September 23, 2013
Office
of Governor Rick Scott
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Dear Governor Scott,
On behalf of
afflicted coastal residents, South Florida taxpayers and millions of people
whose drinking water depends on a restored Everglades, we call on the State of Florida to complete the purchase of up to
153,000 acres of U.S. Sugar lands before the exclusive option expires next
month.
Five years ago,
the South Florida Water Management District announced it would purchase 187,000
acres of U.S. Sugar’s land south of Lake Okeechobee to restore clean water to
the Everglades and provide relief to coastal estuaries. On October 12, 2010, the District closed on
a contract to purchase 26,800 acres of land for $197 million, while retaining a
three-year exclusive option for the rest.
The state’s exclusive
3-year option -- to purchase either a specifically identified 46,800 acres or
the entire 153,000 acres at a fixed price of $7,400 per acre -- will expire
next month forcing the state to pay market prices for the land and compete with
other buyers.
On November 18, 2010, the Florida
Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Sugar purchase “serves the public purpose of
conserving and protecting water and water-related resources.”
Never before has that public
purpose been more evident. Coastal estuaries served by the Caloosahatchee and
St. Lucie Rivers are collapsing along with their local economies. While
short-term solutions can provide limited relief, the permanent solution is to
send more water south to the Everglades by buying more sugar land to store,
clean and eventually flow water south.
The
purchase of U.S. Sugar lands before October 12, 2013, represents the most
cost-efficient method for storing, treating and moving water south. We strongly
urge you to make the investment in Florida’s future at a price that may never
come again.
Sincerely,
Senior Staff
Manager
Sierra
Club
Jennifer Hecker
Director of
Natural Resource Policy
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Manley
Fuller
President
and CEO
Florida
Wildlife Federation
Mark Perry
Executive Director
Florida Oceanographic Society
Rae Ann Wessel
Natural Resource Policy Director
Sanibel Captiva Conservation
Foundation
Kathleen E. Aterno
Florida Director
Clean Water Action
Katie Tripp, Ph.D.
Director of Science and Conservation
Save
the Manatee Club
Sandy Gilbert
Chairman
START
(Solutions To Avoid Red Tide)
Michael J. Holsinger
Holsinger
Horticultural Services
Russ Hoffman
Beautiful
Ponds
Carol Leonard
Board of Directors
Coastal Wildlife Club, Inc.
Terry Brant
Legislative/Legal Affairs Chairman
Florida
Water Conservation Trust
American
Health Trust
Island
Aeromarine Services
Linda Young
Florida Clean Water Network
Burton Eno PhD, PE (ret)
President
Rainbow
River Conservation, Inc.
Donna Melzer
Martin
County Conservation Alliance
Dan Hilliard
Director
W.A.R., Inc.
Kings Bay Springs
Alliance
Peter Anderson
Chairman, President and CEO
REEF RELIEF
Karen Fraley, CIG
Karen Fraley, CIG
Sarasota Bay Guardians Coordinator
Manager/Naturalist
Around
the Bend Nature Tours LLC
John McCabe
President
Ding Darling Wildlife Society
Alexis Segal
Executive Director
Biscayne
Bay Waterkeeper
Mike Chenoweth
President
Florida Division of the
Izaak Walton League of America
Florida Keys Chapter of the
Izaak Walton League of America
Pamela Pierce
Cypress Chapter of the
Izaak Walton League of America
Michael Orchin
Cape
Coral Friends of Wildlife
|
Laurie Macdonald
|
|
Director, Florida Programs
Defenders of Wildlife
|
Matthew Schwartz
Executive Director
South Florida
Wildlands Association
John Marshall
Chairman
Arthur
R. Marshall Foundation
Alan Farago
President
Friends of the Everglades
Karja Hansen
President
Urban Environment League
Charles Pattison
1000 Friends of Florida
John Adornato III
Sun Coast Regional Director
National
Parks Conservation Association
Debbie Matthews
Sierra Club Florida
Elinor Williams
President
Friends of Arthur R. Marshall
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
Steve Brodkin
President
Concerned Citizens of
Bayshore Community, Inc.
Charles Sobczak
Lee Reefs
