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State disbands group due to a lack of action
By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer The Nature Coast Soil and Water Conservation District, one of the area's oldest but least known groups, is being dissolved by the state. The move, triggered by inaction of the district's five-member governing board, has raised concern among some officials who say farmers in Citrus and Hernando counties have lost access to valuable -- and free -- technical support. "They are a fairly important link between the federal government and agricultural producers," said Clegg Hooks, an environmental administrator for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "We hate to lose them," Hooks added, "but there's not a lot we can do." One of many districts created by the state in 1943, largely in reaction to the Dust Bowl years, the agency was designed to help ranchers, farmers and nursery operators conserve natural resources and mitigate the environmental impacts of their businesses. The district had no regulatory authority but coordinated federal, state and county efforts to protect soil and water. The group relied on a technician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service to do the actual work, such as designing irrigation systems. Members of the Citrus-Hernando agency, also known as the Gulf Soil and Water Conservation District, had not met officially in at least two years. On Tuesday, they gave various reasons for the breakup, from the loss of farm land to development to a general lack of interest. "The major problem was attempting to get it brought into the century we're in," said former member L.C. Alexander of Inverness. "We are no longer an agriculture society. We needed to find other goals and do other things." He added: "I wanted it to become a kind of watchdog for the small guy, a liaison between them and bigger agencies," such as the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Alexander said he thought the group would have had a better reception had it moved its office to Citrus from Brooksville. Another member, Valentine Rooks of Inverness, attributed the demise to a lack of financial support from Citrus and Hernando counties. The funding, about $40,000 combined, paid for a secretary's salary and for office supplies. Rooks said it was not enough. Still, the district was able to build up a considerable rainy day project fund. It was unclear Tuesday how much remains in that account, though some say it could be as much as $50,000. The money would be returned to the counties if the district is dissolved, state officials said. Although the district officials had not met in many months, the action to disband the organization is just making its way through the state government. The Department of Community Affairs notified the Agriculture Department early last month, saying the group had failed to pay fees to the state for four years and had not submitted annual financial reports. In February, after being alerted by the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, DCA published notices in local newspapers that it would declare the district inactive. No objections were filed. Officials said Pinellas County's group is the only other district that has been disbanded.
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Citrus Times Letters |
