Category Archives: Ecological Restoration

Under Trump budget, Florida water could get a lot dirtier

Florida stands to lose up to $600 million that over the last five years has helped keep beaches poop-free, cleaned up pollution from old chemical spills and tracked leaks in thousands of underground storage tanks, according to a tally of Environmental Protection Agency budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump. In a study released Tuesday, the Environmental…

Is Southwest Florida water quality better this summer?

Back in 2016, Southwest Florida had issues with clean water due to heavy rainfall in our area, which caused overflowing discharges from Lake Okeechobee. The water appeared murky and brown which affected people coming to the beach. "It was stained. You couldn't really see anything. We take people up in the air and even they…

St. Lucie River algae-free for Fourth of July

Story Video: Click here Following last year's toxic algae on the Treasure Coast, residents are pleased with the improvements this summer. During the Fourth of July holiday in 2016, toxic blue green algae coated parts of the St. Lucie River. Because of that, boaters and swimmers avoided the water, and business owners who rely on water…

Toxic Algae May Be Linked to Fatal Liver Disease in Some Areas, Study Says

Residents who live near large blue-green algae blooms are at a higher risk to develop fatal nonalcoholic liver diseases than those who don't, according to a study from Ohio State University. Cyanobacteria blooms, such as the one last summer in Martin, Lee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties that prompted a state of emergency, contain the toxins microcystin, nodularin…

Expert Warning: Current Conservation Efforts Won’t Save Tropical Forests

BIODIVERSITY AND THE CLIMATE It really is encouraging to know that so many — be they governments, corporations, or private institutions — are already doing something about the climate problem. While some prefer to debate the issue, others are busy actively trying to help alleviate the strain on our environment. Of the many efforts in place, one…

State Finally Passes Everglades Restoration Reservoir Bill After 20 Years of Fighting Big Sugar

There is no more obvious symbol of the sugar industry's stranglehold on Florida, or its waning grip on the state Legislature, than the story of the Everglades reservoir plan. The idea — to buy land south of Lake Okeechobee back from sugar growers in order to let water flow freely south to the Glades after…

Coastal Everglades, deprived of fresh water, near unhealthy ‘tipping point’

At the bottom of the Everglades along the mouth of the Shark River, a towering mangrove forest stands in a place few people outside anglers and researchers ever see: at the edge of a vast shallow bay where the salty sea and freshwater marshes conspired to erect a cathedral of trees. In the current fight…

World’s most endangered marine mammal down to 30 individuals

The vaquita, a small porpoise found only in Mexico’s Gulf of California, now faces extinction, scientists say in a report published today. Only about 30 individuals remain, according to an acoustic survey that counted the animals’ clicking noises last summer. The report dashes hopes that naval patrols and Mexico’s emergency gillnet ban, authorized in May…

U.S. Puts Bumblebee On The Endangered Species List For 1st Time

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the rusty patched bumblebee an endangered species — the first such designation for a bumblebee and for a bee species in the continental U.S. The protected status, which goes into effect on Feb. 10, includes requirements for federal protections and the development of a recovery plan. It…

New map shows alarming growth of the human footprint

A James Cook University scientist says a new map of the ecological footprint of humankind shows 97 per cent of the most species-rich places on Earth have been seriously altered. JCU's Professor Bill Laurance has taken part in a study to map the ecological effect of people on the planet. He said the news isn't…