NEWS: Government Urged To Buy More Everglades Land, page 1

The final report in a series issued by the National Academy of Sciences on preservation of the Florida Everglades says that over $100M a year might not be enough money. If the 30-year 8.4 billion dollar plan to buy and restore everglades land is not expedited, it may already be developed or become too exensive. In addition to the purchase of land, the report explains the need for maintenance and engineering intensive sollutions to water storage problems. Officials are describing the plan as leading with our hearts and checkbooks.

story.news.yahoo.com
MIAMI - The state and federal governments should buy more land, and do so quickly, in order to restore the Everglades before the property becomes developed or too expensive in coming years, according to a new report.

The 30-year, $8.4 billion federal-state program is intended to restore some of the natural water flow through the sensitive Everglades ecosystem, which once stretched uninterrupted from a chain of lakes near Orlando to Florida Bay.

The report said many parts of the restoration project would involve a lot of engineering and maintenance — such as one plan to pump water underground for storage. Water would be stored in rainy years and released during dry seasons.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I'm all for preserving our environment, but it strikes me that we are attacking the problem in an awfully backwards manner. We set aside little preserves and try to save little patches of eco-system here and there because people can see that and remember how "green" the politicians are. On the other hand we refuse to ratify the Kyoto protocol and take the truly important long-term steps, because those problems are out of sight and out of mind. Aren't we going to feel stupid when we finish preserving the everglades at a price tag of billions, just to see them die out because our abuse of the atmosphere and oceans has caused the climate to change?