THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, January 26, 1971 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, January 26, 1971 HALT BARGE CANAL it I ecologists triumph in Florida rrrt.. , "ft ,q A4 ANN ARBOR A= s GAINESVILLE, Fla. UP) - Marjorie Carr wasn't paying too much attention as the speaker at a meeting of the local Audu- bon Society talked about plans' for the Cross-Florida barge canal. Then, as his finger traced a route on a map, she sat up in sudden alarm. The finger ran straight down the valley of the Oklawaha River, one of the most beautiful wild streams in America. "It was the first I had heard of it," said the Micanopy house- wife. "I was horrified."4 Out of that little' meeting on the night of Nov. 8, 1962, Carr came to organize a small band. of nature lovers to do battle with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. What started as a one-woman' fight was to mushroom into a mighty roar of protest against . destruction of natural resouces - a fight that reached its cli- max last Tuesday in the White House. President Nixon announced then he was ordering a halt to the canal after the commit- ment of $50 millidh to save "this region of unusual and unique natural beauty." As her first move, Carr or- ganized a "Save the Oklawaha" group within the Alachue Au- dubon Society. The members turned out large maps of t h e canal route and mailed them all over Florida. They wrote letters to their congressmen and state officials. The only thought at first was.; to reroute the canal and rescue the river. But, said Orr, "the more we looked the more we knew that the canal could not be justified from an economic or any other standpoint." For more than two years, steadily growing in numbers, the Gainesville group clamored for a public hearing. Finally on Jan. 5, 1966, Gov. Haydon Burns sug- gested that they state their case at a water resources meeting in Tallahassee. "Burns invited us," said Wil- liam Partington, Audubon as- sistant state director, "because we had raised so much hell." "I think of that meeting as the turning point in Florida conservation history, because pepple from the Florida Keys to had predicted was coming true." By this time, the Environ- mental Defense Fund (EDF) of New York began making news with its successful court fights against use of harmful pesti- cides. The EDF agreed to handle a suit against the Army En- gineers for an injunction against the canal. The Gainesville group, joined by others from all over Florida, met and organized the "Florida Defenders of the Environment" (FDE) to research information .............. ~.a:.".... ... .r..:::r:::r ."n. .. "..:'...,..... ....... a: ::....... The Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control gave the movement a huge boost with a report calling the canal "the most devastating project ever undertaken in For- .da.. .{:...........i.:.:.?'...,:.:... . ...::... b. r ,:}%".:.....,,. .. .. . .;; :.:;.; : ";;;;:; ;;;;;.: ;;;;;;;;;;;; ..... ::;;;;.:;;:;;;:;;.:::::::::::::::::::: Corps did not report objections to the canal to Congress; mis- represented benefit-cost ratios; grossly underestimated m a i n- tenance costs, and failed to con- sider the value of the loss of the Oklawaha River. "By now, we began to feel we had a chance to win," Partington said. "We were tremendously excited. The man on the street was with us all the way." The Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Con- trol gave the movement a huge boost with a report calling t h e canal "the most devastating project ever undertaken in Flor- ida." Other agencies warned of danger that the dredges would bite into the shallow Floridan aquifer, threatening the f r e s h water supply of South Florida. The Florida Senate Commit- tee on Natural Resources voted 5-0 for an investigation to det- ermine whether the state should withdraw its support of t h e canal. And last June, interior Secretary Walter Hickel asked the Army for a 15-month mora- torium on the digging for fur- ther study of its 'environmental impact. An FDE poll of candidates in the 1970 Florida elections show- ed 81 per cent favoring a mora- torium or abandonment of the canal. Only one per cent fav- ored completion of the canal as planned. The beginning\ of the end came Jan. 15, when the Wash- ington court issued a temporary injunction halting some phases of the canal work. Then President Nixon an- nounced that he was stopping the canal to "prevent a past mistake from causing perman- ent damage." Carr's reaction? "I w a s bowled oer!" 4I the Panhandle met each other for the first time," Partington said. "Splintered groups began, talking about organizing a unit- ed front." By now, however, the dredges were chewing their way up the Oklawaha Valley. The fight seemed hopeless. Then. in the fall of 1968, the Rodman Dam closed on a 15- mile stretch of the Oklawaha. Great trees which had b e e n lashed down into the muck of the valley popped to the surface, in incredible numbers. Others left standing in water began to die. Water weeds spread 1 i k e wildfire over the stagnant, ris- ing pool. "This is a crime against na- ture," said Dr. George K. Reid, biology professor at, Florida Presbyterian College. "Now we had visual evidence," said Partington, "that what he for the suit. Its initials w e r e EDF in reverse. Partington was elected chair- man of the FDE; Carr vice chairman. Now the FDE brought in en- vironmental scientists f r o m around the nation to study the canal project and its effects on the ecology. The ball was roll- ing. The Army Engineers found it- self in the position of having to defend its digging at every turn. "The impact of the adverse publicity was not adequately en- visioned," said a Corps spokes- man. On Sept. 15, 1969, the EDF fil- ed its suit in U.S. District Court in Washington. It charged the Corps with violating the con- stitutional rights of the people of the United States by destruc- tion of natural resources. It alleged further that t h e b1 '4 4 :<;.>"y;:.!} ,...:r.: ::;":,r. ,.:..;::s': ,s .:,.;.;: f Survival in our Times," 2009 LSA. 4 p.m. Theoretical Seminar: R. Carroll, "An- DAILY OFFICIAL omaous Magnetic Moment of the Elec- tron in the Mass Operator Formalism," P&A Colloquium Rm,, 4:15/ p.m. 'BULLETIN ENACT Organizational Meeting: Poli- tical issues comm, rm 2024, Nat. Res. f . . . . ;: . ; : : : :::. ; ;:g! # 5 # 5 ! ! ! g i g i g ! ! ! !! s ! ! :; ' : . r . .: . .B l d g . , 7 . 3 0 p . m . (Continued on Page 7) The Daily Official Bulletin is anI official publication of the Univer- sity of Michigan. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN f o rm to Room 3528 L.S.A, Bldg., before 2 p.m., cf the day preceding pub- lication and by 2 p.m. Friday for Saturday and Sunday. Items ap- pear only once. Student organiza- tion notices are not accepted for publication. For more information, phone 764-9270. TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1971 Day Calendar Computer and Communication S c i.r Lecture: S. Kaplan. "The Internal Model of the (Dangerous and Uncer- tain) Environment: Some Notes on ..,,...CLIP AND SAVE........-- LOW COST, SAFE, LEGAL ABORTION! '- INNEW YORKI 'SCHEDULED IMMEDIATELY (212) 490.3600 I PROFESSIONAL SCHEDULING SERVICE, Inc.I (545 Fifth'Ave., New York City 10017I I.. There is a fee for our service. t He Iz *Koming Soon* (Al Kooper) (and so are they) -9 I For the student body: SGenuine A Authentic ~ Navy P-EA COATS $25 - Sizes 34 to 46 CHECKMATE State Street at Liberty .w '' A4raa . :., L' J, I i. i E WILD'S I' 2 OFF SALE SPORT COATS 1{ { r 'OWN H. Freeman & Sons SUITS V OFF Formerly to $145.00 Now $7250 1/2 OFF Formerly to $65.00 NOW $3250 .VARSITY T Hi-Fi Studio JANUARY SALE Receivers, speakers, turntables, and tape recorders are included in this Special Sale-Make your deal and save a bundle. SUITS ' OFF Formerly to $115.00 NOW $5750 (' " 4 Hi-Fi Studio 121 W. Washington I 668-7942 TOMORROW NIGHT STUDENTS FOR THE PEACE TREATY and LIFE CULTURE WEEK PRESENT JOHN FROINES Speaking on the Peoples Peace Treaty JANE FONDA Winter Soldier Investigation TOM HAYDEN Chicago Conspiracy 10 Defendant. ARCHIE SINGHAM Third World Liberation inUN== == m* U EmU bEf Arrow Shirts '/2 OFF Regular $8.00 NOW $400 . 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