- Bits and pieces of Florida environmental news that drift in front of me. And yes I know, Florida is misspelled. "Flordia" goes back 2 decades to a sign at Faulk Landing on Lake Jackson put up by the Leon County Division of Parks and Recreation. This lazy mistake on a public sign seems appropriate and reflects the current attitude of those directing the destruction of Florida's natural beauty.
Most of my reading is done on an iPad where I take screenshots of interesting items while viewing the pdf version of the Tallahassee Democrat or other news sites. Links to direct sources like state agencies or source reporters are provided when I can find them.
August 2015
Last week, the Governor added a new commissioner to the FL Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC) to replace the former chairman Richard Corbett. Mr. Corbett has been missing from meetings and the FWC website for awhile.
FWC news release
At its meeting June 25 in Sarasota, the FWC elected Vice Chairman Brian Yablonski of Tallahassee to serve as chairman and Aliese “Liesa” Priddy of Immokalee to serve as vice chairman.
Back in April,
Mr. Corbett had this to say about FWC plans for a bear hunt:
Wildlife commission chairman Richard Corbett, a Tampa mall developer, said the commission ignored the public opposition because "those people don't know what they're talking about. Most of those people have never been in the woods. They think we're talking about teddy bears: 'Oh Lord, don't hurt my little teddy bear!' Well, these bears are dangerous."
Mr. Corbett gave no reason for resigning. But the real estate investor is doing fine, don't you worry. He recently endowed the head football coach position at Notre Dame.
ANYWAYS - the new commissioner, SAME AS THE OLD COMMISSIONER, is a real estate developer from the Keys. Robert Spottswood of "the Spottswood family has been deeply involved in Key West real estate, politics, and society for over 150 years." Old money + New money wins!
---
Black Bear Hunt
As of last week, FWC had sold 1800 permits to interested bear hunters. Permits are $100 for Floridians and $300 for non-residents or aliens like Ted Nugent. Total harvest number is set at 320 and broken down into the following management units.
BMU (Study Year) EstPop -- 20% of Est -- Avg Mortality -- Harvest #
East Panhandle 2002 600 120 80 40

North 2014 550 110 10 100
Central 2014 1,300 260 160 100
South 2002 700 140 20 80
Staff Recommendation:
Approve staff recommendation for the bear harvest objectives for the 2015 bear hunting season and authorize Executive Director to establish same by Executive Order.
My daughter and son-in-law south of Tallahassee had bears in their yard last year. I haven't asked him but if he got a permit, given his hours in the woods watching the deer, finding a bear won't take him long. OTH - you can bet that Ted Nugent's gonna hire him a guide and head down to the 'glades and look for an easy trophy kill - with bonus headlines.
---
FWC Important facts you need to know about black bear conservation in Florida
---
Panthers
On Sept 2, FWC commissioners will also being looking at a draft position paper on the Florida Panther and maybe, kinda, not really, sorta decreases panther protection - or something.
Meanwhile on July 30, Panther roadkill # 17 occurred on Golden Gate Blvd in Naples; that's 25 overall deaths in 2015 from an estimated population of 180 170 160.
---
Guess What Happens When You Pump Too Much Water ....
out of the Florida aquifer. And we get a tropical storm, like Erika, or Fred...
Sinkholes!
Here's a report from News13!
Or over here at Tampa Bay Times
Three sinkholes open in Port Richey subdivision
As reported by Live Science -
The water in aquifers also exerts pressure on the limestone and helps to stabilize the overlying surface layer, usually clay, silt and sand in Florida. Sinkholes form when that layer of surface material caves in. The collapse can be triggered by a heavy overload, often caused by a downpour or flooding, or when water gets pumped out of the ground.
Florida Geological Survey is mapping sinkholes so don't fear. Insurance companies will know where the sinkholes are most likely to occur and will "mitigate" your coverage.
DEP Press Release -
---
Exotic Species Alert
The next "Python Challenge" is Jan 16 thru Feb 14 and will include Everglades National Park. Last year with the parked excluded, only 68 pythons were caught. Obviously escaping notice for a looong time is the 18' 3" python captured July 9 at the Shark Valley visitor center.
Naples Daily: the home of he I can not name but you can look it up
While a "Southwest Florida Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area invasive animal leader" was out looking for Argentine black and white tegu lizard (up to 4') he found a 4' Monitor lizard. Biologists are trying to stop the spread of both species from other areas. Good luck SWFCISMA IA Leader!
Lionfish – Sept 3rd FWC meeting
FWC held the first annual Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day on May 16, 2015. Staff will provide an update on the success of the outreach programs associated with this event, including the festival in Pensacola hosted by FWC and lionfish tournaments and removal efforts conducted by our partners and stakeholders throughout the state in conjunction with the event.
OTH - FWC commissioners will discuss setting bag limits for Great Barracudas. RecFishers in coastal South FL & the Keys may catch 2 per day, 20 for commercial, size 15-36 inches.
---
Pure Politics
Paula Dockery - another great opinion piece.
This column is about the citizens group Floridians for Solar Choice (Yeah!) that want a constitutional amendment to allow more solar usage in the SUNSHINE STATE. Currently the big boys have alternate power tied up with bought-&-paid-for state regulations. These companies also formed Consumers for Smart Solar (BOO!) to add confusion with their own amendment.
---
Over at the DEP, the new Secretary, Jon Steverson, continues to wonder why folks don't like his ideas to essentially privatize profits from state park assets. From what I am reading, the DEP will start to include his push in future Land Management Reviews (LMR). I've done 2 LMRs this year for 2 state parks and seen plans for future LMRs statewide. They are done every 5 years, and altho it doesn't seem like it with the slow pace of review, policy changes like this do work their way in.
---
Environmental groups are asking a judge to do something while lawmakers raided the real estate stamp tax to cover millions in operating expenses AND neglected the Amendment 1 mandate from voters to spend 1/3 on conservation land.
OTH - The Guv and Cabinet are meeting Tuesday in St Augustine to discuss a 5-year plan and priority list for the Florida Forever land program - that wasn't funded...
And finally - The Guv & Legs spent $74 million bucks to get 100 million visitors to Florida. Ain't that grand?
--
That's it for this episode. Please, if there is anything I misstated or misread, have at in the comments. You can add your local news in comments too. Discussion is not limited to Florida because there is no doubt other states and countries are seeing similar issues.
* * * * * * * *
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" is posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 on the Daily Kos front page. It's a great way to catch up on diaries you might have missed. Be sure to recommend and support. It's not all bad news...
Tue Sep 01, 2015 at 3:12 AM PT: Wow, someone corrected my INTENTIONAL misspelling. Tuesday, I changed it back to original Flordia.