[TAKE ACTION or assume the RISK of sittin' around.]

TAKE ACTION or assume the RISK of sittin' around.

FW: ALERT --- Protect Your Right To Refuse To Be A Victim -- Gov. Task Force
            
From: USFinfo@aol.com [mailto:USFinfo@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 5:57 PM
To: USFinfo@aol.com
Subject: ALERT --- Protect Your Right To Refuse To Be A Victim -- Gov. Task Force

 

ALERT --- Protect Your Right To Refuse To Be A Victim -- Gov. Task Force

DATE:       April 23, 2012
TO:           Unified Sportsmen of Florida & NRA Members and Friends
FROM:      Marion P. Hammer
                USF Executive Director
                NRA Past President

Florida Governor Rick Scott has announced the appointment of a Task Force to review Florida's Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground laws.

The Castle Doctrine law protects law-abiding citizens from law enforcement and prosecutorial abuse when they fight back and use force, including deadly force against an intruder/attacker in their homes or occupied vehicles.  The law removes any duty to retreat when in your home or vehicle and presumes that an intruder/attacker intends to do bodily harm, therefore allowing the use of force, including deady force, to protect yourself, your family and your home.

The Stand Your Ground law protects law-abiding citizens from law enforcement and prosecutorial abuse when they fight back and use force, including deadly force against an intruder/attacker. The law provides that a person does not have a duty to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she has a right to be, and may meet force with force if the person reasonably believes he/she is in immiment peril of death or great bodily harm.

TO READ A COPY OF THE LAW FOR YOURSELF:

Florida Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground Law

http://laws.flrules.org/files/Ch_2005-027.pdf

In the face of outrageous misinterpretations of the law by the anti-gun, anti-self defense Brady Campaign's reckless henchmen, and politically motivated anti-gun legislators and politicians, Governor Rick Scott has appointed the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection to actually review the law and bring the truth to light.

TO READ A COPY OF THE GOVERNOR'S PRESS RELEASE:

Governor's Press Release on Task Force Appointments

http://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/04.19.2012-RELEASE-Task-Force-Citizen-Safety-Protection.pdf

READ WHAT SCHOLARS WHO HAVE ACTUALLY READ THE LAW SAY:

David Kopel: Debunking The Stand Your Ground Myth

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/2/debunking-the-stand-your-ground-myth/

The Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground

http://www.corson.org/archives/legal/L2012_09.htm

Stand Your Ground, America | The American Civil Rights Union

http://theacru.org/acru/stand_your_ground_america/

And from Tucson, Arizona's TusconCitizen.com is a link attacking Marion Hammer for her work to protect law-abiding gun owners' rights.  The article includes a video you should watch because Hammer explains why the law became necessary.

NASTY JACK: Graying Granny Marion Hammer excellent example of NRA’s brain washing

http://nastyjackbuzz.blogspot.com/2012/04/graying-granny-marion-hammer-excellent.html

Balance it off with a CNN Profile on Marion Hammer:

CNN Profile: Marion Hammer Stands Her Ground

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/15/us/marion-hammer-profile/?eref=rss_latest

Finally: At the bottom of the Governor's Press Release is an email address for the public to provide input by emailing the task force.

That email address is:   CitizenSafety@eog.myflorida.com.

TO UNSUBSCRIBE - To be removed from Unified Sportsmen of Florida's Information and Alert list, please notify us by email to USFINFO@aol.com and type REMOVE in the subject line.  G-3

[DO NOT Miss Watching the live video feed from the Hearing noticed below by Congress.]

DO NOT Miss Watching the live video feed from the Hearing noticed below by Congress.

Headwaters Will Be Discussed - Our People Will Testify See Below

 This Week -  This Thursday, November 3 feed starts at 9:50 a.m.

To watch go to this link and click on "Watch Live Hearings at 9:50 am this Thursday. Nov 3

Hearings
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Oversight Hearing on "Florida Everglades Restoration: What are the Priorities?"
Thursday, November 3, 2011 10:00 AM
Add to my calendar
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES,WILDLIFE, OCEANS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Thursday, November 3, 2011
10:00 a.m.

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

    * "Florida Everglades Restoration: What are the Priorities?"

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

The Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
Department of Defense

Rachel Jacobson
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Department of the Interior

Panel II

The Honorable William P. Horn
Past Member, National Academy of Science’s
Committee on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress

The Honorable Rick Dantzler
Co-Chairman
Northern Everglades Alliance

Eric Draper
Executive Director
Audubon of Florida

Bishop Wright, Jr.
President
Florida Airboat Association

Jorge P. Gutierrez, Jr.
President
Everglades Coordinating Council

BACKGROUND:

The hearing will examine the impacts of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, a component of the Water Resources Development Act. In 2000, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan as a component of the Water Resources Development Act, committing to spend at least $13.5 billion for the restoration of the Florida Everglades. To date, none of the 68 projects of the Comprehensive Restoration Plan are completed. Despite the fact that the Fish and Wildlife Service has an operations and maintenance backlog in excess of $3.4 billion, they plan to acquire 150,000 acres of land in Central Florida for inclusion within the National Wildlife Refuge System at a cost of more than $700 million. The focus of the hearing is to examine how the 150,000 acres acquired will contribute to the overall goal of restoring the Florida Everglades, how the Service intends to pay for the 150,000 acres it intends to acquire through fee titles and conservation easements, what assurances they will provide in terms of public access and wildlife dependent recreation within the refuge and conservation area, and how the four locally affected Florida counties will be compensated for lost tax revenues.

[USFWS Partners are BEGGING/GROVELING for Headwaters Support]

USFWS Partners are BEGGING/GROVELING for Headwaters Support


Partners of USFWS are begging from all quarters for us to back off and support their bad idea. Many emails have been flying today from very high altitudes requesting us to disregard the truth and our true values to support their bad idea.

 They will be offering many bones in the near future to try to entice and divide us but it is up to all of us who understand those offering the bones and crumbs today will NOT be around in the future to keep their promises so let them know there is NO SALE Here of the Headwaters.

 COMMENT   COMMENT    COMMENT    to EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov and let them know again. This is extremely important at this critical time during this Land Protection Plan comment cycle. Now is the time for all of us to gently squeeze our comment triggers to fire the comment shots needed to  kill this marauding Headwaters predator and rid ourselves of it once and for all.

 Even if the Feds truly wanted to keep their promises; their own laws, regulations, Presidential executive orders will prevent them doing so.

 On top of that the same type so called environmental/conservation organizations that have filed 2 lawsuits this week against hunters and ORV users in Big Cypress WILL be doing the same thing in the Kissimmee/Headwaters area.

 
A giant thanks to everyone in advance for helping because without your tireless efforts USFWS would get away with their bait and switch rip-off as they have before.

[All previously suggested comments will still be valid to be used for USFWS's Land Protection Plan should it be produced]

Major hunting & conservation umbrella group has recently voted to oppose Headwaters 100% including any so-called WMA managed by FWC since they (FWC) will never be fully in charge.



At least one meeting with another Congressman will happen the week of Apr 18, 2011



Anyone who missed commenting to the scoping process may have a chance to tell USFWS what they think around May or June if this bad idea isn't dead by then.



All previously suggested comments will still be valid to be used for USFWS's Land Protection Plan should it be produced

The last sentence in bold in the quote is NOW wrong.

Having read some of the LPP it is evident our exposure of their intent to do this has caused USFWS to remove this Wilderness trick from their bag of tricks.

[Hearings]

Hearings such as the ones happening this Saturday in Avon Park and next Saturday in Kissimmee are a very very BIG Deal.

These Hearings are where USFWS will have court reporter types in the room with steno machines to produce verbatim transcripts of everyone's public statements to keep on record forever. They will not be allowed to para-phrase our statements as was done in earlier comments. These transcripts are amazing - if you scream your opposition they will note in the transcript that you were screaming. A transcript really puts the reader in the room as if they are there. That makes it important since elected officials who don't attend can be directed to these transcripts at a later date to gain a full understanding of how local people feel about this bad idea called Headwaters.

This is why it is so Important for our voices in the room to be many and loud. Danny B. style will work well.

If one doesn't quite know what to say "NO - Hell No" in many languages will work.

Please be willing to sacrifice one day to protect our heritage from this Federal Cancer.

Hearing Attendance is absolutely Critical to Defeating this bad idea.

[THIS]

Just a Reminder

The meetings mentioned in the previous post happen THIS Saturday in Avon Park and NEXT Saturday in Kissimmee.

These are meeting folks better be willing to skip a day of hunting, airboating etc. to attend so as to get rid of this chunk of FEDERAL CANCER coming to Central Florida.

Gladesman

[Hearings]

Public Hearings to be held on Headwaters.

 

These hearings are a bigger deal than previous meetings.

 

The key word is Hearing which means all comments are transcribed verbatim into the record of this bad idea.

 

Dates, places and times below:

 

Two public hearings have been scheduled.

 

One will be held 1-5 PM on Saturday, September 24th at the South Florida Community College Center for Performing Arts, 600 W. College Drive, Avon Park, Fl.

 

The second hearing will be held 1-5 PM on Saturday, October 1 at Osceola Heritage Park, Exhibition Building Hall A 1901 Osceola Trail, Kissimmee Fl. 34744.

 

Hopefully even more will attend these meetings than before.

 

The same opposition  messages need to be conveyed to USFWS whether u think this bad idea will hurt u or not if for no other reason than to reduce the amount of debt that will fall upon your children and grand children because of it if it proceeds forward. Headwaters type programs are what causes it.

 

This can be stopped if people stick together for at least this once in our lifetime.

[advertised]

So far one of the advertised purposes to spend $700,000,000 for this 1st phase of a bad Headwaters idea is to improve the water quality flowing South into the Everglades.

What a crock of BS. The excerpt below from the Headwaters Environmental Assessment acknowledges that claim is at best a stretch at worst a downright lie to the American people and the US Congress.

The excerpt below from pg 261 is explaining the effects of USFWS's preferred alternative Alternative C upon Manatee habitat.


West Indian Manatee

Alternative C would likely do little to protect or conserve manatees. This is mainly because the

species is present 30 miles downstream of the southernmost Alternative C lands in the extreme lower

Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. There may be some small water quality benefits by the

protection of 50,000 acres of land, and the 100,000-acre conservation easements, but there would be

other opportunities for water quality to be degraded after it leaves Alternative C lands an before it

reaches waters occupied by manatees.

Go to this link http://www.fws.gov/southeast/evergladesheadwaters/ clik it and then go to Environmental Assessment about half way down the page and clik that, then wait the few minutes it takes to open and go to pg 261 to see the above words in this US Government document for yourself.

This excerpt exposes "the water quality improvement portion" of the marketing strategy of the USFWS and ALL of their Partners to steal this $700,000,000 as an attempt to deceive everyone concerned about this bad idea.

Everybody reading this should copy and paste this post and send it to their US Congressman and US Senator so that they will never be able to use the excuse they didn't know that the Headwaters was a scam.

Thanks for caring enough to read this.

Gladesman

[Oppose Oppose Oppose]

Try this one http://www.fws.gov/southeast/evergladesheadwaters/

Then scroll down about half way and clik on Environmental Assessment and check the pages listed plus more.

Any hunter thinks there is a bone in this waste of money for him is going to be disappointed.

Oppose  Oppose  Oppose and save much time and effort for a disappointment 10 or 15 years from now.

Better to save we taxpayers money and not be indebted over this bad idea.

IT'S ON NOW

Headwaters Enviro Assessment at link http://www.fws.gov/southeast/everglades ... raftEA.pdf

We have made an impression on these folks and need to continue doing so until the end of this process.

Pgs of interest to STUDY
305 no orv's
307 orv promise in future w/o guarantees
316 no orv's?
317 off trail orv's = no ?
322 hunting at HISTORIC ledves IF owner selling land to USFWS authorizes it. Same scam used in other places to get rid of hunting and blame it on seller. Seller shouldn't have any future control right.
324 fishing pretty conditional with bias towards electric motors.

Thses may be good places to start studying this plan.

I won't be able to start studying much more until next week so anyone finding important stuff Please distribute it to all here.

Gladesman

[entire]

FYI - So folks now what is happening in Washington D.C.

It would be very wise for all to watch the web cast of this entire meeting at this link  http://naturalresources.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=246553  to understand what may be driving decisions we hate.

Think $$$ and listen close to a guy named Garamendi from California.

Mr Amador from Blue Ribbon Coalition explains really dispicable tactics used by one group of land managers to screw folks out of a popular area.

ARRA Partners Promote OHV Recreation to House Subcommittee

Yesterday, June 22nd the House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a hearing titled “Opportunities for Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands.” The focus of the hearing was on access to federal lands for recreational use and the economic benefits of recreational activity on federal lands.

OHV leaders from several ARRA partners testified about the economic benefit of motorized recreation, while others focused on specific access issues. Testimony was provided on H.R. 1581, which would release all Wilderness Study Areas and Inventoried Roadless Areas that have been deemed not suitable for wilderness designation for management for multiple-use, and on the closure of the Clear Creek Management Area in California.  A full witness list and the written testimony for each witness can be read here.  An archived webcast of the hearing can be viewed here.

ARRA would like to thank Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and the Subcommittee for holding this important hearing, which showcased many of the positive benefits of OHV recreation on public lands, particularly the positive economic impact that motorized recreation can have on neighboring communities.  thingy Lepley, who testified on behalf of the Pennsylvania Off-Highway Vehicle Association, summed up one of the major themes of the hearing when he said, “If I could deliver just one message today it would be that OHV opportunities equal jobs. Where trail systems exist, the powersports industry and dealerships thrive, and local communities flourish.”

 

Here is the notice of the USFWS Land Protection Plan being unveiled.

I hate to say it but it is time to start thinking about writing comments against this Federal bad idea again.

I will read it as quickly as possible and get suggested comments up for folks to review and possibly use.

Hopefully considering how fast they produced it it won't be too many pages.

If you haven't demanded your copy of the plan on paper and CD please do it as soon as possible. They need to see our high interest level and this is a way to document it for future use.

******************************************************************************************

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area

Public Review and Comment Period to Begin in August 2011

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to announce the upcoming release for public review and comment of the draft Land Protection Plan (LPP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area (now anticipated for August 2011).

To help save money, a digital copy of the draft LPP and EA will be available for download on the Internet at: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/greatereverglades/. Copies will also be mailed out to those who request them (please call 321.861.0667 or email EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov to request a copy if you have not already done so and wish to receive a copy in the mail). And, copies will be available at the public meetings, which will be scheduled during the public review and comment period.


For more information or if you have any questions, please contact us at EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov or phone us at 321.861.2368. Additional information can be found at the project’s website: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/greatereverglades/.
Cheri M Ehrhardt, AICP
Natural Resource Planner

US Fish & Wildlife Service
PO Box 2683
Titusville, FL 32781-2683

Cheri_Ehrhardt@fws.gov
321.861.2368 office
321.861.8913 fax

[bigot]

USFWS showed their true colors in the Dunn unit of their Refuge in Vermont.

Could the word bigot apply here?

What ORV access can we look forward to in Headwaters even under so called State (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) control as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA)?

This Federal National Wildlife Refuge unit in Vermont is an example of a State managed WMA that HAS to follow Federal rules, laws etc.
The Excerpts below are from the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Environmental Assessment Appendix C - pg 61 of final EA for Eagle Point Unit of Missisequoi Nat Wildlife Refuge - here's a link http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/e ... A_Maps.pdf

My research indicates that qualifying special circumstances may only be applicable State & Federal agency management activities in coordination areas [WMA's] with MOU's). Special circumstances do not require compatibility determinations by USFWS.

from pg 61

It is the policy of the Service not to allow ATV/ORV use on National Wildlife Refuge
lands, except in special circumstances, none of which apply here. We do not intend to

permit the use of ATV's from the unimproved parking lot near Hall's Creek, or on any other

portion of the property. We understand that Mr. Dunn allowed limited access across his

property to the lake by ATV's, but this is not a condition of acceptance. Similarly, the new

Agency of Natural Resources policy allowing connector trails to cross State lands on a trial

basis will not apply to this property, if it is accepted as part of the National Wildlife Refuge

System. We are not proposing to prohibit ATV use on Lake Memphremagog; we are

proposing to prohibit ATV use on the Dunn property. ATV users will still be able to use

their equipment on the lake; however they will have to use other access points to do so.

We understand in talking with many people that such access is available

Since Federal ownership is required by the Dunn Trust, the Service has agreed to accept the

property and enter into a cooperative agreement for management by the State. The only

way to do this is to accept the property into the National Wildlife Refuge System. While

the property can be managed by the State in a manner similar to a WMA, it will be

necessary for management of the property to comply with all laws and policies required of

refuge system lands. Hiking, camping, and other public uses such as hunting and fishing

will be accommodated where they are compatible with the primary purpose for the refuge

system, which is wildlife conservation. We have discussed this matter with the trustee of

the Dunn Trust, who has spoken with those individuals closest to Mr. Dunn during his life.

These individuals and the trustee agree that the proposed plan coincides with Mr. Dunn's

philosophy and intentions.

From pg 62

Two organizations, the Vermont All Terrain Sportsman’s Association Inc. and the Vermont

Traditions Coalition, voiced major concerns regarding ATV, snowmobile, and fishing

access, and withheld support unless certain conditions are met. Concern was voiced about

ATV prohibition and the possible future need for a trail connector through the property.

Both groups pointed out the importance of snowmobile and ATV access to the lake for ice

fishing, noting that it is an important traditional activity important to local economy. VTC

also listed additional conditions to be satisfied to obtain their support, including the

following: no easements should be granted to private organizations; fishing access is

needed; a long term contract is necessary between agencies; the towns must support; and

agricultural use must continue.

It is the policy of the Service not to allow ATV/ORV use on National Wildlife Refuge

lands, except in special circumstances, none of which apply here. We do not intend to

permit the use of ATV's from the unimproved parking lot near Hall's Creek, or on any other

portion of the property. We understand that Mr. Dunn allowed limited access across his

property to the lake by ATV's, but this is not a condition of acceptance. Similarly, the new

Agency of Natural Resources policy allowing connector trails to cross State lands on a trial

basis will not apply to this property, if it is accepted as part of the National Wildlife Refuge

System. We are not proposing to prohibit ATV use on Lake Memphremagog; we are

proposing to prohibit ATV use on the Dunn property. ATV users will still be able to use

their equipment on the lake; however they will have to use other access points to do so.

We understand in talking with many people that such access is available

End of Excerpt

As you can see the name of the game here is denial of vehicular access to the general public - even the use of existing traditional access sites (unimproved parking lots) but the agencies can go where they want on ORV's.

Let's see how up front and transparent (abundantly clear) State and Federal entities are when the WMA bone and ORV access to it are discussed in the near future.

Anyone with a brain somewhere other than between the seat they are sitting in and themselves (including elected officials) knows that a bankrupt Nation shouldn't even be spending money on discussing a stunt called Headwaters much less actually doing it.

Gladesman

 
 
Site Supporter - II
 

Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 5:08 pm
Posts: 300  This link http://www.friendsofindependencelake.org/ shows what type of friend The Nature Conservancy (TNC) actually is.

Just Say NO to Headwaters and the TNC.


 
 

[Please send paper copies of the draft LPP and EA for Headwaters to the address included in this email.]

Here is the USFWS notice of a Land Protection Plan (LPP) and Environmental Assesment (EA) due out in June.

It is very very important for everyone to request these 2 documents (LPP&EA) in PAPER - Please do that by emailing your request to EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov.

This Sample request that can be pasted in the email with your address - Please send paper copies of the draft LPP and EA for Headwaters to the address included in this email.

*******************************************************************************************

USFWS Notice
Would You Like a Copy of the Draft LPP and EA for the Proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area?

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to announce the upcoming release for public review and comment of the draft Land Protection Plan (LPP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed refuge and conservation area (anticipated for mid June 2011). To help save money, a digital copy of the draft LPP and EA will be available for download on the Internet at: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/greatereverglades/. If you would like a paper or CD copy, please select one of the listed options below

Please send me a paper copy of the Draft LPP & EA for the proposal,
Please send me a CD copy of the Draft LPP & EA for the proposal, and/or
Please remove me from your mailing list

and please

Email your option to us at EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov or
Phone your option to us at 321.861.0667 or
Mail your selected option on this sheet to Everglades Headwaters Proposal, US Fish and Wildlife Service, PO Box 2683, Titusville, FL 32781-2683.

Please include your option (paper and/or CD copy), your name, and your mailing address in your correspondence so we can be assured to send you the proper selection.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact us at EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov or phone us at 321.861.2368.

Cheri M. Ehrhardt, AICP
Natural Resource Planner
US Fish and Wildlife Service

I can't go but mayber u could write a report of the meeting tomorrow so everyone knows what went on and who said what.?

That would be great.
Gladesman

SMP63 - if you go and let'em know what u think of wildlife corridors that smell like Headwaters ; that is what counts.

[The goal is to couple non-regulatory market-based incentiveswith the conservation of a connected system of working agricultural and natural lands that form the Florida landscape and that conserve fish and wildlife. The approach supports maintaining the land in private ownership and producing an economic return while sustaining the best of natural Florida for future generations]

We all many times suspect conspiracies against our activities. People look at us like we are a little or maybe alot crazy.

I'll tell you one thing for pretty sure after reading the article pasted below from ECO-Voice.

We aren't being screwed by a conspiracy regarding the Headwaters, The Wildlands Project. FWC's Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Program (CWCS) and FWC's Florida Wildlife Legacy Initiative (FWLI) but what the government calls coordination is the tool being used.

Read the article below and go to the meeting even if u have to skip work to see how what is being done to us is accomplished.

Don't forget to RSVP at the number below quick if u are going.

My apologies for short notice - just spotted this tonight. Hope some of y'all can go to tell them what u think of their possibleaccess robbing plans, since I cannot

Gladesman

SAVE THE DATE April 20, 2011 10am -3pm at the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, in Ft. Myers for a Southwest Florida Blueprint Working Group meeting
I would like to invite you to attend a meeting of the Southwest Florida Blueprint Working Group. The working group is part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC's) Cooperative Conservation Blueprint project.
Meeting Purpose:
The Southwest Blueprint Working Group is engaging stakeholders in nine counties to begin to identify and prioritize an interconnected system of wildlife corridors. The starting point for our work is the moderate connectivity scenario from The Babcock Ranch Regional Connectivity Study and theSteering Committee's final recommendations. The Babcock Study identifies a potential system of connected habitat corridors that extends northward to Tampa Bay, east to the Kissimmee River Valley and south to the Big Cypress. A rapid assessment of threats to these wildlife corridor opportunity areas will help us to begin to prioritize. We would like ultimately to gain consensus around priority corridors in the regional and develop a regional implementation plan to make conservation of these corridors a reality.
Background:
The FWC launched the Blueprint process in 2007 to develop and build agreement on a compelling incentive-based and long-range conservation vision for Florida - a core element of implementing the FWC's Florida Wildlife Legacy Initiative. The goal is to couple non-regulatory market-based incentiveswith the conservation of a connected system of working agricultural and natural lands that form the Florida landscape and that conserve fish and wildlife. The approach supports maintaining the land in private ownership and producing an economic return while sustaining the best of natural Florida for future generations.

The FWC initiated the Regional Pilot Project in early 2011 to field test the Blueprint approach at the regional scale. The blueprint pilot covers a 13-county section of South Central and Southwest Florida - an area that includes all or part of Polk, Osceola, Orange, Okeechobee, Hardee, Desoto, Highlands, Glades, Hendry, Collier, Lee and the eastern halves of Charlotte and Sarasota counties.

Please RSVP and let me know if you are able to attend this meeting, from 10:00am to 3:00pm April 20th. (I expect that lunch will be provided.)

Julie Morris, Wildlands Conservation, or myself are available if you have any questions. You may contact Julie at jmorris@wildlandsconservation.org or 941-2347201. My contact information is below.
Hope you can make it!

Christine Small
Endeavours Together, LLC
Total Project Management
850-274-2641
christine@endeavourstogether.com
http://www.endeavourstogether.com

 Major hunting & conservation umbrella group has recently voted to oppose Headwaters 100% including any so-called WMA managed by FWC since they (FWC) will never be fully in charge.



At least one meeting with another Congressman will happen the week of Apr 18, 2011



Anyone who missed commenting to the scoping process may have a chance to tell USFWS what they think around May or June if this bad idea isn't dead by then.



All previously suggested comments will still be valid to be used for USFWS's Land Protection Plan should it be produced

Yes, a head shot and a quick end to the Headwaters. Hooray

[The comment period is open until midnight tomorrow]

Comments sent to USFWS a couple of hours ago. Hopefully these comments along with other folks' comments designed to act as a silver bullet to kill this Headwaters dracula in a cloak bad idea NOW rather than later will be successful.

My compliments to all who tried their best to kill the Headwaters rather than play with this thing.

The comment period is open until midnight tomorrow for those still wanting to provide the Feds their thoughts on the bad idea at evergladesheadwatersproposal@fws.gov

*******************                                ********************                              ****************

NWR Comments regarding Everglades Headwaters Refuge and Conservation Area
To: United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

From: Frank                                                                                                                                             Hialeah, Florida   33013

Date:  March 30, 2011

Re:  Comments regarding USFWS scoping process and the Refuge concept specifically.

Scoping Process
Scoping meetings were held prior to distribution of any meaningful accurate detailed information that would have assisted attendees that weren’t already collaborating partners with USFWS.  USFWS partners such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Audubon of Fla., Defenders of Wildlife, Fl Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to name a few were well prepared to provide coordinated comments to assist in generating the administrative record USFWS was looking to have established at their scoping meetings. TNC’s comments of March 2011 to USFWS verify they have been involved for over 2 years to develop the suite of properties they recommended to be targeted for inclusion.  On the other hand the general public who the meeting schedule was sprung on with short notice had no comprehensive detailed information to base comments upon except the USFWS’s Headwaters deceptive propaganda available at USFWS’s project web site. This intentional USFWS tactic deprived a large segment of scoping meeting attendees the ability to actually provide comments during their allotted speaking times. Instead they were forced to ask questions due to lack of available information rather than providing substantive comments regarding the Headwaters planning process. USFWS did not even attempt to provide accurate consistent mapping of their Headwaters proposal proven by major changes during the meeting schedule.

The National Environmental Policy Act was seriously violated by these USFWS actions which discriminated against many locally concerned citizens who took the time to attend scoping meetings.

The bottom line result is that all of the meetings should be held over again after real information upon which to comment upon has been provided to the general public.

Everglades Headwaters Refuge

USFWS and their Partners tout that this Headwaters Refuge and Conservation Area are necessary  in order to assist restoration of the water quality of the Everglades and assure the cattle ranching heritage survives and can be passed on to future generations. These two goals cannot be met simultaneously due to the fact that if the cattle remain in the Northern Everglades Headwaters region as they have been historically one of the main water quality problems caused by cattle waste will not be removed  by spending the $700,000,000 dollars estimated to fund the 1st of 4 phases of land acquisition supposedly required. There will be many more millions required in addition to clean up the mess already caused by the cattle heritage proposed to be saved. This isn’t the fault of the cattle but the USFWS’s for not understanding the situation.   Another problem to passing on the ranching heritage not solved by Headwaters is the inheritance taxes faced by ranchers. That is claimed by ranchers Nationwide as the main problem in securing ranching into the future and is not addressed by Headwaters land acquisition.

Endangered species are another reason for creating a refuge in order to provide corridors for movement and more range for species such as the Florida Panther. USFWS is a hypocrite to claim there even is a Florida Panther today since Florida reclassified many years ago that they are only protecting the Panther population in Florida after not being able to successfully prosecute a person who intentionally killed one due to the State’s inability to prove the sub-species (felis concolor coryi) existed. So as to further support this claim I will include an lengthy excerpt from the book titled “Swamp Screamer” authored by Charles Fergus describing how panther researchers discovered the Panther being studied in the 90’s in Florida had already been hybridized at that point in time and since then hasn’t legally qualified for ESA funding.

  Beginning at paragraph 2 on page 118:
Roelke went to O’briens laboratory in Maryland and learned his arcane practices. She applied them to blood samples she had been hoarding from Florida panthers. She compared the genetic material to that of 8 other North American puma subspecies and 3 South American subspecies. (These were all the races from  which biologists and veterinarians had secured tissue or blood samples.) The indicator on which she focused was a distinctive form of an enzyme called “adenosine phosphoribosyl transferase”, or APRT. Roelke and O’brien concluded that 7 panthers in Everglades National Park had descended, at least in part, from Central or South America. Also the South American genes had crossed the Shark River Slough (one wandering cat could have done it) and infiltrated the main cluster of panthers in Big Cypress ecosystem.

Roelke studied the archives of Everglades National Park and learned that a small private menagerie, Everglades Wonder Gardens of Bonita Springs, Florida, had turned loose at least 7 captive pumas between 1957 and 1965. Apparently park administrators had wanted to boost the panther’s population even back then, and no doubt they were under the impression that the imports were pure Florida panthers. Thirty years later, Everglades Wonder Gardens was still in business. Roelke went and checked on their cats. She zeroed in on an ancient female named Fatima. With the permission of Lester Piper, the menagerie’s owner, Roelke trimmed Fatima’s toenails. Also, she snuck a syringe of her blood: South American APRT.

On to  page 119
“ No one wants to admit it.” Roelke said “but apparently a tame female from the East coast was brought into the menagerie in the fifties.” Maybe she came from Central America. Or from French Guiana, where the native puma had such a reddish cast to its coat that it is called tigre rouge. In any event, a cross-bred panther had made it into the wild. Five, six, seven generations later, the chromosomal contributions of at least one foreign cat could still be detected.

Which meant that Florida’s panthers were cross-bred. They were still overwhelmingly Felis Concolor coryi, but they were not purely so. In several scientific papers, Roelke and O’brien referred to the cross-bred cats as “heretical”, which was a polite of calling them hybrids. It seemed that the outside genes had given a boost to the panthers’ overall health. It was as if, say, several Haitian immigrants had been somehow accepted into an isolated Amish community in which, due to inbreeding, half the children were being born as dwarfs. After a few generations there would be darker- skinned Amish plowing the fields, fewer of whom would be three feet tall.
Yet if the panther was helped biologically by this influx of genes, it had been compromised politically. The Endangered Species Act bestows protection on the Florida Panther. It provides funding to aid in its restoration. It disallows the wholesale plundering of its habitat. It scares the hell out of corporations poised to turn thousand acre tracts of panther-friendly pine forest into orderly, profitable rows of orange and grapefruit trees.
The Endangered Species does not apply to hybrids.
End of page 119 of “Swamp Screamer” author Charles Fergus  ph 1 814 692 5097
By the way I installed the bold type in this excerpt.

Nothing has changed to make the claim of protecting a “Florida Panther” any more valid today than back in the 90’s except the refusal of the USFWS to admit they are continuing the fraud to maintain their ability to wield power through the misappropriated funds they distribute to support  the Florida Panther Preservation  industry dependent upon said funds. 

Pasted below is a comment made to a March 14, 2011 article about Florida Panthers from the National Park Traveler web site. More proof if one cares to look reality in the eye. Here is a direct link to the full article and all comments   http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2011/03/florida-panther-next-extinction7746

Comments
Submitted by MRC (not verified) on March 16, 2011 - 7:37am.
The news about the "eastern cougar" and the biological data is a big mess. I read the FWS press release as a confirmation that the eastern cougar did never exist at all, not now, not before. The headline thus seems to be missleading. The five year review of scientific data and reports of sightings concluded that there is no eastern subspiecies of the cougar. Given their limited terminology determined by legislation, the FWS has to call this result "extinction".
Biological studies seem to show that there are no subspiecies at all in North America, meaning not even the Florida Panther would be a subspecies but merely a population with a insular habitat: http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/content/91/3/186.abstract
This does not deminish the need for protection for the Florida population, but it confirmes that exact terminology is important.
•   reply


USFWS and all of their so called partners are nothing more than a gang of co-conspirators engaged in a criminal enterprise  by not shutting down this junk science based program.

My apologies for being blunt but the eternal tyranny caused by this sham requires plain English.

Hunting and access to hunting lands are of great concern to me and many others. Hunting in Central and South Florida includes unique vehicular systems (e.g. airboats, swamp buggies, ATV’s, mud boats, etc. etc.) to access remote hunting areas in difficult terrain. Without the acceptance by USFWS of these unique vehicular access systems that come in many forms being declared compatible within the proposed refuge any public access or hunting plan developed by USFWS or Fl Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is a farce and will not be supported in any way by the well informed public.

As far as any USFWS rumor that a State agency being given full control over the refuge and hunting goes – it cannot be believed due to USFWS document s that specify otherwise.

Hopefully Florida hunters will not fall prey to this State and Federally coordinated deception only to find out later that they have been lied to as usual concerning the devils in the details that will come out when it is too late to stop this terrible idea and concept.

My personal belief is that we have sufficient hunting lands in Florida without any Federal help to get more. If we need more hunt land at some point the State is quite able to acquire it when economically feasible. In view of current economic conditions it is not proper for Federal or State agencies to be suggesting any land acquisitions for any reasons such as the ones mentioned to justify the Headwaters bad idea.

USFWS  expressed intent to recommend Wilderness in areas of this proposal is more proof of restrictions that will only allow foot access to any Refuge which is totally unacceptable in this region of Florida due to weather and terrain conditions.  The Wilderness issue alone should justify scrapping the whole Headwaters project especially due to the crafty language USFWS used in their propaganda to camouflage their intent to recommend it in the future if this bad idea proceeds forward.

A few closing comments to the Refuge idea being proposed will follow and be put forth in as positive as manner as possible to suggest that USFWS choose the No Action Alternative now instead of later and facilitate a decision to forego development of a Land Protection Plan:


11 - POSITIVE RESULTS

OF CHOOSING

United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s

NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE

For

Everglades Headwaters Refuge and Conservation Area Proposal

Now Rather Than Later

1 Taxpayers will save the $700,000,000 (3/4 Billion dollar) down payment for this 1st phase of 4 phases of the unnecessary and unjustified USFWS vision called Everglades Headwaters Refuge and Conservation Area (EHRCA).

2 The U.S. Congress and voters will not be disenfranchised by USFWS’s decision to choose this particular process to avoid legislative debate as per USFWS’s Mr. Charlie Pelizza at the Everglades Coordinating Council meeting in Ft. Lauderdale Florida on February 3, 2011.

3 State sovereignty over hundreds of thousands of acres of Florida’s landscape will be maintained rather than relinquished to the Feds in order to facilitate USFWS’s and their Partners vision.

4 Private property owners will no longer be threatened by known future Federal actions that will devalue and make their properties less useful for the purposes they acquired them for.

5 Counties within this project will maintain their full tax base.

6 Job creation will be greatly enhanced by USFWS and their Partners losing the ability to use EHRCA as a tool to block and escalate costs of necessary highway construction or enhancements and green energy production (wind, solar etc.)

7 Florida’s elected officials Oaths of Office will be upheld.

8 USFWS’s will lose the ability to fulfill their promise of Wilderness review and recommendation included in convoluted language at pg 21, section XIV of their project proposal document.

9 Continuation of Customary and traditional uses of and means of accessing remote areas of the region by visitors and residents will be assured.

10 Maintaining local rural cultures will be assured by current economic conditions and cessation of speculative land purchases leading to over development.

11 Prevention/reduction in the ability of environmental organizations to litigate over Federal land management issues will be facilitated by currently private lands remaining in full private ownership. Federal ownership and jurisdiction opens the door widely for these opportunistic/predatory law suits.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment even though USFWS has chosen to fast track this proposal beyond the capacity of State agency’s ability to keep up (as per Fl Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission comments) much less the public.

Frank

NO WAY - The Headwaters has been hit but definetly not down for keeps yet.

Gladesman

[Report on 10 County Coalition meeting in Okeecho]

Report on 10 County Coalition meeting in Okeechobee.

Meeting had about 4 or 5 out of the 10 commissioners in attendance.

Started about 10 minutes late at 10:10am and ended around 12:15pm. Agenda was moved through pretty quickly. These folks move fast through the routine items.

Then we listened to 5 water reports covering many issues around Lake O. which is the main interest of this coalition. Reports were kind of boring to me except for the dike reinforcement report by Lt Col Mike Kinard of the USACE and the Headwaters report by our old friend Charlie Pelizza from USFWS.

Pelizza's report was similar to the usual with the same old powerpoint. Of course as usual he threw in a few twists and curves slightly different than other presentations possibly tuned to the specific audience he speaks to.

Charlie had problems today though. These commissioners didn't seemed too thrilled. In fact one commissioner asked him if any landowners had signed up for the Headwaters easements yet?

Instead of answering the question Charlie told him about the 15 or 20 landowners he had talked to already. A voice from the back of the room Danny B. yells out "the man asked how many are signed up?" Than the commissioner asked the question again and Charlie sheepishly answered the question "Nobody has." Getting to the truth is like pulling teeth with these folks and the commissioners saw it clearly.

Then we opponents were asked to start speaking - there were about 5 of us. We hit Charlie hard on many aspects of his sales pitch. I focused intently on his BS statement that NO TAX money will be used to do Headwaters. I explained to him and the commissioners that money didn't fall out of heaven into the grant fund sources listed by USFWS in their powerpoint. USFWS must really think we are all stupid but they will find out we are not stupid before this is all over.

Other folks focused on giving the money to the State in one way or the other so the Feds could be cut out of the picture. Personally I can't fully agree with that idea because if we are saying the America doesn't have the money for this than it shouldn't happen via the State or Feds. When we do this we look like a bunch of folks looking for a free hunting ride or something. The State doesn't deserve the money - the people deserve to have it left in their pockets for a change.

Everyone did a real good speaking job. I believe we were well received by the 10 County Coalition and that they appreciated our coming there to inform them of what we know.

Commissioner Echols from Glades county even mentioned how the 1st thing the Feds did in Big Cypress was to burn down the hunt camps. So much for Charlies promise concerning recreation, hunting etc. No Sale today in Okeechobee.

That's about it for now.

Gladesman

Spit Blue Fire

[FWC's statement near the end saying they would adamantly oppose Wilderness is meaningless since it is not within their jurisdiction to prevent it once the ball begins rolling whether in Headwaters the Addition or anywhere else]

FWC still seems to be under the illision that hunters will bite on the hunting bone being offered and quit opposing the Headwaters. WRONG PERCEPTION. Headwaters is a bad idea for more reasons than hunting.

Even if hunting were a viable bone let's review FWC's recent comments to USFWS about the Headwaters.

In their comments FWC mentions a couple of times that hunters want more "quality hunting areas". Big unanswered question is "Who decides what quality hunting is"? To some such as myself that might hinge on an area not requiring quota permit hoops to be jumped through in order to hunt a place. The odds now on some WMA's is once in about 60 years of being drawn. Sorry, those junk odds aren't acceptable anywhere anymore.

If FWC wants hunting to be a viable goal in Headwaters Refuge "fee simple areas" they need to skip the quota permit system as their micro management tool that keeps folks out. The area would need to be run as the Public Use Area (PUA) along the Kissimmee in the region. I wonder how far that idea would fly today.

It is also sad to see that FWC lacked the courage to call USFWS out concerning their gobbldygook convoluted language at pg 21 of their project proposal that attempted to hide their promise of Wilderness recommendation. My belief is that by now especially after the whooping they took in the Addition Lands by NPS that FWC fully understands what USFWS words meant. Rather than back we sportsmen who discovered this USFWS stunt the best FWC could do in their comments was to refer to our concerns without directly backing us up using the weight of the agency. FWC's statement near the end saying they would adamantly oppose Wilderness is meaningless since it is not within their jurisdiction to prevent it once the ball begins rolling whether in Headwaters the Addition or anywhere else. The only way to prevent Wilderness recommendation and the crap that comes with it is to prevent Federal authority from happening period. Anyone who doesn't believe this better go get educated. FWC already knows this and is disenguine not to put it in their comments to USFWS.

Another worrisome FWC omission is the mention of off road vehicle access into any supposed Refuge. Hmmmm!!

FWC Comments:

Fish
and Wildlife
Conservation
Commission
Commissioners
Rodney Barreto
Chairman
Miami
Richard A. Corbett
Vice Chairman
Tampa
Kathy Barco
Jacksonville
Ronald M. Bergeron
Fort Lauderdale
Dwight Stephenson
Delray Beach
Kenneth W. Wright
Winter Park
Brian S. Yablonski
Tallahassee
Executive Staff
Nick Wiley
Executive Director
Greg Holder
Assistant Executive Director
Karen Ventimiglia
Deputy Chief of Staff
Managing fish and wildlife
resources for their long-term
well-being and the benefit
of people.
620 South Meridian Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1600
Voice: (850) 488-4676
Hearing/speech impaired:
(800) 955-8771 (T)
(800) 955-8770 (V)
MyFWC.com
Office of the
Executive Director
Nick Wiley
Executive Director
(850) 487-3796
(850) 921-5786 FAX
March 14, 2011
Ms. Lauren P. Milligan
Florida State Clearinghouse
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, M.S. 47
Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000

Lauren.Milligan@dep.state.fl.us

Re: Scoping Notice: Greater Everglades Partnership Initiative, SAI #FL201101195612, Multiple Counties

Dear Ms. Milligan:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) staff participated in the scoping meetings for the referenced Initiative, and provides the following comments and recommendations in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to establish the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and the Everglades Headwaters Conservation Area under a new partnership effort, the Greater Everglades Strategic Habitat Conservation Initiative (Initiative), in south-central Florida. The purpose of this Initiative is to conserve land, water, and wildlife resources while maintaining the area’s rural farming and ranching land uses. Lands would be acquired through a combination of fee title and less-than-fee title interests in cooperation with willing landowners. To facilitate planning and implementation among the Service, its partners, and the public, the area to be addressed by the Initiative has been divided into three Study Areas. The Service has proposed that the first Study Area, the Everglades Headwater, be developed under the NEPA process that has already started with scoping this past January and that would end in a final plan in the August – September 2011 timeframe.

We are supportive of the conservation benefits and expanded opportunities for public hunting that a new national wildlife refuge could bring to the area, provided the major concerns expressed by Florida’s hunting community can be addressed. Hunters continue to tell us that one of the biggest reasons that hunting is declining in Florida is the lack of access to quality public hunting opportunities. Florida is no longer in a financial position to acquire large tracts of public lands for establishing new wildlife management areas, so the proposed Initiative presents an alternative opportunity to open more public lands for public hunting. We note that some of the national wildlife refuges in Florida do provide quality public hunting. In addition, private landowners are some of the best stewards of fish and wildlife resources, so we are supportive of federal funding for conservation easements that would allow them to continue their farming and ranching practices while gaining long-term conservation assurance.

To that end, we call the Service’s attention to the following key points that we strongly believe must be acted upon in order for this proposal to be successful in Florida.

• The scope and scale of the Initiative is large and ambitious. The proposed timeline does not appear to allow for adequate FWC and partner input and participation. The importance of a thoughtful and thorough vetting of issues among the potential partners cannot be overemphasized, and we believe we can help communicate and advocate for the issues that are central to fish and wildlife conservation and are important to Florida’s hunters and anglers.
• Of paramount concern is the level of public access that would be allowed on lands that would be acquired fee simple. The FWC strongly advocates for them to be opened to public hunting with access similar to that which we provide on wildlife management

Ms. Lauren P. Milligan
Page 2
March 14, 2011
areas (WMA) in this region of Florida. We encourage the FWS to consider developing a cooperative agreement with the FWC to establish fee simple acquisitions as WMAs, whereby FWC would have the lead responsibility for determining and implementing appropriate public uses and be provided resources necessary for administering those uses including hunting. We strongly encourage the FWS to develop a Public Hunting Plan as a component of the Land Protection Plan so as to accommodate opening of fee simple lands to public access, including hunting as soon as possible after acquisition. We urge the FWS to incorporate this into their preferred alternative for this Initiative.

• We have heard the concern of some stakeholders that the lands within the new wildlife refuge or Initiative boundary could eventually be designated as “primitive backcountry” or even “federal wilderness,” similar to the recent proposal for the Big Cypress Addition Lands. Similarly, we have heard the concern that the state-owned public lands within the Study Area boundary may be placed into federal management that would result in public restrictions or even closures. The FWC would be adamantly opposed to any of these actions.

• The FWC strongly supports private landowners’ rights and would oppose any action that would impose land-use restrictions that are not willingly agreed upon by participating landowners.

• The FWC and its partners already have many programs that identify this area as a high conservation priority, and we have a long history of working to conserve it. We recommend that the Service take the adequate time to become familiar with these efforts so the Initiative can make the best use of conservation benefits that they already provide. Example programs include:

• Landowner Assistance Programs;
• State Wildlife Action Plan;
• Cooperative Conservation Blueprint and regional pilot work;
• Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative effort;
• Regional visioning initiatives such as the Heartland 2060 effort;
• Natural Resources Conservation Service’s programs and focus;
• County resources through their comprehensive development planning process; and
• Florida Forever land acquisition programs and assessments.

The FWC appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Service’s continued efforts to conserve the south-central Florida region through the Greater Everglades Partnership Initiative. We look forward to working with Service staff as this project moves forward. Please contact our Northeast Regional Director, Dennis David, by telephone at 352-732-1225 or by email at Dennis.David@MyFWC.com if you have questions or for future coordination regarding FWC’s participation.

Sincerely,

Nick Wiley

Executive Director
nw/map
ENV 1-3-2
Greater Everglades Partnership Initiative_3199_031411
cc: Ms. Cynthia Dohner, USFWS, Cynthia_Dohner@fws.gov
Mr. Mark Musaus, USWFS, Mark_Musaus@fws.gov