➤ The Everglades and Florida Bay lost a tremendous champion this week. Monroe County Commissioner Mike Forster leaves an enormous hole in our hearts and in the Everglades.
➤ From wood storks to the manatee, who have died at record levels this year, Florida’s wildlife continues to bear the brunt of unchecked pollution, water management that favors a handful of corporate interests, and development.
➤ As the LOSOM process moves forward, the Army Corps continues to hear from the public each day. Still don’t understand the importance of LOSOM and your voice? Read the article below by Roger Williams — he lays it out brilliantly.
EVERGLADES CALL TO ACTION
A revolution of thinking must occur in our state, not with pitchforks, but with every lawmaker concerned about our water and our waterways. From the quality of our water to the quantity and the directional flow of water, protecting our most important resource is the pressing issue of our time.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Continued water woes in Florida hamstring tourist-based economy | Editorial Board, TC Palm
All of agriculture in Florida accounts for roughly 1% of our economy. Sugar is a fraction of that. But as they have for decades, the Florida Legislature is allowing them to destroy the very thing that keeps the engine running and what makes Florida, well, Florida – clean water. Pay attention, Floridians. This affects all of us.
Guiding the Waters: Everglades Restoration | Florida Weekly
MUST READ. Every credible expert devoted to saving the Everglades and the waterways on both coasts of Florida “point to a single undisputed fact: The elaborate plans, in effect contortions of infrastructure and water management, and the huge financial buy-ins from taxpayers, all are made as sugar-industry workarounds — as efforts to avoid disturbing the status quo for sugarcane growers.”
Mike Forster, former Islamorada mayor and popular Keys restaurateur, dies from COVID | Miami Herald
This is a big and very sad loss. Mike Forster was a fierce advocate for the Everglades and Florida Bay, the headwaters of the Florida Keys and one of the most important estuaries on the planet. God speed, Mangrove Mike.
Develop a Lake Okeechobee plan to protect our environment, economy and health | Opinion, TC Palm
Message to the Army Corps: “The toxic blue-green algae crises of 2013, 2016 and 2018 widely exposed Florida’s water-management system for what it is: a boon to large corporate sugar companies — and a threat to public health, our ecosystems and our economy.”
Everglades Literacy Program Builds A State Of Conservation Stewards | Go Latinos Magazine
Recognizing that saving and protecting the Everglades is a marathon, not a sprint, it is important we educate and excite younger generations to be good stewards of one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. The Everglades Foundation runs a phenomenal program: Everglades Literacy. With downloadable presentations, activities, and full curriculum for grades K-12, they make it easy to get youngsters engaged!
Wood storks, the bellwether of Everglades health: They’re surviving on hot dogs and chicken wings | Palm Beach Post
Everglades wildlife surviving on fast food in this revered ecosystem. Yet another reason we work with a tremendous sense of urgency.
Why Florida’s massive seagrass loss is so devastating | Axios
We can make a difference no matter where we live. Less fertilizers in our yards. No fertilizers, even better. But if we all stopped tomorrow, the barrage of filth that comes at our waterways from corporate polluters (we’re looking at you, Big Sugar) will continue to devastate Florida’s waterways. So, let’s do our part – and send the Legislature a big reminder to do theirs.
More manatees have died in the first half of 2021 than in any other year in Florida’s history, wildlife agency says | CNN
Corporate polluters are destroying the very seagrasses Florida’s economy thrives on and these gentle giants live on. We are posting a link in the comment section so you can contact your legislators today. They can ignore some of us, but not ALL OF US.
Federal judge throws out Trump administration rule allowing the draining and filling of streams, marshes and wetlands | Washington Post
Many farm and business groups backed the rule, but a U.S. district judge ruled it could lead to ‘serious environmental harm.’ In the fight to save and protect the Everglades, federal judges have really been the heroes.