This afternoon, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee will discuss the results of their budget cutting exercise—and eagerly anticipated event by Florida Forever and Everglades Restoration advocates, as a signal of whether House members agreed with Governor Scott’s proposal to provide no funding to Florida Forever and $17M to Everglades Restoration this year.

The early signs are encouraging: the already-released meeting packet shows $55.5M for Florida Forever and $45.7M for Everglades Restoration. You can watch the budget discussion LIVE at 1:00 on the Florida Channel’s Web 5 channel online.

Of course, appropriations is a very fluid process and funding is far from certain. But some funding in these categories during this exercise signals continued legislative interest in these two hallmark Florida environmental programs.

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**UPDATE FROM AUDUBON'S DIRECTOR OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, JULIE WRAITHMELL: The committee meeting was interesting– Chairwoman Trudi Williams (R-Ft Myers)– reminded committee members that their allocation (the amount of money they have to distribute) has not been finalized yet, and expressed her dismay about the funding for Florida Forever, suggesting it might be better spent on the Everglades building projects related to the sugar acquisition. Reps. Goodson (R-Titusville) and Moraitis (R-Ft. Lauderdale) also spoke out, suggesting the programs should receive zero funding in these lean times. Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee) expressed her support for funding these programs, even if just modestly.