Yesterday we talked about the importance of maps and how they allow us to have a vision for the future. For today’s lesson we are going to visually compare Senator Joe Negron’s land proposal map with a map of land ownership. This ownership map was recently created by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) and I shared these maps with Senator Negron prior to the choice of land ownership possibilities.

Learning about lands south of  Lake Okeechobee can be dizzying. The first thing you have to do, not to lose your sense of direction, is to familiarize yourself with the canals. Your  landmarks.

From left to right, the largest canals visible running north/south under Lake Okeechobee are the Miami, New River, Hillsborough, and West Palm Beach. You will also notice the Bolles Canal, (L-21), that runs east/west intersecting. When flying over this area with my husband these canals are the only landmarks that guide me in knowing where I am. Otherwise, it is just miles and miles of sugarcane.

I love the TCRPC map below with the list of land owners in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). It really makes it easy to “see.” Notice the color coded BLUE: Public (the state or federal government); YELLOW: Private Ownership; and RED: Major Private Ownership.

When I asked the council the difference between private ownership and major private ownership, they said bigger corporations quality as “major private ownership.” One can see by all the red that most of the land under Lake Okeechobee is in major private ownership!

In regard to landownership inside the circles, Isadora Rangel of TC Palm stated in her August 10th article as follows:

“Sugar giant Florida Crystals owns 60 percent of each of those two parcels, Negron said. U.S. Sugar Corp. owns 30 percent of one, and sugar grower King Ranch owns 30 percent of the other. The state and others own the rest of the land. A U.S. Sugar spokesman declined to comment on whether the company will sell. Florida Crystals said it was reviewing Negron’s plan, according to media reports. Negron said he’s “optimistic” the companies will sell and said if the state allocates the money, then negotiations will be easier…”

Well, as we learn about this area (so we can speak in an educated manner to those involved who win on November 8th) let’s look at ALL  of the owners on the map.

1.United Stats Sugar Corporation

2. Okeelanta Corp.

3. New Hope Sugar Co.

4. King Ranch Inc.

5. Wedgeworth Farms Inc.

6. SBG Sugar Farms

7. Stofan Co. Inc.

8. Closter Farms Inc.

9. Sugar Cane Growers

10. New Farm Inc.

We know something about one or two but what about the rest?

In the coming days, we will learn about history of these land owners and the history of what was once the “river of grass.” It will benefit us to review the story of the this area, because it our story too, the story of the slow demise of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.

President Elect Senator Joe Negron: https://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s32

TCPalm, Isador Rangel on Negron’s proposal, 8-10-16:

http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/indian-river-lagoon/politics/joe-negron-announces-plan-to-reduce-lake-okeechobee-discharges-3994eb9f-787b-3082-e053-0100007f3d08-389532591.html

TCRPC, EAA ownership map source:http://www.tcrpc.org