Ocklawaha River restoration alert

Ocklawaha River restoration alert
April 1999

Another manatee was crushed by Buckman Lock on February 24th, bringing the death total of manatees to 17 in the Rodman Reservoir area since 1974. Were it not for Sen. George Kirkpatrick's stalling tactics, many of these deaths could have been avoided with removal of Rodman Dam and Buckman Lock. Further, the manatee, one of the state's most endangered species, is being prevented from accessing its natural habitat on the Ocklawaha and Silver Rivers.

Senator Kirkpatrick continues to promote his proposed plan to manage Rodman Reservoir as a bass-fishery. He has indicated that he intends to move his management plan forward in this legislative session, and will seek to make Rodman a permanent feature of the Cross Florida Greenway and Ocala National Forest.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Struhs has indicated that he will not take a position on Ocklawaha River restoration until Gov. Bush does, and may even put the pending restoration permit applications on hold. The only way to keep this process moving forward is to let the Governor know that the citizens of Florida are solidly behind the removal of Rodman Dam and the restoration of the Ocklawaha River.

Your help is needed if we are to avoid setbacks in the restoration process. Write to Governor Bush, Secretary Struhs, and your legislators. Tell them to stop the needless slaughter of an endangered species and allow manatees and migratory fish access to the upper Ocklawaha River and Silver Springs once again.

Contact Governor Jeb Bush at:
The Honorable Jeb Bush
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
phone: (850)488-4441
fax: (850)487-0801

DEP Sec. David Struhs at:
Secretary David Struhs
3900 Commonwealth Blvd. MS 10
Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000
phone: (850)488-1554
fax: (850)922-1432