2 March 1999
Governor Jeb Bush
Tallahassee, Florida
32399
Dear Governor Bush,
I find it necessary to inform you of a
very serious problem concerning our natural wonder, The Everglades.
The Everglades are now being
re-evaluated, again. This 8.4.BILLION
DOLLAR project could reproduce our natural Everglades as we once knew it or the
project could destroy it forever. Because of my concern I called a meeting. I
felt it was very important to acquire valuable information and descriptions from
men who had alot of experience with the Everglades. Many of the men have made
there living in the Everglades for 40 to 60 years. The older individuals came
from many walks of life; froggers, trappers, commercial fisherman, recreational
users and older Florida Game and Fish employees. There knowledge is extremely
valuable in starting to rebuild the vast Everglades before the destruction and
modifications made by man.
I feel it is necessary to forward to you our unified
thoughts and recommendations concerning the rebuilding of our Everglades. It
is necessary that we be candid with you and relate the good, bad and ugly.
Many years ago Florida Governor Askew, was fighting the
battle to save The Everglades. The Governor held a meeting on Miami Beach. All
professional people who had knowledge of The Everglades problem were invited
to attend. This included water management personnel, hydrologists, biologists,
scientists and, many other knowledgeable people. The Governor asked all to
be non-biased concerning the true
thought to save The Everglades from destruction. This body of people was so
large that they had to be broken up into three different groups. This meeting
was very serious and lasted for three days. All information acquired from the
many individuals was formed into one summary. The summary report final analysis
recommended that The State of Florida had made a mistake to allow the various
farmers to move into the-.flood plains, They further recommended The
State of Florida repurchase the flood plains and return it to its natural state
as The Everglades.
The political power of this union decided to "water
down" the summary considerably. They rewrote the summary three different
times, each time the report was "watered down" considerably. The
final summary report did not represent the truth. Business went on as usual.
Now three to four decades later we are faced with the same battle, only to
experience a much smaller Everglades than before, which is ever increasingly
dying at a rapid rate.
The
Water Management track record speaks for itself. Area number two (2) is a good
example. All the islands and hammocks do not exist, and the wildlife is gone.
After the 1947 hurricane and flood control came to be, the
water table regulations set forth were not to be harmful to the habitat or The
Everglades ecosystem. If it was found to be destructive the water schedules
were to be lowered. It would be unlawful for Water Management to willfully
cause destruction to The Everglades ecosystem. A cap should be put on the high water level and persons should
be held accountable if
they exceed that level. No one should be
able to kill The Everglades ecosystem.
The first report from the restudy team
water recommendations call for water heights that will drown out tree islands
and hammocks the same way that has already killed off Area Two (2). It seems that
we cannot profit from our mistake. In the part large sections of The Everglades
have been killed
off to save another section. This
approach is not necessary.
The Water Management 'take away system is not working. The
Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission reports that they estimate the
deer herd within all of Area Three (3) is 59 deer. The State of Florida should be
ashamed to have let this type of thing happen to one of our worlds Natural
Wonders, as The Everglades. During the 1960's the deer herd was estimated to be
over 10,000. We feel it is well over time to stop the old practices and get
serious and truthful by giving a direct approach in saving what little is left
of The Everglades.
There is much debate as to what The Everglades water
table, wildlife and plant life was during the early years. We highly recommend
that we take advantage of the more direct experience that we still have
available.
The elder men who have spent most all of there lives and
livelihood within The Everglades have much direct knowledge of this ecosystem,
that would prove to be very beneficial to the natural restoration.
We recommend that a special effort be put forth to locate
some of these men who can relate and forward such vital information that may otherwise be overlooked by the study team.
It would be advantageous to appoint a
special board of these qualified men to act as advisors to the study team. We
are not against spending the 8.4 Billion Dollars, to save The Everglades not
destroy it.
Governor Bush, The State of Florida in part has allowed to much destruction of our Everglades. If you as a Texan can address our problem as The Texans did years ago to save your Texas deer herd, we can achieve our goal.
If we can be of any assistance in any manner, please do.
not hesitate to call on me.
Sincerely Yours,
