Central Florida (large Osceola County) is on the verge of an urban growth explosion on a scale rarely seen in Florida (and that is saying a lot since we folks in Florida have seen nothing but growth for three decades). In the past we talked about growth in terms of acres, now we are talking about it in terms of many square miles. We are seeing traditional ranching communities rapidly transforming into large-scale sprawling urban areas.

What Floridians thought was forever undeveloped natrual landscape and ranchland (yes, Florida is quite famous for its cowboy culture) is quickly being given over to thousands of rooftops (suburban culture).  Anyone whom has driven the Florida Turnpike south from Orlando has experienced the wide open spaces of the Kissimmiee River and Lake Okeechobee floodplain and head waters. It is a landscape of cypress domes and slews, marginal "upands" populated by Bald Eagles, the remarkable Sandhill Crane, Crested Caracara, Florida Kites, Wood Storks and many other wading bird species.  Quickly though the drive south from Orlando to Fort Pierce and Stuart will be transformed into new towns and "supporting' development interspered with a few large Florida Forever acquisitions.

It is important to recognize the relationship of the Upper Kissimmee River Basin and Chain of Lakes area to the restoration of the Kissimmee River, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and the management of Lake Okeechobee (the area includes Lake Tohopekaliga, East Lake Tohopekeliga, Alligator Lake, Lake Hatchineha, Lake Gentry, Cypress Lake, Lake Kissimmee and other Everglages headwater lakes).  As anyone that follows Florida environment knows, this state (and the Feds) has been spending billions of dollars to work to undo the intricate maze of water diversion and pollution adding canals and berms that have starved the River of Grass of its life blood and nutrified it originally low nutrient  waters.

Anyway, all this whinning about losing our shared natural and cultural heritage isn't because I think such a plea would put the brakes on the development.  No, my complaint is related to the fact that a region of incredible wildlife is being parcelled off to development one large development at a time without a coherent directive or plan that trys to retain portions through coordinated greenway/green infrastructure planning. 

There is integrated water planning as the regional water management agency, the South Florida Water Management District, is linking the component developments to the CERP planning (as best they can).  What's lacking though is an itegrated, across development boundaries wildlife plan.  A wildlife plan that isn't just focused on one or two threatened or endangered species individuals or colonies, but instead, an integrated wildlife plan that looks at all the indigenious wildlife (common as well as threatened or endangered) and asks the question - how can we develop all this area and still, at the end of the day, have most of the native species still present?  This is the real challenge.

Also, see "Will Kissimmee project ease pollution woes?" and, Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan site.