Sawfish caught in Florida--On endangered species list

For all you Anglers out there, here's a story for you--

A Florida fisherman was stunned to reel in this scary prehistoric monster

Rare prehistoric shark relative caught in Florida

The waters of Florida are home to some of the best fishing in the country.

Anglers never know what they might find.

And a Florida fisherman was stunned to reel in this scary prehistoric monster.

Members of the University of North Florida’s Shark Biology program were fishing on the St. Mary’s River on the border with Georgia when they made a shocking find.

A student caught one of the critically endangered smalltooth sawfish after he felt it pulling on his line. After they studied it, it was released.

The smalltooth sawfish evolved from primitive shark species that have long been extinct.

Read about the Sawfish

Endangered species being used in pharmaceuticals in China

Several Chinese Companies List Endangered Animals As Ingredients

I thought this was interesting in the simple fact that China has little regard to life in general. It is all a means to an end.

A surprising environmental investigation has recently uncovered three publicly traded Chinese pharmaceutical companies that use endangered animals as product ingredients.

Watch video on X

The EIA’s report has not only exposed this environmental wrongdoing but has also called upon global investors in these Chinese pharmaceutical firms, some of whom include major financial institutions such as UBS and HSBC, to divest from their stakes.

Twitter user Data Fox, whose bio says he works in data science, claimed in a tweet that U.S. reliance on Chinese biopharmaceutical exports represents a threat to national security. “Something like 90% of pharma products manufactured in China.

One of the delights at John Prince Park

You don't really want to mess with this guy

As of August 28, 2013 it is classified as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Wood Stork at Lake Osborne

We are lucky to see Wood Storks from time to time. They are amazing birds. This lone stork walked right up to me.

The Wood Stork is the only stork that presently breeds in North America. In the United States there is a small and endangered breeding population in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Please sign the Petition - Save the Florida Wildlife Corridor

Good News from Janet Stanko--

We are NOT asking you for money—just your signature to a petition to help us save the biggest mitigation bank in the US which is in Volusia and Brevard Counties.

Please circulate this information to your network of contacts.

Miami Corporation wants to build a new city in and around a 24,000 acre wilderness that it turned into a wetland mitigation bank in Volusia and Brevard counties.  Miami Corporation is paid millions of dollars to save this land forever. But now Miami Corporation has applied to the US Army Corps of Engineers to remove land from the bank and start construction of a new city.

In 2000, Miami Corporation contracted with the US government to turn this wilderness into the Farmton Mitigation Bank—the largest mitigation bank in the United States. This land, part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor project, is home to many disappearing species, including the black bear, the bobcat, and possibly the Florida Panther.

Please sign the petition to tell the US Army Corps of Engineers that Farmton Mitigation Bank is a forever bank and Miami Corporation’s application must be rejected.  The goal is to get 5,000 petitions by October 1st to present to the US Army Corps of Engineers. “Like” us on Facebook so you can be informed about further developments on this issue.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/481/172/951/farmton-mitigation-bank-dont-let-the-biggest-bank-get-robbed/

http://www.facebook.com/SaveFarmtonMitigationBank

Quote of the Day - Kathy Barco

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"This is a success story."

~Kathy Barco

 Chair of  The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission


The Florida Black Bear has been allowed to survive in Florida thanks to the fact that it was on the threatened species list. It has rebounded now to a population of 3,000.

Now that we have a good population again, yesterday the Commission removed the protection of the Florida Black Bear. It will no longer be a felony to shoot one--only a misdemeanor.

These beautiful animals, destroyed to nearly extinction by man, will now be at their mercy again. This was a bad decision by The Fish and Wildlife Commission. And Ms. Barco, your success story of the Forida Black Bear is now meaningless by your vote yesterday. Your quote makes you appear like a callous fool.

Sound Pollution

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Dr. Kirt Rusenko, Marine Conservationist for the Sea Turtle Protection program at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton says:

My main concern for sound pollution is frequencies below 200 Hz which is the range of the heavy, thumping base heard from many cars on the road. Turtles do not hear well out of the water for the higher frequencies but the lower frequencies are literally transmitted through the entire body of the animal and it does disturb them. My concern for sounds at the restaurants is the low frequency bass that seems to be a part of every bar/lounge everywhere. I do not know if there is a noise ordinance in Lake Worth, but one may make this point moot."

This is the same sound that has been driving residents crazy who live near certain bars in the downtown. It is the same complaint that prompted the City to enact a Noise Ordinance. Helen and Bud Greene are thinking of moving from this city because the noise ordinance has not been effective.

There are still some bar supporters who believe that residents don't have any rights when it comes to a decent night's sleep. I am sure that these will be the same people who want our beach opened to 1am with open air restaurant bar band noise polluting the entire coastline of Lake Worth and beyond and calling us "old farts" for being the least bit concerned about it..

Loggerhead Turtles and the Lake Worth Beach

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When Irene passed by us this Hurricane Season, we lucked out but it managed to wipe away all the turtle nests on our beach. All of us who are environmentally conscientious and care, are going through discussions about turtle lighting at the Lake Worth beach. For some reason, turtle lighting was overlooked on the beach re-development plan. How could that be? Those we hired now want $2 to $3 million dollars more and the city manager wants to give the very guy, Michael Singer, a Contract, who has worked on a volunteer basis after his initial fee and was the one who designed the beach redevelopment plan without the proper turtle lighting.

The Loggerhead has been listed as a threatened species for over 30 years. It's classification has now been reviewed by the NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have now listed it as "endangered."

We must get this turtle lighting straightened out. Apparently the reason why it was missed is the fact that the City did not consider that another tenant in the Casino might want later hours as John G's was always breakfast and lunch. It just never dawned on anyone that John G's would get fed up and leave town. The City told them that they would not help with the build-out, that it was their expense. Then what happens after they pull out?... Staff changes the rules and we ARE paying for part of the build-outs. This was NOT part of the original Plan but the City in all its fear of not getting tenants, changed the rules unbeknown to the public or to the City Commission. We all learned about it one day at a workshop--vanilla and black boxes, whatever in the hell it all meant. The Commission just went along. The self-serving Realtor even made a statement in the PBPost that we should help in the build-out. Who in the heck asked him for his opinion? We will pay this guy a commission for our own tenants to come back and lease. We do the dumbest things.

The solution could be to limit evening hours or perhaps find that national chain restaurant that would pay for the lighting. Or, kick them all off our beach not allowing them to dig one hole, and find someone who will work within our parameters for $5 million. We don't need to spend one dime moving parking lots around and losing all that upper level as well as decal parking a Cara Jennings and Rene Varela idea.

P.S. I was at John G's for lunch yesterday at their new location in Manalapan. Here is a business that was with us for 37 years and we kicked them to the curb giving a total stranger, Johnny Longboats, a better deal than was offered to them. Not a nice thing to do to friends. And you wonder why people don't want to come to Lake Worth.

Big Cypress

Otter eating fish at Big Cypress

Just a quick reminder that tonight at midnight is the deadline for submitting comments to the National Park Service on their hunting management plan for the Big Cypress National Preserve. Comment form is here:

http://m1e.net/c?121296310-t/kEz5w2gBnGw%406813527-l6ccd8Yq63N/E

Unless you've actually been there it's difficult to describe what the Addition Lands represent. Basically one of the last pieces of south Florida that look (and sound) like what much of south Florida once was not too long ago. An incredible mosaic of pinelands, cypress swamps, prairies, and marshes - teeming with 30 species of animals listed as endangered, threatened, or species of special concern (among the literally thousands of species of plants and animals present). It could be south Florida's version of the Amazon - and it's just a 45 minute drive from downtown Ft. Lauderdale (Mile Marker 52 off I-75). But this piece of National Park Service land is yours to enjoy and appreciate no matter where you happen to live.

Hopefully many of you will join us on swampwalks in the cooler weather to get to know this special place better. You won't be disappointed. But at the moment - the National Park Service has set a midnight deadline (Mountain Time) for submitting comments on a proposal to open this area up to public hunting for the first time in its history. This action would change this special piece of land dramatically. An interview I gave to the Broward Palm Beach New Times summarizes what's at stake quickly.

Matt Schwartz
Executive Director
South Florida Wildlands Association
P.O. Box 30211
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33303
954-634-7173

Message from South Florida Wildlands Association

BELOW is an excerpt from a message I received from the South Florida Wildlands Association. Some of you will probably call these activists "anarchists" or whatever adjective you dream up to belittle their efforts. And to make matters worse, two of our candidates, Ramiccio and Maxwell, want to sell off our valuable electric Utility to FPL.

Florida Power and Light (FPL) is attempting to swap a utility corridor it owns inside the 109,000 acre East Everglades Expansion Area (Everglades National Park) for a new corridor on the east side of the park - but still inside current park boundaries. If permitted, one of Florida's most unique natural areas will gain a new industrial horizon consisting of 3 sets of powerlines carrying up to 500,000 volts of electricity across towers as high as 150 feet.

The lines would connect proposed new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point to points north and are a part of FPL's application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Although grave concerns regarding these reactors have been discussed on this list previously - the issue right now is not Turkey Point or south Florida's energy future. The only issue NPS will be considering at this time are FPL's power lines across Everglades National Park.

A map of the proposed "swap" can be found here.

A photo of existing powerlines heading north from Turkey Point (much smaller than the ones proposed for Everglades National Park) is here, photo by Matt Schwartz .

Potential consequences of the powerlines to the park could be enormous. They include:

• damage to sensitive wetlands due to construction of towers and maintenance roads;

• spread of exotic plant species on disturbed lands;

• impacts to federally listed endangered and threatened species including the Everglades snail kite, eastern indigo snake, wood stork, and Florida panther;

• likely increase in mortality of native and migratory birds due to collisions and electrocutions;

• and degradation of the public's ability to enjoy a significant area of land already declared "wilderness eligible" by the NPS.

Of the 3 alternatives put forward by the National Park Service, South Florida Wildlands Association is strongly advocating the selection of ALTERNATIVE 3: ACQUISITION. As described in the NPS newsletter:

"FPL property would be acquired by direct purchase or, as a last resort, by condemnation by the NPS. There would not be any construction of transmission lines and associated fill pads or access roads in the Expansion Area."

The full "scoping newsletter" and many more documents relating to this important project can be found here.

A few things to keep in mind if you're submitting comments or speaking at the public meeting. The land at issue is known as the East Everglades Expansion Area. It began the process of becoming public land when congress passed and President George Bush signed into law the Everglades Protection and Expansion Act of 1989. As stated in the act itself, its purpose was to:

(1) increase the level of protection of the outstanding natural values of Everglades National Park and to enhance and restore the ecological values, natural hydrologic conditions, and public enjoyment of such area by adding the area commonly known as the Northeast Shark River Slough and the East Everglades to Everglades National Park; and

(2) assure that the park is managed in order to maintain the natural abundance, diversity, and ecological integrity of native plants and animals, as well as the behavior of native animals, as a part of their ecosystem.

A Land Protection Plan written by NPS in 1991 in order to implement the above act specifically excluded powerlines as a compatible use:

"Activities that would disturb the ecology, interfere with the restored hydrologic system, or prevent public enjoyment of the Addition would be incompatible. Major additions to existing developments or agricultural activities, as well as the construction of utility lines and roads, also would not be compatible."

For more information, contact,

Matt Schwartz, Executive Director
South Florida Wildlands Association
P.O. Box 30211
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33303
954-634-7173

One of the Million Reasons why I live here

This Great White Egret has been visiting every day

In some parts of the southern United States, such as our great State of Florida, the Great Egret numbers have declined due to habitat loss--development. Nevertheless, it adapts well to human habitation and can be readily seen near wetlands and bodies of water in urban and suburban areas. That's why this one loves Lake Osborne.

Human encroachment on marshes, lakes, and rivers is now the number one threat to Florida's water birds. Today, all of Florida's wading water birds are protected by law.

Endangered Species.

Now it's the Florida Black Bear that might get screwed

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Florida has no protection because of certain departments being downsized or not funded. The EPA is now looked at as unfavorable. Governor Scott told the Environmental Protection Agency that Florida didn't need water standards. Can you even imagine that? Even Allen West has recommended that EPA's budget be cut and has warned of its dangers.

Protection for the residents who live here are being quickly eroded by greedy developers and politicians who do not protect our State. And now our Black Bear, along with other endangered species, could be in danger too.

According to The Defenders of Wildlife, nearly 20 acres of wildlife habitat are being lost to development every hour in Florida, one of the most rapidly urbanizing states in the nation. To ensure survival of the Black Bear, it is critical that bear habitat, adjacent to and serving to link existing public lands, be purchased as public lands or managed by private landowners in a manner compatible with the long-term survival of the Florida black bear.

Now the State of Florida is considering kicking the black bear off the endangered species list along with 15 other species of mammals, fish, reptiles and birds. "Removing them from the list paves the way to re-open 'trophy' bear hunts, where hunters kill the creatures for hides or heads to display."

Our State is quickly falling apart. With Governor Rick Scott gutting the Growth Management Act, cutting all funding to Florida Forever Land Protection Program, it is now apparent that even our endangered animals, that we have a responsibility to protect, might end up with no safe habitats or defense under this government.

Florida Forever and the P2000 Program were responsible for purchasing more than 2.4 million acres out of the 9.8 million acres of conservation land in Florida. Our animals had a place to live their lives. What next?

Even Martin County gets into the Act of bad growth decisions

Trying to beat out Amendment 4, Martin County politicians can join the rest of the State when it comes to bad decisions on growth. Martin wanted to develop five projects spreading out over 9,000 acres and the DCA said "no."

The reasons: "The county fails to show a need for more new homes and lacks adequate roads and water resources. The projects would hurt Everglades restoration efforts. The proposed developments could harm endangered and threatened species as well as pinelands and wetlands."

The Department of Community affairs just stopped Martin in its tracks.

Save our Florida Panther - Vote YES on Amendment 4

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In February, five conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal court in Fort Myers, Florida against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its failure to designate critical habitat to protect the Florida panther. Listed as an endangered species since 1967, fewer than 100 Florida panthers survive in the wild.

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Sierra Club (David Levy, you should resign), the Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and the Council for Civic Associations say they are suing to protect the panther's remaining habitat before it is lost due to sprawl development and climate change.

Read MORE on this....just another reason to vote YES on Amendment 4 this November 2.

Let's make our official State Animal a Developer

16 Florida Panthers killed by vehicles in 2009

The Federal government has pledged it would create jobs. That was the reason to get every man, woman, and child in debt at an amount of $40,000 each. They promised jobs in the Stimulus. What better way to get jobs than development? Let’s just develop anywhere possible.

Today they just screwed the State of Florida, not for the guy who wants a development job, but they just killed off our Florida panther by one simple word, “no.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would not designate habitat for the Florida panther feeling that the Endangered Species Act and the Recovery Plan is sufficient.

IT’S NOT!

The government just now killed off our Florida panther for good by protecting the developers at the expense of our Florida panther, now down to about 80 which are mostly cross-breeds with the Texas Puma. We have a designated State animal that we are NOT protecting. Let’s change our State animal to a Developer as it is apparent that this is the only animal that we do protect.

This is another reason to vote YES on Amendment 4.

The Brown Pelican

The Brown Pelican is being removed from the Endangered Species List.

Audubon, the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation view the recovering pelican as "powerful proof that a healthy coast and strong environmental protections can benefit people and nature alike." Although now off the endangered list, we need to remain diligent about protecting it from the many threats that it still faces.

Audubon is a group that does everything to protect wildlife. We would like them to strongly come out in support of Florida Hometown Democracy that will help protect our State's land, water as well as its wildlife.

Dr. Steve Rosen's Story - Florida Hometown Democracy Part III

PART III- Gopher tortoise not really protected

The way around the stringent protections offered by the Endangered Species Act is the so called Candidate Conservation Agreement or CCA. A CCA is a “private” contract like you or I might undertake with someone who builds a home or provides some other service that completely bypasses the Endangered Species Act and allows this flimsy approach to protecting the animals. This agreement can have whatever policies, protections or other stipulations that the parties forming it want to include. The bottom line is that, based on research by my attorney which is in my possession, these so-called CCA’s NEVER WORK. The animals covered by these private agreements always lose out.

When my attorney attempted to attend a second meeting with these sociopaths at Booz Allen, in Atlanta, Georgia, he was initially invited and prepared to go. He reserved a hotel room, rented a car and bought his airline tickets. Two weeks before the meeting, he received a phone call telling him he could not attend the meeting. He could be arrested if he appeared. Apparently, the wildlife goons were aware of who he was and were refusing to attend the meeting if he were there. This second meeting was to finalize terms for the Candidate Conservation Agreement.Thus my attorney and I had to eat some of the costs involved with canceling his trip.

The group goes by the acronym SERPPAS for South East Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability. The gopher tortoise CCA can be found by clicking on the “projects” link at the left and scrolling down to the bottom of the page. CLICK HERE for a link to the page. Scroll down to the end of that page for the link to the final Gopher Tortoise CCA that they cooked up for the phony protection of the gopher tortoise.

in my opinion, all of these dealings, "winings and dinings" were done behind the backs of Florida voters in violation of the Sunshine laws. The Fla. Fish and Wildlife Con-mission never listed any of this material on their web site because they do not want the public to know about it. I handed a stack of documents from these meetings to Dave Fleshler who promptly killed the story asking me why I am complaining because he writes stories about the gopher tortoise.

With these defeats, my attorney advised me to try to force US Fish and Wildlife to review the Endangered Species Act application for the gopher tortoise. I learned that even if they did agree to review the application and even if they agreed to offer the protection, you still need to protect the habitat as a separate action. That would never happen given the politics involved in massive uncontrolled development power in Florida. There was no way I was going to win this, or was there?

Steve Rosen

Next Sunday is the conclusion to Dr. Rosen's story and his payback on politicians.

Dr. Rosen's Story Part II

Dr. Rosen's Story Part I

Steve Rosen's story and Florida Hometown Democracy - Part II

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PART II – The Motion to Dismiss and the Gopher Tortoise

Jeb Bush appointed Judge Thomas Bateman who granted the State’s flimsy Motion to Dismiss so I appealed the dismissal. The State Court of Appeals in harmony with their politico buddies upheld the dismissal and offered NO WRITTEN OPINION with their opinion. Without that written opinion, per the statutes supposedly written to protect the public, I was unable to further appeal my lawsuit. Welcome to the People’s Republic of Florida where the laws are written solely to protect those in power from people like me who call them to task.

While all this was going on, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation goons were being wined and dined by the Department of Defense along with state wildlife officials from neighboring states like Louisiana, Georgia and a few others.

All of this wining and dining, all expenses paid by the Dept. of Defense, was being coordinated by the Dept. of Defense’s slimy contractor Booz, Allen, Hamilton, a company with the resources to have planned a 9-11 or Kennedy assassination if you review their web site at www.booz.com.

The purpose of all this wining and dining of wildlife officials concerned what else, the gopher tortoise.

The Dept. of Defense and their buddies in these various state wildlife commissions did not want the gopher tortoise protected by the Endangered Species Act. An application had been filed in early 2006 and naturally the US Fish and Wildlife Conservation missed their mandatory deadline for reviewing it and blamed endless lawsuit settlements they had to deal with before they could review the application. As you can see, rules only apply to the little people, us. The “government’ can do whatever it wants because the rules don’t apply to them.

I can only assume the Defense Department wanted to avoid protection for the gopher tortoises so they could do what they want with their various bombing ranges, etc. in the Southeast.

However, not only did this group not want the gopher tortoise listed under the Act, they wanted to DELIST the already protected Southwestern Gopher tortoises which “were” protected by the Endangered Species Act.

My attorney attended one of these meetings at the Atlanta, Georgia offices of Booz Allen. Security is so tight you have to be accompanied by security to use the restroom!!!

What I also learned from all this while my court case was winding through the system on its inevitable course of failure, was that there is a glaring loophole in the Endangered Species Act! Are you really surprised?

Dr. Steve Rosen

Next Sunday, Part III, Gopher tortoise not really protected

Part 1

New baby at our Zoo

This is the first Spider monkey born at the Palm Beach Zoo in 14 years.

"Native to portions of Central America and Mexico, this species is critically endangered in the wild. Their critical status is the result of habitat loss, hunting and capture of wild animals for the pet trade."

Go see our new monkey.

Drew Martin and the River of Grass

The Neighborhood News was great today and the bio information by Willie Howard on my friend, Drew Martin, was well done. CLICK HERE to read about Drew and his involvement in Florida's environment and in the "River of Grass."

Years ago, after I had moved back to Lake Worth, I had met Drew and was very impressed with him as a person as well as his concern for the environment and for people in general. His enthusiasm went further than just locally--it was Mother Earth. Sincere people are sometimes hard to find. I decided to campaign for him. It was the race with Wes Blackman and Jo-Ann Golden for Commissioner District 3. I got to experience, first-hand, the nasty and rude people involved in politics in this city. It is something that I will always remember and hopefully I have learned from it. Nothing should ever surprise me but something always does…like the intensification in the meanness and in the lies.

But to get back to The River of Grass which is The Everglades and consists of 1.5 million acres of swamps and sawgrass. The Everglades National park is the third largest in the country. Initially when Congress signed the Act, it created 460,000 acres of protected land filled with all sorts of wildlife including 14 rare and endangered species—three of which are the

American Crocodile, the Florida Panther and the West Indian Manatee.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas described the Everglades as the River of Grass and it is believed that she was the first one to come up with that name. Water does flow through the Everglades into Florida Bay and is covered by grasses. Marjory died in 1998 and I would bet that she is also one of Drew’s heroes.