Yesterday was actually Florida Gopher Tortoise Day, but as Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says, “you can celebrate gopher tortoises by making your yard tortoise friendly and participating in our new recognition program.”
Georgians, you won’t get a sign, but you can also make your yards gopher-friendly for Gopherus polyphemus.
Gopher Tortoise Friendly Yard Recognition Program
![[Gopher tortoise in human habitat --FFWCC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-10--gopher-tortoise-day/6893501454_bbe28cdf8a_o.jpg)
Gopher tortoise in human habitat –FFWCC
Once a year, the Waterkeepers of Florida gather in Gainesville to attend the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
![[Waterkeepers Florida at PIEC 2023-02-03]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-02-03--piec-wkfl/2023-02-03--wkfl-at-piec.jpg)
Waterkeepers Florida at PIEC 2023-02-03
Eight out of fifteen ain’t bad. A few more attended the actual Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) meeting via teleconference.
Waterkeepers Florida asks you to ask Georgia officials to stop a proposed
strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, and sits above the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink in south Georgia and most of Florida:
https://wwals.net/?p=61437
For more about Waterkeepers Florida, see:
https://www.waterkeepersflorida.org/
I drove Continue reading
The two days John Moran spent writing his talk paid off, along with the years of photographing what was and what is left of the waters of Florida. If you watch none of the rest of these videos from the Florida Bill of Rights for Nature, the three with John Moran’s talk are well worth your time.
Below are links to each WWALS video. I didn’t video everything; mostly a few speakers whom I had told in advance.
Doug Shields explains how he got the Pittsburgh, PA, City Council to be the first in the U.S. to ban fracking, and how it spread from there, and what that has to do with Rights of Nature.
Chuck O’Neal of WEBOR explains the three ways you can get a Bill of Rights for Nature passed in a Florida County, and how he did it in, Orange County
As already posted, David Moritz explains the one that may have started it all in Florida, Santa Fe Bill of Rights (SaFEBoR).
You should be able to follow the demonstration of Tools not working for Florida’s environment even if you don’t know FDEP from a WMD, or if you’re familiar with a different state or country. The problems are the same everywhere: laws, agencies, and rules rigged against nature. That’s why we need a Bill of Rights for Nature, in each county, state, and country. Continue reading
Update 2020-02-09: Videos: John Moran, Doug Shields, Chuck O’Neal @ FL RoNCon 2020-02-08
What Santa Fe Bill of Rights (SAFEBOR) started only nine months ago has blossomed into a dozen county or river Rights of Nature movements across the State of Florida.
Here is WWALS video of what David Moritz said about SAFEBOR. More will follow, especially of what John Moran said. Continue reading
Update 2020-01-06: Well testing results, Madison County, FL, after Valdosta sewage spill 2020-01-03.
Florida state Senator Bill Montford has scheduled “a meeting concerning the Valdosta sewage spill issue” this Wednesday afternoon, the same day and before the meeting of the Florida Counties Rivers Task Force with the Valdosta City Council. We have some questions (see below). You probably do too, and you can ask them at one or both of these Wednesday public meetings.
When: 1 PM, Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Where:
Madison County University of Florida
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Office
184 Northwest College Loop, Madison, FL 32340
Event: facebook
I have confirmed that this Madison meeting is a public meeting. The venue is small, but that’s no reason for the public not to come.
Sen. Montford held a Continue reading
Molly Minta, The Fine Print, 5 February 2017, Rise Against the Machine: In 2013, Marion County residents began to receive letters from Sabal Trail Transmission. Now, they’ve made it their mission to save their land, and stop Sabal Trail.
Photo: Molly Minta.
An oak tree is felled by Sabal Trail construction workers.…
Months before the town considered bankruptcy in 2013, residents of Dunnellon began to receive letters from a company called Sabal Trail Transmission. The letters were an introduction and explained why the company was coming to the area: to build a natural gas pipeline and compressor station. The letters were part of the first step in the process of getting a pipeline approved.
Only landowners within 600 feet of the pipeline received a letter, so not many people in Dunnellon are aware of it. But the ones who are fear it could completely disrupt their way of life.
The pipeline will pass within a mile of the Rainbow River; residents fear Continue reading