By Whitey Markle RAINBOW RIVER MFL TO BE DECIDED ON MARCH 28 The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) will decide on a proposed Minimum Flow and Level (MFL) at their March 28th meeting in the SWFWMD headquarters in Brooksville. Although the Rainbow River and spring are flowing at over […]
By Whitey Markle WELL-OILED MACHINE? The Suwannee-St Johns Group is, “the largest SC group east of the Mississippi “, possesses 1000 springs, and is approximately the size of Massachusetts. Needless to say, we have a massive chunk of the most environmentally-endowed land, and we have the responsibility of protecting it for […]
In 1867, John Muir, Botanist & later founder of Sierra Club, walked from Indiana across Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. He traversed the Florida wilds from Fernandina, through Gainesville and onto Cedar Key. In his published journal, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, his charming style shows […]
By Maryvonne Devensky 1) SABAL TRAIL PIPELINE —Since last fall, DIVESTING globally is a growing movement according to an article from December 12, 2016, by Damian Carrington. Here are some excerpts: “The value of investment funds committed to selling off fossil fuel assets has jumped to 5.2 TRILLIONS doubling in […]
By Whitey Markle LEGISLATIVE In view of the current political situation here in Florida and nationwide, we must begin to understand our governmental representative and we must begin to engage them with our positions on critical environmental issue. Most of them will listen, and we have concluded , over time, […]
By Whitey Markle NEW SSJ STRUCTURE UP AND RUNNING The Working Group structure is up and running. I am getting a lot of positive comments about the new structure. The Working Groups (North Florida, Tricounty, and Central) are able to flex with the issues at hand and the issues in these […]
Alachua County/Gainesville Residents: For the fourth year in a row, Senator Keith Perry is working to remove all accountability from our municipally-owned utility and to move it one big step closer to privatization. At the Legislative Delegation meeting on Jan. 30th, there were more than half a dozen people who spoke […]
By Maryvonne Devensky As you know we started a new working group in December 2016, to serve the needs of the northern counties: Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwannee, Baker, Union, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, and Gilchrist, 9 counties that have a lot in common: beautiful rural settings of forests, meadows, wetlands, springs and […]
By Whitey Markle “VICTORY” IN UNION COUNTY MINING ISSUE On January 17, the Union County Board of County Commissioners (B.O.C.C.) voted unanimously to extend the moratorium on mining for another year. The standing-room-only Union County Courtroom was packed with supporters of the moratorium extension. We hope the Union BOCC moves […]
Our ex-chair, Brack Barker, was appointed Outings Chair and approved by the EXCOM at the January 12 meeting, and Kathryn Taubert was appointed as Assistant Chair. Also, Maryvonne Devensky will chair the new Central Working Group, which includes Alachua, Putnam, and a portion of Clay County. Chris Mericle will chair […]
