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Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012 #1355 |
A Founding Sponsor of Eco-Voice
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| Florida Wildlife Federation | |
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***SAVE OUR SEAS, BEACHES AND SHORES, INC. ***
Go to: www.sosbs.org for the petition to protect our beaches
Mission
The Florida Wildlife Federation is a statewide nonprofit organization, made up of Floridians from all walks of life. Our common goal is to conserve Florida's fish, wildlife, water and plant life. We encourage all citizens to appreciate Florida's environment through sustainable outdoor recreation.
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 | Somewhere on the horizon there is a reliable, cheap energy
alternative to oil. Somewhere. But where?
Mark Renz photo & thoughts
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Frac-Sand Mining Destroys Communities and Fertile Farm Lands
DeSmogBlog
Until recently, one of the most underlooked facets of the industry was the "cradle" portion of the shale gas lifecycle: frac sand mining in the hills of northwestern Wisconsin and bordering eastern Minnesota, areas now serving as the epicenter of the frac-sand mining world...
There are extensive sand deposits in south Florida. |
http://swflorida.blogspot.com/
Illegal Fireworks Turning Kids Into Zombies?
Be safe while celebrating the Fourth of July - Use legal products
LABELLE, FL. -- The Fourth of July is a time for celebration across the country and fireworks are a crowd favorite each year. While fireworks can be fun to watch, they can also be very dangerous when used illegally in home settings, and providing bad safety examples to children watching who may want to imitate the behavior of adults.
Every year an estimated 3,500 children ages 15 and under suffer injuries involving fireworks with most of these injuries occurring from the middle of June until the middle of July. Children and teenagers are the most likely people to be injured as a result of consumer fireworks. Adults provide a poor example to their children when using illegal fireworks, as well as causing possible injury to their children and accidental fire dangers.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 40 percent of the people injured by fireworks were under the age of 15. Each year in Florida, nearly 60 children ages 15 and under go to the hospital for injuries involving fireworks.
Everyone should remember that fireworks, including sparkers and flares, can cause serious burns as well as blast injuries that can permanently impair vision and hearing. Every year there are serious injuries to children playing with fireworks at home.
"The safest way to enjoy fireworks is to watch them at a community event where professionals handle them," says Pat Dobbins, Administrator for the Hendry and Glades County Health Departments.
The United States Fire Administration reminds everyone that sparklers can reach 2,000° Fahrenheit- hot enough to melt some metals. Do not allow kids to pick up pieces of fireworks after an event. Some may still be ignited and can explode at any time.
Consumer Fireworks Are Illegal In Florida Florida laws prohibit the use of fireworks by the public, except for sparklers. Using any device that explodes or shoots in the air is illegal.
Firework vendors selling exploding fireworks avoid being prosecuted by getting buyers to sign a statement that the fireworks are to be used for legal purposes. The signed statement makes buyers lie about the use of the products, making the purchaser liable for providing a false statement, but keeping the business out of trouble with law enforcement. Beware of signing a false statement to purchase exploding fireworks.
Consumers who purchase legal fireworks (none are legal in Florida) are urged to take these safety steps:
Never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks.
Avoid buying fireworks that are packaged in brown paper because this is often a sign that the fireworks were made for professional displays and that they could pose a danger to consumers.
Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities. Parents don't realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees - hot enough to melt some metals.
Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks.
Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully.
Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.
Light fireworks one at a time, then move back quickly.
Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers.
After fireworks complete their burning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding it to prevent a trash fire.
Make sure fireworks are legal in your area before buying or using them (exploding or shooting products are not legal in Florida)
Never assume that a fireworks device is safe based on its size and never allow young children to play with or light fireworks. By knowing the dangers of all types of fireworks, consumers can prevent tragedies.
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 | Vegetarian cafe for two
Mark Renz photo art
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Meeting Calendar For CEPP
Central Everglades Planning Project
Project Delivery Team meeting
July 2-3, 2012
The USACE and SFWMD will be holding a two-day Project Delivery Team (PDT) meeting for the Central Everglades Planning Project Monday, July 2 from 12:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. and Tuesday, July 3 from 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center, 16450 S.E. Federal Highway in Hobe Sound.
PDT meetings enable federal, state and local agencies and tribal governments to provide their input into the Central Everglades Planning Project. Members of the public may attend the PDT meeting and provide public comment at the end of the meeting.
The draft agenda for the PDT meeting is available at:
www.evergladesplan.org/pm/public_meetings/MeetingItem.aspx?meetingId=473
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Tuesday, 3 Jul 2012 (Day 2) | | Time: |
8:30 AM-2:00 PM (ET) (Day 2) | | Location: | Call-in number:
USA Toll-Free: (888)273-3658
Access Code: 6161951
Security Code: 1234
Web Meeting Address:
https://www.webmeeting.att.com
Meeting Number: 8882733658
Access Code: 6161951 |
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1000 FRIENDS OF FLORIDA Chairman and Charter Member of the Florida Conservation Coalition Victoria Tschinkel, former Secretary Department of Environmental Regulation, Thursday, July 19th, 2012 at 1:30, will discuss the Florida Conservation Coalition in first floor lounge of the Ft. Myers Royal Palm Yacht Club. Please register so we can prepare the venue for the anticipated audience. |
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NOAA Florida Freshwater Resource Project |
Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was awarded $815,000 in early 2012 for a three-year project to address freshwater allocation and management, focused on the Henderson Creek watershed. Learn more here . |
Primary Goal of This Project
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The primary goal of this project is to adaptively manage the freshwater in the Henderson Creek watershed to provide adequate water for two user groups: the Rookery Bay estuary and the people that depend on the Henderson Creek watershed for their water supply. Additional anticipated outcomes of this project include increased knowledge of the parameters necessary for estuarine health in Rookery Bay which will help the Reserve and others to better manage the environmental systems that support the local economy. Water managers will gain understanding of the knowledge level of water users to target future educational efforts. The community will have assisted in the establishment of a pilot effort to create an inclusive and effective decision-making tool related to water use and allocation. Together, these outcomes will assist the community in preparing for future freshwater challenges that are already being faced by many coastal communities in the nation. |
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Light shines on indigo snakes
Lifting the lid of a Mortellaro burrow last week, research associate Dave Ceilley of FGCU saw exactly what he wanted to see: A large Eastern indigo snake.
Ceilley, graduate student Brent Jackson and senior Colleen Clark are conducting a two-year study of how Everglades restoration will affect the threatened snake species.
"That was really cool," Ceilley said of finding the snake. "It made my day. A big male like that: He's the boss of this area."
The researchers are studying indigo snakes on a 6,500-acre former citrus grove near Indiantown that will become the C-44 Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.....
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 | Hot Fourth
Mark Renz photo
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June 1st marked the beginning of hurricane season, a six-month period in which most of the United States' hurricanes and tropical storms occur. Of course, the east coast of Florida got the party started early this past Memorial Day weekend, hosting tropical storm Beryl with its 10 inches of rain and maximum sustained wind speed of 70 mph, just one in a series of extreme weather events that took place over the holiday weekend. Beryl is especially significant because it is the largest tropical storm to reach land before the official start of hurricane season on June 1st.
"I hope this is not a sign of things to come," commented U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, alluding to the nine to fifteen named storms, including four to eight hurricanes, NOAA's forecasters predict will appear between now and the end of the season on November 30. Unfortunately for all of us, the future doesn't look terribly rosy.
As dramatic as NOAA's hurricane predictions may sound, the agency is saying that they constitute a "near normal" hurricane season which will be less severe than recent years. Still, it's worth noting that any hurricane will bring strong winds, heavy rains, and flooding, and it only takes one massive storm to wreak major havoc.
More troubling still is that hurricane and tropical storm-related flooding this year and in the future will be exacerbated by the effects of rising seas. In the past hundred and fifty years sea levels have risen 8 inches and scientists estimate that they will rise between one and seven feet by the end of the century. With recent reports of melting ice sheets in Antarctica and rapidly disappearing glaciers due to climate change, and emerging concern about the role of increased use of water previously locked up in underground aquifers, predictions on the high end are becoming increasingly likely.
A four foot rise in sea level could endanger 5 million residents living in 2.6 million homes on $500 billion of residential real estate in the U.S., not to mention 300 energy-producing facilities, airports, thousands of miles of roads and numerous other types of infrastructure, making them increasingly vulnerable to increased storm surges and flooding.
At a Senate Hearing on the "Impacts of Rising Sea Levels on Domestic Infrastructures" in April, Dr. Ben Strauss of Climate Central warned that rising seas would "raise the launch pad for coastal storm surges," more than tripling the odds of what used to be "once in a century floods" within the next two decades.
Wind and high waves spun by hurricanes and tropical storms can generate massive storm surges, sometimes flooding large portions of cities and often damaging homes and infrastructure. Beryl's storm surge and rains have caused many roads in coastal North Carolina to flood, some with as much as three and a half feet of water.
In addition, modern hurricanes will be even more damaging due to bigger deluges. Warming oceans mean that more water vapor is lurking in the air off the coasts, and a 4% increase in water vapor over oceans has been observed since the 1970s. Extra water vapor invigorates storms formed off the coast, meaning that hurricanes and tropical storms will dump greater amounts of rain in their wake. So in addition to rising seas, flooding from hurricanes will become more severe because of greater downpours.
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are attempting to address the dangers of sea level rise by - almost literally - sticking their heads in the sand. Despite the recent evidence of the damaging effects of hurricanes and coastal flooding in their own state, they are circulating a bill that would reduce state agencies' ability to calculate future sea level rise by not permitting scientists to "include scenarios of accelerated rates of sea level rise" in making their predictions. In other words, ignore the problem, and the problem is solved!
Good luck selling that one to homeowners on the Outer Banks next time a hurricane bears down on them.
- Erin Gustafson is an Energy and Environmental Policy intern with the Center for American Progress
Related Posts:
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Chief of Engineers Report for C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project
View the Chief of Engineers Report for the C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project: http://evergladesplan.org/pm/projects/project_docs/pdp_29_c11/013012_c111_chiefs_report.pdf
The C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project focuses on the restoration of flows to Florida Bay via Taylor Slough in Everglades National Park as well as the restoration of the Southern Glades and Model Lands and other associated wetlands and estuarine systems. It plays an integral role in meeting the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) system-wide ecosystem restoration goals and objectives.
View the Final PIR and EIS for the C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project: http://evergladesplan.org/pm/projects/docs_29_c111_pir.aspx
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SAVE THE DATE! Everglades Coalition's 28th ANNUAL CONFERENCE Hosted by the Everglades Foundation January 10-13, 2013 Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Florida www.evergladescoalition.org |
Yes, it will be the 10th Annual River, Roots & Ruts Trail Run! And we intend to make it even special-er than all the other special RRR's. Mark Sunday, January 6, 2013 on your calendar, same Hog Time, same Hog Place. (8:00 am at the Caloosahatchee Regional Park)
Registration is now open. Once again the half marathon/relay will be limited to 350 runners with no limit on the Fun Run.
Only seven months to get in shape!
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 | Quiet, safe fireworks
Mark Renz photo
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Florida Forever Coalition
Saving Essential Florida: Creating Permanent Funding for Land Conservation.
A proposal by the Florida Wildlife Federation, working with its partners in the Florida Forever Coalition, to create a permanent, dedicated source of state revenue from the existing documentary stamp tax to fund land preservation. This will continue and expand one of the world's largest and most successful land conservation programs.
Goal:
Utilize every approach available to renew and expand Florida's land conservation efforts by succeeding the present Florida Forever program with a larger, more flexible and inclusive program of land preservation. The need to get it done now is urgent, while there are still opportunities to conserve large, connected landscapes. Many private landowners who wish to protect their lands are willing to sell or donate conservation easements. Public lands, such as our state parks (which hosted more than 19 million visitors last year) and our state forests, both need additional lands and linkages to protect them from rampant development. What is lacking is a reliable source of funding to accomplish these goals when Florida Forever ends.
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CHNEP 2013 calendar: Art and photos are due July 14
We live in a beautiful place and many of you have captured this beauty in your artwork, as is evidenced by the calendars produced by the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) since 2005. There are two ways to submit your images: by email or on a compact disk (CD). No matter which way the images are provided, they must be received by 5 p.m. July 14, 2012. If you hand deliver them, they must be dropped off at the office before 5 p.m. on Friday, July 13.
Each entry must be accompanied by a release form that allows the CHNEP to use the entries in items such as the calendar, the Harbor Happenings newsletter or on the program website. Images will only be posted for selection if a completed release form (available at www.CHNEP.org http://www.CHNEP.org is received and if the images are submitted as digital files.
Send the images by email to mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org <mailto:mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org .
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Help Protect Delicate Dwarf Seahorses
Started by: Center for Biological Diversity, AZ.
In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the National Marine Fisheries Service has agreed that the dwarf seahorse may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act and is accepting comments until July 3 before making a decision. The smallest seahorse in America, the dwarf seahorse faces big problems: water quality degradation in the Gulf of Mexico, pollution from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and cleanup and, most importantly, loss of their seagrass habitat.
Dwarf seahorses are habitat specialists, so as seagrasses disappear, the seahorses vanish with them. More than 50 percent of Florida seagrasses have been destroyed since 1950, and in some areas losses are as steep as 90 percent. These one-inch-long fish are not the only wildlife that depends on seagrass to survive, but they are the cutest.
Dwarf seahorses form monogamous pair bonds, and every morning they meet to perform a greeting dance. As with other seahorses, females place scores of eggs inside the males' pouches, and the males then give birth to even tinier versions of adults. Boat propellers, shrimp trawlers and ocean acidification are all harming the seagrass these delicate animals need to survive.
Please take a moment right now to write to the Fisheries Service and tell it to grant dwarf seahorses the protection they so dearly need.
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 | Home for the evening
Mark Renz photo
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Sincerely,
Eco-Voice Moderator
Eco-Voice, Inc.
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