Tag Archives: Cross Florida Barge Canal

Karen Ahlers named Executive Director of Florida Defenders of the Environment

June 14, 2014NewsAdena Springs Ranch protest, Cross Florida Barge Canal, Florida Defenders of the Environment, Karen Ahlers, Marjorie Harris Carr, Ocklawaha RiverDonna Green-Townsend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 12, 2014

Melrose, FL – Florida Defenders of the Environment has named Karen Ahlers Executive Director of the non-profit research organization. FDE board president Steve Robitaille has been interim executive director since October 2013.

Robitaille noted Ahlers is a life long champion of Ocklawaha River restoration since witnessing as a child the destruction wrought by the Cross Florida Barge Canal project. FDE was founded in Gainesville in 1969 by Marjorie Harris Carr in an effort to halt the canal project.

Former Florida governor Buddy MacKay said, “Like Marjorie Carr, Karen is knowledgeable, totally fearless, with a passionate concern for Florida’s environment. Her selection is great news. I look forward to a revitalization of FDE.”

As FDE’s Ocklawaha Restoration Coordinator Ahlers has led the charge to protect the river from massive water withdrawals and to minimize nutrient pollution from the proposed 30,000 acre Adena Springs Ranch grass fed beef operation in the Ocklawaha Basin and Silver Springs springshed.

“Florida’s water resources are under tremendous pressure and I can think of no better place to fight for their protection and restoration than FDE,” Ahlers said. “The foundation laid by Marjorie Harris Carr is still strong with many seasoned environmental warriors ready to step up and be counted.”

A Putnam County native, Ahlers earned statewide recognition for the Putnam County Environmental Council where she served nine terms as president. Her Rally for the Rivers events brought participants from all over Florida to celebrate the state’s natural resources and focus on the continued existence of the detrimental dam on the Ocklawaha. Sandra Kokernoot, founder of Putnam County Environmental Council and former FDE board member, praised Ahlers for her organizing skills and her will to take on enormous challenges. “She made Putnam County Environmental Council one of the leading voices for protecting water resources in Florida,” Kokernoot said.

“Karen has been a long time and effective advocate for restoring the free flowing Ocklawaha River and preserving the purity and quantities of Florida’s natural water sheds,” said Joseph Little, FDE vice president. “She knows and is respected by all the players on both sides of the issues and assumes the role of executive director with no need for orientation. FDE’s executive committee is pleased that she has agreed to undertake this role.”

“It has been a privilege to serve as interim executive director, and in that capacity my respect and trust in Karen Ahlers as an environmental leader and steward continued to grow,” Robitaille said.

She is the ideal person to carry on the legacy entrusted to us by Marjorie Carr, and I look forward to working with her, the board and our members in the months and years ahead,” he added.

“Ditch of Dreams” still controversial a century later

July 11, 2012NewsCross Florida Barge Canal, Ditch of Dreams, Donna Green-Townsend, Marion County, Ocklawaha River, Silver River, Silver Springs, Steven NollDonna Green-Townsend

Aired on WUFT on July 11th, 2012

The health of Silver Springs and Silver River has been at the heart of recent debate over water permit requests in Marion County. The Silver River which flows into the Ocklawaha River has also been a part of a century old debate. More than a 100 years ago early Spanish explorers and Florida businessmen had big dreams to put in a cross-the-state barge canal from the Gulf Coast to the St. John’s River to allow for more commerce. The Nixon administration put a stop to the project because of budget and environmental concerns. Nevertheless, remnants of the original barge construction remain with the Inglis Lock and dam on the west coast and the Kirkpatrick Dam and Rodman Reservoir in Putnam and Marion Counties. Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend talked to Steven Noll, one of the two local historians who has captured the controversial history of the project in the book called: “Ditch of Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the struggle for Florida’s future.”

(This program originally aired on WUFT-FM in late fall of 2010)

U.S. Forest Service may be sued over Kirkpatrick Dam

February 22, 2012NewsBumpy Needham, Cross Florida Barge Canal, Denise Rains, Donna Green-Townsend, Earth Justice, Erin Condon, Florida Defenders of the Environment, Florida Wildlife Federation, Kirkpatrick Dam, Rodman Dam, Steve Robitaille, U.S. Forest ServiceDonna Green-Townsend

Aired on WUFT on February 22nd, 2012

Three well-known environmental groups have announced plans to sue the U.S. Forest Service if the agency doesn’t move forward with removing the 44 year old Kirkpatrick Dam. Earth Justice, Florida Wildlife Federation and the Florida Defenders of the Environment representatives filed the intention to sue documents in Tallahassee yesterday. The Kirkpatrick Dam (formerly the Rodman Dam) was constructed as part of the now de-authorized Cross Florida Barge Canal Project. The dam impounds nine-thousand acres of floodplain forest and now holds a popular fishing spot called the Rodman Reservoir. Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend talked with representatives of all sides of this issue including the President of the Board of Florida Defenders of the Environment, Steve Robitaille and the Executive Director of the organization, Erin Condon:

Florida Defenders of the Environment Board President, Steve Robitaille and Executive Director Erin Condon. Meanwhile the U.S. Forest Service says it supports at least partial removal of the Kirkpatrick Dam. Spokesperson Denise Rains told Donna Green-Townsend the agency won’t comment on the possible lawsuit, but does want to move forward with restoration efforts of the Ocklawaha River:

The people who say they would be most affected by partial removal of the Kirkpatrick Dam are the owners of various fishing businesses. Stacy Weeks runs the Buck-N-Bass Sports Center & Outfitters in Salt Springs. He wants the dam to stay just the way it is:

Another outspoken bait and tackle shop owner is Bumpy Needham of Fish Tales in Ocala. He too says removal of the Kirkpatrick Dam is not the right direction to go:

No matter when restoration could begin, no one knows exactly where the funds for the effort will come from.

Remembering Marjorie Carr

October 17, 1997NewsCross Florida Barge Canal, Donna Green-Townsend, Florida Defenders of the Environment, Marjorie Carr, Ocklawaha River, Rodman DamDonna Green-Townsend

Originally aired on WUFT on October 17, 1997

scan0001 — Aerial view of the Cross Florida Barge Canal on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

(original script) Funeral services were held on Thursday for environmentalist Marjorie Carr. Carr died October 10th at the age of 82 after a long battle with emphysema. Carr is the Gainesville conservationist who initiated a successful campaign in the 1960s to kill the Cross Florida Barge Canal. She was laid to rest on Thursday in Evergreen Cemetery in Gainesville next to her husband Archie Carr, the renowned sea turtle researcher who died in 1987. Family members planned the service around the theme she most embraced- natural Florida. She was buried in a natural wood casket and her service included readings from the boo of Genesis about the wonders of Eden and the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, who, like Marjorie Carr, loved nature. But it was the bumper sticker placed in the back window of the hearse at the church which best characterized how Marjorie Carr spent her last years. It read, “Free The Ocklawaha River.” Most of the friends who attended the service vowed to continue her fight. Donna Green-Townsend reports.