Jim Gross explains the history of the Ocklawaha River, one of Florida's most fixable environmental tragedies

The Ocklawaha River remains one of Florida’s greatest environmental blunders, choked off by a dam built in the 1960s to build the cross-Florida barge canal. The canal never happened, but the dam remains. More than 10,000 acres of forest and at least 20 springs were drowned by the lake that was created. Now the dam is aging, made of mostly sand, and is at high risk of failure. Yet the state continues to drag its feet on removing the dam and restoring the river’s natural flow, which would re-introduce 20 springs and a host of wildlife like manatees back into the river system. Jim Gross leads the oldest environmental advocacy non-profit in the state, Florida Defenders of the Environment, which focuses on protecting the state’s freshwater resources. We discuss how Marjorie Harris Carr led the activism to try to stop the Rodman dam from being built and how her activism led her to found the organization. Today, the removal of the aging dam is a top priority for springs, water and environmental advocates across north Florida.

Miami Dade District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado talks about balancing the wants of developers with the needs of wild areas around Miami such as Biscayne Bay and the everglades. “Are we doing everything we can do to have that balance?” she asks. As a sitting elected leader in Florida’s most populous county, Raquel explains how policy at the local level can help environmental issues. She disucsses concepts such as encouraging more xeriscaping with native plants, and converting septic tanks to sewer systems to reduce nutrient pollution into our waters. “So many people politicize it now,” she says of the environment, as she laments that the issue is not seen as being in everyone’s best interest. “We are all stewards of our environment.” 

Robert "Bob" Knight is the director of the Florida Springs Institute. He has also authored numerous books about the springs, their unique nature and how they are being degraded in Florida. In this episode, he talks about how Florida's system of granting permits to pump water is enabling corporations and business interests to pump water for almost nothing. This practically free use of water is draining the aquifer the the springs' water comes from. If things don't change, Bob feels the springs may be destroyed.

I was recently invited to take a boat trip out to Florida Bay by Orvis, the apparel and outdoor gear company, Captains for Clean Water and the Everglades Foundation. We met at Angler House near mike marker 80 in Islamorada and headed out to the bay from there. Steve Davis, the chief science officer from the Everglades Foundation, came with us to interpret what we were seeing. Seeing the bay delivered a gut punch I did not expect. The once clear, crystalline waters that I remember so well from my childhood and youth, were now a pea-green murky mess. I couldn't even see the engine propeller, the water was so murky. A toxic blue-green algae bloom had taken over the bay, right off the keys coast. Such algae can kill fish, grasses and tourism, Davis explained. The groups had produced an excellent short film about the journey of water from shingle creek in Orlando to Florida Bay.  Upon our return to Angler House, I interviewed Orvis President Simon Perkins, an avid fly-fisherman who had come along on the boat ride. 

She launched her own non profit grassroots environmental organization in Volusia county, Dream Green Volusia when she started seeing large tracts of undeveloped lands containing forests and wildlife be razed for development across her county.  Despite being an underdog against deep pockets from special interests, she has had an impact on saving her county's wild places for the future. Volusia county, with beautiful beaches, the Indian River lagoon and major springs, represents a microcosm of the environmental challenges facing all of Florida. 

Richard Kern grew up with environmental filmmakers as parents and has taken the baton of Odyssey Earth and Encounters in Excellence, two environmental storytelling platforms that are used to teach children in classrooms around Florida about environmental issues. 

Frank Mainella, the first woman in the United States to direct the US National Parks Service and the Florida State Parks system, talks about the value of parks and the possibility of designating a new Florida Springs National Park. Is the concept of a “Great Florida Springs and Rivers National Park” a pipe dream, or is it possible to get the national park designation on some of Florida Springs? She says “I do not think it’s a pipe dream.” Hear more in the interview.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a young rising star in Florida’s Democratic Party and an outspoken advocate of better environmental policies, talks about her optimism despite her party being mostly locked out of power in Florida’s government. Her fierce criticism of Tallahassee’s catering to special interest groups at the expense of voters and everyday people has helped her make a name for herself across the state. She talks about the influence of corporations like Florida Power and Light and Mosaic mining, and what people can do to change things. She says FPL’s efforts to undermine roof-top solar energy in Florida was a classic example of a corporation undermining not only efforts to stop climate change, but also other smaller businesses that are providing thousands of jobs by installing panels on roofs. Hearing Rep. Eskamani, one gets the sense that environmentalism in Florida is in the process of being wrested back from the clutches of partisan politics, because although her views are progressive, many of the things she says in this interview would strike a cord with people of any party in the state. We all love our waters, our beaches, our springs, our air, our forests. Those are not partisan passions or loves. Those are things we all love as Floridians.

Louis Wolfson III; Learn how old-school Key West piracy played a role in the origins of the Wolfson family, whose descendant, fifth-generation Floridian Louis Wolfson III, has become an environmental leader in Florida through philanthropy. Today he leads one of the largest affordable housing development companies in the United States. But his love of the water and Florida's natural places are his passion. From the time he captained his own Boston Whaler at the age of 8, he explored the waters off South Florida and has seen their evolution. This history tour of Florida with Wolfson takes listeners on vivid journey through the area’s vaunted waters. Those early encounters with Roseate spoonbills and flamingos triggered a life-long love and commitment to see them survive for future generations. Today, Wolfson, a construction entrepreneur, wants to help make sure what’s left of South Florida’s nature - its everglades, bays, reefs and forests - are saved. 

Volusia County Chairman Jeff Brower is not your average politician. The owner of a farm with nine children, he ran for office because he wanted to stand up to developers constantly clear- cutting the forests of north Florida to make way for new developments, putting precious springs and rivers at risk. He talks about the courage of being a lone dissenter, running --and winning -- with grassroots support against big money candidates, and what he loves about Florida that made him want to run for public office.