ECOACTION ALERTS

FNPS members need to be aware of an impending threat to our national forests.  Not JUST in Florida, but across the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun the process of rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule to make it easier for industry to exploit the natural resources protected in those Roadless areas.

What Is the Roadless Rule?

Possibly the most important land conservation measure of our lifetime, the Roadless Rule protects approximately 45 million acres of unfragmented, pristine national forest lands across the entire US by banning clearcut timber harvests and the construction of damaging new roads. The ban on road construction also means protection from mining and other extremely destructive exploitation.

Since its creation in 2001, the Roadless Rule has preserved centuries-old stands of old-growth trees from logging, protected essential habitat for sensitive wildlife, provided abundant recreational opportunities for humans and maintained functioning watersheds. It has also become increasingly important for providing critical buffers against climate change.

The Roadless Rule has been overwhelmingly popular with the American public, who wanted backcountry wild lands within the forest system protected for wildlife and people alike - and also wanted to end roadbuilding that benefited the timber industry at the expense of taxpayers.

Despite its popularity, the Roadless Rule has faced relentless attack from logging and resource extraction interests and political forces. In this latest attempt to undermine Roadless protections, the Trump administration has announced an official rulemaking process to rescind the Roadless Rule, laying the groundwork for a major increase in industrial logging and other commercial exploitation.

What is Under Threat in Florida?

Florida is home to three national forests: the Apalachicola, Osceola and Ocala. Combined, these national forests span almost 1.2 million acres, protecting about 500,000 acres of wetlands, 85,000 acres of designated federal wilderness and 1,400 miles of recreational trails that host more than 1.1 million visitors every year. Florida’s national forests are also home to 14 at-risk animal species, dozens of threatened and endangered plant species, and sensitive native plant communities that could be harmed by destructive alteration and intrusion into roadless areas. Unfortunately, a total of only 72,000 acres in our three national forests are currently protected under the Roadless Rule. See the map above or click here to see a map of all US land protected by this rule.

We Floridians want to retain the extra level of protection conferred by the Roadless Rule. That includes a large portion of the Juniper Springs springshed in Ocala National Forest. Juniper is one of the least polluted springs in Florida thanks to Roadless Rule protection. It’s important to keep in mind there is a process in place to allow exceptions to Roadless Rule protections to allow such things as selective logging when necessary to reduce wildfire risk or otherwise improve forest health. The industries that want the Roadless Rule rescinded simply want to remove ALL BARRIERS to their exploitation of our natural areas.

What Can You Do?

FNPS will fight against the unraveling of this crucial conservation safeguard, and we would like our members to take part. These lands belong to all Americans, not to the commercial logging and mining interests that want an open door to exploit them.

You can help by participating in the public comment period BEFORE Sept. 19. 

Here’s a quick rundown of the process:

On August 29, the US Forest Service published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on rescinding the Roadless Rule.

Doing so opened the initial public comment period, which ends on September 19.

Once the public comment period is over, the agency must review the comments and address substantial issues raised by comments in the EIS.

In the spring, USDA will publish a new draft rule alongside a draft EIS. This will come with a second comment period.

Everything will get revised based on the second comment period and a final rule will be published late in 2026 — the objective here being that the new rule will rescind the Roadless Rule.

Writing An Effective Public Comment

To have the best chance at influencing this process, write substantial, unique comments targeted at expanding the scope of the environmental impact statement. Your comments don’t have to be long or steeped in science.  

Here is the basic formula for writing the most effective comment:

Uniqueness

Introduce yourself. Including = any credentials you may have..

Explain why roadless areas in our national forests matter to you.

If you live near a Roadless Area, make that known. You can check with this map.

Substance

If you can, tell a story about an experience you had in one of our national forests.

Describe the value these lands provide to you personally, and your community.

Cite data and authority figures if/when possible.

Point out specific issues that you think should be addressed. Provide a reason. Here’s some examples:

“Studies have shown that forest roads facilitate the spread of invasive plants.”1

“Our national forest system was created around the turn of the 20th century to protect water quality. I’m concerned that new roads and logging would lead to pollution of these watersheds, alter the hydrology of sensitive wetland communities and degrade our Florida springs.”

Other concerns you might include: clean air, climate change, threatened and endangered species, social and economic impacts, logging impacts, mining waste, habitat fragmentation.

Targeting the environmental impact statement:

Remember that the purpose of this comment period is to expand the scope of the environmental impact statement.

If you think that you have a particularly unique or personal perspective, share it!

Avoid comments that boil down to just “I love trees!!”

Here is the link to submit your comment straight to USDA.

Please share all this with someone else, so they can also ubmit an effective comment.

References and sources of information;

https://earthjustice.org/feature/roadless-rule-photos#action

https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/trump-administration-attempt-to-repeal-roadless-rule-met-with-widespread-opposition

https://nationalparkhistory.substack.com/p/let-me-teach-you-how-to-defend-the?r=2q1xsl&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless#:~:text=The%202001%20Roadless%20Rule%20established,System%20lands%2C%20including%20in%20Alaska.

Release Date: 2025-05-13

Action Deadline: 2025-05-20

Help stop construction of a toll road through the ONLY known habitat for the Endangered Blushing Scrub Balm (Dicerandra modesta).  Before the May 19 deadline for comments, tell FDOT to choose a “no build” alternative for the Central Polk Parkway East Extension to prevent impacts to more than 12 imperiled plant species. 

Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, an arm of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), is conducting an Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) for an extension of the Central Polk Parkway.  The proposed toll road would extend from SR 60 near Lake Wales to US 17-92 near Davenport (see map below) and all the proposed Alternative Corridors threaten sensitive natural areas and the native plants and wildlife that inhabit them.  The road is being billed as a high-speed alternative to US 27 and the solution to preventing future congestion caused by population growth and rampant development. 

FNPS has submitted a letter to FDOT objecting to the proposed highway and recommending a “no build” alternative that FDOT has already rejected – based on their assumptions that the area’s rapid population growth will continue at the current rate for the next 25 years, and that in the year 2050 we will all still be totally dependent on the automobile to meet our transportation needs.  It would be a disaster for native plants and wildlife, the livability of our communities, and our quality of life if FDOT turns those assumptions into a self-fulfilling prophecy by building another expensive, unnecessary, and destructive highway.

Protected habitat for at least 16 imperiled plant species, 12 of which are Federally listed as Threatened (3) or Endangered (9), could be impacted by the highway.  They include many of the rare endemic species that are restricted to the rare scrub habitat of the Lake Wales Ridge - INCLUDING THE ENDANGERED BLUSHING SCRUB BALM (Dicerandra modesta) which is known to occur naturally in only one small corner of the Lake Marion Creek Watershed property.  FNPS has been working in partnership with the Florida Forest Service to monitor the population and enhance its habitat.  Alternative Corridor D would cut through the middle of the mint’s habitat, and Alternatives B, C, E and F would put the highway so close to the site that habitat management using prescribed would be all but impossible, threatening the ability of the species to survive on-site. Other species include the Pygmy Fringe Tree and Scrub Plum.

If you want to learn more about the lands and species that would be affected by this proposed highway, see the letter FNPS has already submitted. Then add your voice to ours!

Please email Project Manager Jazlyn Heywood at Jazlyn.Heywood@dot.state.fl.us and copy FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue (Jared.Perdue@dot.state.fl.us) and Turnpike Enterprise Executive Director Nicola Liquori (Nicola.Liquori@dot.state.fl.us) BEFORE THE MAY 19 DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS and tell them:

• You support a “no-build” option for the Central Polk Parkway East Extension because Florida does not need this highway.
• If they will not choose “no-build”, then Alternative A is the only choice that is even remotely acceptable based on projected impacts to critically endangered plants.
• You question their assumptions that population growth and development patterns in Polk County will remain unchanged through 2050 as justification for construction of the highway.
• You want FDOT to finally explore other strategies for meeting our future transportation needs.

Release Date: 2025-06-30

Action Deadline: 2025-07-14

Should we really have any concerns about placing a detention camp in the middle of the Everglades/Big Cypress ecosystem?  When we are spending billions to restore that ecosystem, we should at least take a moment to ponder the question. A moment is all it takes to conclude: YES, we should be very concerned if we care about critically endangered plant species, rare plant communities, and the integrity of the Everglades/Big Cypress system.

In the 60s, an airport larger than JFK was proposed for a location halfway between Miami and Naples so it could serve both cities.  The project was halted because it would have “inexorably destroy[ed] the south Florida ecosystem and thus the Everglades National Park”, as detailed in the environmental assessment that derailed the project entirely.  A single runway was completed and continues serving as a training facility with minimal physical improvements beyond the runway and some adjoining land area that supports the training operations.  

The DeSantis administration has already begun repurposing the facility to serve as a detention center for thousands of people, without providing any indication he is considering the potential for serious environmental impacts. The Florida Native Plant Society opposes its development based on the certainty it will result in environmental impacts.  At least 15 listed plant species are known to be present within or proximate to the site and every fragment of undisturbed upland supports is likely to feature endangered Rockland Hammock habitat, which requires a shallow depth to groundwater to persist and is therefore extremely sensitive to any changes in hydrology. 

Please call and email Governor DeSantis (GovernorRon.DeSantis@eog.myflorida.com & (850)717-9238 and ask him to put the brakes on this project long enough to assure the people of Florida he is taking every precaution to avoid impacts to the natural resources of Big Cypress and the Everglades.  Tell him:

• Rockland Hammock is one of the rarest habitats in Florida and home to many equally rare plant species, and is extremely sensitive to even minute changes in water levels.
• How can thousands of people be housed in such a sensitive area without extensive stormwater management systems, sewage treatment facilities, lighting, and other infrastructure development that will affect any nearby Rockland Hammock and surrounding glades marsh and cypress forest habitats.
• With an estimated price tag of $450 million annually to maintain and operate, it would be much less expensive to choose a less remote site with existing infrastructure and no environmental sensitivity. 
• The Everglades Jetport proposed for this location was halted based on the monumental threat it posed to the integrity of the Everglades ecosystem, and nothing has changed that would reduce the environmental sensitivity of the area or level of threat.
• Public use of the nearby Oasis Visitor Center, the surrounding Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, and its hiking and paddling trails, may be curtailed greatly or precluded entirely by the presence of a large detention facility. 
• The Big Cypress Preserve is the only unit of the National Park system east of Colorado that has been formally designated an International Dark Sky Area, and the designation is maintained through adherence to strict guidelines on nighttime lighting that will doubtless be violated by placement of a major detention facility.
• How will operation of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, which makes extensive use of the existing runway, be able to continue in conjunction with the proposed facility?  

Share your concerns with Senator Kathleen Passidomo and Representative Lauren Melo, whose legislative districts include the site of the detention facility.

Senator Kathleen Passidomo: Passidomo.Kathleen@flsenate.gov or phone her at (239)417-6205

Representative Lauren Melo: Lauren.Melo@myfloridahouse.gov or phone her at (239)423-0510

Governor DeSantis: GovernorRon.DeSantis@eog.myflorida.com or phone him at (850)488-7146

Release Date: 2025-06-09

Action Deadline: 2025-06-16

Please phone or email Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez and tell them to fund Florida Forever. The House is currently proposing $0 for Florida Forever. 

FNPS has been thrilled by the response of our members to calls for action this legislative session.  We know your engagement has made a BIG difference and now have another favor to ask.  The last remaining hurdle that will bring the legislative session to a close is the adoption of a budget, which is likely to happen next week.  In the meantime, the House budget includes NOTHING for Florida Forever.  They want to zero it out. The Senate is proposing $100 million. 

Phone House Speaker Daniel Perez at (850)717-5000 or (305)348-1414, or email him at Daniel.Perez@flhouse.gov and ask him to at least match the $100 million in funding for Florida Forever proposed by the Senate.

Phone Senate President Ben Albritton at (850)487-5229 or (863)534-0073, or email him at Albritton.Ben@flsenate.gov and ask him to stand firm on allocating at least $100 million in funding for Florida Forever.

Florida Forever is the state’s flagship program for thoughtful, science-based, fiscally responsible land conservation. The House budget DOES support funding for land conservation through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFL) but NONE for Florida Forever.  We support funding for RFL too; however, it is NOT A SUBSTITUTE for Florida Forever.  Consider making one or more of these points when you contact Speaker Perez and President Albritton:

• It is not fiscally conservative to shortchange Florida Forever when population growth, development pressure and the cost of land continue to rise at such a rapid pace.
• We can afford to fund both Florida Forever and RFL because the excise taxes that support our land conservation programs generate more than $1 billion annually.
• RFL is not a substitute for Florida Forever because it can only purchase conservation easements and has the primary goal of keeping the protected lands in agricultural production. Natural habitat on lands protected through RFL easements can usually be converted to intensive agricultural uses at the discretion of the landowner. In contrast, natural resource protection is the overriding priority for Florida Forever purchases.
• While both programs should be funded, Florida Forever is the more important program for land conservation and requires a higher level of funding to account for the larger amount of land area within approved Florida Forever projects and the greater expense of acquiring either fee title ownership or conservation easements that are more restrictive than those purchased under RFL.
• The $100 million appropriation proposed by the Senate is already the minimum required by statutory guidelines.  Even this minimum required level of funding could leave Florida Forever short of the money necessary to complete projects already in various stages of negotiation and leave landowners questioning the state’s dependability and good faith as a negotiating partner.
• Conserving sensitive natural areas and resources NOW is simply the best investment we can make to secure a healthy and economically sustainable future for Florida.

Release Date: 2025-05-19

Action Deadline: 2025-05-20

Tonight is the deadline to submit a comment to oppose changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would kneecap the USFWS's ability to protect endangered species. This action would redefine harm to exclude harm ot the habitat of the endangered species. Visit the page on the Federal Register to submit your comment and you can read our letter for reference.

FNPS members need to be aware of an impending threat to our national forests.  Not JUST in Florida, but across the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun the process of rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule to make it easier for industry to exploit the natural resources protected in those Roadless areas.

What Is the Roadless Rule?

Possibly the most important land conservation measure of our lifetime, the Roadless Rule protects approximately 45 million acres of unfragmented, pristine national forest lands across the entire US by banning clearcut timber harvests and the construction of damaging new roads. The ban on road construction also means protection from mining and other extremely destructive exploitation.

Since its creation in 2001, the Roadless Rule has preserved centuries-old stands of old-growth trees from logging, protected essential habitat for sensitive wildlife, provided abundant recreational opportunities for humans and maintained functioning watersheds. It has also become increasingly important for providing critical buffers against climate change.

The Roadless Rule has been overwhelmingly popular with the American public, who wanted backcountry wild lands within the forest system protected for wildlife and people alike - and also wanted to end roadbuilding that benefited the timber industry at the expense of taxpayers.

Despite its popularity, the Roadless Rule has faced relentless attack from logging and resource extraction interests and political forces. In this latest attempt to undermine Roadless protections, the Trump administration has announced an official rulemaking process to rescind the Roadless Rule, laying the groundwork for a major increase in industrial logging and other commercial exploitation.

What is Under Threat in Florida?

Florida is home to three national forests: the Apalachicola, Osceola and Ocala. Combined, these national forests span almost 1.2 million acres, protecting about 500,000 acres of wetlands, 85,000 acres of designated federal wilderness and 1,400 miles of recreational trails that host more than 1.1 million visitors every year. Florida’s national forests are also home to 14 at-risk animal species, dozens of threatened and endangered plant species, and sensitive native plant communities that could be harmed by destructive alteration and intrusion into roadless areas. Unfortunately, a total of only 72,000 acres in our three national forests are currently protected under the Roadless Rule. See the map above or click here to see a map of all US land protected by this rule.

We Floridians want to retain the extra level of protection conferred by the Roadless Rule. That includes a large portion of the Juniper Springs springshed in Ocala National Forest. Juniper is one of the least polluted springs in Florida thanks to Roadless Rule protection. It’s important to keep in mind there is a process in place to allow exceptions to Roadless Rule protections to allow such things as selective logging when necessary to reduce wildfire risk or otherwise improve forest health. The industries that want the Roadless Rule rescinded simply want to remove ALL BARRIERS to their exploitation of our natural areas.

What Can You Do?

FNPS will fight against the unraveling of this crucial conservation safeguard, and we would like our members to take part. These lands belong to all Americans, not to the commercial logging and mining interests that want an open door to exploit them.

You can help by participating in the public comment period BEFORE Sept. 19. 

Here’s a quick rundown of the process:

On August 29, the US Forest Service published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on rescinding the Roadless Rule.

Doing so opened the initial public comment period, which ends on September 19.

Once the public comment period is over, the agency must review the comments and address substantial issues raised by comments in the EIS.

In the spring, USDA will publish a new draft rule alongside a draft EIS. This will come with a second comment period.

Everything will get revised based on the second comment period and a final rule will be published late in 2026 — the objective here being that the new rule will rescind the Roadless Rule.

Writing An Effective Public Comment

To have the best chance at influencing this process, write substantial, unique comments targeted at expanding the scope of the environmental impact statement. Your comments don’t have to be long or steeped in science.  

Here is the basic formula for writing the most effective comment:

Uniqueness

Introduce yourself. Including = any credentials you may have..

Explain why roadless areas in our national forests matter to you.

If you live near a Roadless Area, make that known. You can check with this map.

Substance

If you can, tell a story about an experience you had in one of our national forests.

Describe the value these lands provide to you personally, and your community.

Cite data and authority figures if/when possible.

Point out specific issues that you think should be addressed. Provide a reason. Here’s some examples:

“Studies have shown that forest roads facilitate the spread of invasive plants.”1

“Our national forest system was created around the turn of the 20th century to protect water quality. I’m concerned that new roads and logging would lead to pollution of these watersheds, alter the hydrology of sensitive wetland communities and degrade our Florida springs.”

Other concerns you might include: clean air, climate change, threatened and endangered species, social and economic impacts, logging impacts, mining waste, habitat fragmentation.

Targeting the environmental impact statement:

Remember that the purpose of this comment period is to expand the scope of the environmental impact statement.

If you think that you have a particularly unique or personal perspective, share it!

Avoid comments that boil down to just “I love trees!!”

Here is the link to submit your comment straight to USDA.

Please share all this with someone else, so they can also ubmit an effective comment.

References and sources of information;

https://earthjustice.org/feature/roadless-rule-photos#action

https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/trump-administration-attempt-to-repeal-roadless-rule-met-with-widespread-opposition

https://nationalparkhistory.substack.com/p/let-me-teach-you-how-to-defend-the?r=2q1xsl&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless#:~:text=The%202001%20Roadless%20Rule%20established,System%20lands%2C%20including%20in%20Alaska.

Release Date: 2025-05-05

Action Deadline: 2025-05-19

Please phone or email Governor DeSantis and tell him to sign HB 209, the State Parks Preservation Act, into law! 

First, allow us to congratulate you all on a job well done.  The members of our Action Alert network responded enthusiastically, and in large numbers, to help get the State Parks Preservation Act passed.  In the end – meaning at the VERY END of the legislative session - it was passed unanimously by both the Senate and House of Representatives.  And the final version of the bill being sent to the Governor is one we promoted in our earlier Alerts.  It includes strong, unambiguous protections for the resources preserved in our State Parks.

The only hurdle remaining before the State Parks Preservation Act finally becomes law is for Governor DeSantis to sign it.  We need to let him know NOW that Floridians across the state, of all political persuasions, WANT this law.  DO NOT ASSUME that he does not need some convincing.  You might recall that his Administration’s fingerprints were all over the Great Outdoors Initiative and the golf courses it proposed for Jonathan Dickinson State Park, and hotels and pickleball courts proposed for many others, when we first learned of it last August.  Use the contact information provided below to tell him where you stand.

Email the Governor at GovernorRon.DeSantis@eog.myflorida.com and include “Please sign HB 209, the State Parks Preservation Act” in the subject line, or phone his office at (850)717-9238.  Tell him you:

• Supported passage of the State Park Preservation Act bill.
• Want him to sign the bill so it becomes law.
• Feel free to add a brief, personal notation or comment about why you treasure our State Parks – as places to enjoy nature, recreate with your family, etc. 

Release Date: 2025-05-03

Action Deadline: 2025-05-08

The Florida Department of Transportation is planning to extend the Polk Parkway and all but one of the six proposed alignments negatively impact endangered plant species, conservation land, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and/or The Natives Nursery. One of the alignments, Corridor D, bisects the only remaining wild population of Blushing Scrub Balm (Dicerandra modesta) in the world. We have been working on monitoring and restoring this Federally Endangered mint species on this threatened site for seven years.

Alignments B, C, E and F come dangerously close to this population and would compromise the ability to properly maintain its habitat with prescribed fire. These alignments directly and indirectly harm other protected conservation areas, including The Natives Nursery, owned by FNPS founding members Nancy and Bill Bisset and conserved under a conservation easement to protect the many listed scrub endemic plants that occur naturally on their property. We sent a letter of opposition to FDOT Friday and we will be attending FDOT's virtual and in person meetings Monday and Wednesday.

No matter where you are in the state please register for and attend the virtual meeting Monday at 6pm. If you are within driving distance of Davenport PLEASE ATTEND the in-person meeting Wednesday at 4:30pm. 

Tell FDOT to consider a no-build option for this road and that you strongly oppose all alignments of this road but specifically B, C, D, E, and F.