Following resounding passage of environmental measure, backers riled by lawmakers’ budgeting.
By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE — After leading a ballot measure last fall directing millions of state dollars toward environmental efforts, conservation groups now find themselves waging a new campaign to convince lawmakers how to spend the money.
Lawmakers’ email in-boxes are being flooded with fresh, late-hour pleas from activists who led Florida’s Amendment 1, dubbed the Water and Land Legacy measure.
An overwhelming 75 percent of voters supported Amendment 1 — with a state-leading 85 percent backing it in Palm Beach County.
The ballot proposal grew out of years of frustration among environmentalists over Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature’s cuts to funding for Florida Forever, the state’s key conservation land-buying program.
So environmentalists were stunned by what they saw as bitter irony when separate budget blueprints emerging in the House and Senate last week again shortchanged Florida Forever. Activists are firing back with a barrage of emails.
“These proposals have a long way to go before they satisfy the intent of Florida voters,” said an email last week from 1000 Friends of Florida, among several conservation groups urging supporters to contact lawmakers.
The Senate is recommending $2 million as the pot of money Florida Forever could use to buy new land and preserve it from development. The House has set $10 million aside.
Both amounts are far less than the $67.5 million currently budgeted for land-buying and the $100 million recommended for the coming year by Scott. Environmentalists have said $170 million should go toward Florida Forever.
Another strange irony as the legislative session nears this week’s midpoint is that the Republican governor has suddenly turned into an awkward ally, despite drawing historically poor reviews from environmentalists.
Even as he is seeking a more robust level of land-buying money, Scott is getting hammered by criticism over recent claims his Department of Environmental Protection has banned use of the term “climate change” — a charge he denies.
Still, with more than $750 million in real estate taxes made available this year for water and land programs under Amendment 1, advocates feel Florida Forever is being unfairly stiffed.
“Everything else is doing fairly well,” said Will Abberger, a director at the Trust for Public Land and the chairman of last fall’s ballot campaign. “It’s Florida Forever that’s not getting funding.”
Florida Forever has more than 9.5 million acres of land. And many leading lawmakers, including House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, maintain that the state should focus on managing the land it currently has shielded from development, rather than expanding its inventory.
“There are some critical pieces of land that need to be bought,” said Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, who recommended the $2 million for land-buying in the portion of the state budget he oversees. “But I can also show you from property tax appraisers … some real abuse in the system.”
Hays said some landowners have deftly flipped conservation land to the state at inflated prices.
“You can’t use these examples against the whole program,” he conceded. “But, yes, people are sending me emails saying, ‘Buy more land.’ But I’m also getting emails from people saying, ‘Don’t buy more land.’”
But many lawmakers acknowledge they’re also concerned about the low level of funding. They say it not only leaves an impression that the Legislature is ignoring a mandate from voters, but it also makes bad business sense.
“I just feel we have many, many projects that if we don’t act soon, they will be gone forever,” said Sen. Thad Alt-man, R-Rockledge. “And then we’ll have more very, very expensive capital-improvement projects, retrofits, engineering solutions that may never be able to turn it back.”
Crisafulli, who already angered many environmentalists with a House water policy they say gives the powerful sugar industry too much leeway in managing polluting farm runoff, said he was pleased the House and Senate appear to agree on limiting land purchases.
He also lashed out at those now targeting lawmakers with email.
“Unfortunately, some of those organizations probably used me … to raise membership,” Crisafulli said. “But the fact of the matter is we’ve been consistent on that message.”
He added, “We’ll have a conversation (with the Senate) about where that magic place is that we’re going to land on the issue. But we’re obviously not going to get anywhere near what some of those groups out there are asking for.” jkennedy@pbpost.com
