With the wind at my back I made some pretty good time flying across the wide open Choctawhatchee Bay. I diddle dinked my way down the intracoastal, taking pictures of the Spectre Island memorial for our fallen heroes, and finally arrived at Linda Young's beach party where she had assembled a lively bunch of friends.

Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida, had been fighting the "good fight" for decades. She speaks up in defense of those thy would like to keep Florida's water resources as plentiful and healthy as possible. It's an uphill battle, because greed on the part of those that would stick a condo on every block and a golf course every five miles beats common sense water resource management every time. And then there is the push to develop wetlands. How does Florida not get that wetlands play an important part in a healthy coastal eocosystem?  If the wetlands disappear, the seafood disappears and inland protection is comporomised. 

Other states, like North Carolina, and NJ ( well sort of, seems Gov. Corzine is reversing what few environmental gains we've seen there) are seeing the value in maintaining healthy wetlands. How does Florida,  which seems to go from one water crisis to the next be so blind? It is certainly not the people's fault. They've been clamoring for some sanity on this issue. It's the elected officials. They have sold out to the developers and real estate interest, to big ag and to the phosphate industry. Together they will destroy Florida's fragile coastal ecocsystems, further degrade the Gulf, and help usher in a genuine depression when these resources collapse. No resources, no economy.