Locals stop Aquatic Preserve offices from closing
Funding for the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve and five other aquatic preserve offices will not be removed from this year’s budget cycle and, thus, will remain open, according to legislative action Friday.
“The funding for the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve and the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve will not be eliminated in this budget cycle. This is the result of many local people requesting support for the Preserve and the local legislators from this area expressing their support for the preserve with a subsequent response in the legislature,” said Principal Planner Jim Beever of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council.
As part of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed 15 percent budget reduction, which was required for the October 15, 2010 Florida Legislative Budget Request, the following Aquatic Preserve Offices were proposed for closure: Estero Bay, Tampa Bay, Biscayne Bay, Milton/Northwest Florida, Central Panhandle/St. Joseph Bay and Jacksonville/ Northeast Florida.
Two Florida legislators were key figures in keeping the funding.
“I understand that Rep. Trudi Williams and Sen. Alan Hays in the budget conference on Natural Resources were instrumental in retaining funding for the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve,” said Beever.
If the legislature accepted the proposal and the six Aquatic Preserve Offices were to close, 16 of Florida’s 41 Aquatic Preserves would have gone unmanaged but the established areas of protection would have remained designated Aquatic Preserves. All coastal education and resource monitoring programs at these locations would have also been eliminated. Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve spreads over nearly 11,000 acres of coastal Lee County.
“They say the funding is in place, but I’m a little apprehensive about everything,” said Terry Cain, Lee County Land Stewardship Coordinator. “Hopefully all the programs will stay in place and all the staff will stay in place. That’s are greatest hope. For how long and how secure it is, that remains to be seen.
“It’s important that the people of this community let their voices be heard. I am just so thrilled. It was also very important that Senator Hays was contacted, because he was the chair of //////////.
Cain noted the local preserve is probably safe for now, but expect budget cuts during the next legislative period.
“We all know that this budget will be a tough one. It was a good exercise and learning lesson for all of us in Southwest Florida. When we think Tallahassee is so far away, all it takes is picking up your phone and letting our representatives and senators know how we truly feel.”
Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve is important to not only environmentalists, but also the service industry and other businesses. Water quality affects everyone, as does the impact of oil spills and natural disasters such as hurricanes.
“Even people who do not think they are connected are, from the hoteliers to the realtors to the restaurants to the t-shirt shops to the environmentalists,” said Cain. “Everybody knows how quickly our water quality changes our economic balance because, just a year ago, we had a threat of tar balls on our beaches.”