Tag Archives: hamilton disston

Over-Drainage and Overlooking the Obvious, Florida Legislature 2015, SLR/IRL

Cartoon Everglades Drainage, 1916 "Back to Broward,"http://historymiamiarchives.org/online-exhibits/everglades/glades.htm. (Shared by Sandra Henderson Thurlow) — Cartoon Everglades Drainage, 1916 Swamp Land Act of 1850 transferred swamp federal lands to the states.(http://historymiamiarchives.org/online-exhibits/everglades/glades.htm.) (Shared by Sandra Henderson Thurlow)

The 1916 cartoon says it all, doesn’t it? “You can have all these lands, if you drain and develop them….”

How does the saying go? “Be careful of what you wish for…”

We sure got what we wanted and more. We’ve gotten so much we’ve killed it, or are in the process thereof….Uncle Sam gave us a gift in the Swamp Land Act of the late 1800s and we, the State of Florida, have killed it–the Swamp that is…and even with the “retched swamp mentality” of the 1800s, no one, not even Governor Napoleon Broward himself, envisioned real estate surrounded by putrid, polluted water…

This year our state legislature did not seem to recognize the sense of urgency in Florida regarding clean water and the health of the state’s natural resource’s as reflected in their decisions made, or not made, this 2015 legislative session. Amendment 1 was all but ignored. But from north Florida’s springs, to the estuaries of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Caloosahtchee, to Biscayne Bay the people of the state still recognize this urgency. And this urgency is not just answered by money. It can be answered by beginning to have real discussion state-wide on these issuers. Florida voters know our past and we know what we want for the future.

The will of the people will be done.

Repressed desires only get stronger….

We all know that there are many ways to help, and we must do all we can, but in the long run there is only one way to change the “big picture,” for South Florida.

There must be a third outlet south of Lake Okeechobee as discussed since the earliest days of water management…we must stop wasting 1.7 billion gallons of water to tide every day, stop creeping development into the remaining Everglades, and most important, the agriculture community in the EAA must actively become part of the land acquisition solution for reconnection of Lake Okeechobee to Everglades National Park.

Drainage canal being dredged Davie 11913. — Drainage canal being dredged Davie 1913.

Map showing Everglades National Park boundaries as well as Water Conservation Areas north of the park and other areas. (Map courtesy of Backroads Travels website, 2013.) — Map showing estuaries– now drainage ditches, Everglades National Park boundaries as well as Water Conservation Areas north of the park and other areas. (Map courtesy of Backroads Travels website, 2013.)

West of the red lines shows the edge of what was once the Everglades in South Florida. Development has crept and continues to creep over this edge. (Photo/map courtesy of Chappy Young,/GCY Surveyors, 2014.)

EAA below Lake Okeechobee. (Public map.)

This excerpt is from SOFIA, USGA web site. They are a scientific, arm’s length division of the Federal Government: (http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/fs/61-99/)

“Drainage and development of south Florida has had major environmental consequences in the Everglades. Saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers has extended as far as 6 miles inland from the coast in some areas. The land surface has subsided as much as 6 feet in some agricultural areas because of lowered water tables, oxidation of drained peat, and subsequent peat fires.

Mercury contamination of fish has resulted in a ban on the consumption of fish from the central part of the Park, WCA-2, and WCA-3 and is implicated in the deaths of endangered Florida panthers. Populations of wading birds have decreased by almost 95 percent from 1870 to 1973. In high-nutrient areas, cattails are replacing native sawgrass.

Plant and animal communities in the Everglades have been altered by changes in timing and duration of inundation; invasion of exotic plants as a result of drainage and land clearing, nutrient, and (or) contaminant-enrichment of water that flows into Everglades from agricultural and urban areas; and loss of habitat…”

Dead panthers from eating fish full of mercury?

This is not what we will leave our children…is it?

Toxic Algae bloom washes up along the shoreline, St Lucie River, Riverside Drive, Stuart, Florida. (Photo Jenny Flaugh, 7-13)

Sign with Seminole in canoe 1913, Tamiami Trail. (Public photo)

Original flow everglades. http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/jason/HTML/EXPEDITIONS_JASON_7_croc_model.html ) — Original flow Everglades. http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/jason/HTML/EXPEDITIONS_JASON_7_croc_model.html
)

Sofia map 2015. — Sofia Everglades drainage map 2015.

(http://historymiamiarchives.org/online-exhibits/everglades/drainage.htm)

EPA 2011 Review: Source for 1.7 billion gallons of wasted water to tide:( http://www.epa.gov/gcertf/pdfs/1120amintersectionoffl.pdf)
Early AOCE documents referring to a third outlet south of the lake: http://jacquithurlowlippisch.com/2014/07/29/the-history-the-future-of-plan-6-and-sending-water-south-st-lucie-riverindian-river-lagoon/)

The Far Reaching Hand of Hamilton Disston/Our Savannas, and the Indian River Lagoon

Aerial photo over the Savannas, a mosaic of color comparable to one of Monet's most beautiful. — Aerial photo over the savannas.(Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch/Ed Lippisch 2013.)

I learned something recently that surprised me…

Hamilton Disston, the titan-developer and “drainer extraordinaire” who bailed Florida’s “Internal Improvement Fund” out of debt in 1881 owned land right here in St Lucie and Marin Counties. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Disston)

My first thought upon realizing this, was “what if he’d started draining here? “

Disston instead started along the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee and was the impetus and inspiration for draining south and central Florida which has led to our state’s development but also our environmental destruction.

Disston 4,000,000 acres from the state of Florida in 1881, which included much of the land within the savannas. ( Public map, 1881.) — Disston purchased 4,000,000 acres from the state of Florida in 1881, which included much of the land within the savannas. ( Public map, 1881.)

The above map shows in pink the 4,000,000 acres of land that Hamilton Disston purchased which although hard to see included much of the land within our savannas.

Plat map of St Lucie Gardens originally part of Disston's lands in the savannas, 1911. (Courtesy of historian Sandra Thurlow) — Plat map of St Lucie Gardens originally part of Disston’s lands in the savannas, 1911. (Courtesy of historian Sandra Thurlow)

Another wild thing I recently realized in relation to Hamilton Disston is that my friend Sam Henderson, of Gulfport, is the mayor of Disston’s first founded city. Gulfport is in Pinellas County near Tampa. Sam is certainly one of the most environmentally oriented mayors in the state; we know one another from our work on the Florida League of Cities’ environmental committee. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulfport,_Florida)

Mayor Gulfport, Sam henderson and I at a recent Florida League Cities meeting, 2014. — Mayor of Gulfport, Sam Henderson and I at a recent Florida League of Cities meeting, 2014.

So for some reason, before my epiphany last week, I had no idea that Disston’s drainage machine went so far north beyond Tampa, to where Sam lives on the west coast, and so far east, to my home area near the savannas, along the Indian River Lagoon. You’d think I’d know such a thing!

Savanna State Park, Martin and St Lucie Counties. (Photo from their website.) — Savanna State Park, Martin and St Lucie Counties. (Public photo.)

The Savannas today are located between Jensen Beach Boulevard to Midway Road. (Public map.)

Well my mother Sandra Thurlow did know, and when I ask her about it she told me that in her book Historic Jensen and Eden on Florida’s Indian River, I could read all about the savannas ecosystem that was once almost 200 miles long and has been reduced to 10 ecologically intact miles between Ft Pierce and Jensen Beach, and how the railway running along its eastern edge ironically protected it.

She also noted that in 1854, a Florida state engineer/geologist proposed cutting a canal from the “Main Savanna” into the St Lucie Sound. This did not happen, but some of the land was developed as St Luice Gardens and development certainly has encroached…

What if they’d drained it all…..

To close, we are fortunate that Hamilton Disston did not start draining around the SLR/IRL and that we have a small remnant of the savannas left. Let’s continue building friendships with other environmentally water-oriented people our across our state and put the drainage spirit of Hamilton Disston on the shelf where it belongs.

_______________________________

Many thanks to those who worked to create Savannas State Park like former Martin County commissioner Mrs Maggie Hurchalla.

Savannas State Park website: (http://www.floridastateparks.org/savannas/)

Florida Classics Library, Everglades’ Historical Destruction, St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon

One of Val Marin's favorite books, "Everglades of Florida," first printed in 1911, and reprinted as "South Florida in Peril," 1988. Florida Classics Library. — One of Val Marin’s favorite books, “Everglades of Florida,” first printed in 1911, and reprinted as “South Florida in Peril,” 1988, by Florida Classics Library.

When I was a kid in the 1970s and 80s, there was a bookstore called VAL’s BOOKS. It was located on East Ocean Boulevard across from the Martin County Courthouse. My parents were very fond of Val and we would often visit, browse, and buy. Visiting the bookstore was an escape from the wonderful but limited world of early Stuart.

Years passed, and the businesses along East Ocean changed, and the beloved owner of Val’s Books, Mr Val Martin, moved his bookstore to Hobe Sound. Today you will see it if you drive south on Dixie Highway from Stuart to Bridge Road. It is located at a fork in the road and is a large, attractive spanish style building. The sign reads FLORIDA CLASSICS LIBRARY. (http://www.floridaclassicslibrary.com)

This bookstore is the absolute coolest for the “river enthusiast,” River Warrior, the person who appreciates Florida history or just wants a break from the norm.

There are copies of very old maps, old books, out of print books that have been reprinted by Mr Martin, and a great selection of children’s books as well. All have to do with Florida.

1856 War Map of Florida Everglades, Florida Classic Library.

It was at this bookstore that I first found maps and books that would give me great insight and historical reference for the destruction of South Florida and our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Val has fought for the Indian River Lagoon himself since the early days and you will see his name now and again in a Letter to the Editor. At the bookstore, he is a great “guide.”

The first book he called to my attention was the one in today’s featured photo, A Study in Bureaucratic Self-Deception, South Florida in Peril–-How the United States Congress and the State of Florida in cooperation with land speculators turned the River of Grass into a billion dollars sand bar.

It’s cover photos features a poor alligator in the Everglades struggling to find water in a culvert in the same “land” its ancestors thrived.

The book itself is a collection of documented congressional and state meeting minutes/summaries. Reading it is sometimes a collection of nauseating run on sentences but very educational and mind-blowing.

For instance on page 21, in an excerpt from 1881, entitled: Note 2, Agreement Between *Hamilton Disston and Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund for the Reclamation of overflowed Lands, the book reads in discussion of Lake Okeechobee, the St Lucie River, and the Caloosahatchee:

Drainage map of Florida 1911. Florida Classics Library. — State/Federal drainage map of Florida 1911. Florida Classics Library.

“…by cuts or canals, including both those already patented as well as those that may hereafter be patented to said State by the United States, the said lands are to be reclaimed and drained and rendered fit for cultivation by permanently lowing and keeping reduced the waters of Lake Okeechobee, and thereby permanently lowering and keeping reduced the high water level of said river, and by thus lowering the waters…it being understood and agreed that the drainage, reduction of lowering of the waters of Lake Okeechobee may be made by a series of canals or cuts from the waters of said lake to the Caloosahatchee River on the west and by cuts and canals from said lake eastwardly to the waters of the St Lucie or other available point…”

For me, it is hard to believe this conversation took place in 1881!

The book goes on to document the state’s efforts to introduce sugar cultivation into south en Florida around the fertile muck lands of Lake Okeechobee and is a documentary record of “those efforts at both the State and National level to ditch, dike and reclaim the Everglades for agricultural production which ultimately resulted in the legacy of destruction of ecosystems across the south region of Florida and its adjacent seacoast.”

Oh well…

The only way to change history is to know history. A visit to Val Martin’s Florida Classics Library is a great place to start!

__________________________________

The address of Florid Classics Library is: 11300 Se Dixie Hwy, Hobe Sound, FL 33455. Here is the website from which you can also “browse:”(http://www.floridaclassicslibrary.com)

*Hamilton Disston was the first successful “drainer” of our state, it is widely believed that despite his “success” and great riches, he ended up committing suicide in a bathtub because of the repercussions of the “Financial Panic of 1893;” some reports say it was heart trouble. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Disston)