Legislature provides cash for possible sweetheart deal

It looks like a sweetheart deal, though it's not clear yet who in the Legislature helped set it up.A 436-acre parcel approved Tuesday by the Cabinet for purchase was the only one considered by the state under a $3.2-million special legislative appropriation for land acquisition.The governor and Cabinet without discussion agreed to pay $1,975,000 for a conservation easement on 436 acres owned by

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Top Florida wildlife officer takes over at Highway Safety

Jones, right, prepares to pose for a photo with Cabinet members today.Col. Julie Jones says there will continue to be a strong public safety "hook" as she leaves the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as its top law enforcement officer to take over as head of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.The governor and Cabinet voted unanimously today to appoint

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Ecologist Bruce Means honored, describes NW Fla. biodiversity

Northwest Florida is a biological hotspot because it stands in the crossroads of different ecological areas and because of the Apalachicola River, Ecologist Bruce Means told a packed auditorium last week.Means, president and executive director of the Coastal Plains Institute and an adjunct professor at Florida State University, was honored by the Tallahassee Scientific Society for his more than

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A big TV weekend with "Big Cypress" and "National Parks"

After they produced "Living Waters: Aquatic Preserves of Florida" in 2004, renowned nature photographer Clyde Butcher joked with cinematographer Elam Stoltzfus that next time, they'd have to film in Butcher's backyard.And they did just that, to produce "Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades," which airs this weekend on PBS television stations across Florida. Check your local listings or

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Former Florida state forester is remembered

John M. Bethea, Florida's chief forester from 1970 until his retirement in 1987, was recognized for his contributions to forestry after his death this week.Bethea was an early advocate of the urban forest concept and led innovations in Florida's forest management, including the use of prescribed burning to improve forest ecology and wildlife habitat."Prescribed burning is front and center at the

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Florida rural lands rule withstands farm groups' challenge

Florida farm groups supported the Rural Land Stewardship Act in 2001 because they said it would preserve agriculture while helping the economies of rural communities.The bill created a pilot program that allowed landowners with between 50,000 and 250,000 acres to set aside land for conservation and agriculture in exchange for the ability to develop new towns consisting of homes, shopping centers,

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Enviro group joins in criticism of PSC

One of the most active environmental groups before the Florida Public Service Commission says recent controversies show the panel is overly influenced by utilities and lobbyists, including former PSC staff and commissioners.In the midst of electricity rate requests by Progress Energy Florida and Florida Power & LIght Co., three agency employees have been fired for exchanging text-messaging

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Group formed to help resolve tri-state water dispute

By Bruce Ritchie A diverse coalition of groups within Alabama, Florida and Georgia is trying to encourage a discussion of water issues that have divided residents of the three states in the past. The states have been fighting in federal court since 1990 over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system. Alabama and Georgia want water held in reservoirs for cities,

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Four years after buying back oil lease, state considers allowing drilling

In 2005, Gov. Jeb Bush and members of the Cabinet proclaimed victory for Florida when they agreed to pay Coastal Petroleum Co. $12.5 million not to abandon its leases for drilling oil off the Gulf of Mexico.With Florida leaders now deciding whether to debate reopening state waters to drilling, some who were involved in the Coastal Petroleum issue say there are lessons from that dispute four years

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Free admission to Florida parks this weekend

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State ParkFlorida's 160 state parks are open free through Sunday to anyone with a library card, a library book or gently-used family book that they can donate.The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is offering the free entrance to celebrate September as "State Park Literary Month." DEP officials are encouraging people to combine reading with the beauty of the

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Senate President doubts special session for oil drilling

Senate President Jeff Atwater today said a special session of the Legislature in October is highly unlikely and he raised doubts about whether it should include consideration of lifting Florida's ban on offshore oil drilling.Gov. Charlie Crist last week said drilling should be included in a special session in October to take up an agreement on gambling revenues with the Seminole Tribe. But

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Progress, FP&L argue for nuke cost recovery

Witnesses for an environmental group and utilities wanting to build nuclear power plants sparred Tuesday before the Public Service Commission over the predicted costs of construction and how to pay for them.Florida Power & LIght and Progress Energy Florida each have proposed building new nuclear plants and are asking the PSC for approval to charge customers to recover those costs in advance of

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Associated Industries wants oil drilling on special session agenda

Florida's oldest business group today said it wants the Legislature to take up oil drilling during an expected special session this fall.Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday that he may call a special session in October to adopt a gambling revenues agreement with the Seminole Tribe and that he would like drilling to be on the agenda. Associated Industries of Florida today said oil drilling is an "

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Florida DEP, PEER tussle over carbon cap-and-trade

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says Gov. Charlie Crist has abandoned carbon emissions cap-and-trading in his quest for a U.S. Senate seat, but a state Department of Environmental Protection response suggests it's all untrue.PEER, a watchdog group of former government employees, says the state, under Crist, has decided to to drop its cap-and-trade rule under development and back

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Group gives Florida D+ on water quality

The Gulf Restoration Network today said Florida gets a D+ grade for its efforts to protect water quality, which was about the average grade for Gulf coast states.In a report card for the Gulf states, the group particularly faulted Florida for not setting specific limits for nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways, giving it an F in that category. Failure to set nutrients caused algal blooms and red

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Groups urge House speaker to support lands program

Environmentalists today met with House Speaker Larry Cretul to urge his support for Florida's conservation land-buying program, but the issue of using oil drilling revenue to buy land was not discussed.Supporters of offshore oil drilling in the Legislature continue to promote the idea of using oil revenue to pay for the land-buying program, which has been the largest in the nation. The

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