Suwannee-St. Johns Group

Sierra Club

Newsletter December 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Robert Hopkins Obituary

GENERAL MEETINGS - Doors Open 6:30 pm this month!!!

GET INVOLVED

Environmental Youth Summit

Membership/Volunteer/Social

Programs

Ongoing

OUTINGS

FROM THE CHAIR: MUCH TO DO BEFORE YEAR END

Plum Creek Update

CONSERVATION UPDATE: BAD WATER BILLS SAILING TO APPROVAL

I-75 “Relief”/ US 301 Corridor.

Florida Defenders of the Environment Files Lawsuit over Amendment 1 Funding.

Cattle Grazing, Hunting, and Timbering in the State Parks

Silver Springs Alliance withdraws support for SS Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP).

TRI-COUNTY WORKING GROUP of the SUWANNEE-ST. JOHNS SIERRA CLUB

EDUCATION/OUTREACH

NEED A SPEAKER for your church group, community organization, other?

Robert Hopkins Obituary

Robert Hopkins passed away on August 17th. He leaves behind his wife Dorothy Burnham.

Rob was a Suwannee-St. Johns Group Sierra Club member and a volunteer who was always willing to help. He was a professional writer, including technical writer (approximately 30 textbooks), songwriter, photographer, and science writer. He had about 30 years or more of construction work experience, including estimating public works in California, 3rd party review of mortgages, and running crews.

Rob was a Wetlands Master Naturalist and studied and taught martial arts of various kinds from the age of 12. He was also a SOLO Wilderness First Responder.

He will be sorely missed.

GENERAL MEETINGS ­ Doors Open 6:30 pm this month!!! Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

4225 NW 34th St, Gainesville, FL 32605 Doors open at 6:30pm, Presentation begins 7:00pm

Free and Open to the Public

Thursday, December 3rd, 2015

Pot Luck Social and Awards Ceremony ­­ Doors Open 6:30 pm this month!!! Bring a dish to share, wine or beer if you wish, and your own eating and drinking utensils. We will supply non­alcoholic drinks and desserts. Feel free to come at 6:00pm to help us set up!

GET INVOLVED Contact us at ssjsierra.membership@gmail.com or 352­494­9662.

Unique among environmental organizations, the Sierra Club is run by and for volunteers. There are so many fun and meaningful ways to get involved in the Suwannee St. Johns (SSJ) Group's vital work. Below are a few things we need help with: Environmental Youth Summit This is an annual March event that encourages college and high school youth to participate in activities that benefit the environment and serves as an important educational/outreach effort. Many organizations come together to create events/activities to involve young people in environmental stewardship. SSJ Sierra Club is looking for a member or two to take leadership roles for our part in this event ­ attend a few organizational meetings, come up with an activity, and/or attend the summit to educate and recruit participants.

Membership/Volunteer/Social We are looking for a few members to help in different roles on our Membership/Volunteer/Social team. We need someone with computer skills to maintain our database, create labels, send out new member postcards, and monitor our membership emails. We need someone who enjoys meeting new people and making sure everyone who wants to be involved finds an appropriate place to help out. We need someone to organize social events. Programs Arrange monthly General Meeting speakers, write article about monthly meeting for newsletter, attend the meetings to introduce speaker. Ongoing Write articles for the newsletter and/or website; website maintenance; arrange speakers for monthly programs; attend commission meetings and report back; visit commissioners and legislators to educate them know about environmental issues…..

OUTINGS GET OUTDOORS! Visit our website at ssjsierra.org/outings­2/ to find out about outdoor

adventures sponsored by Sierra Club throughout the State.

Saturday, Dec. 12th, 9:00am – Hike the Bike Trail Coming soon to NW Gainesville: a new community of shops, office parks, apartments and residences to

join the Springhills development on NW 39th avenue near I­75 just north of Santa Fe College. A new road is proposed to connect NW 83rd street and Millhopper Road so as to accommodate projected traffic needs and to provide greater access by shopping consumers. Currently, a well maintained bike trail runs this length of Alachua County property traversing wooded areas full of wildlife and crossing a pretty stream. The bike trail is about a mile east of San Felasco Hammock State Preserve.

We will hike the bike trail from the Shands HealthCare Park to Millhopper Road, and see what’s to be impacted. We will be returning by the same route for a total distance of about 3 miles. Advance arrangements must be made for shuttling cars to the north end of the bike trail for those wishing to only do half the hike. Contact Karen Garren, (352) 316­3453 for more information.

FROM THE CHAIR: MUCH TO DO BEFORE YEAR END

By Maryvonne Devensky

1) The end of the year is here and the Holidays are upon us. At this time of turmoil, fear and terror, we

need to stay balanced and hopeful that someday we can all live at peace in this world. Negativity and terror cannot destroy humanity as we know it. So I am sending you and your family my best wishes for a peaceful Holiday Season. I suggest that you attend the Veterans for Peace Solstice Concert on December 19, 2015 at the UUG church where our meetings are held (McIntyre Stained Glass in Thornebrook Village sells tickets). You can also visit the Thomas Center where the beautiful artworks of Margaret Ross Tolbert, Jill Heinerth, Mark Long, Tom Morris and others are on exhibit until January 6, 2016: “Aquiferious Enter the Springs”.

2) General Meetings: If you have not voted yet, please send your ballot or come to our General meeting on December 3rd, and bring your ballot. All ballots will be counted at the end of the evening. Also bring a dish, or a salad, as we will celebrate the end of the year, and give Awards to several of our very active SSJ Sierra Club members. At the last general meeting, we enjoyed Tom Morris’s presentation, and we thank him for being available on that date. We also passed sign­in sheets for members to volunteer to be on a committee. So we now have several members who signed to work on the PPPC (Protect Paynes Prairie Coalition) Rally, the Water bill and the Ban Fracking Issues. If you also want to volunteer, please let me know by email. We need more active members and together we can work more effectively.

3) The PPPC group met on November 18 and we discussed the SB 570 presented by Charlie Dean. The group is opposed to that bill as it is written now, and we could accept it if only a few dates were “Entrance Free” days. The bill will allow free entrance to all of Florida state parks for one whole year. The idea is to attract more tourists to Florida…Personally, an entrance fee of $4 or $5, is affordable to most residents in Florida and would not be a problem for tourists who come to Disney World or other attractions and spend hundreds of dollars in these parks. On November 20, PPPC/Audubon members and City Commissioner Helen Warren met with Senator Bradley who told them that the bill will not pass in its current form, it will be amended. Senator Bradley also stated he is opposed to grazing and hunting on Paynes Prairie. Please call or email Senator Bradley (352­264­4004 and bradley.rob.web@flsenate.gov) and thank him for his support in protecting Paynes Prairie.

4) Sabal Trail Pipeline: I attended with other Sierra Club members the Suwannee Board of County Commission meeting on Tuesday November 17. The members of that County Commission adopted unanimously a resolution to oppose the location of the planned Compression Station in their county. They held a long meeting and were open to hear the comments from residents of Suwannee county, members of the WWALS group, as well as other Floridians who came from neighboring counties, all opposed to the ST pipeline and the location of that Compression Station.

5) Outings: On November 19 started 3 days of outings sponsored by FDE during the drawdown at the Rodham Dam. I went kayaking and took some photos. As you can see, some photos taken on the Oklawaha river show lots of dead cypress trees that are usually under the water. According to Lars Anderson, our outing leader, the restoration of the Oklawaha river will not be so costly; if let alone, nature will take over, and the seedlings will grow and the forest will become a forest again.

There will be another outing there during the month of February 2016, so let us know if you are interested.

Outings coming up: Mushrooms Hike in Alachua with Karen Garren. Date to be confirmed.

Check SSJ MeetUp.

Hike on MillHopper extension road. Contact Karen Garren: iluvfla@cox.net. Check SSJ MeetUp as well.

ICO Outings:

December 9: Hike with Audubon member Rex Rowan at the Sweetwater Wetlands Park. We will have lots of nice photos then!!!

Continue to call or write Governor Rick Scott (850­717­9249) and Secretary Jon Steverson (850­245­2011) to ask them not to change the State Park system…”It’s not broken – Don’t fix it” or “We will pay the entrance fee” could be your message. Brief, courteous and focused messages are best….Thank you.

Jeanna deGraffenreid, with the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) came from New Orleans to oppose the location of the compression station as well as support the Suwannee BOCC to make comments to FERC and the Civil Corps of Engineers, Comments are extended to December 7, 2015, and anyone can make a comment.

For more information, you can go to Johanna’s blog: http://healthygulf.org/blog/suwannee­county­stands­sabal­trail.

FYI Sierra Club challenged the Civil Corps of Engineers in 2014 and opposed to the SB Pipeline. Greenlaw is the law firm who represents Sierra Club with the Georgia Sierra Chapter. Sierra Club is also a member of the Spectrabusters coalition.

You can also go to the WWALS website.

Thanks to John Quaterman, Chris and Deanna Mericle, Debra Johnson and to everyone who came to that meeting to oppose the ST pipeline.

Plum Creek Update

By Scott Camil The Plum Creek Real Estate Investment Trust continues to pursue extensive new development rights on

its rural timberlands in eastern Alachua County. After its initial application to alter the county's Comprehensive Plan received a strong recommendation of denial from Alachua County staff, Plum Creek withdrew their application and submitted a revised application earlier this year. County staff has now again recommended denial, on the same bases.

Proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan are first considered by the Planning Commission, a citizen advisory board appointed by the Alachua County Commission, before going to the County Commission. After public hearings November 18th and 19th, the Planning Commission voted 4­2 to recommend approval to the County Commission, over­riding the staff recommendation. The circumstances surrounding the Planning Commission hearings are now raising serious questions about the fairness of the process.

The chair of the Planning Commission is Jennifer Springfield, a local attorney who has been hired by Plum Creek to assist in their ongoing effort to annex a part of their land into the city of Hawthorne, where it will be exempt from the county's environmental safeguards. Springfield did not recuse herself from the vote, nor did she disclose her relationship with Plum Creek prior to the meeting. Regardless of whether this is a legal conflict of interest, it's clearly an ethical one.

Another member of the Planning Commission was forced to resign just hours before the first public hearing. Forrest Eddleton, a planner with the City of Gainesville, has served for some time on the Commission in one of its citizen­at­large positions. According to Eddleton, his boss, interim Gainesville City Manager Anthony Lyons, instructed him to either resign or lose his job. Eddleton's planning experience would have enabled him to effectively evaluate the county staff recommendation.

We were dealt another blow when, on November 23rd, the County Commission voted not to challenge the City of Hawthorne’s annexation of Plum Creek property. You can see what happened for yourself by watching the video, starting at the 2 hour 8 minute mark. Here is the link: http://alachua.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=8&clip_id=2915

You will see in these last 6 minutes that Hutch votes for Plum Creek. Byerly and Cornell disagree with Hutch and finally Susan Baird thanking Hutch. See what Hutch says about Plum Creek. If this is a sign of what is to come, it appears that Hutch will be trading his old legacy of “environmentalist” for his new legacy as the commissioner who put corporate profits above protecting the community. We need to let Hutch know where we stand on this extremely important issue.

Plum Creek has a national reputation for playing hardball, using money and the political influence it buys to run roughshod over local communities and environmental safeguards. It's happening now in our county. Sierra Club thanks Planning Commission members Eileen Roy and Tim Rockwell for voting to protect the public's interest in a healthy environment, planned growth, and rural communities.

The next stage is the one that really counts: County Commission evening public hearings will start either January 26th or Feb. 9th. Commissioners need to know that the public cares about this issue, and is watching. Please plan to attend at least the first of these hearings, at which the public will speak. In the meantime, we encourage all Sierra Club members to contact their county commissioners directly at bocc@alachuacounty.us.

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CONSERVATION UPDATE: BAD WATER BILLS SAILING TO APPROVAL By Whitey Markle, Conservation Chair

SSJ member, Dr. Bob Palmer, is leading the legislative team of the Florida Springs Council which is made up of over 30 Florida environmental organizations that represent over 20,000 members across the state. Dr. Palmer and his team mates developed 17 amendments to the pending “Water Bills” (SB 522/HB7005) that are sailing through our state legislative committees. Although the results of the bills will be nearly totally ineffective, they seem to pass through the committees along party lines.

During the committee process, Dr. Palmer and his colleagues met with all of the key committee leadership in Tallahassee, attempting to convince them of the value of the proposed amendments. Senator Darren Soto, a Democrat representing Osceola, Orange, and Polk Counties, took 4 of Palmer’s amendments to the Senate Environmental Protection and Preservation committee (Chaired by our own Senator Charlie Dean) in good

faith. But unfortunately the Republican majority on the committee wasn’t in the mood for attaching amendments, regardless of their merit. 5 amendments that are most important are:

1. Insert Minimum Flows and Levels amendments specifying that: (a) a standard of “harm” rather than “significant harm” should be applied to MFLs and (b) Water reservations should be used to protect an OFS (Outstanding Florida Spring) below its MFL.

2. Substitute “Springs Protection and Management Zones” for “Priority Focus Areas”. (As the bill is currently written, the “Priority Focus Areas” apply only to small portions of the springsheds).

3. Authorize an independent study of water fees. 4. Fund an alternative North Central FL groundwater model, with appropriate peer­review. 5. Water Management Districts (WMD) should estimate a maximum sustainable groundwater withdrawal

for each district.

One may recall this is the same piece of legislation that was “authored” by Senator Dean and passed the senate last spring, but got no house support and died due to adjournment. So there has apparently been plenty of time to reconsider the bill and consider amendments. But there was also apparently a preoccupation with the redistricting fight the legislature is still having with the courts, a perfect excuse for not doing the business at hand. Because the amendments would have been defeated in committee, they could not have been introduced in the process further down the line. Seeing this outcome, Senator Soto withdrew the amendments in hopes they will be introduced when the full senate convenes in mid­January.

At the Suwannee/St. Johns Executive Committee meeting on Nov. 12, we endorsed a resolution:

“Regarding SB 552/HB7005, “The Water Bill(s)”, we feel the pending legislation, in its present form, does not effectively solve the water­related issues in Florida. There should be much more in the bill regarding water conservation. The rivers, springs, and groundwater supplies are in deficit. “Alternative water supply sources” are siphoning the available fresh water from the existing sources which obviously affects those resources negatively. An effective conservation program in Florida would be much more valuable than the existing policies provide.

The voters of Florida overwhelmingly endorsed Amendment 1 in the last general election and that vote mandated much more spending for conservation of our water resources than the legislature has provided in the above proposed legislation. We feel the 17 amendments introduced to the committees by the Florida Springs Council were effective and reasonable amendments. Hopefully at least some of those amendments will be included in future water legislation negotiations. Water monitoring, Fertilizer control, Consumptive Use permitting, and restoration should be at the forefront of the Bill. The Suwannee/St. Johns Sierra Club Group, being primarily a conservation organization, requests that the Water Bill be renegotiated in an effective manner.”

Hopefully we can persuade the legislature to change its attitude toward our most valuable Florida resource and these good amendments will be adopted into the final Water Bill. I­75 “Relief”/ US 301 Corridor.

I participated in a phone conference with Jim Woods, FDOT’s coordinator for the I­75 “relief” task force, Frank Jackalone, head Florida Chapter Sierran, Tom Larson, Chapter Treasurer, and several others last week regarding the transportation plans for north Florida’s future. In that conversation, I was named the “point man” for this portion of the proposed plans since our Group covers the majority of the area being eyeballed. Concerns were raised about the inclusion (or exclusion) of multimodal transportation in the plans. If you look at the Scott administration’s transportation policy, there is very little, if any, consideration for alternative modes of

transportation. Rail transit, bus, bike, and pedestrian modes are not important to the administration. Apparently efficient, environmentally sensible transportation policy doesn’t earn the dollars that population growth does in their minds. Although statistics prove there are actually fewer people using Florida roads nowadays, the governor is apparently planning to spend billions of dollars on new roads. And the spending is proposed to go mostly to projects that are designed to subsidize more growth in environmentally sensitive areas in the “middle of nowhere”.

Although the Tampa Bay area transportation planners asked for a dozen or so small but effective projects in their urban area, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) nixed them in favor of several growth­producing projects, the Suncoast Parkway Extension being one that will destroy miles of valuable habitat and will not pay for itself. I was told personally by a Southwest Florida Water Management District representative last year that the Bear corridor state lands in and around Chassahowitzka (Annutaliga Hammock tract) were in the plans for development, thus their placement on the auction block. But the biggest boondoggle is the 55+ miles of “highway to Nowhere” being planned to pipe newcomers around old Panama City into St. Joe Corporation’s future development although the development hasn’t begun. So if the transportation system doesn’t make sense, this is why. Check out the Governor’s campaign contributions.

Regarding the US 301 corridor portion of the “I­75 Relief” plans, we are still completely in the dark as is the majority

of the Task Force’s plans. We know the Suncoast Parkway Extension 1 will end up at CR 44 between Lecanto and Crystal River in Citrus County, but Taskforce planners are keeping the Extension 2 location and direction close to the chest. The grand scheme is called the “Tampa Bay to Northeast Florida Future Corridor Task Force”. Todd Powell, General Manager, Real Estate, Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc., Charles Lee, Plum Creek advisor and representative of the Florida Audubon Society who recommended approval of the Plum Creek Envision debacle in eastern Alachua County, Charles Pattison of 1000 friends of Florida, and Janet Bowman of the Nature Conservancy who signed on to the “Water Bills” that are sailing through the Florida legislature, Rebecca Bays, a Citrus County Commissioner and Insurance executive, plus the Chairmen of the respective affected County Commissions are on the task force along with another dozen agency bureaucrats and regional Planning Council Chairmen.

If the Suncoast Parkway Extension 1 dead­ends at CR 44 in Citrus County, and FDOT is planning a

“301 Corridor”, where will it connect to US 301 in Extension 2? From this person’s frame of reference, it

almost has to connect somewhere in Marion or Levy County. Maybe through the Goethe State Forest between Dunnellon and Williston? Then where will it cross I­75? Probably not that far north because of the iconic Paynes Prairie. Maybe through York and Fellowship West of Ocala and up through Zuber and Reddick (where US 301 meets with US 441) and northeast to 301 in Citra? The illustrious website lends no clue.

So if the superpike goes thru Citra at the north end of Marion County, although it will be massive and

very environmentally destructive, it may turn out to be the solution to the Orange Lake pollution problem that has loomed since FDOT filled in 90% of the south end of the lake when they built US 301 as it is in its present form in 1962. The lake needs natural drainage to the east down Orange Creek and on to the old Ocklawaha, but it can’t drain naturally with US 301 and the “flood control” weir stopping most of the natural flow that would normally carry the debris out of the lake. Subsequently the lake is filling up from the bottom up from US 301 back into the lake. As vegetation rots, it sucks the oxygen out of the little water that is left. The Florida Wildlife Commission stocks the lake yearly with thousands of baby Bass, but most of them die because of oxygen deficiency. In the Orange Lake Habitat Management workshop this month, scientists finally admitted (after cross examination) that removing the weir (and building a causeway over that end of the lake) would result in an average lowering of the water level by 14”, a minimal drop in water level. None of the experts there disagreed with the cleansing effect of these structures’ removal.

I stated in my last newsletter article that the Orange Lake Association leadership had taken the US 301

causeway (and weir removal) off the table for consideration by that group.. I obviously misunderstood the conversation. Their representatives now tell me the issue is at the forefront of future discussion although they have no official position. Over pumping fresh water from the aquifer, as well as periodic drought has caused extremely low water levels in karst­based Orange Lake over the last decades. And nitrate/phosphate concentration from fertilizer over application and septic tanks has caused an imbalance in the water’s chemistry. Both the water level and chemistry imbalance have put the lake in a pitiful condition.

The Sierra Club’s position on population growth is simple: Population growth is bad for the environment, The US 301 Corridor will be the most destructive factor in this region’s recent history. It will not benefit our local economies. More trucks will move goods faster from the big urban centers of Tampa Bay and Jacksonville, but we will lose our valuable wildlife corridors.

Planning more roads to accommodate future proposed development in lieu of planning for

transportation alternatives doesn’t make good sense in a state that is already overpopulated. Florida won’t be Florida without its wildlife and healthy water resources. Florida Defenders of the Environment Files Lawsuit over Amendment 1 Funding.

The Florida Defenders of the Environment (FDE) has filed a lawsuit to protect voter’s intent on land conservation Amendment 1 Gainesville, FL, November 9, 2015— The lawsuit was filed in Circuit Court in Leon County seeking a declaration that the legislature broke the law by spending Amendment 1 money—which voters earmarked for land conservation and maintenance—on other purposes. Florida Defenders also asks for a court injunction against several state agencies to block them from spending the misappropriated funds. In November 2014, three­quarters of Florida voters called for a change to the state constitution requiring the legislature to spend on land conservation one­third of the revenue from a tax on real estate documents. Rather than allocate the public’s money toward these permissible purposes—ranging from land purchases to restoration programs—the Legislature redirected tax revenue in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to offset expenses formerly borne by general tax dollars such as salaries, acquisition of motor vehicles and general operating costs. Florida Defenders of the Environment’s filed lawsuit follows legal action over Amendment 1 by other environmental organizations in the state. Florida Defender’s Board of Trustees nonetheless authorized filing the

suit. Explains Florida Defenders’ President Steve Robitaille, “One of Florida Defenders of the Environment’s great strengths is the legal and scientific expertise of its volunteers and leaders. In this case, our legal team identified a legal theory which is likely to be successful and which other organizations have not argued. Adding our voice, and expertise, to other pending challenges makes a successful outcome— where the will of Florida voters is achieved—more likely.” Florida Constitutional law scholar and Florida Defenders’ Vice­President Joe Little drafted the complaint. Little says, “The legislature may not make appropriations from a fund that has a specifically designated use prescribed in other portions of the statutes or constitution for purposes that do not serve that designated use. Florida Defenders’ argument is that Amendment 1 places funds in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for explicitly designated uses—purchasing and restoring conservation lands—and that the legislature cannot appropriate those monies for other uses.” Reprint from FDE bulletin, 9 November, 2015 Cattle Grazing, Hunting, and Timbering in the State Parks

For months Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Steverson has pushed to make Florida state parks “financially self­sufficient”. To begin with, the question arises: Do the people in the Rick Scott administration believe in funding anything other than subsidies for their business partners? Of all state spending, if the deficiency Steverson perceives is truth, our public should be able to enjoy their parks above all.

Secondly, it is only logical that if you open the parks to free admission, money is lost from that park’s budget. It looks from here like the “insufficiency” of park funding is actually generated by the Tallahassee management including the good governor. What a cheap way to bring about a policy that is totally incompatible with the state park system. Again, the governor was elected by maybe a 1% margin against a weak opponent; certainly not a mandate for the governor’s policies or ideology. It looks like blatant opportunism to say the least. It makes you wonder who and how they dream this stuff up.

Senator Bradley told the Gainesville Sun, “State parks have a very important and special mission. These parks are special places. They are refuges for people, natural habitats, and wildlife. These are lands protected and preserved by the taxpayers. They do not exist to be profit centers.” Representative Keith Perry said hunting is not compatible with hiking, camping, and biking, and other activities at state parks.

Representative Dennis Baxley, who is running to replace Senator Charlie Dean, also said that most state parks are incompatible with hunting. Representative Charlie Stone has said nothing on the issue. So it looks like the Tallahassee park managers will get some pushback from the legislature ON HUNTING in the state parks. None of our legislators have expressed opposition to timbering and cattle grazing. Could it be that hunting is so ridiculous that these guys planned it this way? Divert the attention to hunting and we’ll look like we did something for the public……..and we’ll cut the trees and graze without opposition? Hopefully these same legislators will come to their senses regarding grazing and timbering. Silver Springs Alliance withdraws support for SS Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP).

The Silver Springs Alliance (SSA) has withdrawn from the list of stakeholders in the Silver Springs Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) process. In an Ocala Star­Banner column last week, Dr. Bob Knight, SSA president, said the report's recommendations as to reducing polluting nitrate levels in the spring and river were so inadequate that the alliance's continued association with the report was damaging to the organization and its reputation.

Mary Paulic, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s BMAP coordinator, said, “It’s a long­term process…which can be modified over time ….One step at a time……as resources become available.” The fact is these BMAPs are revisited every 5 years by statute, not that the Florida Statutes nor the federal Clean Water Act are regarded very highly by FDEP. For example, the Orange Creek Basin BMAP was approved WITHOUT COMPLYING WITH THE TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (Nitrate limits) for Lake Lochloosa . And there are many other statutory violations in the BMAPs for this area (and probably universally). Regarding available resources, only a small portion of the Amendment 1 money has been allocated for land and water conservation, the purpose for the BMAP process itself. And Ms. Paulic told me (by shrugging her shoulders) in the last Silver Springs BMAP meeting after I had questioned the BMAPs’ lack of funding guarantees, that there is no guarantee of funding for the BMAPs. That’s up to the “Jobs”­oriented legislature and we know what they did with Amendment 1. We (I am a Board of Directors member for the SSA) could have challenged the Silver Springs BMAP in court (State Administrative Hearing, the $200k roadblock that always rules against the public while forcing it into bankruptcy while using taxpayer dollars) to defend its illegal procedures and policies, but we are a volunteer organization with donated money. Subsequently, we hardly ever get past the Administrative Hearing process and we are tapped out of money. So we didn’t file an official challenge. The following is a copy of my letter to The FDEP Working Group coordinator on August 18, 2015 in which I, with the blessing of the SSJ Executive Committee, wrote to Ms. Paulic:

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL: mary.paulic@dep.state.fl.us

Re: Comments on the 2015 Draft BMAP for Silver Springs and the Silver River

Dear Ms. Paulic:

As a stakeholder in the Silver Springs Basin Management Action Plan Working Group and the Orange Creek Basin Working Group proceedings and having provided input on several occasions during the process, the Suwannee/St. Johns Sierra Club Group contributes the following comments:

As was discussed with Dr. Palmer, myself, and yourself after the last OCB BMAP meeting (August 6), we believe the spirit of the statute is being ignored if not evaded:

The mandate in the law concerning “New Projects” (especially in the 5 year review process) is being redefined. The “New projects” in the recent plans are actually continuations of the old projects (that obviously haven’t achieved better water quality in the Basin).

Statutorily mandated funding for projects and monitoring has not been adequately provided. It appears to us that the Department’s reliability on the (precarious) legislature for such funding is quite undependable, especially in view of the legislature’s handling of Amendment 1 funding this last session.

Sadly, the fact remains that volunteer organizations face an insurmountable obstacle in assuring that your agency (and others) adequately protect our natural resources. That obstacle is money. Our tax dollars appear to be used to subsidize the entities we think are causing the environmental harm (agriculture, development, and municipal industry), leaving us with no choice but to attempt to remedy the issues with our voluntary donations. This is a staggering disadvantage.

As you are well aware, I have personally (along with other environmental advocates) pointed out several times in the hearings that we believe the objectives and spirit of the statute(s) are not being attained nor attempted, and that the BMAP process is not working.

The Suwannee/St. Johns Sierra Club believes that the Basin Management Action Plan Working Group process(s) for both the Silver Springs BMAP and the Orange Creek Basin BMAP are unproductive if not nonproductive.

Although we didn’t say we were withdrawing from the stakeholder process, that was implied. The only other environmental organization involved in these BMAPs was the Florida Springs Institute, so when the bureaucrats speak of “the stakeholders”, they are talking about the local governments, business, agricultural enterprises, developers, and State agency bureaucrats.

As Bob Knight so eloquently said (more than once), “……they didn’t want us to participate”. And no truer words were ever spoken. I suppose when your head is in the Guillotine every day of your professional life as is obviously the case here, you probably tend to wish that any opposition didn’t show up, let alone be a working part of the process.

The “Water Bill”, if passed in January, will espouse more “transparency” in future such proceedings. The sunshine is getting darker by the minute.

TRI­COUNTY WORKING GROUP of the SUWANNEE­ST. JOHNS SIERRA CLUB

Part of the Florida Chapter of the national Sierra Club: the oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States.

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Kathryn Taubert, 19436 SW 101st Place Road, Dunnellon, FL 34432, 352.489.5085

LOCAL SIERRA CLUB RELEASES NEW EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

Local Sierra Club officials announced the release of a new presentation for area clubs and organizations describing the impact of problems with Florida’s water resources upon people living in Marion, Citrus and Levy counties. Water Works: Stand Up and Act Now is an interactive, presenter­led PowerPoint program for clubs, organizations and civic groups offered, at no charge, by the Sierra Club’s Tri­County Working Group.

“This program differs because it makes difficult things easy to understand,” says Whitey Markle, Conservation Chair for the Suwannee­St. Johns Sierra Club. “Water Works translates scientific facts into common language, detailing the specific impact of Florida’s and the tri­county’s water problems on jobs, property values, lifestyles, ecotourism and most importantly, our drinking water,” further states Markle.

Developed by a Sierra Club Task Force from a variety of scientific and governmental resources, Water Works: Stand Up and Act Now also describes the impact of population growth and development in the next 15 years upon current and future water resources in the tri­county area as well as specific things individuals can do to help.

“Programs of this type generally discuss broader issues in scientific terms,” says Gary Green, Water Works Task Force leader. “Our team translated the facts into understandable language specific to Marion, Citrus and Levy counties, telling people specifically why we should care about what’s happening to our local springs, rivers, and drinking water, and what we can do about it.” To schedule Water Works for your group, contact: (Citrus) Nancy Kost, nkost@tampabay.rr.com or 352.628.0698; (Levy), Whitey Markle, WHMarkle@gmail.com or 352.595.5131; (Marion), Gary Green, garryegreen@centurylink.net or 352.817.8077.

Members of the local Sierra Club participated in the development of Water Works: Stand Up and Act Now, the new free presentation for clubs, organizations and civic groups in Citrus, Levy and Marion counties. Pictured left to right: Nancy Kost, Harriet Jones, Whitey Markle, Kathryn Taubert, Dwight Porter, Jon Brainard, Connie and Gordon Hart, Jan Hitchcock, Marie Hall. (Not pictured are Gary Green, Jim Carrell, Nathan Whitt, and John Moran (photography). To schedule Water Works for your group, contact: (Citrus) Nancy Kost, nkost@tampabay.rr.com or 352.628.0698; (Levy), Whitey Markle, WHMarkle@gmail.com or 352.595.5131; (Marion), Gary Green, garryegreen@centurylink.net or 352.817.8077.

EDUCATION/OUTREACH NEED A SPEAKER for your church group, community organization, other? The Tri­County Working Group, in conjunction with the Sierra Club Educational Committee, is embarking upon an educational tour, offering a slide show and accompanying discussion to acquaint interested groups in our area with the main environmental issues that Sierra Club is concerned with. The hope is that this education program motivates people to practice both good conservation habits as well as the will to press our government officials to seek more effective solutions. If anyone knows of any type of group, club or home owners association that might be interested, contact Education Chair Jon Brainard…..(407) 491­8158 or jonbrainard@gmail.com.