Editorial: A chance to guarantee water and land protection

Sarasota Herald Tribune
Published: Monday, July 22, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.

There was a time when protecting and preserving Florida's natural treasures was a proud piece of our state's public policy. Governors, legislative leaders and everyday Floridians all joined to support Preservation 2000, to ensure that the woods and waters that make Florida so special would be around for generations.

Then the Great Recession hit, and Gov. Rick Scott took office, and the stewardship of Florida's environment suddenly was deemed a budgetary inconvenience. Between 2009 and 2011, in addition to the dismantling of the Department of Community Affairs and the slashing of water management budgets, spending for the landmark Florida Forever program alone was cut a shocking 97 percent, with a paltry $23 million spent between 2009 and 2013. Even this year, when the Legislature and Scott approved $75 million for conservation funding, $50 million was required to come from the sale of existing state lands.

Florida needs a stable source of funding to protect its most precious resources. These resources are not just environmental jewels, but economic drivers as well. Tourism is Florida's No. 1 industry, and it cannot remain that way if our beachfronts are polluted, our woods are decimated, our lakes and rivers are turning green and losing fish populations.

The Florida Water and Land Legacy Campaign -- a coalition of some 300 groups led by Audubon Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, 1000 Friends of Florida and the Trust for Public Land -- is conducting a petition drive to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot that would go a long way toward saving our diminishing environment.

Known as the Water and Land Conservation Amendment, it would require no new taxes but rather would require one-third of the documentary tax paid on real estate transactions be set aside for conservation land purchases, protecting drinking water sources and encouraging fish and wildlife programs, as well as other environmental stewardship efforts.

Think the Everglades and Silver Springs, for starters.

If the amendment passes -- and history shows that Floridians get the importance of such investment in our state -- supporters estimate about $10 billion would be generated over the 20-year life of the amendment, which would sunset by law in 2035.

What the amendment would specifically do is prohibit the Legislature from making an annual money grab of dollars set aside for environmental conservation and preservation programs. The Legislature has made this such a habitual practice that it has lost sight of the importance of our natural treasures in the process.

So far, proponents have collected hundreds of thousands of petition signatures toward the 683,000 necessary to get it on the 2014 ballot. Recently, they reported needing another 150,000 signatures by the Nov. 30 deadline.

We encourage all Floridians to join the fight to stem the slow destruction of Florida's rich environmental heritage by supporting the Water and Land Conservation Amendment. To sign the petition, go online to www.FloridaWaterLandLegacy.org.

This is a chance to do something good for Florida. It deserves every Floridian's enthusiastic backing.

This editorial was published in the Ocala Star-Banner, a fellow member of the Halifax Media Group.