State's Plan To Spend Conservation Money Irks Environmentalists
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GAINESVILLE (CBSMiami/AP) — The state Legislature's proposal to spend money approved by voters for conservation on things like agency operating budgets and state park police has been met with protests from environmentalists.
Last year voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 1, which changed Florida's constitution to earmark hundreds of millions of dollars to buy land meant to preserve water quality and the environment.
But proposals in Florida's Legislature recommend spending only $8-to-$10-million of the roughly $750 million in conservation funds on land buys. Instead, the Legislature wants to use the money to fund the Department of Environmental Protection and other agency budgets covered by the general fund.
Audubon Florida Executive Director Eric Draper says the money should be spent on land buys like a proposed deal to purchase U.S. Sugar land south of Lake Okeechobee to help restore the Everglades.
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