Welcome to the latest installment of the Wednesday Wake-Up Call, a roundup of the most pressing conservation issues important to anglers. Working with our friends at Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Everglades Foundation, Captains for Clean Water, VoteWater.org, and Conservation Hawks (among others), we’ll make sure you’ve got the information you need to understand the issues and form solid opinions.
If you know of an important issue–whether it’s national or local–that anglers should be paying attention to, comment below, and we’ll check it out!
1. New Bill in Florida Legislature Threatens Everglades Restoration
Last Friday evening, Florida Senate Bill 2508 was filed, and conservationists and water advocates in the Sunshine State are doing everything in their power to make everyone aware of what’s going on. The bill certainly contains provisions that are controversial. According to Captains for Clean Water,
Senate Bill 2508 includes several harmful provisions for Florida waters, but our major concern is that it deprioritizes the EAA Reservoir and reduces measurable gains made in the public and transparent LOSOM process—both of which are critical components to reducing damaging coastal discharges and sending more beneficial water south to the Everglades.
To understand the importance of the EAA Reservoir, watch the video above and check out the Everglades Foundation’s Statement on LOSOM.
CfCW have created an online petition that voices opposition to SB2508, and we urge you to sign and leave a comment expressing your desire to make Everglades restoration a priority. Our partners Everglades Foundation and CfCW–as well as guides and small business owners from around Florida– showed up in Tallahassee to voice their concerns during an Appropriations Committee meeting today. The bill will now move through the state legislature. We will keep you posted as this evolves, including how you can stay involved.
Click Here to Take Action and Make Your Voice Heard
Related Stories:
• Could a Florida Senate bill jeopardize EAA reservoir, increase Lake Okeechobee discharges? on tcpalm.com.
• Guides form alliance to protect environment, on keysnews.com
2. Orvis President Simon Perkins Joins the Board of TRCP
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced last week the onboarding of four new directors to its leadership team: Shawn Gorman, Rue Mapp, Sanjay Patel, and Simon Perkins, who bring a diverse set of experience to the TRCP’s Board of Directors.
“We’re thrilled to welcome these industry leaders and dedicated advocates to our Board at a time when the conservation community has become so influential and effective at securing bipartisan-backed conservation solutions,” says Whit Fosburgh, TRCP’s president and CEO. “We have even more opportunity to advance conservation in the years ahead, and Shawn, Rue, Sanjay, and Simon will have a strong impact as the Board works to set up our organization for success and empower our staff.”
Click here to learn more on trcp.org
3. Can we conserve and restore half our lands and waters?
Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS
It’s been a year since the America the Beautiful Initiative launched, which set the ambitious goal of preserving 30% of our land and waters by 2030. A great article by Grace Olscamp on the Trout Unlimited website explores what’s already been done to get the ball rolling, as well as what the future holds:
Click here for the full story on tu.org.
Related Stories:
• TU accepting applications for the Jeremy Brooks Scholarship Intern Position.
Credit: Source link
