On January 28 2026, I stood with all the partners of the Picayune Strand Restoration Project gathered at the Miller Pump Station just southwest of Interstate-75 to celebrate an Everglades restoration project 20 years in the making.
The goal? To remove 260 miles of roads and plug 48 miles of canals of a failed swamp swindle real estate scheme, in order to restore 55,000 acres of Picayune Strand. This milestone achievement transforming a failed development back into functioning, productive wetlands is due, in part, to the state’s conservation land buying program: Florida Forever.
Future successes like this are at risk. Unfortunately, the current Florida House and Senate budget appropriations proposals include little or no funding for Florida Forever, endangering future conservation purchases that restore the environment and provide opportunities for recreation on beautiful landscapes. Plus, these conservation lands serve the added public benefits of flood protection, recharging our fast-declining aquifers, reducing harmful runoff to our estuaries and coasts, and reducing catastrophic wildfire risk, especially during droughts like we have now…