August XX, 2010
Dan Kimball, Superintendent
Everglades National Park
Tamiami Trail Next Steps Project
40001 State Road 9336
Homestead, FL 33034-6733
Subject: I Support Continued Restoration of America's
Everglades and Endorse 5.5
Miles of Additional Bridging on
Tamiami Trail
Dear Superintendent Kimball:
I am responding to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) for the Tamiami Trail Modifications: Next Steps project, released
in May 2010. I strongly support the National Park Service's preferred
alternative 6E: an additional 5.5 miles of bridging on the Tamiami
Trail.
The preferred alternative will provide the
largest measurable environmental benefits to the Everglades ecosystem
and a significant boost to South Florida's economy. Specifically, this
additional 5.5 miles of bridging will:
1. Seamlessly integrate with the
one-mile bridge project currently underway to achieve maximum
environmental benefits and to create key jobs in South Florida's
engineering and construction sectors.
2. Increase
freshwater flows to Florida Bay, helping to restore abundant sport
fisheries and to re-establish seagrass beds.
3. Restore
critical water flows through the historic River of Grass, improving
ecological conditions and habitat for iconic wading birds and other key
species in the State of Florida's Water Conservation Areas and in
Everglades National Park.
4. Enhance the unique biological
resources that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over
the world to Everglades National Park each year.
5. Act as an
important complement to the U.S. Sugar Corporation land acquisition,
enabling water to flow south from planned storage and treatment areas
around Lake Okeechobee instead of harmfully discharging it into the
delicate St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
The
preferred alternative is clearly the best option for the continued
restoration of our treasured America's Everglades. Thank you for the
opportunity to comment on this important restoration project.
Sincerely,
[insert signatory's name here]
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