Our conservation issues include, but are not limited to the following:

Water quality - Paper mills and other industries discharge toxins into surface and ground waters. Our goal is not to eliminate these industries, but to require them to use the same clean practices that industries elsewhere in the state and country follow. We are opposed to any additional pollutant discharges into water bodies that are already under stress, such as Pensacola Bay.

Stormwater - Driven nonpoint-source pollutants enter our water bodies and are carried into rivers and coastal areas, where they affect aquatic organisms, pollute our beaches, and cause nutrient-fed algae blooms. Pensacola authorities have warned citizens not to swim in local waterbodies for two days following heavy rains. In every urbanized area, many neighborhoods are flooded with every heavy rain. Our goal is to have development occur in a less harmful manner, so that it does not cause a net increase in water flow off the developed property. Since the state cannot do this at present in NW Florida (see Wetlands issue), every local governments should take the initiative. Some already have local rules relating to stormwater management in their Land Use Codes. In areas where the damage has already been done, remedial measures are needed to correct the existing problems, e.g., stormwater utilities, drainage and road paving projects.

Air quality - Industrial and municipal discharges to the atmosphere and motor vehicle exhaust are the main contributors to air quality problems in some areas of NW Florida. More controls are indicated, including requiring that older plants be retrofitted with better pollution control equipment.

Preservation of Key Habitats

Wetlands - Once protected somewhat by large silviculture holdings, NW Florida wetlands are now up for the taking and filling, as tree farm land is being sold and developed. Unlike the rest of the state, there is no state protection for "isolated" wetlands-those wetlands not connected to waters of the state. In 1995, Panhandle legislators managed to get NW Florida excluded from the Environmental Resource Permitting Program (ERP) that went into effect in the rest of the state. The results of wetland destruction are in evidence: flooding, non-point source pollution, loss of groundwater aquifer recharge, and loss of habitat for fish and wildlife. Another feature of the program better control over stormwater quantity created by development.

The NW Group and many other environmental and citizens' groups in the northwest fought hard to bring in the ERP during the 1999 Legislative session, but most of the northwest's delegation ignored their constituents and merely extended the current inadequate rules four more years, allowing only for "studies" to be performed. Wetlands are the heart and soul of the NW environment. Our goal is not to stop development, but to have it occur without destroying this habitat which is so important to all of our other resources. Every wetland loss should be mitigated, as it is elsewhere in the state. The ERP program should be brought into NW Florida as soon as possible, and it should be exempted from the Harris Act, as are the rest of the state's programs.

Seagrass Beds. These habitats are critical to the early life stages of important fish and shellfish resources. They are also important for nutrient uptake, erosion control, and the slowing of coastal currents. Unfortunately, they are very difficult to mitigate once they are destroyed. The seagrass species in NW Florida grow slowly, and are difficult to culture. Their biggest threats, in addition to development, are changes in water quality, especially increased turbidity and nutrient loading, and the intentional or accidental "propping" (propeller cutting) by boaters.

Beach/Dune Habitat. Nowhere in Florida has so much destruction been done so quickly as has happened to the uniquely beautiful beach/dune habitat of NW Florida. Where once lofty dunes protected the coast, sheltering the land from storms, and providing habitat for endangered species, long lines of high-rise condos now stand as monuments to greed and exploitation. The sad thing about it is that if done differently, everyone could have won. The condos could have all been built, just merely set back from the critical primary dunes. Now expensive beach renourishment projects are being done at the taxpayers' expense to make up for the loss of protection that could have been afforded by nature for free. While it is too late now for most of the Panhandle, our hope is that at least some of the remaining coastal land will be purchased by the state, joining the parcels that have already, fortunately been set aside for preservation. Of particular need for preservation are the globally rare dune lakes habitats, located in south Walton county. These coastal formations occur in only a few places in the entire world.

Endangered Species - The NW is home to many endemic endangered/protected species. To name a few: several species of beach mice, sea turtles, red-cockaded woodpeckers, sturgeon, and plants such as pitcher plants and St. John's Wort. In addition to protecting the species themselves, their habitats must also be protected, such as old-growth forests for the red-cockaded woodpecker; pitcher plant prairies in south Escambia County; beach/dune habitats for beach mice and nesting sea turtles; river water quality and freedom from dam structures for the sturgeon, and the karst pond habitat in Bay and Washington Counties for the St. John's Wort and other globally rare plants located there.

Offshore drilling - At present, several corporations are seeking to drill for hydrocarbons off our NW Florida coast. Surveys have indicated the presence of highly valued oil and gas reserves. However, since our sensitive coastline and its equally valuable living resources are highly vulnerable to the effects of oil and gas drilling, we are opposed to drilling off of our shores. The potential problems involve not only the drilling itself, but the related industrial boat traffic that it brings with it, and may actually be even more problematic than the drilling itself. Many years after the Exxon Valdez spill, the Alaskan coastal environment and its wildlife have yet to recover. We do not want to see that happen to Northwest Florida.