Dedicated to Preserving Our Fishery
Committed to Restoring the Everglades

SAFER Cautiously

Optimistic for 2009

A Message From

President Al Ovies

As SAFER goes back to work after the holiday hiatus, we have reason to feel a cautious optimism that our efforts to prevent the destruction of the Water Conservation Area 3A and 3B's (WCA's) outstanding bass fishery is finally starting to bear positive results. Several factors have combined to make it more difficult for the U. S. Army's Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to continue to pursue their previously published plans to backfill the canals in the WCA's. SAFER has been one of those major factors, as we have worked hard for the past 9 years to have our message heard. We believe in Restoration with Recreation!! We believe that there is a place for bass fishing in a healthy, restored Everglades ecosystem.

Over and over, we have stressed that there simply isn't enough levee material along the canals to backfill the canals. That to backfill the canals, which would herald the destruction of one of Florida's top game fisheries, would require the importation of massive amounts of fill material. Fill material which would cost a ton of money—money which, quite frankly, just isn't available anymore. The sorry state of our economy is another major factor in forcing the participating agencies to seek other alternatives. This lack of fill material has led to a myriad of plans to compensate for this. One plan, known as "Bold Decomp," went so far as to advocate laying a huge pipe down the length of the Miami Canal, to deliver water to where the canal was already delivering it, then cover it with what little levee material existed along its length.

Since day one of our existence, our message has remained constant: Go ahead and degrade the levees, let the water sheetflow over the canals. Use the fill material to fortify or build tree islands. Prove to us that backfilling the canals is hydrological necessity for restoration of sheetflow.  We believe that message has finally been heard and is going to be acted on. Plans are finally moving ahead, after years of delay, to implement the Decomp Adaptive Management Plan (DAMP or Physical Model) that will test various scenarios.

It might seem that this would be a good time to say "Mission Accomplished!" That statement would be premature, however. The full implementation of CERP is projected to take anywhere from 30-40 years. SAFER is duty bound to be there for the duration of that process, protecting the rights of bass anglers to access their fishing grounds, and enhancing the fishing opportunities available to future generations of Floridians. In order to accomplish these goals, SAFER must move forward on several initiatives during the coming year.

Broaden Our Horizons: For the past few years, SAFER has focused on preventing the backfilling of the WCA canals. As we move forward, we must turn our attention to the entire CERP "footprint." We must look to the headwaters of the system, to the Kissimmee Chain and Lake Okeechobee in the north, as well as to what happens to all that water in the south, where it debauches into Florida  Bay. We must look at the project in its totality.

Continue to Work with the Environmental Community: SAFER has made a tremendous effort to reach out to environmental groups in the past few years, and this effort needs to be continued. Many of the disagreements that existed between environmentalists and recreationalists have been due to lack of communication. With the huge amounts of money that are being spent on CERP, there is no reason why restoration shouldn't be a win-win situation for the various groups of stakeholders. Unless we all find a common ground, nothing is going to get done, and everyone's efforts will have been a complete waste of time, effort and money.

Improvement of Recreational Access: Boat ramps are an essential part of our ability to access our fishing grounds. SAFER has begun working on improving the boat ramps in the Dade and Broward County areas. The boat ramps along the Tamiami Trail and L-67, in particular, are in deplorable condition. Given that they are in the very heart of the Decomp project, their revitalization represent an affirmation of the USACE's claims to be interested in the protection of the fishery in the WCA. Likewise, the ramp at Sawgrass Recreation Area has suffered from long standing neglect. Due to SAFER members' efforts, construction has already begun at this site.