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| Go beyond your garden gate |
On this blog most of us focus on our own properties with
ideas and success stories of how our mostly native landscapes have attracted
wildlife. But anyone who is concerned about the environment can also become an
advocate for Mother Nature. It's a pleasant experience to write for people like
myself who also believe that creating more wildlife-friendly habitat is a good
idea, but isn't one of our goals reaching out to wider audiences who might not
have thought that their landscaping decisions are important?
I live in Florida, a swing state, where the din of election
advertisements and flood of tree-killing political mailers was nerve-racking to
say the least. But now that the elections are over, I decided that it was time
to talk to my local representatives. I knew my new Florida state senator from
my work as board member for the special taxing district to support our
lakes--he was our lawyer. So I called. I congratulated him on his win and
quickly expressed my opinion that preserving Florida's natural ecosystem is not
anti-business and offered to be his go-to person for environmental issues. He
agreed with many of my points. The next week I received an invitation from his
assistant to speak before the Clay County Delegation on December 12th. The
delegation consists of all the senators and representatives that represent the
county in the Florida legislature. Thanks to weirdly drawn districts, there are
several.
So it was time to prepare my three-minute presentation and
my handout with information on with links for further information. See below to
see a copy of my prepared talk and my handout.
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| Be persistent. Be patient. Keep chewing... |
Rule of Ps
When talking with politicians and with the people who work
for government agencies I follow the rule of Ps.*
1) Be Prepared. Have your materials and handouts ahead of time. Your time may be severely limited, so this preparation can make the difference between making your point or not.
2) Be Polite and respectful, even if you disagree with a
policy. Getting angry or antagonistic means that you may not be welcome to come
back in the future.
3) Be Punctual. If you've set up a time to meet someone,
make it easy by meeting at his or her office (or other designated place) and be
early for the meeting. Things happen fast in government or agency offices, so
don't be a hindrance to their operations.
4) Be Persistent. If your contact initially rejects your
ideas but puts a date out there when you can come back, don't let it slide call
back and be there. Or try talking to a different person with a slightly
different responsibility.
5) Be Patient. Changing government policies can be a
cumbersome process, so it may be a long time before anything happens even if
your ideas are accepted.
Reaching Decision Makers
No matter how you feel about government and whether it
should be larger or smaller, the governments (local, state and national) and
their agencies are the deciders about the fate of huge tracts of land.
Developers have paid lobbyists working for them on all levels of government.
Sometimes the developers even participate in developing rules that apply to
their business interests. It may not be fair, but it's the reality. While there
are eco-activist organizations with money to lobby on behalf of Mother Nature,
your voice as an individual taxpayer and constituent may be more effective. You
don't have anything to gain personally, so your sincerity may ring a little
truer.
The actions we take in our yards to benefit wildlife are
important, especially if we can convince others to make changes as well. But
the government footprint on Mother Nature is huge in comparison. Let your voice
of reason with logical green solutions be heard out there in the vast
government wastelands. Maybe a bureaucrat is listening.
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| Only 3 minutes to make my points. |
My Speaking Notes for a three-minute presentation:
I'm Ginny Stibolt and live at XXX. I have a master's
degree in botany and have written two gardening books published by Univ. Press
of Florida. I'm active in the Florida Native Plant Society and am a member of
the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy. In fact 50% of the royalties
for my first book, "Sustainable Gardening for Florida", go directly
to the Nature Conservancy. Also, I blog for 3 environmental blogs. So yes, I'm
a tree hugger, but I have also owned and managed 3 different computer-oriented
businesses over the years and I know what it's like to make payroll.
I firmly believe that Preserving Florida's environment
is NOT an anti-business policy. Before my husband and I moved here, we
drove to Florida several times as tourists. We camped, hiked and kayaked at
many state parks. We especially love the Everglades and Florida's amazing
springs. We like to paddle a mile up to the edge of the Rainbow River State
Park, jump in the water and snorkel back to our put-in place. We laughingly
call these outings "Swimming with Anhingas."
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| Swimming with Anhingas in Rainbow River. |
But..., our springs and our main aquifers are in
trouble. Big bottlers have been allowed to pump millions of gallons of our
water to sell. New developments are being allowed in areas where there are
already water shortages. But the Water Management Districts budgets have been
severely cut. The savings of a few dollars for homeowners is an insignificant
amount, but it has adversely affected the districts. Restore those fees to
former levels.
I'm not against cutting out bureaucratic bottlenecks and
was not upset to see the breakup of the Department of Community Affairs, but we
do need some statewide oversight over developers. Using wildlands for new
developments when there is so much already developed land (like abandoned strip
malls) is just not right. I think special incentives to redevelop land that has
already been spoiled is a much better idea.
I think the governor's idea last year of spoiling our
state parks with golf courses would have been not only devastating for the
parklands, it would also have inserted state-sponsored competition for existing
golf courses, many of which are struggling. I'm glad this was defeated.
In addition, our waterways are being polluted not only by
big companies like Georgia Pacific, but also by millions of people's
over-fertilized lawns. I congratulate the Florida Senate for passing the SB
2080 in 2009, the Florida-Friendly law. But people who'd like to replace their
lawns (and therefore decrease their own pollution footprint) are still having
to fight their HOAs, even now. Please continue to support the Florida-Friendly
law.
Recently, a
white paper "Value of Florida's clean waters" was released.
This research finds that algae and red tide outbreaks caused by water pollution
cost Floridians between $1 and $10 Billion each year. As one small example, Florida
Today reported that an algae outbreak in the Indian River Lagoon caused the
commercial fishing industry to lose more than $300 million.
On the day this report was
released,state officials opposed the EPA's water quality
requirements as "too costly." Just remember that if our waterways
become less attractive, then the whole state loses--as fewer tourists will
come, fewer snowbirds, and fewer companies would wish to locate here.
Protecting our waterways and springs are an investment for future generations.
Quite often energy-saving, and money-saving strategies
for state and local governments will also be good for the environment. Rain
gardens can be installed next to parking lots to absorb the stormwater runoff
and reduce the amount of lawn to care for. Planting more trees will cool the
area and sequester more carbon. The state could mow the roadsides only once a
year and plant native wildflowers instead.
I have provided a green handout to you with resources that
might be useful to you. If you have an environmental question please do not
hesitate to call. If I'm not the best person to answer your question, I will
find the best person for that topic. Thank you for your time.
* The rule of Ps is a loose translation of ideas I learned from my friend and fellow FNPS member, Eleanor Dietrich, when she made a presentation at a Florida Wildflower symposium a couple of years ago.
My Handout for the delegation (printed on green paper)
Preserving Florida's environment is NOT an anti-business policy
Ginny Stibolt; gstibolt@sky-bolt.com; 904 xxx-xxxx; www.GreenGardeningMatters.com
It's not easy being green, but it's the right thing to do.
When Florida's wild spaces are preserved, when the springs and waterways are
unpolluted, then people will want to visit as tourists and they would love to
live here. And when people would love to live here, more businesses will locate
in Florida without an inordinate amount of incentives paid for with public
money.
Resources:
∙ Valuing Florida's Clean Waters: In the first comprehensive review of its kind,
the Stockholm Environment Institute, released this white paper, which finds
that algae and red tide outbreaks caused by water pollution cost Floridians
between $1.3 billion and $10.5 billion each year. http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/ValuingFloridasCleanWaters.pdf
∙ EPA has settled on clean water regulations for Florida:
Work with the DEP and Water Management Districts to implement them. It's an
investment for the future so our children will be able to enjoy Florida's many
resources.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/epa-tells-judge-it-will-impose-stricter-water-pollution-standards-on/1264144
∙ Encourage developers to reuse previously developed
properties instead of destroying wildlands. Here's a piece on a developer
in Daytona who has a successful business doing so. http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20121202/BUSINESS/311299991/1024/BUSINESS
∙ Resources for the Florida-Friendly Law (SB 2080
now Florida Statutes 720.3075(4)): http://www.flcommunityassociationlaw.com
∙ Florida Native Plant Society has model ordinances
to reduce roadside mowing and information on appropriate natives by county: http://fnps.org/assets/pdf/pubs/model_landscape_ord_final_022407.pdf
∙ Florida Natural Areas Inventory is a non-profit
organization that serves as the primary source for information on
Florida's conservation lands. The Inventory database includes GIS boundaries
and statistics for more than 2,000 federal, state, local, and private managed
areas. The database also includes information on Florida Forever environmental
land acquisition projects: www.fnai.org
∙ Florida Forever is a
successful program that needs to continue and lands that have been set aside
"forever" should not be sold off as surplus: www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/fl_forever.htm
∙ Florida Exotic Pest Plant
Council is a non-profit organization that researches and determines which
and when pest plants have caused enough problems in our wildlands are list as
invasive: www.fleppc.org/
∙ Rain garden information: www.rightasraingardens.com.
© Ginny Stibolt
