Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschDecember 13, 2017

Environmental group Audubon Florida presented Senate President Joe Negron with an award Tuesday recognizing his “steadfast leadership” in Everglades restoration. Negron earned the “Champion of the Everglades” award for a bill he ushered through the legislature earlier this past session that mandated the construction of a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to reduce discharges to […]

Scott PowersAugust 11, 2017

U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney earned a new title Thursday: Python hunter. The Republican congressman from Naples, who has asserted leadership in the Florida delegations’ efforts to address Everglades problems, announced he bagged five pythons Thursday night, the invasive snakes clogging up the South Florida ecosystems. Rooney captured the beasts while he participated in the South Florida […]

Guest AuthorJuly 19, 2017

Heads up, citizens: the federal government is about to review the endangered status of one of our state’s rarest species — the Florida panther — and now is the time for all of us to make our voices heard. We Floridians clearly love our wild and mysterious panthers; in 1981, the state’s schoolchildren chose the […]

Scott PowersJune 22, 2017

In the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, Orlando’s U.S. Rep. Darren Soto pinned down Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke for assurances that the off-shore drilling ban is “in no real jeopardy.” Soto also pressed Zinke on whether he would support a Wild & Scenic River Program designation for the Kissimmee River, and the […]

Associated PressMay 30, 2017

Call it retail-tainment. Just don’t call American Dream Miami a mall. Developers are proposing a massive 6 million-square-foot (557,000 square-meter) project on the edge of the Everglades in bustling South Florida that would dwarf any other shopping mecca in North America, including Minnesota’s Mall of America. Miami-Dade County officials could vote this fall to approve […]

Scott PowersMay 18, 2017

Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast are leading a bipartisan effort of Florida members of Congress to try to convince President Donald Trump to not zero out funding for a EPA program monitoring water quality related to the Everglades and other sensitive areas. The South Florida Geographic Initiative, begun […]

Staff ReportsMay 9, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation Tuesday pledging $800 million in bonds toward Senate President Joe Negron’s signature project — a $1.5 billion plan to restore Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades by building a reservoir south of the lake. Scott had signaled his intention to sign the legislation earlier in the week, calling Everglades restoration “a […]

Associated PressMay 9, 2017

U.S. Congressman Brian Mast has unveiled a proposal that would speed up the completion of Everglades restoration projects, including a massive reservoir system south of Lake Okeechobee approved by the Florida Legislature this year. The bill will be formally introduced Thursday and would expedite the ambitious plan by a top Florida Republican to build a […]

Michael MolineMay 8, 2017

The Senate manager for two of the most ambitious bills debated during the Legislative Session was a little wistful following sine die. Sen. Rob Bradley, who carried SB 10 for Senate President Joe Negron, called the bill “one of the real legislative achievements of the last decade or so, that we can all be very […]

Guest AuthorApril 27, 2017

Florida’s Everglades is an American iconic national park known and revered throughout the world for its biodiversity. Floridians, regardless where they live, must join together to protect and restore this treasure before the Everglades reaches a point of no return. The Everglades is home to thousands of plant and animal species and draws millions of […]

Tag: Everglades

Joe Negron named ‘Champion of the Everglades’

Francis Rooney joins the ranks of python hunters

Kate MacFall: Time to speak up for Florida panther

Darren Soto pins down Everglades, drilling assurances from interior secretary

Miami megamall is biggest in U.S. — but don’t call it a mall

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Brian Mast spearhead letter to save Everglades program

Rick Scott signs SB 10, the Lake Okeechobee restoration plan, into law

Brian Mast looking to fast track Lake Okeechobee reservoir

Rob Bradley reflects on his big win, and big loss, during the Legislative Session

Bob Martinez, Dominic Calabro: The time is now to address the Everglades crisis