Resolution 266-2007
Commissioner Neugent
RESOLUTION NO. ~ - 2007
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
URGING THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO
CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE E FOR THE GENERAL
MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR EVERGLADES NATIONAL
PARK; PROVIDING FOR TRANSMITfAL OF THIS
RESOLUTION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE; AND
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Everglades National Park is a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of
the people and was set apart as a permanent wilderness, preserving essential primitive conditions
including natural abundance, diversity, behavior and ecological integrity of the unique flora and
fauna; and
WHEREAS, a six step process to develop a new 15-20 year General Management Plan
("GMP") for Everglades National Park was kicked otTin January 2003; and
WHEREAS, the main function of the GMP is to clearly define the park's purpose and
management direction and provide a foundation to guide and coordinate all subsequent planning
and management; and
WHEREAS, four preliminary alternatives, Alternatives A, B, C and D, were submitted
by the Nationlll Park Service (the "NPS") in May 2007; and
WHE:REAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida ("Monroe
County") doe!1 not believe that any of the four preliminary alternatives presented by the NPS are
acceptable for the public benefit of Everglades National Park; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Bay portion of Everglades National Park provides enormous
recreational and financial benefits to the residents and businesses of Monroe County; and
WHEREAS, these benefits will be severely limited by the enactment of any of the
alternatives proposed by the NPS; and
1
WHE:REAS, public awareness and mandatory boater education are the keys to
preserving thie Everglades National Park while maintaining access to the public; and
WHE,REAS, improved signage, buoys and markers would allow safe and harmless
access to frequently visited areas; and
WHE:REAS, Monroe County supports the Alternative E "Everglades for the Educated"
position paper as prepared by our local residents and backcountry guides and the
recommendalions contained therein as a guideline for the GMP for Everglades National Park;
and
WHE,REAS, implementation of Alternative E which supports boater education,
improved channel marking and responsible access to the back country flats for both motorized
and non-motl)rized vessels would provide outstanding resource protection and improve visitor
experiences without significantly restricting access to educated and responsible park visitors;
now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA as follows:
Section 1. RHoit..I., The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated
herein by this reference.
Sec:tion 2. Pronosed Plan. The Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County,
Florida urges the National Park Service to consider the locally prepared
Alternative E, attachied as Exhibit I, for the General Management Plan for
Everglades National Park.
Sec:tion 3. T....n.Q1ittal. The Clerk is directed to forward a certified copy of this
resolution accompanied by a copy of the Alternative E Plan to the
National Park Service.
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Section 4.
Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon
its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED, by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County,
Florida at a n~ meeting ofsaid Board on the 1811> day of July, A.D., 2007.
Mayo,r Mario Di Gennaro
Mayor Pro Tem Dine M. Spehar
Commissioner Charles "Sonny" McCoy
0" e.......issioner George Neugent
Co.....hlsioner Sylvia Murphy
(SEAL)
ATTEST: Danny L.l'olhage, CLERK
BG~
puty Clerk
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
By:
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Mayor Mario DiGennaro
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AL TERNA T1VE E
Everglades for the Educated
A Position Paper on the
GMP Preliminary Alternatives
Prepared by leaders/members of: The Don Hawley Foundation,
The Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association,
Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited,
Reef Rod and Gun Club,
The Islamorada Fishing Club,
and The Islamorada Fishing and Conservation Trust
Focused on Florida Bay and the Keys,
Royal Palm to Flamingo; and the Gulf Coast
This draft comes from several GMP problem-solving workshops attrmded
by Sllndy Moret, Jack Curlett, Charlie Causey, Capt. Mike Ehlers, Capt. Tad Burke,
Dianne Harbaugh and Jim Trice, with input from a large number of
diverse and experienced users of the ENP.
Upon review of the Preliminary Alternatives for the Everglades National Park in May 2007, and
not being satisfied, we have carefully crafted a fiscally responsible "Altemative E" that we are
confident will provide outstanding resource protection, that will improve visitor experiences, and
that will not restrict or limit access to educated and responsible park visitors.
June 17, 2007
www.altemativeE.com
EXHIBIT 1
CONTENTS
Page
Objectives................. .......... ......... ............ 1
Executive Summary of Alternative E........... 2
Recommendations for Alternative E............ 3
Exhibit 1................................................... 7
OUR OBJECTNES
. To provide a higher quality, land-based, boating, paddling and camping experience to
park visitors
. To provide more protection to seagrass
. To designate ENP into several new, well-defined management zones
. To provide faster response protection to nestinglfledging sites for important bird species
suc:h as the roseate spoonbill, if deemed critical
. To provide a wider range of camp sites and chickees for a more diverse set of park .
visitors that does not preclude elderly and mobility-impaired from seeing remote areas
of the park
. To provide more compliance to park regulations that are easier to enforce. We feel
attracting and retaining long-term, experienced Rangers will be challenged by
affordable housing, cost of living in South Florida, Ranger salary ranges, and the
disl::omfort of working the Everglades during the summer
. To prepare for a population in South Florida that will continue to grow. However, past
visitor numbers do not prove an increase in visitors is occurring and visitation numbers
are actually down to flat
. To provide improved safety for resources, visitors, and staff
. TO."trade off' no or few signs of human presence with more educational signage and
markers allowing safe and harmless access to frequently visited areas
. To educate users about etiquette, navigation, current regulations, and wildlife in the
Park with confidence that the VAST majority will comply if they are educated and know
whiat is expected of them .
. To not harm our local economy, customs, traditions, and values, and to value input from
the professional guides, their clients from around the world, and avid recreational
anglers in the Keys, Homestead, and South Florida that have been the leading change
agents and stewards of the ENP for over three decades
Alternative E . Everglades for the Educated
Paga1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVE E
Alternative E focuses on Education & Comoliance. Resource Protection. Access and Visitor
Exoerience.
We do not support Alternative A, B, C, or D. We support and recommend Alternative E. While
some new concepts were shared but not well defined in the preliminary alternatives, such as
"management by water depth" zones have merit, our Alternative E will bring clarity and
specificity to the proposed new zoning terminology. Furthermore, Alternative E is financially
realistic, or at least approachable, especially with more focus on public/private financial support
and park management reprioritizing budget allocations. More specifically:
1. Supports a mandatory boater education permit in order to operate a vessel in the Park
and significantly more focus on educating all visitors on the water.
2. Better protection for seagrass and nestinglfledging birds.
3. Dop.5 not further limit fishing opportunities to responsible/educated users of motorized
vessels, therefore no negative impact to iocal economies and no negative impact to
areas that would receive more pressure through the closures/restricted access
suggestions in alternatives B, C, and D.
4. Supports adding over 1,000 acres to an idle speed/no wake zone 300 feet from specific
shorelines to help protect/preserve resources, and improve experiences and safety for
paddlers and shoreline anglers.
5. Supports designation of Backcountry Zones (the old no-motor zones) to Joe and Little
Madeira along with better experiences for paddlers in current no motor zones. Other
than Joe and Little Madeira Bays, we do not support adding any additional no-motor or
now called "backcountry zones" within ENP.
6. Supports more attention to teaching etiquette and other courtesies that need to be
practiced by various visitors in the park.
7. Supports the concept of "Management by Water Depth Zones" but changes the
definition to waters less than two feet to only poling, paddling, or using electric trolling
motors in very specific arEilas. The zones must also allow motor vessel ingress and
egress in all water two feet or greater in depth, and allow a motOr on the transom of
vessels in the zone as long as it is trimmed up and not in use. We support the
implementation of this management zone in small, high traffic areas that also host large
numbers of wading birds. Specifically, we recommend that Snake Bight and Keys in front
of Flamingo surrounded by water less than two feet deep be designated a "Management
by Water Depth" zone. We recognize that over time, other high-stressed, frequently
visited areas may meet the criteria.
8. Supports the implementation of a regulation requiring idle speed/no-wake when within
300 feet of paddlers and anchored vessels.
9. Promotes significantly increasing and maintaining gated makers throughout the park.
GPS only get visitors to the vicinity of marked channels and do not tell them exactly
where to run in channels marked on charts.
1 O. Su~.ports low-cost, high-impact visitor experiences between Royal Palm and Flamingo.
11. Enc:ourages outside partnerships and public sponsors.
Aftemstivo E . Everglades for the Educated
Page 2
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE E
Everglades for the Educated
EDUCATION AND COMPLIANCE
. We enthusiastically embrace a mandatory boater certification permitting program. This
would require all vessel operators in the Park to complete an online or traditional
classroom study program and to pass a test to legally utilize park waters.
. We request a dramatic increase in focus on education. We must have ongoing focus
on seminars and effective collaterals centered on user group etiquette, signage, park
regulations, markers, navigation, wildlife, resource protection, the importance of catch
and release, fish handling procedures, nesting facts, park history, and more.
. We value much stiffer penalties for people who repeatedly violate the park resources
and regulations: to include mandatory education classes of which the time to attend
hUl1s much more than a trivial fine, to as much as banning users from the Park for
repeated and serious violations.
. We! support significantly increasing signage, buoys. and markers to guide, educate, and
wam users of safety to self and resources. This will not take away from the visitor
experience; however, it will have a major impact on resource protection, safety, and
quality of experience for all visitors.
RESOURCE PROTECTION
. We do not support limiting boat size or motor horse power in the Park, but we do
recommend a "Park Recommended Travel Corridor Chart" indicating trouble areas and
preferred routes by vessel size/draft.
. We, urge an idle speed only lane 300 feet out from and parallel to the shoreline running
. from Crocodile Point to the Middle Cape: This zone consisting of over 1,000 acres will
improve fishing and paddling visitor experiences as well as less shoreline erosion and
less stress on birds and fish resting near the shorelines.
. We! support designating Keys in ENP as a Wildlife Habitat Protection Zone (WLPZ) as
long as the definition remains as it is now: Except to effect a rescue, or unless
otherwise officially authorized, no person shall land on keys of the Everglades except
those marked by signs denoting the area is open to the public, ,and on a critical case by
case basis, "seasonally' establishing a buffer area to keep visitors from spooking
important bird species off their nests. We could never support the definition of a WLPZ
pro,vided by a NPS biologist at a public workshOp - that being a 500' buffer would exist
around each Key.
. We, support the zoning concept of "Management by Water Depth" zones allowing only
"paddling, poling or use of electric trolling motors" in very critical strategic locations,
starting with only Snake Bight in waters less than two-feet deep, and waters less than
twel feet surrounding Oyster, Murray, Catfish, Frank, Palm, Cormorant, Curlew Key back
to Buoy Key to Porpoise Point. Boats operating in these water depth designations may
have an engine attached but it shall be trimmed up and not in use. To be more specific:
AUemaNve E . Evell/lecles for tho /Educated
Page 3
_ We recommend that the crown of flats with a depth of less than two feet (as
indicated on Waterproof Chart #33E - Flamingo & Florida Bay) be set aside as
"paddle & pole/electric troll only" areas inside the boundaries of the south entrance to
the basin at Flamingo to the Headpin channel marker to the west tip of the north side
of Conchie Channel, then easterly along the north side of Conchie Channel and the
North side of Palm Lake to Curlew Key thence northerly to the southeast corner of
Buoy Key, thence northerly to Porpoise Point, thence westerly along the shoreline of
Florida to the point of beginning with the following exceptions: Snake Bight Channel
and its fingers, Joe Kemp Channel, Tin Can Channel and other areas designated as
two feet or more in depth including the channels and moats' around the Keys within
the boundaries should remain open to motor boat operation at normal safe speed.
Lanes of access for normal safe speed operation running north and south from Tin
Can Channel into Jimmy's Lake should be clearly marked providing access to motor
boats. An explanatory, Exhibit 1 is attached for reference.
_ Again for clarity, the channels, all run offs, Jimmy's Lake (which should be marked
as an ingress/egress route into Snake Bight) and all other waters two feet or more
should remain open to safe travel speeds within Snake Bight and the Keys in front of
Flamingo.
. We feel A1temative E offers more seagrass protection for approximately the same
amount of area as A1temative B and provides much more protection from boat wakes to
large numbers wading birds that are feedinQ. Additionally, Alternative E does more to
protect resources from a higher number of users, and very important, can be enforced
by a single Ranger.
. We specifically recommend better located and maintained GATED (side-by-side)
markers for channels and points, to include Nine Mile Bank and other western portions
of the park, as well as preferred travel corridors from Islamorada, Key Largo, and the
Gulf through the park. This will reduce groundings, seagrass damage, and help
improve visitor experiences. .
ACCESS
. We oppose eliminating access to any waters currently available to motorized vessels.
The new backcountry zones marked in Altemative B that incorporates Hells Bay, parts
of Tarpon Bay, and the waters north of the Wilderness Water Way near Chokoloskee
arE~ unacceptable.
. We support reopening Joe and Little Madeira Bay as no-motor "Backcountry" zones.
This assumes current no-motor zones and Joe/Little Madeira would now be called
Backcountry Zones and would continue to be used only by vessels with no motor or
vessels in which the motor(s) is (are) removed from the gunnels or transom and are
stored to be inoperable.
. We support more focus on keeping motorized skiffs out of Backcountry Zones via
education, stiffer penalties, and where practical, barriers at entrances.
. We wish for the establishment and marking of an Alternate Wilderness Waterway for
paddlers, but motor vessels that have no other route to reach their destinations (such as
the Rookery Branch or Rogers Creek), or where it overlaps the current wilderness
waterway must be allowed access at safe speeds. Also, keep in mind that disoriented
and distressed paddlers often need and seek help from motorized v~sel users.
A1temat;ve E . Everglades for the Educated
Page 4
. We oppose prohibiting motor vessel users from camping and fishing experiences in
Hells Bay, Lane Bay, North River and Tarpon Bay, for example. Joe/Little Madeira Bay
should be newly designated as Backcountry Zones. No additional new waters should
be designated under the new "back country" zone.
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
. We support better maintenance of existing camp sites.
. We support building new camp sites when ENP budget or public funding/contributions
become available. Priority being new campsites in the old no-motor zones and Joe/
Little Madeira Bay, because over a half-day's travel by paddle to or in no motor/paddle-
only zones is pointless.
. We suggest establishing a regulation that requires all vessels to be at idle speed when
within 300 feet of paddled vessels or anchored/staked up vessels.
. We support increased activities for land-based visitors between Royal Palm and
Flamingo during peak visitor times.
- Dedicated bike path with more land-based fishing opportunities and more paddle
launch areas also provided between Coe Center and Flamingo
- Regular and expanded programs to include Nike missile site
- Bus service with stops and for I nterpretations along the route
Our intentions are to bring as much consensus as pOSSible from the South Florida business
community, local and state government, and anglers, wildlife viewers, paddlers, and campers
from across the globe.
Please telephone, write, or e-mail your support for Alternative E to those listed below, or others
that you feel might help protect the Everglades from major restrictions, reduced access to motor
vessels, and reduced number of visitors. .
The public comment period ends July 30, 2007, so please don't delay your
support.
Pat Kenney'
National Park Service
Everglades Park Team
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
PO Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225
e-mail: pat.kenney@nps.gov
Fred Herling
Sr. Park Planner
Everglades and Dry Tortugas NP
40001 State Road 9336
Homestead, FL 33034-6733
e-mail: fred._herling@nps.gov
AI1emative E . Everglades for the Educatad
Page 5
Dan Kimball
Superintendent
Everglades and Dry Tortugas NP
40001 State Road 9336
Homestead, FL 33034-6733
Patricia A. !Hooks
Southeast Regional Director
National Park Service
100 Alabama Street SW
Atlanta. GA 30303
Governor Charlie Christ
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee. FL 32399-0001
Phone: 850-488-7146
Rep. Ron Saunders
Suite A-90311
Overseas Highway
PO Box 699
Tavernier, FL 33070-0699
Phone: (305) 853-1947
Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation
110 North Carolina Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
e-mail: csf@sportsmenslink.org
Or to make online comments directly to NPS go to:
htto:ffoarl<Dlanni na.nos.aovfdocument.cfm?oarkld=37 4&oroiectld=11170&docu ment1D=19058
For more information,
please visit our Web site:
www.alternativeE.com
Altemative E . Everglades for the Educated
Page 6
EXHIBIT 1
Yellow equals safe travel speeds
Alternative E . Evelf1lades for the Educated
Page 7