South Florida Anglers For Everglades Restoration (SAFER) was formed as a result of a public meeting hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USCOE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) on Feb. 6, 2001. The meeting, which was held at Bass Pro Shops/Outdoor World in Dania, Fla., was called to discuss the Tamiami Trail Modifications, a facet of the Everglades Restoration plan, to be made under the auspices of the Corps’ Modified Water Delivery (MWD). The meeting was attended by dozens of the area’s bass fishermen, many wearing their club shirts. At that time we were informed that plans for the Everglades Restoration would include the backfilling of the canals in Water Conservation Area 3A. The canals, according to studies conducted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee, are some of the best bass fishing waters in the state.

Every week, hundreds of recreational fishermen, like us, travel out to the Everglades Canals for a day of fishing. Some go for a relaxing day on the water with family and friends; others go to test their angling skills against other anglers in the many tournaments that are scheduled throughout the year. According to studies by FWC conducted over the past few years, the Everglades canals have hosted over 335 permitted tournaments, with 7583 anglers combining to catch 14,711 bass weighing an incredible 32, 081 pounds. A survey of the L-67A Canal shows that, in quest of the elusive largemouth bass, fishermen pumped over $1,120,000, into the local economy in a six month period. That’s $41,000 for every mile of canal. As you know, there are 258 miles of canal system. Local businesses sell us tow vehicles, boats, trailers, insurance, gas, boating equipment, rods & reels, lure and live bait, clothing and fishing apparel, and food and beverages. Local mechanics repair outboards and trolling motors, and tow vehicles. As taxpayers, we pay taxes in the form of tow vehicle, trailer and boat registration fees; we purchase a fishing license every year; and we pay sales taxes on all the goods and services we purchase, including gas, which is heavily taxed by the state. If you want to get an idea of the economic power of the diverse groups using the Everglades for recreational purposes, spend a Saturday or Sunday at Dade Corners, at the intersection of the Tamiami Trail and Krome Avenue.

The gathered fishermen were very alarmed by what they were hearing. It was obvious that we needed to organize to prevent the destruction of our fishery. The result was SAFER, an association of local bass clubs from Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, who have joined together to protect the rights of all recreational fishermen from the encroachment on our fishing grounds by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). It is our goal to maintain the viability of the Everglades canal system as the great fishery it has been for decades, and to assure accessibility to these waters by all recreational fishermen.
For decades, South Florida anglers have been concerned about our environment. A healthy, restored Everglades, will provide additional spawning, nursery and foraging habitat for our sportfish and their prey. The members of SAFER support Everglades Restoration, but we are opposed to any plans that call for the backfilling of this great fishery. It is our belief that the only impediment to the sheetflow of water to the ‘Glades is the levees and not the canals. We are in favor of the removal of these barriers, while leaving the canals in place. The water would simply sheetflow over the deep water refuge that the canals provide. This message was made perfectly clear to the USCOE and SFWMD at that meeting. “The public voiced the desire to maintain recreational access in the project area,” states the transcript of the meeting, “and have consistently requested maintaining the canal for recreational fishing/boat access from L-29 to Holiday Park, which would require not removing L-67.”

Unfortunately, an examination of the Corps of Engineers’ record with regards to canal access/closures, dating back to the early 90’s, reveals an organizational mindset that gives us serious reason for concern as the CERP process moves into gear. In the early 90’s, the USCOE made their first effort to deny fishermen full access to the canals. The plan called for the building of a series of locks on the L-67A Canal in an attempt to divert water into WCA 3B, then down into North Shark River Slough. Of this effort, the Miami Herald wrote on Sept. 6, 1990, “Fishermen are angry and state biologists are concerned about a proposed $70 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project that could degrade Everglades water quality and would restrict angler access to the most productive and heavily used bass-fishing region in Dade and Broward counties.” Hard lobbying by the Miami-based Fisherman Against the Destruction of the Everglades (FADE), stayed the Corps of Engineers’ hand on that particular issue, but the organizational culture that supported the closure of the L-67 Canal to anglers, has remained in place to this day.

An evaluation, dated February 2001 of Hydrological Systems Modeling by SFWMD studies seven scenarios, all of which call for the degradation of the L-67A Levee and the backfilling of the canal. We believe it is time for the system modelers to go back to the drawing board, and develop models, which take into account the continued existence of the L-67 A Canal. We are looking for studies that feature levee degradation, but no backfilling. SAFER believes it is imperative that such modelings take place, and should receive the highest priority.

Increasing public awareness of the ramifications of the CERP, in general, and of the threat to recreational fishing in the canals, in particular, is one of our primary tasks. In order to spread the word to thousands of anglers, we have established a web page. Our site is packed with information concerning Everglades Restoration, including links to all the federal and state agencies involved in the process, companies and guide services that support SAFER, as well as our carefully thought out position papers. The site can be accessed at www.sfanglers.com .

Other efforts to increase public awareness include setting up booths at sporting shows, such as the hunting and fishing classics at Bass Pro Shops/Outdoor World, monthly mailings to participating bass clubs, and newspaper and magazine articles in local, state and national publications. In addition, we sponsor an annual bass tournament at Everglades Holiday Park. Last year, over 200 anglers participated. The tournament was attended by local politicians, as well as members of the Corps of Engineers’ Everglades Restoration Project Team. The event received extensive coverage in local newspapers.

Just as important is our lobbying effort directed at the concerned government agencies, and elected/appointed officials. Our message to them is “Restoration with Recreation.” We urge all interested anglers to send letters to these officials, and have included a list of contacts, as well as sample letters, on our web site. SAFER is a stakeholder organization in the CERP, and is an active participant at the CERP Project Development Team’s meetings and public workshops. Our efforts have earned us the respect of the government agencies responsible for the planning and implementation of CERP. We take a great deal of pride that our efforts were directly responsible for the creation of the Master Recreational Planning Committee within the Corps of Engineers Project Team.

SAFER is extremely concerned regarding the restoration requirements of the Everglades National Park. We have found, in past dealings with ENP, the Park Service, and the Department of the Interior, that they view the restoration of ENP as the end all and be all, and damn everything and everyone else. We want to point out that ENP is one of the least utilized parks in the system, and has been plagued with declining attendance and substandard facilities for the past decade. In contrast, recreational fishermen have been utilizing the WCA 3A Canal system for over 3 decades, and, if anything, the popularity of bass fishing continues to grow. We firmly believe that these issues cannot be left solely to the discretion of the Federal government and its agencies. Florida’s state government and its agencies need to protect the rights of its citizens to determine how the water created by the projects of the CERP should be used. We must not forget that the citizens of the State of Florida are paying for nearly $4 billion dollars of the total $8 billion cost of re-plumbing the Everglades. The water needs of the citizenry in general, and the recreational access to the Everglades are just as important as the environmental need to restore the “River of Grass.”