And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Miccosukees persistent in fight for Everglades restoration http://www.naplesnews.com/today/florida/a34868o.htm Sunday, December 27, 1998 By ROBERT P. KING, The Palm Beach Post MIAMI - A century and a half after soldiers chased them deep into the Everglades, the Miccosukee Indians are still at war. This time, their weapons include lawyers, consultants and expert witnesses, paid with proceeds from bingo, tobacco and tourism. Their opponents are the state and federal agencies that rule what remains of the Everglades. And this time, the Indians expect to win. Among their recent milestones: In October, Congress and President Clinton finally guaranteed the Miccosukees' right to live forever in a 5-mile swath of Everglades National Park. The Indians had been living there under a 50-year lease due to expire in 2014 - and under the thumb of the National Park Service, which long blocked the tribe's plans to build 65 houses south of U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail). Soon, the Miccosukees expect the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant them the right to set tough pollution standards for their lands. That could let the tribe dictate how strictly the state must clean runoff from sugar farms, at least in part of the northern Everglades. And in September, a judge in Miami agreed with the tribe that the state's $763 million plan for cleaning the Everglades is so lenient it violates federal law. The plan stands for now, but the judge told federal regulators to review it. In a half-dozen other legal challenges, the Miccosukees blame state water managers and federal engineers for polluting the tribe's land and drowning their cypress hammocks. It's a high-profile role for a tribe of fewer than 400 members. Soft-spoken and describing themselves as peaceful, the Miccosukees say they want to be left alone, free to run their own lives, pass on their language and customs, and enjoy their lives amid the saw grass. One target of the suits contends they sometimes mire the Everglades restoration instead of hastening it. "Having someone crack the whip behind us, saying, 'Move faster,' isn't always helpful," said Sam Poole, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District. But Billy Cypress, the tribe's elected chairman, said he has to push the government to do more for the Everglades. "God's not making any of this type of real estate anymore," he said in the tribe's government center 40 miles west of Miami. How much have these fights cost the tribe? "All I can say is, 'millions,' " Cypress said. Cypress said the struggle has won the tribe few friends. In getting Congress to approve the new housing, the Miccosukees opposed most of the environmental groups that usually applaud the Indians' lawsuits. Though they sympathized with Miccosukee families crammed two or three to a home, the environmentalists said it's dangerous to give anyone an unrestricted slice of a national park. They fear Congress may use the precedent to open other parks to oil drilling. "I feel sorry for these people," Cypress, 48, said of the environmentalists. "I get a letter from them every now and then saying, 'Hurray, you're our hero.' Then they turn around and don't reward the hero." Shannon Estenoz, an activist for the World Wildlife Fund, acknowledged "there was a lot of angst involved" in opposing the housing bill. "The Miccosukees live in the Everglades and we don't," she said. "So their perspective on issues that physically affect them is going to be different at times." It's not the first or last time the allies have clashed. In the early 1990s, the tribe proposed exploratory oil drilling just outside the Everglades, leaving many environmentalists aghast. They also disagree on the park's proposal to buy out a rural, mostly Hispanic enclave of 8.5 square miles in the east Everglades. Most environmental groups say the enclave is blocking the restoration of natural water flows. But Miccosukee consultants, talking on Spanish-language radio, say the purchases will delay Everglades restoration for years. Still, Estenoz said she hopes environmentalists and the tribe will keep working together. She said the tribe has been a crucial ally, with two advantages that most environmental groups lack - the money for expensive lawsuits and the legal standing of a sovereign government. Longtime Everglades activist Joe Browder said the tribe's lawsuits have been virtually the only force against attempts by state officials to settle for less than a full cleanup. "The tribe is doing very lonely and important work," said Browder, a protege of the late environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. He believed in the tribe's right to build more houses in the Everglades. For Miccosukees, combativeness is nothing new. The tribe gained federal recognition in 1962, but only after its leaders embarrassed Washington by making a state visit to Fidel Castro. <<END EXCERPT <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
