by Mary Jo Aagerstoun, Ph.D.

I can see the quizzical looks and the raised eyebrows.  Artists are engaged with the real ecological threats we are facing, aren’t they/we?   Artists across our region are documenting disappearing wild areas, animals and plants in installations, paintings, photographs and videos on the walls of universities, museums, funky art spaces and high end profit center galleries alike.  Artists are hitting the art neighborhoods like Wynnwood and the Boynton Beach Art District, with strident guerrilla and commissioned street art admonishing us to change our profligate ways.   Artists are often in leadership of activist groups, creating stunning images, banners and signs for demonstrations.  So what are you talking about, you say! Artists are out there doing it!

And so you/they are. And thank you for that.

But, to stay relevant to the crises besetting us in the South Florida region, there is nothing like being willing to entertain a little criticism and self-criticism.  This is what I offer here.

I believe the time is now to get much more strategic and tactical about how we deploy art activism.  We need the whole spectrum from the quieter, slower EcoArt to the high profile, high energy pranks and hijinx of the YES MEN.  And we need to learn how to do them, as well as when and where for greatest effect and impact on the public.

For seven years I have worked through the organization I founded, EcoArt South Florida, to promote site specific art interventions into ecological damage.   We searched out opportunities for local artists to create eco-positive artworks that engaged science, engineering and community engagement as well as more traditional visual means like scale, color, texture and more. 

About a year ago, I started looking at some very uncomfortable realities …sea rise and climate change… and I began to be convinced there was a strong need for a different kind of activism.  Something that matches the urgency of our situation, as the oceans rise and the air becomes hotter.

This does not mean I think the EcoArt I have worked hard to help establish in our region is no longer relevant.  I believe it is vitally important to produce EcoArt direct intervention projects as models of what a sustainable presence of humans on this planet can and must become.  I consider these EcoArt works to be “slow activism” and intrinsically valuable.

The term “slow activism" was coined by British theorist Wallace Heim who has proposed that some of the most effective art interventions are consciously designed to proceed slowly: “…in the time it takes to engage in conversation…”  A great example of “slow activism” as “conversation” is the human-generated trophic cascade that occurred with the reintroduction of the wolf into Yellowstone National Park.  This intervention was not EcoArt, it was a straight science action, but it shows what can happen when a species long gone from an ecosystem reenters it, and by human design.  Soon after the wolf was reintroduced, aspen, cottonwood and willow, that had been all but extirpated, began to reestablish.  Why?  Because wolves were eating the elk, and therefore not as many elk were foraging on those trees, allowing small trees of these species to proliferate.  Trophic cascade as conversation between natural systems and human intervention was occurring!

In each of the EcoArt projects completed we can point to such “conversation” occurring, a kind of call and response between ecosystem crises, human (art) intervention and ecological response:  EcoArt as slow activism!!  EcoArt projects in this mode of activism teach, show, demonstrate and engage -- at a conversational pace.  They are tacitly critical of common eco-negative practices that have gotten us in the trouble we are in. They point the way, and gently point the finger.

But today, in this space Love the Everglades Movement has so generously provided, I want to urge all of us, especially artists, to engage a different kind of activism.  While EcoArt’s slow activist conversations with ecologies in crisis take place on one stage -- ecological restoration art as slow activism performance -- we also need to take assertive action on another stage -- the doorsteps of the entities causing the ecological damage.  We need actions that continue, expand and localize mobilizations like the impressive Climate Action event last September in NYC.

I am convinced what we need now here in South Florida is a tactical art activism that emphasizes irony and humor while burning indelible images into public consciousness, amplifying the information and warnings from our scientists and backing up the legal strategies of our advocates, with careful forethought and planning.  And, a basis in theories generated by some of the most interesting minds to focus on effective direct action and advocacy.

Tactical is the operative word.  Two of my favorite theorists come to mind:  the Chicana feminist thinker Chela Sandoval, and the Argentine born anthropologist Néstor Garcia Canclini.  I propose we consider their advice for how to engage a tactical art activism in the current context in which we find ourselves.

Sandoval’s concept of tactical activism is elaborated in her classic book Methodology of The Oppressed.  This is the concept of the “differential.”  Sandoval’s construct of “the differential” is not unlike the differential in the manual transmission of a car – it is the mechanism that allows gears to shift based on changing terrain; it is what makes the car adaptable.  Like the now old-fashioned stick shift, Sandoval asserts that contemporary activists can be more effective by being knowledgeable about and prepared to use multiple methods in their pursuit of social change.  They must have “differential consciousness” and engage in “differential social movement” that allow them to shift “gears” deftly from one approach to another.  In an environment of rapidly morphing political threats, it is not enough to use one method or pursue a single, unvarying strategy; today’s effective art activist must be prepared with a toolkit of diverse methods and a tactical mindset.

My other favorite theorist to whom I recommend we look for advice is Néstor Garcia Canclini.  In his 1995 book Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity, Canclini argues that politicized art gestures cannot, by themselves, lead to real change.  Canclini proposes that art should be deployed in situations calling for change as “performances” which represent and simulate political action in sync with other politically transformative energies, but on different stages at the same time.

Keeping Sandoval and Canclini in mind, then, I would like to introduce several examples of current art activism that tactically deploy both the “differential” and the “performative,” are directly engaged with environmental crises, and operate in sync with politically transformative energies in the culture.

In May 1982 ecofeminist artist Hélène Aylon created the “Earth Ambulance” that she took on a road trip to US Strategic Air Command bases, to “rescue” earth, metaphorically, from the threat of nuclear war.  (See slide show) Aylon collected soil samples at each site, in pillowcases inscribed with women’s accounts of their dreams and nightmares about atomic holocaust.  Aylon transported them in her retrofitted “ambulance” (a converted U-Haul van) to a mass disarmament rally at the United Nations on June 12, 1982.  The earth-filled pillowcases were carried on army stretchers down the steps of Ralph Bunche Park, across the street from the United Nations complex.

Over the next decades, Aylon carried out related Earth Ambulance projects in the Soviet Union, Japan and Israel as well as the United States.  The original Earth Ambulance has been decommissioned from active travel, and is reconstituted as a permanent exhibit at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill.  Viewers are invited to sit inside the ambulance, which is outfitted as a kind of meditation space, decked with photographs and video documentation of several previous Earth Ambulance projects.

The YES MEN are a dynamic prankster art duo who specialize in satirical performances, impersonating corporate lackeys and fooling journalists.  They began pranking in the 1990s, and, in addition to their ongoing hilarious hijinx, have a passel of books and films, and an action network and planning instruction YES LAB to their credit.  They also teach activist performance in prestigious NY institutions.  Their real names are Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano, names that seem so fake they decided to create other names for their YES MEN personae--Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos--just to confuse people. 

In a recent prank, the YES MEN crashed a Homeland Security Congress in Washington DC, attended by government contractors, lobbyists and officials, including a retired Navy Admiral, a retired USAF general, a former Seal team leader, and an aspiring Republican Congressional candidate. 

Their performance consisted of:

• A stirring announcement of a fictitious new US government plan, the "American Renewable Clean-Energy Network" (AmeriCAN), to convert the US to 100% renewable energy by 2030.  The completely false, but also completely doable new energy initiative would redirect oil company tax breaks and subsidies to support renewables; commit to "Manhattan Project-level" Defense spending on conversion to renewables in order to prevent future climate-change-related conflicts; and partner with Native American nations whose lands could provide all of our renewable energy needs.  The announcement was interrupted repeatedly by audience applause.
  
  The announcement was made by the (allegedly) US Department of Energy's "Benedict Waterman" (Andy Bichlbaum ) wearing a page boy grey wig recalling the hairdo of the recently appointed Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.  The wig was made especially for the occasion by RuPaul’s wigmaker.
  

Besides the Yes Men, Crazyboy, and Ybarra, participants in this project included members of Idle No More, and several other groups.  The action occurred just a few days after the Cowboys and Indians Alliance rally against the Keystone XL pipeline.

I consider the YES MEN to be the sine qua non of the super-sophisticated, brainy end of the artistic activism spectrum.  They do their homework.  They craft their hijinx carefully to gain maximum exposure in all corporate “news” media, create and circulate films in traditional venues, and for free online, and take full advantage of social media’s viral effects.  They utilize satire, shaming and wild humor, turning the real life ridiculousness of huge international corporations’ poisonous actions, responsible for our many environmental and human tragedy crises, against them.  They fund all this successfully with crowdsourcing, and have a team of probono lawyers ready to respond to lawsuits.  That they now focus almost all their efforts on their YES LAB, teaching others how to incorporate these kinds of approaches in their local efforts means this is a resource I hope we can’t refuse to use! 

Light Brigades are popping up all over the country.  A little film about their work is part of PBS’s Online Film festival…see it here.  This activist art intervention began in Wisconsin during the “Wisconsin Uprising” that sought to recall the Republican Governor Scott Walker.  While the recall did not succeed, the approach did!  The Wisconsin originators of the “Overpass Light Brigade” describe who they are and what they do:  “Our messages shine over highways at night.  We believe in the power of communities coming together in physical space, as well as the importance of visibility for grassroots and progressive causes.  We are a loose and inclusive affiliation of people dedicated to the power of peaceful and playful protest.”  Since the initial overpass displays on bridges spanning Wisconsin freeways, the approach is spreading rapidly across the country and are added to the OLB website as they emerge.  Detailed instructions on how to create the illuminated letters that spell out OLB messages are here.

Like The Illuminator, Light Brigades are highly mobile, placing illuminated messages at targeted locations, appearing and disappearing quickly.  Events are photographed, and have a longer life via postings on social media.  There are several points at which individual community members can engage in Light Brigades, including planning and strategizing for where the Lighted Messages should appear, development of the slogans, creating, maintaining and storing the lighted letters, and holding the messages at targeted locations, as well as keeping social media updated as events unfold.  Costs are relatively low, so this explains why so many brigades are appearing across the country, as opposed to Illumination projections, which do require a major investment in 10,000 lumen (minimum) projectors.

The Rude Mechanical Orchestra is a 30-odd-piece radical marching band and dance troupe.  They are for hire, and play protests, demonstrations, direct actions, picket lines, marches, benefits and events for good causes.  They say:  “We’ve played protesting union-busters and tip-garnishers, gentrifiers and privatizers, xenophobes, homophobes, and a host of other big uglies.  We’ve worked with groups like Time’s Up, the Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the War Resisters League.  We’ve played community events around town and beyond, like the Queens Pride Parade, the Mermaid Parade, the East Village Roving Garden Party, Philadelphia’s Spiral Q Peoplehood Parade, and Boston’s Honk Festival.”  The group originated in the early 1990s, and has emerged and reemerged depending on need.  The most active orchestra operates in NYC, and there are new ones currently emerging in several other cities.  A typical set might include “a spritz of klezmer, some Balkan and Brazilian notes, plenty of funk, some Latin beats, a little jazz and an El Tigre cover, all of it served up with a patina of punk.”  They don’t do Sousa marches.  Here’s a sample from their gig at the big Climate Action March in NYC in September 2014! 

Music is so important to activism, and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra provides a mobile alternative to the stationary concert which often is expensive, discourages those not actively playing in the band from participating directly, and obviously cannot be deployed at fraught locations such as the headquarters of oil companies.  Activist musicians in the orchestra also point out that “To be effectively loud on New York streets, you usually need a loudspeaker, and to use a loudspeaker, you need a permit from the NYPD. If you’re planning on playing loud instruments, however, no such limitation exists, and this has made the RMO an essential ingredient in many impromptu demonstrations.”  TMO is a great example of the tactical wisdom of figuring out ahead of time what needs and what does not need a permit! And acting accordingly! 

The group runs Localize THIS camps (video), coaches communities on creating actions and offers training in:  Non Violent Direct Action 101, Creative Tactics For Visibility & Building Power. Giant Banner Building & Overpass Bannering, Flashmob Training, Projection As Protest, Light Brigade Training, Climb Training & Tripods, Blockade Training, Papier Mache Puppetry building.  Backbone pays special attention to “Security Training which shows would be activists how to stay two steps ahead of the authorities, versus two steps behind in paranoia.  Covers the basics of creating and implementing security within the group when engaged in an action, as well as in offices, homes, personal lives, and on computers.”  Lots of online action kits as well!

Along with the YES LAB and Beautiful Trouble, the vibrant Backbone Project not only plans and carries out their own artistic activism related specifically to local issues in Washington State, but they also provide assistance to other groups locally in Seattle and other WA cities, and elsewhere, both coaching actual actions on site, and training groups to do their own actions.  One very impressive offering is assistance with personal and group security, very much needed when activist art is introduced in contested public spaces.  Backbone also personifies the Sandoval prescription that activists become proficient in advance planning and the use of a wide range of approaches, tailored to specific on site requirements.  A new Backbone emphasis will be to develop a program to prepare CSOs (Community Supported Organizers) in local areas, based on the model of Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs).

Beautiful Trouble also has a corps of experienced trainers for hire.  The trainers available through the Beautiful Trouble network are both artists and activists. Recently Beautiful Trouble spun off a new initiative:  Beautiful Solutions!  As they point out, “Resistance is essential, but it is not enough.  As we fight injustice around us, we also have to imagine – and create – the world we want.  We have to build real alternatives in the here and now –alternatives that are not only living proof that things can be done differently, but that actively challenge, and eventually supplant, the power of the status quo.”

I end this discussion of a selection of the best of the best activist art initiatives currently available with Beautiful Trouble and Beautiful Solutions.  As concept and ongoing resource, these twin entities speak eloquently to what two of my favorite theorists, Chela Sandoval and Canclini pointed to almost two decades ago. Beautiful Trouble and Beautiful Solutions demonstrate the effectiveness of acknowledging, utilizing and distributing the best theoretical thinking and the best examples of intelligent, creative, strategic resistance visioning and deployment. 

I look forward to working with many of you to address what needs to be confronted, and what needs to be dreamed into existence here in South Florida.  There is so much that can and should be done to which all our innovative, artistic and creative thinking and action must be directed.


— Mary Jo Aagerstoun

by Houston R. Cypress,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement

The Film, Recording & Entertainment Council (link) is one of South Florida’s most important economic development organizations serving the Entertainment Industry and over the weekend FREC held its 11th Annual Star Gala recognition ceremony at the Magic City Casino.

The Star Gala (link) recognizes industry professionals and organizations whose careers and bodies of work establish South Florida as a significant region for developing a career in this commercial sector.  There is a thriving community of people here in South Florida and it is important to note just who they are and what they have done.

The nature of entertainment necessarily highlights those on stage, or in front of the camera, or in the spotlight, and so the unique work of the Star Gala is to highlight the talent and expertise of those behind-the-scenes.  The types of categories that this event notes include the work of choreographers, lawyers, recording executives, producers, directors, make-up artists, casting directors, recording studios, up-and-coming talent, and so many more.

Love The Everglades Movement, like FREC, is a member-driven organization.  Our work is concerned with offering opportunities for people to connect with the Everglades and thereby inspiring positive change in the broader society so that we can achieve goals such as improved water quality in the Florida Everglades.  Many of us are artists, and so the methods that we’ve been using reflect our skills.  We understand how our artistic projects communicate complex messages across multiple dimensions, so we’ve been eager to invite influential people to participate in our excursions and events.  Our understanding of the influential embraces people such as teachers, event planners, spiritual leaders, political organizers, etc.

We also strive to cultivate a community of people concerned with Everglades matters using an approach that is respectful of local mores – which we are discovering is not an easy task.  This work has required us to learn new languages, to go outside of our comfort zones, and to confront obstacles of all types.

LTEM began with a vision that Jean Sarmiento (link) was blessed with as a result of his dedication to his spiritual and ceremonial work.  Since the fall of 2012, our work has evolved:  from Everglades excursions, to art exhibitions, inter-faith prayer rituals, benefit concerts, short films, interviews with print/radio/television/internet media, and an eclectic symposium.

Our Summer Symposium 2014 (link) was the culmination of all of the projects and community networking that we’ve been involved in since our efforts began.  Our program and attendance reflected that.  It was also an event that was free to attend so that there would be no barriers preventing people from getting engaged in Everglades advocacy – FREC took note.

At the Star Gala, event hosts such as Trina Robinson of NBC 6 and world-renowned artist Laurence Gartel took time to highlight my achievements in film, television and art, as well as my community work with the Love The Everglades Movement as a prime reason for the honor.

So, I would like to share this honor with everyone who has been involved with LTEM in one way or another since our work began, including all those who’ve been on our Everglades excursions, everyone who has prayed for the water, all the friends we’ve made in all the different communities that we’ve visited, our benefactors and sponsors, and all the members of the Coordination Circle (link).  Nuff Respect!

Another honoree that was noted for Best Film Festival was Filmgate Interactive (link).  Filmgate is an event that showcases and develops transmedia projects – projects that are expressed across multiple media platforms.  Diliana Alexander, Executive Director for Filmgate, invited LTEM to collaborate on their filmmaking workshop.  Diliana wanted to use her resources to express an environmental and humanitarian concern for the Everglades and the Miccosukee community while providing artists from around the world with an opportunity to hone their skills using cutting-edge technologies.  You can see the result of this collaboration by clicking THIS LINK.

The Star Gala was a blast!  Some of us from the Coordination Circle who attended had an opportunity to rub shoulders with the professionals of the South Florida entertainment industry.  And I had a great time, with Dudley Alexis of Epyllion Films (link), in putting together the tribute video honoring Irene Marie of modeling agency fame for her Lifetime Achievement Award.  Love The Everglades Movement was in great company.

by Dr. Dennis Wiedman & Houston R. Cypress

by Geovanny Perez & Houston R. Cypress,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement

Hello everyone.  I'd like to thank THE RIVERS COALITION, THE RIVER WARRIORS, AND C4CW for inviting me to speak today; I truly feel honored to do so.  I'm also excited to be able to connect with all of you, even if under such dire circumstances.

As for the matter that brings us here, I have found it necessary to participate in the effort to restore the Everglades because it's where my home (including my clan and Tribe) and heart resides.  In my lifetime I've seen many destructive changes to our lands, such as the disintegration of tree islands, the disappearance of game animals, the increase of pollution in water, and the erosion of the Everglades.  Because our culture is tied to the land (our ceremonies, our medicines, and many other spiritual practices), we are witnessing the gradual disappearance of our culture.   We are losing our roots.

But we know there is hope; we can certainly steer this thing in the right direction, but it will take incredible coordination and resolve to manifest our dreams.

This is where our spirituality comes in.

Personally, I don't believe spirituality to be superstition or hollow, self-promoting, self-serving, self-comforting cliches.

Instead, it is about wisdom, insight, strength, patience, trust, and compassion, and in the face of great uncertainty and potential doom, this is exactly what we need.  There are many great sages that have explored the struggles of the human condition in such a mysterious universe, peering deeply into our very being and place in the universe.  There is much to learn for the sake of our global as well as local ecosystems.

With Love the Everglades Movement, LOVE is central to our cause because we do not want to be ruled by fear or anger.  In fact, we know we cannot afford to be mindlessly distracted given what's at stake and the amount of time we have to make things right.  We know that anger and fear, especially in a crisis situation, may galvanize some, but it can also blind us, divide us, perpetuate the delusion that we are factions bent on defeating one another, and thus undermine these important efforts. 

In getting to know some of you, I've heard from you about other groups involved in this issue, and those comments have been disparaging.  We are supposed to be the SOLUTION to this problem, otherwise our divisions are poison in the water.  We do not have the luxury to bicker, but we can overcome this, in fact, we MUST overcome this.  As someone with an outside perspective, this entrenched rift is off-putting, but it is also all too familiar, so I sympathize with you even as I am critical (our Tribe has been witness to entrenched bickering slowing the Everglades restoration effort to a glacial pace).

So how are we to overcome this bickering? -- this factionalism?  Love & Respect is a good place to start.  We have youngsters here among us and we must set a good example for them.  Let's show them how to have a civil and civilized dialogue with one another.

Let's also continue to have forums for discussion, so we can increase understanding of our concerns and priorities and proposals for action.

Let's also ask for help from our friends, people such as you.

And let's not be afraid to disagree.  Let's welcome disagreements and critiques as opportunities to learn where our proposals can be strengthened and improved.

Let me offer an example of constructive critique within a context of civilized discussion.  Plan 6 and the Southern Flow way -- a very important proposal with definite room for improvement.  The Holey lands are an area designated as O.F.W. -- Outstanding Federal Waters.  From what I've read on Plan 6, there is not enough discussion or information about this important area:  the Holey Lands, an area with very stringent regulations.  Plan 6 would bring MORE WATER at a REDUCED QUALITY than is currently allowed and protected for.  So the question that Plan 6 must answer to move forward with broader support is:  How do you propose to degrade Outstanding Federal Waters with water from Lake Okeechobee?

I also have a request for my friends:  I need your help to address the L-28 Interceptor Canal.  The failure of CEPP to move forward was very disappointing to all of us.  But CEPP didn't do enough because it failed to address the L-28 Interceptor Canal.  CEPP was concerned with bringing New Water into the system, but the L-28 Interceptor Canal is currently bringing 40% of the waters coming into the area, and it's bringing water in with a disgustingly high concentration of Phosphorus.  By the time the waters pass through the Water Conservation Area 3A, the waters have been naturally filtered out and nearly meet the desired goal of 10 PPB of Phosphorus.  So what this means is that Miccosukee territory becomes a De Facto Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) and that is not right.  So I'm asking for your help to raise awareness and push for action regarding the on-going problem of the L-28 Interceptor Canal.

As for the factionalism within our environmental movements, well those of us from Love The Everglades Movement pledge to work from a place of Love & Respect with each and everyone of you.  WE WILL NOT TAKE SIDES.  We will continue to express our Love and Respect for these waters.

We continue to pray for the purity of the waters flowing from the Kissimmee River Valley, through Lake Okeechobee, over the River of Grass, and out beyond Florida Bay.

We continue to pray that compassion flourishes in the hearts and minds of the decision-makers and stakeholders involved with Everglades Restoration.

We continue to pray for the growth of the community concerned with Everglades Matters -- because the Everglades matters.

And we will continue to stand with you in prayer for the integrity and vitality of the Circle of Life.

These are the challenges we are called to meet -- with hope, grace, and diplomacy.

by Matt Schwartz,
Executive Director, South Florida Wildlands Association (Link).

Dr. Carl Sagan (and many others) said - “You have to know the past to understand the present.”  If you want to understand what's ailing the Everglades - and why every rainy season polluted fresh water gets sent into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries west and east of Lake Okeechobee - these two images are a great place to start.

Photo on the left is not real - it's a simulation of the historic "pre-drainage" Everglades.  What a satellite would have seen in the 19th century before the first major drainage canals were dug - if a satellite had existed.  The Everglades is one massive interconnected system - slowly flowing - both above ground and below - from just south of Orlando to Lake Okeechobee and then south over the soggy shoreline of the lake to the River of Grass and Florida Bay.  Photo on the right is what we actually see today.  Drainage canals have allowed about 6 million of us - and many more tourists - to settle on Florida's lower east coast - while millions of acres of natural wetlands surrounding Lake Okeechobee in all directions have been drained for agriculture (sugar, citrus, and other crops) and cattle ranching.  The water is laden with cattle waste, fertilizers, pesticides, urban runoff, and septic discharges.

A restored Everglades will be a system that looks - as much as now possible - like the photo on left.  The more natural wetlands we bring back - the less load we will be putting on the system and the more mother nature can do what she's always done in South Florida.  Want to really stop (or at least significantly diminish) the polluted discharges coming from Lake Okeechobee?  Clean up the water before it gets to the Lake and bring back the wetlands that can receive that water like they did before.  More to come.

by Dr. Mary Jo Aagerstoun,
Founder, EcoArt South Florida (Link).

Still WAY UP THERE after a hugely encouraging two days at the Love the Everglades Movement's First Annual Summer Symposium 2014 where I was so honored to present this discussion of EcoArt as slow activism and the need for aesthetically powerful and tactically deft Activist Art for our ecologies.

Please feel free to use any of this if you find it useful.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3vv0rlhomkddqb5/EcoArtActivismnotes.pdf

and for larger images of the slides:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oacdllii34v1ynx/EcoArtActivismEcoArt.pdf

For more information on EcoArt South Florida, please visit their website:  http://ecoartsofla.org/.

Video recordings provided by John W. Scott,
Clean Water Initiative of Florida (Link).

By Jean Sarmiento,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement.

It was much nicer than I had envisioned, even more meaningful to me than I thought it would be.
        Last year in April we borrowed a few gallons of Water from a sacred island in the Everglades the area is known as "Water Conservation Area 3A" Homeland of the Miccosukee people.  One of big issues we face as Floridians is the unnatural water levels in the Glades and its detrimental effects on the land, where we now see too much Water in the North and not enough Water in the South reaching Florida Bay.
        Our intent is to pray with these waters, caring for them, they have been to many prayer circles, many sweat lodges, many ceremonies, have touched the hands of many different beautiful men, woman and children who each has bestowed their love and gratitude unto these Waters, these very same Waters each and everyone of us depend on everyday to survive.  These very same Waters that will determine our continuation here on Earth.
        So we set out to Florida Bay with love, gratitude, appreciation in our hearts and gently released the Waters in a symbolic gesture of "Water reaching the bay" to connect with the land and offer our love our forgiveness, to hear our pleas and assist us in dissolving the boundaries that hinder humanity's progress, maybe, just maybe, we won't have to learn this lesson the Hard way.
        Let's give this Water the Respect it deserves!  I don't care if you think you're cute or you're a Diva or a tough guy gangster, el guapo, Rick Ross or you work for the government, if you're an Army Corps guy, if you have Money or if you're black, blue, pink.  It doesn't matter:  Appreciate this Water while you have it in such abundance because I guarantee you -- not maybe, or If -- I Guarantee you'll be crying for this water if it wasn't around.
        Thank you to all the men and women and children, past and present, who labor to bring light unto this world. 

Thanks to our friend Karen Dwyer of the Stonecrab Alliance for this timeline of events related to Fracking in the Everglades.

BREAKING NEWS and JUNE EVENTS
—June 19, DEP Press Release: DEP TO IMPLEMENT COLLIER COUNTY REQUESTS; DEP still pressuring Commissioners for private settlement rather than public hearing; they did not grant the #1 request of Commissioners to revoke the Dan A. Hughes Collier-Hogan permit.
—June 18, DEP Press Release: LETTER FROM DEP SECRETARY HERSCHEL T. VINYARD JR.TO DAN A. HUGHES CO. AND COLLIER RESOURCES CO. calling for three public meetings.
—June 16, “Herschel Vinyard, the head of the state Department of Environmental Protection traveled Monday night to Collier County promising greater transparency and an open dialogue to address local concerns about issues at an oil well near Immokalee. But despite promises, Vinyard met with Tom Henning, chairman of the Collier County Board of Commissioners in a late meeting that was not open to the public. Henning who said last week that meeting DEP officials in private “goes against everything all of us on the Board of County Commissioners stand for” and called for “an open public dialogue to learn what needs to be learned and take action where it needs to be taken,” declined multiple requests for comment."
—June 13, Attended U.S. Senator Bill Nelson's press conference on the Lake Okeechobee overflow crisis; thanked him for the federal investigation of Dan A. Hughes; says he's keeping an eye on the illegal fracking and acknowledged that it is counterproductive to the Everglades Restoration Project; passed on the invite to visit the drill site. Time will tell.
—June 12, Commissioners petition challenging the DEP Consent Order submitted; not as strong as we'd like; but does meet the deadline and they can amend; additionally the Conservancy can intervene.
—Grateful, June 10, Commissioners stay the course and challenge the Consent Order as they originally voted to do April 22 and May 13, despite accusations from the DEP that they are "thwarting their efforts." The Commissioners were right to reject a secret, closed door session with the DEP and insist on a public meeting. We need government transparency and full disclosure, especially because the DEP kept secret the illegal fracking and criminal noncompliance of Dan A. Hughes for months through all the key state and federal hearings. Just as the U.S. Senator Bill Nelson ordered a federal investigation of Dan A. Hughes, so too, the time has come for the Commissioners to stay the course and challenge the Consent Order as promised. Kudos to the Commissioners.
—Outraged, June 3, TODAY, JUDGE RECOMMENDED DEP ISSUE GOLDEN GATE EXPLORATORY WELL PERMIT; he refused to accept into evidence the Cease and Desist and Consent Order regarding Hughes' illegal fracking of the Collier Hogan well. Considering options.

On May 2, state calls for Dan A. Hughes to "cease all new operations in Florida."

On May 1, Senator Bill Nelson calls for a federal review of the Dan A. Hughes Company since they illegally fracked our watershed next to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary: “We cannot tolerate expanded industrial drilling activities that pose a threat to the drinking and surface water so close to the Florida Everglades,” Nelson wrote Thursday in a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “The recent discovery of a fracking-like incident there raises serious concerns about whether outside wildcatters would soil one of the world’s great environmental treasures.”

On April 22 and May 13, the Collier County Commissioners voted unanimously to challenge the DEP's Consent Order on the Collier-Hogan well that was illegally fracked near Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. For the first time ever, Collier County is challenging the DEP on oil drilling. They're calling for a revocation of the Dan A. Hughes permit, because no amount of regulation will make it safe if the company won't obey the regulations. They accused Hughes of misrepresentation and lying and registered alarm and anger that the DEP failed to disclose the criminal wrongdoing at the recent public hearings. Failing revocation, they're calling for permit conditions that include stronger 1) oversight, 2) monitoring, 3) direct communication with the DEP as well as a list of 10 staff recommendations submitted by Dan Summers, Director of Emergency Management earlier in the year. They also intend to seek the Legislative Delegations help. We need transparency and full disclosure, which means an administrative hearing, not the private settlement DEP and Hughes were pushing for.

April, 8, DEP issues a Consent Order with Dan A. Hughes including fine of $25,000 for unauthorized, fracking like procedure at the Collier-Hogan well. The fracking like incident was not a mistake or oversight, but intentional. The DEP instructed Hughes not to do a procedure that had never been done before in Florida; Hughes ignored the state and went ahead with what sounds like the type of extreme acid fracking California has legislated against; when ordered to Cease and Desist, Hughes continued, in direct defiance. The fracking like incident occurred over New Years but was not revealed during the EPA hearing, Big Cypress Swamp Advisory Committee meeting, Collier County Commissioners meetings or Administrative Judge's hearing; indeed the Judge refuses to admit it as evidence of the company's criminal wrongdoing because it was withheld from the Judge by the DEP until after the cut-off date for evidence. The workover notice from Hughes, proposed injecting the well with a dissolving solution at sufficient pressure to create openings in the oil-bearing rock formation that would be propped open with sand; this is the textbook definition of "fracking." The Collier-Hogan well has not been shutdown, despite pending water monitoring tests.

On March 31, the DEP Big Cypress Swamp Advisory Committee reconvened for the first time in decades and recommended that the Judge and DEP deny the Golden Gate permit.

—Waiting for DEP to issue final order on Hughes Golden Gate exploratory well. 
—Waiting for EPA final order on Hughes Golden Gate injection well. 
—Waiting for DEP hearing on the Tocala seismic testing permit (using dynamite) on the 115,000 acres next to the Big Cypress National Preserve. 
—Waiting for DEP pubic meeting on the proposed Burnett seismic testing (using trucks and vibrations to fracture and fissure to 13,000') on 235,510 acres in the Big Cypress National Preserve, an area of "critical state concern." 
—Waiting for Collier County Commissioners to submit petition to challenge DEP Consent Order on Collier-Hogan well.

EVENTS
August 3, 10am, Phipps Park Campground, Stuart, Florida, Save the Indian River Lagoon and Caloosahatchee Agaisnt Lake O Discharges, Annual Event https://www.facebook.com/events/626663280736316/

ACTIONS
Add a comment, and send: 
http://act.progressflorida.org/sign/illegal_fracking/?source=facebook
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-fracking-in-florida-1.fb49?source=s.fb&r_by=203631
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/commissioners-ban-fracking (this needs to be edited to include all fracking like activities and extreme extraction, not just hydraulic fracturing)

Just sign: 
https://secure3.convio.net/fww/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1305&s_src=taf_addthis&s_subsrc=gen0#.U2UM-2Yz0Rg.facebook

Thanks to our friend Nyla Pipes for the update.

Signed by the President today:

WRDA – Florida Projects:

· Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, Caloosahatchee River (C-43) West Basin Storage Project, FL: Authorizes $626.6 million for a project to reduce harmful discharges to the Caloosahatchee Estuary by capturing a portion of high flow releases from Lake Okeechobee and basin runoff from the lower West Caloosahatchee River Basin during the wet season.

· Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, Caloosahatchee River C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project, FL: Authorizes $174.56 million for a project to modify the existing C-111 Canal to change the flow of ground and surface water as a first step in the restoration of the southeastern portion of the Everglades ecosystem.

· Central and Southern FL Project, Broward County Water Preserve Area, FL: Authorizes $896.14 million for a project to address loss of ecosystem function within the Everglades and also addresses insufficient quantities of water available during dry periods.

· Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, Biscayne Bay Coast Wetlands Phase I Project, Miami-Dade County, FL: Authorizes $197.02 million for a project to redistribute freshwater runoff from the watershed away from the existing canal discharges and into the coastal wetlands adjoining Biscayne Bay.

· Jacksonville Harbor – Milepoint, FL: Authorizes $37.16 million for a project to reduce the ebb tide crosscurrents at the confluence of the St. Johns River with the IWW.

· Canaveral Harbor, FL: Authorizes $41.07 million for a project for harbor deepening at Canaveral Harbor.

· Walton County, FL: Authorizes $132.3 million for a project for Hurricane and Storm Damage reduction.

· Lake Worth Inlet, FL: Authorizes $88.53 million for a project for navigation at Lake Worth Inlet.

· Jacksonville Harbor, FL: Authorizes $600.9 million for a project for deepening at Jacksonville Harbor.

· Florida Keys Water Quality Improvements: Modifies an existing authorization for water quality improvements in the Florida Keys to allow assistance to unincorporated communities.

· Non-Federal Pilot Programs: Directs the Secretary to establish and implement a pilot program to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and project delivery efficiency of allowing non-Federal interests to carry out flood risk management, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and coastal harbor and channel and inland harbor navigation projects.

· Assumption of O&M: Authorizes the Secretary to assume operation and maintenance of a navigation channel that is deepened by a non-Federal interest prior to December 31, 2014 if the Secretary determines certain criteria are met.

· Central and Southern Florida Canal: Makes a technical correction necessary for the project to proceed. The provision allows credit for lands acquired by the non-federal sponsor to fulfill the Department of the Interior’s obligation to provide land for the project.

· HMTF: Makes a number of reforms to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) to increase use of the Fund for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) for navigation channels and to provide equity for ports nationwide.