PLEASE READ AND TAKE ACTION - Protect Florida Waterways
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:27 pm
Maybe this has been discussed. But, I just saw a post on SouthernPaddler.com regarding re-defining the legal definition of Ordinary High water. For those of us who paddle and camp our waterways, we can definatley see the potential impact of this decision.
If you feel led, please fire off an e-mail to the decision makers. In my case, Representative Rachel Burgin. The Audubon Society has made it very simple.
Thank you for your consideration on this.
Tom
http://fl.audubonaction.org/site/Messag ... friendly=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Protect Florida's Waterways
Legislation has been filed to privatize state submerged lands.
Urgent Button
Urge the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee to OPPOSE HB 1103 by Rep. Goodson. An identical bill has been filed in the Florida Senate.
The effect and purpose of these bills are to privatize tens of thousands of acres of publicly owned submerged lands in Florida’s rivers, lakes, and streams.
The bills do this by changing the legal definition of “Ordinary High Water”. The definition is changed to promote new conclusions in surveys which would set the “Ordinary High Water Line” at a lower elevation than current case law allows in Florida today. Lowering the elevation of “Ordinary High Water” causes the line between public and private lands to move further out in the water.
If you are a kayaker, airboater, fisherman, duck hunter, or bird watcher who maneuvers your means of conveyance around in shallow marshy water this means that someday, headed into your favorite place, you are going to encounter a fence, barbed wire, and “no trespassing” signs blocking your way. And, one day a little later in the future, you will see rooftops and strip malls where the ducks, deer, and wading birds used to be.
Representative Goodson needs to be contacted now and urged to drop this special-interest bill that may block the public from sovereign lands by turning those lands over to private parties. This is privatization of Florida’s public lands in rivers and lakes, pure and simple.
HB 1103 will be considered by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Tuesday, January 17 at 12:30 PM. To read this bill for yourself, please click here.
Ways You Can Help Right Now:
1. Use the email form below to contact the bill sponsor and the members of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee:
2. Pick up the phone and call these committee members right now:
Member Name Office Phone
Rep. Tom Goodson (R-Rockledge) (Bill Sponsor) (850) 488-3006
Rep. Steve Crisafulli (R-Merritt Island) (Chair) (850) 488-4669
Rep. Matt Caldwell (R-Lehigh Acres) (850) 488-1541
Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee) (850) 488-0965
Rep. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) (850) 488-4086
Rep. Dwight Bullard (D-Miami) (850) 488-5430
Rep. Rachel Burgin (R-Riverview) (850) 488-9910
Rep. Luis Garcia (D-Miami Beach) (850) 488-9930
Rep. Richard Glorioso (R-Plant City) (850) 488-0807
Rep. Shawn Harrison (R-Tampa) (850) 488-3087
Rep. Steve Perman (D-Boca Raton) (850) 488-5588
Rep. Ray Pilon (R- Sarasota) (850) 488-7754
Rep. Elizabeth Porter (R-Lake City) (850) 488-9835
Rep. Franklin Sands (D-Weston) (850) 488-0590
Rep. Jimmie Smith (R-Inverness) (850) 488-0805
If you feel led, please fire off an e-mail to the decision makers. In my case, Representative Rachel Burgin. The Audubon Society has made it very simple.
Thank you for your consideration on this.
Tom
http://fl.audubonaction.org/site/Messag ... friendly=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Protect Florida's Waterways
Legislation has been filed to privatize state submerged lands.
Urgent Button
Urge the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee to OPPOSE HB 1103 by Rep. Goodson. An identical bill has been filed in the Florida Senate.
The effect and purpose of these bills are to privatize tens of thousands of acres of publicly owned submerged lands in Florida’s rivers, lakes, and streams.
The bills do this by changing the legal definition of “Ordinary High Water”. The definition is changed to promote new conclusions in surveys which would set the “Ordinary High Water Line” at a lower elevation than current case law allows in Florida today. Lowering the elevation of “Ordinary High Water” causes the line between public and private lands to move further out in the water.
If you are a kayaker, airboater, fisherman, duck hunter, or bird watcher who maneuvers your means of conveyance around in shallow marshy water this means that someday, headed into your favorite place, you are going to encounter a fence, barbed wire, and “no trespassing” signs blocking your way. And, one day a little later in the future, you will see rooftops and strip malls where the ducks, deer, and wading birds used to be.
Representative Goodson needs to be contacted now and urged to drop this special-interest bill that may block the public from sovereign lands by turning those lands over to private parties. This is privatization of Florida’s public lands in rivers and lakes, pure and simple.
HB 1103 will be considered by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Tuesday, January 17 at 12:30 PM. To read this bill for yourself, please click here.
Ways You Can Help Right Now:
1. Use the email form below to contact the bill sponsor and the members of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee:
2. Pick up the phone and call these committee members right now:
Member Name Office Phone
Rep. Tom Goodson (R-Rockledge) (Bill Sponsor) (850) 488-3006
Rep. Steve Crisafulli (R-Merritt Island) (Chair) (850) 488-4669
Rep. Matt Caldwell (R-Lehigh Acres) (850) 488-1541
Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee) (850) 488-0965
Rep. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) (850) 488-4086
Rep. Dwight Bullard (D-Miami) (850) 488-5430
Rep. Rachel Burgin (R-Riverview) (850) 488-9910
Rep. Luis Garcia (D-Miami Beach) (850) 488-9930
Rep. Richard Glorioso (R-Plant City) (850) 488-0807
Rep. Shawn Harrison (R-Tampa) (850) 488-3087
Rep. Steve Perman (D-Boca Raton) (850) 488-5588
Rep. Ray Pilon (R- Sarasota) (850) 488-7754
Rep. Elizabeth Porter (R-Lake City) (850) 488-9835
Rep. Franklin Sands (D-Weston) (850) 488-0590
Rep. Jimmie Smith (R-Inverness) (850) 488-0805