Wetlands ploy, developers' joy

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published June 17, 2007

Hillsborough commissioners, who run the county's Environmental Protection Agency, ordered their staff to keep quiet this year when lawmakers tried to eviscerate local protection of wetlands. Their rationale, the demonstrably false claim that Hillsborough duplicated the work of other agencies, is being reheated now as a fiscal imperative in the wake of the state-imposed budget cuts. But the cost argument is as contrived as the one about efficiencies. This is about pleasing developers inconvenienced by protections that work.

Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando are among the 20 counties that impose their own rules for protecting wetlands beyond what is required by the federal government and the state. Wetlands help control floods, filter out pollutants, recharge the water supply and feed a diverse, natural habitat, making them a key line of defense for communities in managing growth and retaining Florida's recreational appeal and tourist economy.

Several commissioners said the county's $2.3-million wetlands protection program might have to go to accommodate up to $90-million in cuts the Legislature mandated from next year's budget. They claim the state does the same job, anyway. But that's not true. The state does not protect wetlands of a half-acre or less; Hillsborough does. The county also holds that wetlands may be destroyed only as a last result, "when reasonable use of the property is otherwise unavailable."

But the larger value is in having county staff work with developers as they plan to mitigate any harm to the wetlands. That hands-on work is the sort of vigilance local rules bring to the table.

Commissioners, who are scheduled to take up the matter Thursday, have plenty of better places to shave the budget than reaching into a core service that protects this community's health and welfare. This program has wide support. Democrats, environmentalists and conservative Republicans recognize the value of both the wetlands and local control, two things, once gone, that are impossible to replace.

[Last modified June 16, 2007, 21:53:43]