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.
1. Recap of DC Trip to Promote Everglades-Restoration Funding
Photo via Captains for Clean Water
Last week, we told you about a delegation to Washington DC–including Orvis. the Everglades Foundation, Captains for Clean Water, Everglades Trust, and Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation–intent on securing the funding required to continue the work outlined in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The folks from CfCL have produced a great recap of the trip:
We met with Senate and House appropriations staff, new members of the Florida delegation, and congressional representation from the east- and west-coast communities most impacted by harmful Lake Okeechobee discharges.
Just for good measure, we left copies of the Wall Street Journal [Orvis] ad as well as other Everglades informational material as a part of a deeper-dive packet for further familiarization.
With their science-based policy approach, our partners at The Everglades Foundation led the discussions, while SCCF demonstrated how restoration is vital to a majority of south-Florida communities’ immediate and long-term livelihoods.
Click here to read the full account on the Captains website
Click here for more from the Everglades Foundation
2. Learn About Everglades Restoration in “Follow the Water”
When most people think of the Everglades, they picture the sawgrass wetlands and mangroves at the southern tip of Florida. What they don’t realize is that the health of this incredible ecosystem is dependent upon events far to the north. Historically, the Everglades received a steady supply of fresh water from a massive watershed that begins near Orlando, but over the past century—in the name of flood control and agriculture—man has interrupted that flow, most notably at Lake Okeechobee. As a result, the amount of fresh water that reaches Florida Bay is less than half of what it should be.
The main goal of Everglades restoration is to send more fresh water south, but this is not as simple as it may sound. Simon and Hannah Perkins—cousins who are part of the third generation of the Perkins family to run Orvis—traveled the length of the Everglades watershed, talking to scientists, conservationists, and fishing guides to see first-hand the work being done and to explore what the future may hold.
Click here for the full film and an online experience
Credit: Source link
