Recently, Audubon of Florida Executive Director Eric Draper was attacked over Audubon’s Lake Okeechobee advocacy and specifically Nicodemus Slough and the Cowbone Marsh. Without repeating the harsh and erroneous claims, Audubon has been asked to tell its side of the story.
Audubon has a decades-long presence in the Lake Okeechobee area, managing a marsh sanctuary within the Hoover Dike and promoting better management of water to benefit the lake’s wildlife. Audubon's advocacy helped shape the state’s Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan which includes new regulations to control nutrients in the lake and a program to get ranchers to rehydrate drained wetlands to store water and filter nutrients.
The Nicodemus Slough project was anticipated in 2007 in legislation implementing Lake Okeechobee recovery through dispersed water management projects. A pilot program run by the World Wildlife Fund determined that paying ranchers to store and clean-up stormwater that would otherwise run off into the lake makes economic sense. Audubon is a strong advocate for dispersed water management and has urged the South Florida Water Management District to fund the program. Nicodemus Slough is an ideal place to reverse old drainage projects and can store more than 12 billion gallons of wet season water that can be released to the lake during droughts. The project is owned by the Lykes, a company Audubon has commended for managing its land for the benefit of wildlife. Last month the News-Press ran a favorable article on ranchland water storage including the Nicodemus Slough project. Then a News-Press editorial criticized the water district’s chair Joe Collins who is also a Lykes employee. In response, Audubon sent the News-Press a letter defending Collins, who has refrained from any discussion or vote on dispersed water storage. Audubon’s defense of the project and Mr. Collins angered local activists who bear a longstanding grudge against the Lykes family. Click here for links to these news articles.
In an unrelated incident in June of 2010 Audubon staff learned that an unpermitted and illegal channel was being dredged through Cowbone Marsh, part of Fisheating Creek, and confirmed that the damage could harm important migratory roosts for Swallow-tailed Kites. Audubon of Florida Executive Director Eric Draper wrote to state and federal agencies asking for a halt to the dredging. Within days the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the federal government issued cease and desist orders and directed restoration of the damaged marsh. The agencies confirmed that the 1.5 mile long, 12 foot wide and 2-3 foot deep dredged channel was draining the marsh and sending sediment pollution downstream. The state installed temporary weirs to slow the drainage and later installed permanent check dams as part of a restoration plan. The dams allow passage of canoes when there is sufficient water flow. Audubon is now waiting for the state and EPA to make a final decision on restoration. Click here for documents including agency orders.
Audubon takes a broad view of Everglades restoration and recovery and our advocacy has yielded results. As recently as the past summer, Audubon stood alone in defending Everglade Snail Kites by objecting to the use of forward pumps to drain irrigation water from Lake Okeechobee.
Audubon also approaches policy advocacy with the goal of being clear, factual, thorough, and science-based. Lastly, Audubon deals with adversaries with respect and believes that dialogue is more productive than attacks. This formula and results-based conservation has served Florida Audubon well for over 110 years.
