ATV Florida Forum

Folks, I'm going to share an e-mail i received from someone thats well connected, basically senator inholfe has decided not to fund CERP. We need to start e-mailing the senator and ask him to DECERTIFY ALL OF CERP....This is the big push...

As for the bridges-my guess is that there isn't going to be another WRDA bill until CERP gets de-authorized.  I don't think Inholfe wants to fund CERP and he will find a way to hold up every WRDA bill until CERP is no longer authorized."
 
Folks this is what a soruce of mine close this CERP issue tells me.  You have got to find people in Inholfe's district or state to tell him not fund WRDA and to deauthorize CERP. Now is the time to act. If not you may lose for good.


Inhofe, James M.- (R - OK)    Class II
453 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4721
Web Form: inhofe.senate.gov/contactus.htm

We can only hope. After all, we need that money for munitions.

Here's the e-mail I sent::::

Dear Senator,I hope you find yourself in good spirits as these are very turbulent times for our country. Senator a great injustice is being committed against the outdoorsman family in Southwest Florida. SFWMD refuses to live up to their contractual agreements that they have made with Collier county,they are supposed to be restoring the everglades and at the same time keep issuing permits for the destruction of wetlands at neck breaking speeds. Senator, please I plead that you DE-CERTIFY CERP IMMEDIATELY and have all that land be returned to the public that once enjoyed there heritage hunting and fishing and using their ORV vehicles. This is one of the things are are WRONG WITH AMERICA. When we as a government take away private land for one thing then turn around and do the opposite. The board of SFWMD is a politically appointed board that answers to no one. As I write this letter to you, there's an effort starting, being spear headed by the Collier and  Lee County commissiones to make this an elected board. I ask that you please look into this and help the people here in Florida. We are becoming Cultural refugees in our own back yard....Thank You for your time and effort in this Matter.


Sincerly Yours

Rick Varela


Now let's not say that you cannot take the time to send an e-mail. This is a GROUP EFFORT...

I'll be glad to write one, but I'm not familiar with the exact situation. Could ya give me a little background or link to a couple threads so I can know what I'm writing about? :D

This is from the CERP website to give you an overview, but remember, it's pro CERP being that it's from their website.

About CERP: Brief Overview


The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) provides a framework and guide to restore, protect and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida, including the Everglades. It covers 16 counties over an 18,000-square-mile area and centers on an update of the Central & Southern Florida (C&SF) Project also known as the Restudy.

The Plan was approved in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000. It includes more than 60 elements, will take more than 30 years to construct and will cost an estimated $7.8 billion.

Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)
Provided the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with the authority to re-evaluate the C&SF Project and to recommend improvements and modifications to the project in order to restore the ecosystem.

The goal of CERP is to capture fresh water that now flows unused to the ocean and the gulf and redirect it to areas that need it most. The majority of the water will be devoted to environmental restoration, reviving a dying ecosystem. The remaining water will benefit cities and farmers by enhancing water supplies for the south Florida economy.

CERP stands for "Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program". It's headed  by SFWMD and it will encompass projects in 16 counties throughout  Florida. It is the reason that the 70,000 acres were shut down in SW Florida and will continue to shut down lands for riders anywhere there's one of these projects. Thats it in a nutshell.This is not good for us, the everglades or the environment...

how does this have to do with ATV riding?

The answer is simple. any land slated for part of CERP, this will could be happening in 16 counties across florida, will no longer be available for us to ride in. We already lost 70,000 acres of land to this LIE in Southwest fl(Picayune)..I hope this puts it in perspective...

o. so if this goes down we get places to ride? in 16 counties? cool. kill em.

No fox we won't get more places to ride.  CERP is claiming all the land that we are currently riding on for their Everglades Restoration Project (that will take 30 yrs to build and cost millions).  They are claiming it all under the false pretense that they are going to create a new way for Floridians to get clean water.  We all know there is a fear of drinkable water in the state.  However, the reality of this project is like many.  It all sounds good like something that the state needs.  In reality it will cost millions to start the project and more likely than not it will never get completed. So this "great plan" for water they have will do nothing but cost tax payers money.  In addition, they have been complaining that our OHV's are destroying the land and have been destroying it for years.  So they plan on restoring the ecology.  Or so they say.  The reality of it is that in order for them to complete their project they must destroy acre upon acre of the land that they are complaining we are killing.  And even worse they will do much more destruction and damage than our bikes will.  They will do their best to restore what they don't destroy by hiring engineers and other highly skilled and expensive workers to plan how to salvage what is left after they destroy things.

Remember now that for all this mass destruction the end result will most likely be no water plant as promised in 30 yrs.  And it's going to occur at a cost of millions of dollars to not complete this project and do their mass destruction.

o well then let them destroy it. just pisses off tree huggers when they destroy crap. if there aint more ridin involved then who cares?

You are missing the point on this.  Stopping these people, who are by the way on the side of the tree huggers and environmentalists, will help us get back to riding.  Don't be so selfish fox.  This very much impacts our riding all over the state because they are taking lands that we 1. have been promised for riding (picayune), 2. based on the T. Mark Schmidt law we were suppose to have 5 OHV parks by this year.  There is limited land in Florida for this and these people in combination w/ the tree huggers are taking it for their "Restoration Project"

So yes this very much impacts our future as riders.

Come on Homeschool!...I thought you were smarter than that.  You seem like a bright young leader of the future generation, but then you give up like that? You're not a quitter are you?

We need the next generation of riders to do everything they can to ensure that the government provides enough land for recreation, including RIDING ATV's.

I have no problem with the government setting aside land for tree hugging, bird watching, dope smoking hippies, like BigScrub, but they also need to alot a proportional amount of land to good looking, radically fast, tripple jump clearing, podium taking,  riders such as myself.

You need to become more active Fox, and do what you can to help.

Your defeatist attitude doesn't suit you.

Peace out
- Uncle Rico

lmao rico. that was funny.

QT, thanks for the great explanation...

 CERP was sold to the general public as a plan to restore the remaining everglades , the big LIE.

 This all about money ,eliminating recreational access,managing water for urban use and water quality to the Everglades National Park.
The heck with the rest of this ecosytem that is upstream, theres no concern for the cypress or the conservation areas.
Representatives from SWMD have stated that recreation/access and restoration are not compatible .
The notion that swamp buggies,airboats,atv's in particular do irrepairable damage to the ecosytem is total bs.
I've been in south florida for almost 40 years and know that water management has ruined the glades .
 
High water levels have killed more wildlife than all OHV's combined .
-Area 2 , i remember seeing deer there in the early 80's once that was turned into a  pond ,deer died off and the rest were mercy killed.
- The former -Browns Farm Wildlife management area , for those who may not be familiar ,this bordered area 2 on the north side of levee 6 it was drier and held an amazing variety of plant and wildlife .
The deer herd was very healthy ,therer  was a good population of bobcats ,racoons etc.
 
CERP ...THE GREAT SAVIOR OF THE EVERGLADES TOOK THE 4400 ACRE PARADISE AND TURNED IT IN TO AN STA (STORM WATER TREATMENT AREA). They built a pump station at the old entrance to Browns Farm and flooded the area . Its a shame this was lost when you consider that Browns Farm was surround on all sides by sugar cane fileds which should've been used for the purpose of filtering its own run off . It stead we the public lost out. By the way Browns was a small spot when compared to the thousands of acres Big Sugar has out there , they should've used their own land to clean up their pollution.

But before this happened ,in 1997 an all out mercy kill was done on deer erradicate the deer herd as much as possible.
A few years later I flew over the area  in a small Cessna and it was unrecognizable.
 
Here a site dedicated to loss of the area.
Browns Farm a CERP victim
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/~scofield/sofl_plants/brownsfarm_index.html

PLEASE CHECK THESE SITES
Mr Tom Shirley knows more about the glades than most us put together.

Problems w/Everglades Restoration-1999
http://www.evergladesvillage.net/miccosukee/


Everglades Restoration Fear- Tom Shirley1999
http://evergladesrestorationfear.org/index.html

Pictures of the 1950's and today
http://evergladesrestorationfear.org/henschel2day.htm

Everglades Restoration ?
By Glenn Wisley a long time airboat tour guide and glades resident
http://www.aaof.us/02.02.htm


http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/2004/articles6/restoration_drives_area_to_adapt.htm

On November 16 th WPBT CHANNEL 2 / public broadcating -in south florida will have a program on the Restoration of the Everglades .Check you local listings channels will vary.
 Must watch it.

I could on about some of the farm lands in south dade that were taken under the MOD waters another chapter tied to CERP.

lswjth2 is right , take his lead on this and get a letter out.


 

They want to do the same thing to the Picayune. Flood out about 45,00 acres and kill all the wildlife. The intersting thing is that the Governor and the Florida Legislature signed an amendment to CERP in 2003 allowing BIG SUGAR to continue to pollute into lake O. for an additional 10 years. Want to take a guess who was the Governor's biggest money political contributor???Jose (pepe) Fangul,owner of one of the Sugar cane companies. This entire project about "restoring the everglades" is a huge LIE. We have had limited success up to now. Congress did not authorize any money for this year,so the state had to pony up the $350 MILLION dollars for this plumbing project(remember that the state owns over 5 MILLION ACRES OF LAND and cannot give us 1 to ride on, but it can spend all this money,DO NOT FORGET THIS), however the Big push will have to come after the NOV 7th, election.This is where I will need everyone's help to get CERP DE-CERTIFIED and end the project. Right now it stands to cost over 12 BILLION DOLLARS and for what???to give the east and west coast of florida water so that they can continue building on more land,land that we used to ride in.

Rick ,
Glad you mentioned Picayune ,dont know how i failed to mention that.
It will follow suit with the rest of the victims of this project.

Whats the sense of any restoration project if the end result will be a decline in wildlife. Not only will it be under water but there are also proposed water level changes . Read up folks .

bump

Well,
i think we should get news media involed with this
such as fox news. :o

I can understand all about this,
Sounds like alot crap went down just using our tax dollers
for this crap,lol   :-[

I'll agree all of you what your saying about this on here!!! :)

I think,We should make some homemade protest signs
and spike them on side of road saying:Don't support CERP Wasting our tax dollers on floridans!!!

thats the spirit.

i watched a show on this, and what i got from it was in the early 1900 all the water levels were alot higher then they are now. what the project should do is return it to how it was before they ever started messin with it in the first place. now i'm not an expert on any of this, and the show i watched was prob. in support of the program. but if it is realy made to help out the everglades and return them to there natural state then i say we give up the riding area for the good of the state. the everglades have been around alot longer then any quad has. and as much as i love riding i sure as hell love fl more.

devildog55 ,
You're right about the water levels back in the early 1900's .
Storms would hit causing devastating flooding ,for relatively short periods of time.
As road were built across the glades they acted as barriers causing sustained abnormaly high water levels.A sytem of levees and canals were built for flood control protection for south florida as a result.

A true restoration is not possible ,1/2 glades are gone forever, lost to development .
As for riding quads , I'm with you on that .My concern is for the loss of habitat.
I like to ride but I prefer hunting or fishing over it .
Regardless of what you may read ,anybody who has spent last few decades visiting the glades will tell you  that prolonged high water levels are devastating.




 

I too was originally all for this.The original interim agreement called for MINING to be the only prohibited activity out in the Picayune, I have a video of Clarence Tears, The Big Cypress basin SFWMD DIRECTOR stating that the "current use" of Atv is not compatible with the restoration, that has turned into "NO USE". I also have a copy of the contract between SFWMD and Collier county government where SFWMD was supposed to hand over to the county 640 acres for us to ride in, they had up until October of last year,now the County is suing them.

I too was originally all for this.The original interim agreement called for MINING to be the only prohibited activity out in the Picayune, I have a video of Clarence Tears, The Big Cypress basin SFWMD DIRECTOR stating that the "current use" of Atv is not compatible with the restoration, that has turned into "NO USE". I also have a copy of the contract between SFWMD and Collier county government where SFWMD was supposed to hand over to the county 640 acres for us to ride in, they had up until October of last year,now the County is suing them.

SFWMD tells the County they have no land to give, SFWMD owns over 300,000 acres. The state collect tax and registration fees from us to give us land to ride on. The state owns more than 5,000,000 acres that we have bought and paid for along with the other floridians..There is no "everglades restoration",It's all a big lie. I found out yesterday that they are going to run an underground pipe from lake O. all the way to Miami to bring in water, and that they are going to be building a massive waste treatment plant all with CERP MONEY.What is happening in the Picayune will serve as a model for the rest of the CERP projects if they get funding. We were succesful in the fact that congress did not fund CERP this year, however, the mood n congress by the powers to be is do DE-CERTIFY CERP, iF THIS HAPPENS THE STATE HAS TO PONY UP THE MONEY. Then we will hit the state for fraud and waste. I'm sure the people of Florida have bigger things to think of,like Homeowners insurance,prescrition drugs and so on. I have learned that when you go after these things, you attack the money, if you can do that, the project has a certain death. I hope you will assist me in Helping our cause and keep public areas,PUBLIC.....