DeSantisâ environmental chief defends Florida Forever funding
Floridaâs environmental secretary said heâs been directed to show the value in Florida Forever, with DeSantis proposing next year to spend $50 million on the program â down from $100 million.
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Sugar cane grows in a large field owned by the US Sugar Corporation as a rain storm rolls in over Clewiston in August 2014.
By Jim Turner
Published Feb. 11
TALLAHASSEE â State Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein on Wednesday defended Gov. Ron DeSantis for not asking to issue bonds for the Florida Forever land-conservation program, as the financing method has been proposed to cover Everglades work and a new program to fight rising sea levels.
Rescue group pleads for help as they rescue hundreds of pelicans from Skyway pier
Cynthia Smoot reports
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - At nearly two miles long, the south end of the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge is now the longest fishing pier in the world.
Since 1994, it has been open to fishing, seven days a week and 24 hours a day, and it might just be the deadliest for pelicans and other seabirds.
For years, volunteers with the rescue group Friends of the Pelicans have been rescuing birds trapped in fishing lines there. They knew it was bad, but didn t know how bad until they hired their own rescuer to be there five days a week.
Kevin Ruck - stock.adobe.com / Adobe Stock
Originally published on February 9, 2021 3:21 pm
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says local governments need to know their risk for sea-level rise. Some agencies are already making their own projections. The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact estimates by 2040; seas will rise in some South Florida communities by more than three feet. We ve been challenged with issues of sea-level rise for more than a decade. It s just been a very hot topic the last 15 or so years, says Jennifer Jurado. She s Broward County s Chief Resiliency Officer and represented the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact during a meeting today with lawmakers.
Storm-battered NJ coast bracing for more potential damage
With federal money unlikely, a number of Jersey Shore towns are hoping Mother Nature keeps calm for a bit to allow for their battered beaches to recover from the three-day storm that rocked the Garden State late January into February.
Despite post-storm surveys by the Department of Environmental Protection that show major beach or dune erosion in nine towns, and moderate damage in another 18, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers believes the nor easter won t qualify as an extraordinary storm event that can free up emergency aid for repairs. Certainly some towns do have the capacity to put some small amounts of sand on the beach typically, that s more of a band-aid solution, said Jon Miller, research associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.
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Good Wednesday morning.
The daily rundown Between Monday and Tuesday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 7,023 (nearly 0.4 percent), to 1,790,743; active hospitalizations went down by 74 (nearly 1.4 percent), to 5,307; deaths rose by 233 (0.8 percent), to 28,048.