Like many in our community, The News-Press Editorial Board has watched with growing anger and frustration as our environment has been used as a sewer for polluted freshwater from Lake Okeechobee.
The damage done to natural resources in Southwest Florida was highlighted again Tuesday by a report in The News-Press about the catastrophic threat from explosive algae growth in J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel.
The policies of the South Florida Water Management District have been a threat to Lee County’s economy and way of life, which are based on a healthy environment.
That’s why the Editorial Board is making a special effort to “STOP THE MUCK.”
We are preparing a series of Opinion page pieces leading up to Wednesday’s water management board workshop meeting at Florida Gulf Coast University. We will urge our readers to turn out in force for that meeting, armed with “STOP THE MUCK” pages from The News-Press, to put pressure on the board to take radical action to save our environment.
The state has adopted some measures designed to alleviate the situation. But we must keep up the pressure for more change, and to be sure that what is already planned is funded fully and completed as rapidly as possible.
Nothing is easier for this powerful agency than to forget about Southwest Florida. An aroused citizenry can help prevent that.
 
We also have established an online bulletin board at news-press.com/muckwhere people can register their opinions. Besides sharing them with all readers of news-press.com, people will also be talking directly to water managers. We’ll enter the transcripts of the bulletin board into the public record.      


Gail Palmer
Editorial page editor
The News-Press
P.O. Box 10
Fort Myers, FL 33902
(239)335-0224
(239)334-0708 fax
gpalmer@news-press.com