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50 years after Nixon halted project cutting canal across Florida, controversy continues
Idea for ‘Ditch of Dreams’ began with Spanish in 1500
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The U.S. Commerce Department image documented construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal in the 1960s. (Photo from Florida Memory)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you were asked to describe the legacy of President Richard Nixon, “environmentalist” is probably not one of the first things that would come to mind.
Before a political burglary blew up into a political scandal that toppled the president, Nixon made several progressive decisions, including expanding the Endangered Species Conservation Act, establishing the Environmental Protection Agency and 50 years ago this week ordering an end to a project to dig a canal across the Florida peninsula.
The end of the canal that would have cleaved Florida in two | Column
50 years ago, environmentalists persuaded Nixon to halt construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal.
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Published Jan. 15
In January 1971, a forward artillery observer serving with American forces in Cambodia exulted in good news from back home in Florida. âI was excited for my mom,â he remembered in an interview years later. âBut nobody in my unit had any idea why I was so happy. I had to explain to them about the Cross Florida Barge Canal.â That observer was Stephen Carr, whose enthusiastic response was fueled by the reports that President Richard Nixon issued an executive order 50 years ago â on Jan. 19, 1971 â mandating that construction on the canal be halted.