With Florida’s Legislative Session nearing an end and budget conference committees forming, SCCF and 22 other environmental groups sent a joint letter to leaders in Tallahassee to reiterate the importance of prioritizing the environment to protect Florida’s lands, waters, and wildlife. The letter includes budget recommendations in the following areas:

• Florida Forever
• Springs restoration
• Everglades restoration
• Hurricane Restoration Reimbursement Grant Program and Resilient Florida
• Urban fertilizer ordinance moratorium
• IFAS Fertilizer Rate Study

Read the letter >>

The letter — which includes signatures from organizations like the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Sierra Club Florida, Friends of the Everglades, and Florida Wildlife Federation — will be sent to Senate and House budget conferees as soon as conference committees are announced.

“With our communities still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Ian and releases from
Lake Okeechobee threatening the health of our Northern Estuaries, it is essential that our leaders in Tallahassee pass a budget with robust funding to protect our water quality, conserve our remaining natural spaces, and fully fund the projects necessary to store, treat, and send water south to America’s Everglades,” said SCCF Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis. “Only by protecting our undeveloped lands and cleaning our water can we hope to have resilient coastal communities.”

DePaolis also stressed the need for the legislature to avoid using the budget to preempt local regulations, such as fertilizer ordinance bans or other environmentally protective measures.

“Local leaders understand the unique issues facing their constituents and should not be preempted by the state legislature when they try to protect their local resources, economies, and communities,” he said.