday

The proposed rock mine — officially, the Southland Water Resources project, proposed by Phillips & Jordan — goes before the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission Thursday at 9 a.m. The 8,611.52-acre site is owned by Okeelanta Corporation (Florida Crystals) and U.S. Sugar; the plan is to excavate limestone from the site for a period of at least 34 years (and maybe as long as 44 years) beginning in 2025. The acreage would be broken down into "cells"; as cells are excavated, they would supposedly be converted into water storage reservoirs owned by the South Florida Water Management District.

But there are more holes in this proposal than Swiss cheese. In March the Everglades Law Center sent a letter on behalf of our friends at Friends of the Everglades to Palm Beach County officials, advising that the proposal fails to meet county requirements — and hasn't even been formally presented to the South Florida Water Management District's Governing Board yet.

Friends Policy Director (and VoteWater Executive Director) Gil Smart will be on hand at Thursday's meeting to reiterate these points. As we've said before, this isn't restoration — it's exploitation. And the Palm Beach Zoning Commission needs to give it a thumbs-down.

'The Science Is Clear — Rescue the River of Grass'

Few understand the history and challenges of Everglades restoration better than Terrence “Rock” Salt, former commander of the Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Now a citizen advocate who serves as Vice President of Tropical Audubon Society in Miami, he says one fact has remained unchanged over the decades: Restoring the Everglades requires more land, more dynamic water storage, and more water-cleansing marshes in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) south of Lake Okeechobee.

Rock sees a logical and timely path forward in the campaign to Rescue the River of Grass. The science is clear, the funding is available, and the time to act is now.

That’s why Tropical Audubon has joined the fight to Rescue the River of Grass. Building public support is crucial. Will you sign the petition and stand with us?