Welcome to the latest edition of the Wednesday Wake-Up Call, a roundup of the most pressing conservation issues important to anglers. Working with our friends at Unlimited trout, Backcountry hunters and anglersThe Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Everglades Foundation, Clean water captains, VoteWater.orgAnd Conservation Falcon (among other things) we make sure you have the information you need to understand the issues and form an informed opinion.
1. Summary of DC trip to advance funding for Everglades restoration
photo via Clean water captains
Last week we told you about a delegation to Washington DC including Orvis. The Everglades Foundation, Clean water captains, Everglades TrustAnd Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation-Intent to secure the necessary funding to continue the work outlined in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The folks at CfCL put together a great recap of the trip:
We met with Senate and House staffers, new members of the Florida delegation, and congressional representatives from the East and West Coast communities most affected by harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
For safety’s sake, we have left copies of the Wall Street Journal (Orvis) ad and other Everglades informational materials as part of an in-depth package for further familiarization.
With their science-based policy approach, our partners at the Everglades Foundation led the discussions as SCCF demonstrated the importance of restoration to the immediate and long-term livelihoods of most South Florida communities.
Click here to read the full report on the Captains website
Click here to learn more about the Everglades Foundation
2. Learn about the restoration of the Everglades in Follow the Water
When most people think of the Everglades, they picture the sawgrass wetlands and mangroves of Florida’s southern tip. What they fail to realize is that the health of this incredible ecosystem depends on events far to the north. Historically, the Everglades received a steady supply of fresh water from a vast watershed beginning near Orlando, but over the last century man — in the name of flood control and agriculture — has disrupted that flow, particularly at Lake Okeechobee. As a result, the amount of freshwater reaching Florida Bay is less than half the amount that should be there.
The main goal of the Everglades restoration is to direct more freshwater south, but that’s not as easy as it sounds. Simon and Hannah Perkins — cousins who are part of the third generation of the Perkins family that runs Orvis — traveled the entire Everglades watershed, speaking to scientists, conservationists and fishing guides to see firsthand the work being done and explore what the future might bring.