Florida
showing toll of warming, scientists say
By
CATHY ZOLLO
Cabbage palms along the coast, ones they had used for years for
navigation, were gone. Dying off as well were the cedar trees for which
the island is named.
Researchers who studied the trees came to alarming conclusions: A rise
in sea level that is accelerating with global warming is taking out
The oceans have been rising for 17,000 years, creeping up the state's
beaches at the rate of roughly 0.6 millimeters a year. But since the
Industrial Revolution, that rate has accelerated, and since 1993 it has
reached about 3 millimeters a year, according to the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration.
That does not sound like much. But with
"When you go along the Gulf Coast of Florida, it's not hard to find
areas of dead trees," Putz said.
"What we are seeing is a pretty rapid transition from forests to
salt marshes."
It is one among many clues that a changing climate will have a powerful
effect on
In the case of retreating forests, the state should limit development in
threatened areas, allowing wooded areas to move inward to provide a
continued buffer against the sea, he said.
"We need to think about upland extensions of our parks to allow for
the migration of these upland communities," Putz
said.
Otherwise, Cedar Key might have to change its name.
"(Cedar trees) will retreat inland," Putz
said. "They won't be on Cedar Key.
Another sign that global warming is already being felt is found in the
state's 7,800 lakes.
Scientists using lake temperatures in 50 of the largest lakes, not
including Lake Okeechobee, to gauge climate change in
The warming has been most pronounced since 1975: Since then, the average
temperature in the lakes has climbed about one degree.
The temperature shift means the lakes have less time for the important
process of mixing that comes each winter. Mixing enhances the lakes'
oxygen levels and helps support plants and fish.
When a lake is very warm in the summer, the water stratifies, like
layers of a cake. Without mixing with water at the surface, little
oxygen reaches the bottom.
Most affected will be lakes in Central and northern
"North Florida lakes are just as warm as South Florida lakes in
summer," said Danny Coenen, a
researcher from the
That is when those lakes have had months to mix as the air temperature
cools surface waters and surface water sinks.
The evidence of climate change in
"Global change is not just a problem for people in
Last
modified: May 11.
2007 4:22AM
110-degree
summers in city's future?
City
Lights Turn Off Fireflies' Love Lives
Published:
May 11, 2007
More
lights illuminating streets, garages, gardens and other outdoor areas
could be one reason there seem to be far fewer fireflies than in the
past, said Marc Branham, professor of entomology with the University of
Florida.
Too
much light disrupts fireflies, which use their nocturnal flashes and
glows to find mates.
Branham,
who has studied lightning bugs for 15 years, said scientists can't put
hard numbers on the apparent reduction of fireflies in
"But
folks all have the same story. They don't see as many as they used
to," Branham said. "There are probably other factors, too,
like more chemicals people put on their yards."
Some
of
Branham's
research shows that outdoor lights affect firefly mating.
Male
fireflies hover above grass or brush and flash to convince the females
on the ground they are suitable mating material. If the female is
impressed, she flashes her own light directly at the male that caught
her fancy.
Females
of many species seem to prefer males that flash the brightest and
fastest.
Branham
set up a light equivalent to a porch light in areas where male fireflies
gathered and used tiny lights on the ground to mimic the response of
females, repeating the test with the light off.
"What
we found was the males stayed away from the light source and had a
harder time seeing the females flash back," he said.
Not
only do outdoor lights make the males shy away, but the artificial light
also disrupts their ability to tell when to search for a mate.
Various
species emerge to mate at different times, judging when to fly by how
light it is. Some come out for perhaps an hour after dusk, then
another species takes flight.
"They
take their cue from how dark it is. With light pollution, fireflies
don't know when to start flying," Branham said.
In
yards with outdoor lights, males tend to keep to the darker areas,
restricting where they can find mates.
"One
of the worst lights is a bare bulb stuck in a socket. It throws light
everywhere," Branham said.
People
can help by using outdoor lights that illuminate specific areas and not
broadcast light over large spaces. At the very least, they should turn
off outdoor lights when they go to bed, Branham said.
It's
difficult to tell how the loss of fireflies would affect the
environment. The insects, members of the beetle family, feed on things
such as slugs and snails.
"I
don't think we know the exact answer to what the loss of fireflies will
mean," Branham said.
Reporter
Neil Johnson can be reached at (352) 544-5214 or njohnson
@tampatrib.com.
Big
changes facing lifetime grove man
Citrus
farmer John Floyd has overcome many setbacks, so he's not worried about
new rules.
By
ERIN SULLIVAN
Published May 11, 2007
DADE
CITY - Everything could be taken from him, all John Floyd has worked for
since he can remember.
Things
are already changing so much, what with the new state laws trying to
prevent disease from taking hold of the citrus industry - second to only
tourism in
But
it's okay, Floyd says. Everything will be
fine.
And
he's sincere. His eyes crinkle up at the corners as he smiles in that
soothing, somewhat shy way he does. He said growing in the greenhouses
will be different, but that's what has to be done to keep the citrus
safe.
John
Floyd was born with the hunger for success,
the flint-edged desire only the dirt poor know; the gnawing kind that
whips fire at your heels. This hunger has made millionaires and
presidents. It's also driven men mad, this need that never seems filled
and this fear that they'll end up where they began.
Floyd
grew up one of six kids in a two-bedroom house on the west side of
Though
Floyd knew he didn't want the life he was born into, he had a good
childhood - they had food, a roof over their heads, shoes even if they
had holes. When he wasn't working odd jobs, Floyd spent his time
outdoors: fishing, hunting, roaming. He hung out at the city auction and
bought and sold things for extra money. He often bought new furniture
for the house well, new for them, but used. He never knew if his parents
noticed or appreciated it. Maybe one old couch looks the same as
another.
Hitchhiking
nets a job
Floyd
liked to hitchhike around town, no particular place to go, just out. One
day, when he was 12, a citrus farmer picked him up and changed his life.
This man asked Floyd if he wanted a job.
Buddy
Triplett did bud work - which is grafting citrus trees. Floyd took to
the work easily. He loved it, being out in the sun,
knife in hand, the focus and rhythm of the work sweeping his mind clean
of everything else clogging it. Floyd could make $300 a day doing bud
work. He also learned about citrus harvesting and everything else he
could about the business.
He
was never into school - that wasn't going to be his path to success. He
was making so much money in citrus farming that he dropped out and
proposed to his girlfriend, Sabrina, who also dropped out of school.
They lived in a 10- by 50-foot trailer. They had a daughter and then a
son. Floyd worked sunup to sundown, trying to make his fortune.
He
devoured self-help books like How to Win Friends and Influence People,
Think and Grow Rich and The Magic of Thinking Big. He bartered citrus
trees for a patch of land so he could start a citrus tree nursery on the
outskirts of
So
this was how Floyd & Associates Inc. was born - which Floyd started
with his brother,
But
at the same time Floyd was so desperate to carve out a good life for
himself and his family, he also was tearing it down with whiskey and
drugs. Floyd was in his 20s. And he was wild. Something had to give - he
couldn't keep on going like this forever.
The
path that killed his father could easily kill him.
Avoiding
dad's path
While
trying to find good role models, he met some other businessmen who
became his mentors. Many of them were religious and Floyd started
reading the Bible.
Something
in him just clicked.
He
gave it up - all of it, the drink and the drugs and the late nights.
"I
don't think I'd be alive today if I hadn't, "
Floyd said. "I was on a train going really fast."
The
gnawing void that sometimes never gets filled in some men, no matter how
many things they have, felt full in him. He still wanted success, sure.
Who doesn't? But he let go of the worries he couldn't control - the ones
that can drive farmers to early graves: cold snaps, freezes, droughts,
parasites, disease. He believed what the Bible told him, that God had a
plan for him, a purpose, and if he kept his faith, things would always
work out for the best. He felt secure and loved.
A
business success
Floyd
still worked hard, up at dawn, out on the grove. He built his nursery
into one of the largest in
Floyd
is 48 now. He said he's not a millionaire. But he's comfortable. He
wears old jeans and work boots and baseball hats and still, even though
he's the boss, looks like he feels more at home outdoors than he does in
his office. He and Sabrina just celebrated their 30th wedding
anniversary - beating the odds that were against them, marrying so
young.
He
keeps posters of nature - of flowers and mountains and streams - on the
far wall from his desk. Looking at them helps when worries creep in. He
says they remind him of God, of how he created all things and has a plan
for all things, including him, a dirt-poor cracker boy desperate for
material wealth but who, in the end, got much more.
Erin
Sullivan can be reached at esullivan@sptimes.com
or (813) 909-4609.
Drought
Forces
State
To Tighten Taps
Published:
May 11, 2007
"The
seriousness of this drought and the public's role in cutting back cannot
be overstated," said Carol Wehle,
executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.
The
new rules mean outside watering will be cut to once a week in Broward
and
Pumping
from four coastal wells in Lantana,
"If
we don't shut them down and the salt gets in the wells, they won't
recover for decades," district spokeswoman Julie Huber said.
New
development in
"We
are not allowing any increase to the amount of water that is being
withdrawn," she said.
The
drought is also hitting the agriculture industry, which was forced to
curtail use by 50 percent last month. It is digging into tourism dollars
as many inland waterways dry up, removing boating and fishing
opportunities.
U.S.
Sugar Corp., the nation's largest cane-sugar producer, is feeling the
pinch as a new crop is getting started on 160,000 acres in
"If
the rainy season doesn't begin in the near future, we'll certainly start
seeing some dramatic impacts on the crops," company spokeswoman
Judy Sanchez said.
During
a 2001 drought, U.S. Sugar lost about 30 percent of the sugar content in
its cane. The sugar industry as a whole lost $100 million in
"And
this drought is worse at this stage than we were in 2001," she
said.
Karen
Nenno, manager at Meyer's Turf &
Landscape Nursery in
The
new rules come less than a month after the water district instituted
strict restrictions aimed at cutting residential use by up to 30
percent. The agency now says those rules weren't enough and another 15
percentage point reduction is needed.
Golf
courses in the affected counties will have to cut water use 45 percent
and continue reporting weekly usage levels to the district.
The
rules mean residents could face fines of $25 to $500 a day if they don't
comply. District officials will use helicopters to monitor large-scale
users such as farms, which could be fined up to $10,000 a day for
noncompliance.
Last
month, the district fined 81 golf courses $500 each for failing to
report how many gallons they were using. Most cities and counties have
now also begun fining violators instead of issuing warnings.
The
state has been plagued with some of the worst drought conditions on
record. Lake Okeechobee, a backup drinking-water source for millions in
South Florida and the lifeblood of the
It
has also left the state's swamps and forests vulnerable to wildfires.
Gov. Charlie Crist said there were 228 fires
burning 80,000 acres, or 125 square miles, on Thursday in
Testing
The Waters
By
CHRISTIAN M. WADE The
Tampa
Tribune
Published:
May 11, 2007
NEW
PORT RICHEY - Hundreds of millions of gallons of drinking water is drawn
from wellfields across the state every day -
not only to quench the thirst of a growing population, but also to
nourish lawns and gardens.
Though
most municipalities limit irrigation to one day a week, Floridians on
average still use more water on their yards than they consume.
It's
something this west
New
Port Richey officials are preparing to expand the city's nascent
reclaimed water system as part of a long-term conservation effort.
The
ambitious venture will begin with an estimated $2.2 million project that
will offer reclaimed water to the city's
Eventually
they hope to hook up the entire city to the system.
Reclaimed
water is treated wastewater from sewage treatment plants used for
agricultural purposes such as lawn irrigation.
The
project's cost will be split between the city and the Southwest Florida
Water Management District, which has pledged a matching grant. The city
will pay half through its stormwater reserve
fund.
City
Manager Scott Miller said the city is expected to receive the bulk of
the grant - or $700,000 - this year and the rest in coming years.
Users
will be charged a flat rate of $10 a month for unlimited water.
"That's
a deal," he said. "I'd like to make it available to
everyone."
City
planners say they chose the
Miller
said it's a matter of getting a return on the city's investment
"We
want at least 50 percent of the people to commit to doing it," he
said. "If we don't get that, the system is not going to pay for
itself."
It's
also an issue of higher consumption levels in the neighborhood.
There
are 483 households in
The
project would provide more than 217,000 gallons of reclaimed water a day
to the neighborhood, city officials have estimated.
Waste
Not, Want This?
For
several years, the city quietly has been tying new customers into the
reclaimed system, targeting areas where the demand is strong.
Hundreds
of residents in the Jasmine Hills and Woodridge Estates subdivisions and
Most
of the city's public parks, downtown streetscaping
and median flower and tree displays are irrigated weekly with reclaimed
water.
It
also is provided to several public schools in the city and to Magnolia
Valley Golf Course.
City
officials laud the results of these pilot projects, saying the
neighborhoods served boast some of the finest lawns in the city.
"It's
been very successful," Miller said. "All the lawns are
green."
A
mix of Swiftmud grants and local funding has
fueled the expansion.
"We'd
like to provide it in every area where people are going to use it,"
said Tom O'Neill, the city's public works director. "But we need to
get the commitments from these areas or we don't get the state
funding."
The
Call To Conserve
New
Port Richey buys more than 85 percent of its drinking water from Tampa
Bay Water, and city officials say they have an ample supply.
Still,
as in many other municipalities, officials here are concerned about the
state's growing level of consumption, which has strained reserves.
The
city council recently reduced lawn watering to one day a week.
"With
the amount of people coming to
Regionally,
Tampa Bay Water managers envision replacing drinking water with
reclaimed water for irrigation by 2025.
In
the past 20 years, Swiftmud planners
partially have funded at least 275 reclaimed water projects in the
district, which spans 17 counties along the west coast of
That
translates into more than 200 million gallons a day.
"Our
ultimate goal is to supply an alternative water source so people aren't
using high-quality groundwater on their lawns," said Anthony
Andrade, a senior reclaimed water project manager for Swiftmud.
Statewide,
less than 1 percent of the drinking water from regional wellfields
and reservoirs is consumed by Floridians. Most of it is used for lawns,
crop irrigation and other commercial uses.
Initially
It Was Free
Several
reclaimed water projects are in the works across the county.
Since
1990,
The
demand is strong. Every drop of the nearly 20 million gallons produced
daily typically is used, county officials say. It takes about six
households to make enough reclaimed water for one household.
In
the beginning, county officials were giving away the recycled water,
agreeing to free long-term contracts with some bulk commercial
customers. Now such customers have meters and pay based on the amount
they use.
"When
we started doing this, we had to literally beg people to take reclaimed
water," said Bruce Kennedy,
The
county is building a reservoir for reclaimed water on 35 acres next to
its wastewater treatment plant on Parkway Boulevard, which will conserve
more than 300,000 gallons a day of drinkable water.
Swiftmud
and the county will split the $3.8 million price.
In
Timber Greens, a $500,000 project will give about 300 residents access
to reclaimed water. The project includes creating a storage pond to hold
up to 500,000 gallons of reclaimed water and a pump station capable of
putting out 1 million gallons a day.
Zephyrhills
supplies several neighborhoods and schools with reclaimed water.
AT
A GLANCE
Here
are a few facts and figures pertaining to the Southwest Florida Water
Management District, which spans 17 counties, from Levy to
•More
than 45 percent of wastewater is reused.
•Six
power plants use reclaimed water as cooling water.
•More
than 160 golf courses irrigate with reclaimed water.
•Almost
9,000 acres of crops, mostly citrus, are irrigated with reclaimed water.
•More
than 78,000 residential customers irrigate with reclaimed water.
Information
from Swiftmud.
Figures are from 2005, the most recent available.
Reporter
Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.
City
avoids showdown over development plan
The
proposal would have displaced thousands of people.
By
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 11, 2007
RIVIERA
BEACH - Two national advocacy groups Thursday dropped lawsuits aimed at
stopping one of the nation's largest eminent domain projects after this
downtrodden city said it would not force residents from their homes.
The
move comes one year after
"The
fact that
The
"Our
clients' right to keep their homes and businesses has been vindicated,
" said Bert Gall, a senior attorney with the group.
Even
after the state law was enacted, then-Mayor Michael Brown vowed to fight
it in court and proceed with the $2.4-billion redevelopment project that
could have displaced several thousand people.
Brown
heralded the project as a way to revamp one of
Governments
have historically used eminent domain to forcibly buy property to build
public facilities like schools or roads. But after a 2005 Supreme Court
ruling that gave local governments the right to seize properties for
private development to increase tax bases, cities across the country
began projects much like
In
response, more than 30 states, including
Floyd
Johnson, executive director of
Meanwhile,
the developers of the project, Viking Inlet Harbor Properties, a joint
venture between Viking Yacht Co. and resort-development firm Portfolio
Group, have already spent more than $50 million acquiring property in
the redevelopment zone.
It
was not immediately clear how the company would proceed.
'Big
box' ordinance being tackled
By
MICHAEL D. BATES
mbates@hernandotoday.com
SPRING HILL — Fresh from their victory against Wal-Mart, the grass
roots committee that helped defeat the retail behemoth plans to regroup
and take on its newest mission: Revamp Hernando County’s “big box”
ordinance.
“It
needs updating,” said Fred Maier, co-chairman of the United
Communities Save our Neighborhood. “It needs to be more specific as to
where (stores) can go.”
And
Maier already has one avid supporter: County Commissioner Chris
Kingsley, who agrees with the idea and has offered to help tighten up
the ordinance’s language.
Adopted
in 2001, the county’s big box ordinance revised the landscaping and
exterior design standards for stores 25,000 square feet or larger to
make them more esthetically attractive and to attempt to make them more
compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
The
20-member committee, Save Our Neighborhoods, formed shortly after
Wal-Mart announced plans for a
185,000-square-foot supercenter on the east
side of
The
committee was made up of people from local homeowners’ associations,
including Silverthorn,
They
achieved success Wednesday when county commissioners voted 5-0 to deny
Wal-Mart’s request.
Through
the process, committee members spent hours poring through complicated
zoning ordinances, documents and learning much about the development
process.
They
believe the big box ordinance, while important, is in drastic need of
updating because there are too many holes in it for retailers to squeeze
through, Maier said.
“Our
idea is (to) put some teeth into it,” Maier said.
To
that end, the committee will take a month off, trim membership down to a
more manageable half dozen core members and rename itself to reflect its
new scope.
Maier,
who hasn’t decided whether he will remain a member, said the idea is
to work with the county planning department and other government
staffers to draft a document that will prevent others in the county from
having to go through what they did with Wal-Mart.
Already,
members have bandied about suggested revisions.
Maier
said one idea is to establish set distances between stores to prevent an
overkill of chain stores in the county.
For
example, if the radius is five miles, Wal-Mart could not build another supercenter
within five miles of the other supercenter.
Another
idea is to set clearer standards preventing large retailers from
locating so close to schools or residential communities, Maier said.
“We
have the backing and support of the people in the county, Maier said.
With
the help of the county staff and possibly the school district, the
committee will work on a finished product to present to county
commissioners.
Kingsley,
a staunch supporter of the big box ordinance in 2001, said he lauds the
committee’s new focus and welcomes the opportunity of working with
them in making revisions.
Kingsley
said Wal-Mart’s attempts at locating to
Just
because a property is zoned commercial does not give retailers an
inherent right to build there, he said.
“There
needs to be a much stronger section on compatibility,” Kingsley said.
While
stores greater than 25,000 square feet fall into the big box category,
Chief Planner Jerry Greif said the ordinance imposes even stricter
design standards on stores greater than 65,000 square feet.
Stores
such as Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target and Wal-Mart, whose facilities are
well over 100,000 square feet, must go through a planned development
process to address more site concerns.
Part
of the reason for creating the ordinance was to address a big retailer
headed to
That
Wal-Mart was the first large retailer in
Reporter
Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.
Sinkhole
drains
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Lack
of rain apparently caused
There
wasn't the drama of 1999 when residents watched the spectacle of water
and huge fish being sucked underground.
The
lake flowed down the sinkhole overnight Thursday, said Michael Hill, a
state fisheries biologist. Several large pools of water remain,
including one over another sinkhole at the U.S. Highway 27 boat ramp.
"There
probably weren't big fish" sucked down, Hill said. "The lake
has been so shallow for so long the fish probably migrated to the
remaining pools."
The
lake has remained low since 1999. The lake has gone dry at least 10
times since 1837.
Hill
said the region has been in a serious rainfall deficit for the past 10
years. But he said that's a "blink of an eye" in geologic
history.
"That's
all we're waiting on is rain," he said.
Someone
also apparently has been dumping concrete blocks and a tarp into Porter
Hole in an attempt to clog the sinkhole, Hill said.
He
said filling the sinkhole requires a state permit.
Drought
keeping manatees out of
By Rachael Anne Ryals
Herald
Staff Writer
THREE
RIVERS ESTATES -- The
Manatees, an endangered species, are on the move in the
A recent drought has caused the water level in the river to be lower
than normal, which is affecting a limerock
ridge that manatees usually swim over from the Santa Fe River into the Ichetucknee
River, said Jim Stevenson, chairman of the Ichetucknee
Springs Basin Working Group, a group dedicated to protecting the waters
flowing to the Ichetucknee.
The low level of the
This is a great threat to the manatees because the waters in the Ichetucknee
have a greater food supply of vegetation and are also safer because of
boating restrictions in the state park portion of the
“Motor boaters in the
Debbie McClelland and her husband were helping to clean up the
“It
looked like they were playing, going up the river and back down
again,” she said.
McClelland said the manatees were bumping noses, eating grass near the
bank and splashing around.
The manatees stayed in the same area for more than an hour, she said. At
one point, a pontoon boat had to turn around because the manatees were
blocking the river.
While
the number of manatees that McClelland spotted was a large number, it is
not unusual for this time of year, said Karen Parker, public information
coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“It is getting warmer, and the manatees are on the move,” Parker
said.
The number of manatees on the
The biggest risks to manatees, according to the FWC, are watercraft
collisions, loss of warm weather habitat caused by the closing of power
plants and reduction in natural spring flows.
Parker said boaters and personal watercraft riders should be on the
watch for manatees and abide by posted speed limits.
Approximately 25 to 30 percent of manatee deaths are caused by
watercraft injuries, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC).
McClelland said she wants the public to watch out for manatees on the
river.
“We would like to see people be more careful and show the manatees
respect, especially because they are an endangered species,”
McClelland said.
Lakes
are shrinking from lack of rainfall
Some
boaters are having trouble navigating in the county's waterways, but the
fishing is good.
Daphne
Sashin and Mark Pino
Sentinel Staff Writers
May 10, 2007
KISSIMMEE -- The persistent lack of rainfall has shrunk Osceola lakes so
low that some boats are having trouble navigating, and regional water
managers continue to keep water from flowing to the Kissimmee River.
On the flip side, the low water levels have helped produce good
conditions for bass fishing throughout the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes,
some anglers say.
Early this week, the lakes were as much as 1.1 feet below average for
this time of year.
Because of the continuing dry conditions -- 2006 was a record dry year
for the
Kissimmee
waterways -- the South Florida Water Management District hasn't released
any water from
Lake
Kissimmee
to the
Kissimmee River
since November.
Particularly in the warmer months, the river relies on that flow to
maintain the levels of dissolved oxygen that fish and wildlife need to
survive, said district spokesman Bill Graf.
Usually at this time of year, the district would be releasing between
300 and 500 cubic feet per second from
Lake
Kissimmee
into the river.
District workers are out on the river regularly to pull samples and make
sure oxygen doesn't plummet to dangerous levels, Graf said.
"It's a tightrope walk," Graf said. "You're trying to
maintain water levels in the Upper Chain of Lakes while at the same time
maintaining the environmental integrity of a very important river
restoration, in the
Kissimmee
."
Next month, however, the district will begin releasing water from the
lakes to prepare for the rainy season.
Bill Teat, who owns an airboat and lives on East Lake Tohopekaliga,
said water levels are fine there and in
Lake
Toho
. But in lakes
Kissimmee
,
Cypress
and Hatchineha, the low levels have deterred
access for some boats that can't navigate the dry patches.
"All three are down in areas where airboats normally travel. A lot
of the lower-power airboats can't go there anymore," Teat said.
Teat added: "A lot of the picnic areas and stuff in some of the
lakes are way back, and some of the boats can't access them. You can
have a concentration of boats in a smaller area because you can't go
back in shallower areas."
In order not to tear up their engines, boaters with outboards might
avoid some shallow areas, Teat said.
Mark Detweiler, owner of Big Toho Marina in
Kissimmee
, said the lake level is about normal for the summer.
"There are no issues on this lake," he said. "It is still
fishable. The whole chain is fishable."
Detweiler said boaters have to be careful
navigating between
Lake
Tohopekaliga
and
Lake
Cypress
because the canal that links them needs to be cleaned out.
Although levels may be low in
Lake
Kissimmee
, Detweiler noted there was a fishing
tournament there at
Camp
Mack
last weekend, and there was plenty of water
to navigate.
The low water levels, combined with hydrilla
growth and warm temperatures, have made ideal conditions for bass
fishing, Detweiler said. Toho is a premier
lake for bass anglers, and the fish will hide along the vegetation line
or in deeper parts of the lake when water levels drop.
Daphne Sashin
can be reached at dsashin@orlandosentinel.comor
407-931-5944. Mark Pino can be reached at mpino@orlandosentinel.comor
407-931-5935.
Group
to sue over lack of coral protections
Friday,
May 11, 2007
A
San Francisco-based environmental group has filed notice of intent to
sue the federal government because it has not met requirements to
protect two threatened species of coral.
The
Center for Biological Diversity led the charge to have
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The
listing gives the government a year to establish rules protecting
critical habitats for the species, the deadline for which passed
Wednesday. The center filed a 60-day letter of intent to sue Thursday.
Another
water panelist leaving
Friday,
May 11, 2007
Another
board member is departing the South Florida Water Management District,
giving Gov. Charlie Crist a chance to
appoint a majority of the panel that controls the powerful agency.
Lennart
Lindahl, an engineering consultant from
Tequesta, announced Thursday that he is resigning today because of
health problems. He had open-heart surgery in 2004 and suffered
"sudden cardiac failure" last fall, prompting his family and
doctors to urge him to scale back his activities, he wrote to the
governor this week. "It's not what I want to do, but it's what I
must do," Lindahl, 63, said Thursday at
the end of a board meeting near
Then-Gov.
Jeb Bush named Lindahl
in March 2001, and he was due to leave in 2009. He held an at-large seat
representing St. Lucie, Martin,
For
six years, the nine-member board was entirely Bush-appointed. But Crist
has replaced three in the past month, and Chairman Kevin McCarty of
The
agency oversees all or part of 16 counties, boasts a $1.4 billion budget
and leads
The
board has taken harsh criticism over the years, especially from
environmentalists who accused it of backsliding on the
"That's
just a portion of what we did," he said. "But it's pretty
incredible."
In
another transition, the board unanimously elected one of Crist's
appointees,
Buermann
is a former chief counsel for the Florida Republican Party and the state
Bush-Cheney campaign. He also was general counsel for Crist's
inaugural committee and the registered agent for Floridians for Truth
and Integrity in Government, a group that bashed Crist
rival Tom Gallagher in last year's GOP primary.
Buermann
has donated more than $125,000 to GOP candidates and causes in the past
decade, campaign records show.
Buermann
also serves on the Miami River Commission and oversaw Crist's
environmental transition team, which encouraged the governor to take on
issues such as global warming.
"You
might describe me as a citizen-soldier trying to do the best job I can
for the people," Buermann told The
Palm Beach Post in March.
The
governor's office said it has not received any applications for Lindahl's
seat. The position is unpaid.
Dry
spell affects availability of reclaimed water