Loxahatchee Group Florida Chapter
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Turtle Tracks Newsletter of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group Volume 25, No. 10 | August/September 2001 New newsletters to be posted soon - sorry for the delay! Table of Contents From the Chair Tamiami Trail Newsletter Labeling Party Florida Fall Conference Outings Calendar

Back Issues June/July 2001 April/May 2001 October/November 2000 August/September 2000 Newsletter Editor Marcia Karasoff mkarasoff@mindspring.com

From the Chair

Dear Sierrans,

I hope you are all enjoying your summer, either at home or traveling in
various areas. Being away myself, I came back to find out about some good news I want to share with you. The most pleasant news to Sierra Club members and nature lovers in our area is that the Walton Road Bridge project is dead. For three years, a committed group of people, some of them Sierra Club members, fought the building of this bridge in the Port St Lucie area. It was not needed and its building would have changed forever the ecological balance of the Indian River Lagoon. For example it would have destroyed marine plants, like the Johnson seagrass, natural habitat for various marine organisms.  It is a
great day for the Indian River Lagoon, proclaimed "an Estuary of National Significance on April 20, 1990" by then President George Bush Sr. Senator Pruitt has moved the funding that would have made the Walton Road Toll Bridge feasible to another project. The Walton Road Toll Bridge is dead. Thanks to all of you who supported protecting the beauty and the integrity of the Indian River Lagoon. You succeeded in stopping  what was widely considered a "done deal" as many as three years ago. "

The money is now appropriated for the West Virginia Corridor bridge. We will keep you posted on this project which presents also some threats to wild natural areas.

Great news from the campers the Loxahatchee group sponsored in the Sandoway Nature Center in Delray Beach. They had a good time and two of them turned to be the best campers of this summer camps. See pictures in this newsletter. Thanks to you they learned about the enviroment and had fun in nature, one major goal of the Sierra Club.

Sincerely,
Maryvonne

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Tamiami Trail Action
- Nada McKinney

Tamiami Trail, the 70-mile road which links Miami to Naples is restricting the flow of water through 19 sets of small culverts, severely damaging the habitats of plants and animals throughout the Everglades system.  In order to protect the habitats and enhance "natural" water flow, the Sierra Club is mounting a major effort to transform a key portion of the Trail into an elevated roadway.  A skyway would allow an unrestricted flow of water and restoration to Shark River Slough, the central artery of the Everglades.

The Science Coordination Team (SCT) of the South Florida Ecosystem
Restoration Working Group urges the Corps to consider an elevated roadway. The SCT states, "The overwhelming scientific opinion is that full ecological restoration of the Everglades will not occur unless unrestricted flow is reestablished across the entire 10.7-mile span of... Tamiami Trail."

Soon, the Army Corps of Engineers will publish an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for modifications the Tamiami Trail.  Although the elevated roadway is an alternative being considered, we must insure it is their preferred alternative.

Please write Colonel Greg May and help magnify the efforts of the Sierra
Club. A sample letter is provided in this issue of Turtle Tracks!

For questions, contact Neysa Gabriel, Conservation Organizer, Sierra Club South Florida/Everglades Office at (305) 860-9888, or
neysa.gabriel@sierraclub.org.

Colonel May's contact information:

Colonel Greg May, Chief Engineer
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District
400 West Bay Street (or P.O. Box 4970), Jacksonville, FL 32232
Phone: 904-232-2241, Fax: 904-899-5026

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Col. May:

The  elevated  roadway,  better  known  as  the  "Everglades Skyway", would provide one of the greatest benefits for water and wildlife and bring about "true" restoration to the Everglades.

[Points to note in your letter]
- The public expects the Corps to follow through with its commitment to
restore the Everglades.

- Top federal, state and local scientists support the environmentally
sound elevated roadway.

- Almost all environmental organizations support the "Everglades
Skyway".

- The Skyway would be inexpensive compared to the benefits, which include restoring the natural flow and reestablish natural timing of water; reconnecting 98% of the landscape; providing a corridor for fish and wildlife; removing barriers that support exotic (non-native) species; and causing minimal impact to wetlands.

True  Everglades  restoration  depends on restoration of the full sheetflow and I urge you to find that this is the preferred alternative.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your address

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Newsletter Labeling Party

The next Turtle Tracks labeling party will be Sunday, September 30 at 4 p.m. in west Boynton Beach. Helpers are needed to stick labels on our group newsletters and prepare them for mailing. No experience necessary. Free snacks & plenty of good conversation. Contact Sabrina Carle at 732-4486 or s.carle@prodigy.net for directions. Thanks!

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Mark Your Calendars:
Florida Chapter Sierra Club Fall Conference

Please mark your calendars for November 10-11.  This is the date for the  Florida Chapter's annual fall conference, where Sierra Club members and their  families from all over the state gather to have fun, attend workshops, have fun, hand out awards, have fun, get to know each other, have fun and...I think you get it.

The program will center on how the average citizen can protect the environment. This year is it at Camp Ocala 4-H Center, a camping and environmental complex on Stellers Lake in the Ocala National Forest, 60 miles northwest of Orlando and 80 miles south of Gainesville.

There are no reservation details yet.  For now, please mark your calendars.  Reservation info will be in your next Pelican (Florida Chapter newsletter), Turtle Tracks, and on the Forum.

Hope to see you there.
Ron Haines

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For Outings and Other Activities, Please Visit Events

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Turtle Tracks is published bi-monthly by Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group, 619 SW 2nd Avenue, Boynton Beach, FL 33426. The purpose of this newsletter is to inform members about environmental issues and events. Members subscribe through their annual dues. Nonmember subscriptions are available for $12 per year.

Newsletter submissions are welcome. The deadline is the third Tuesday of each month. Email articles to Marcia Karasoff at mkarasoff@mindspring.com (phone 954/525-7198), or deliver Macintosh format 3.5" disc or Zip disc copy to general membership meeting. (Typed hardcopies are also acceptable, but not preferred).