The Miami Herald
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Bush pledges a second $100 million for Glades

The governor was given the `Steward of the Everglades' award.

BY CURTIS MORGAN
January 5, 2001

Freshly honored as a hero of the Everglades, Gov. Jeb Bush gave environmentalists something back Thursday, renewing his commitment to the River of Grass in words, and more important, in money.

Topping the governor's annual natural resource protection budget: a second annual $100 million for the state-federal project intended to revive the troubled Everglades system, the most ambitious environmental restoration effort in national history.

``We have a responsibility to protect the natural resources that make Florida's environment unique,'' Bush told more than 200 members of The Everglades Coalition.

The Coalition, which includes 41 environmental, recreational and civic organizations that have long fought for restoration, opened its 16th annual conference here by giving Bush its first-ever ``Steward of the Everglades'' award in recognition for his support in the passage of the landmark Everglades restoration legislation.

Last month, President Clinton signed the law committing the federal government to splitting the cost of the $7.8 billion project with the state.

Stuart Strahl, president of Audubon of Florida, called Bush ``a real hero of the Everglades'' and credited the governor with helping prod Congress into cooperation -- by aggressively lobbying on Capitol Hill and by making the first financial commitment. Last year, before the bill was in serious debate in Washington, Bush pledged the first $100 million of what will be annual state expenditures for the first decade of the restoration.

Bush also had to coax agreement from Florida's lawmakers, Strahl said.

``Understand the state Legislature has been a hostile environment to a lot of environmental initiatives over the last two years,'' Strahl said. ``If you'd have told me five years ago that Florida would be the first to commit to this, I'd have said you were nuts.''

Bush credited something in scant supply during the presidential election upheaval for the success of the Everglades act -- ``bipartisan cooperation.'' He named several others as key to the deal, including Florida Sens. Bob Graham and Connie Mack as well as Reps. Clay Shaw and Bill Young, Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

The Everglades, he said, proved an issue where leaders were able to put aside party affiliation and ``put their egos in check.''

``This is an example for everyone,'' he said.

In addition, Bush announced other spending proposals on environmental issues, among them: $300 million for the Florida Forever land buy program, $7 million for manatee protection, $2.5 million for preserving Florida's natural springs and $2 million for beefing up law enforcement on waterways. Along with the $100 million for restoration, Bush also set aside another $750,000 to study various types of technology to clean water that enters the Everglades.

The governor also used the forum to appeal for an overhaul of the state's growth management system, which he flatly said ``doesn't work.''

He called for a policy that would ensure that projects pay for their own environmental and social impacts and would encourage redevelopment rather than expand destructive sprawl.

While the Everglades win and the awards gave this year's coalition conference a celebratory air, there isn't a lot of back-patting on the official agenda -- not with so many battles still ahead.

The challenges are numerous and complicated -- from testing new technology to maintaining public and political support for an undertaking that will span nearly four decades and affect communities from Central Florida to the Keys.

Just for starters, the massive cost will remain an ongoing concern.

The initial legislation funds only 11 construction projects and four pilot works of what will eventually be more than 60 major repairs to a decades-old old system of canals and levees originally designed to drain the Everglades.

Many details of the funding remain to be worked out and the entire project will face periodic reviews by Congress.