SALT MARSH PROJECT REJECTED
PUBLIC CRITICISM OF PROPOSAL AS WASTEFUL LEADS AGENCIES TO BACK AWAY
Dredge piles in the St. Marks River from dredging projects 60 years ago.
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN Editor
The proposal to remove islands of dredge from the St. Marks River and restore the salt marsh has been scrapped. In an email to stakeholders on Wednesday, Jan. 18, from Kent Smith, a biological administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildllife Conservation Commission, “In an effort to be responsive to stakeholder feedback and concerns expressed during the meeting, the FWC in consultation with our (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and (National Fish and Wildlife) project partners has decided to no longer pursue this restoration project.
“The funding allocated to this project will be repurposed to supplement the budgets of existing National Fish and Wildlife’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (NFWF-GEBF) projects being implemented in Florida, which are experiencing budget shortfalls due to the unprecedented rise in costs caused by the current inflation.” There was a stakeholder meeting on Nov. 30 at the refuge with some 40 attendees – those who spoke indicated it was a waste of money.
St. Marks resident Chuck Shields noted at the meeting that the islands of spoil were created when the river was dredged in the early 1960s to make it easier for tugs pushing barges of oil upriver to the refineries in St. Marks. Shields contended, as did most others at the meeting, that Mother Nature had reclaimed the mounds of spoil and that attempts to remove them and restore the salt marsh would be a colossal waste of money.
The issue had come up two weeks ago at the St. Marks City Commission meeting where City Commissioner Steve Remke asked for a letter to be drafted indicating the city’s opposition to the proposal.
Businessman Billy Bishop asked if local businesses could sign on to the letter as well.