Lower Taxes, More Fish 

& Cleaner Water!

Let's Keep

Lawn Fertilizers OUT

       of Pinellas County's Water!                

The Coastal Task Force meetigns once a month at the GARDEN in Downtown St. Petersburg, Wed @ 7pm. 

If you would like to join the Taks Force, please contact Phil Compton, Sierra Club, or if you would like to help with the Suncoast Chapter's efforts, please contact Jessica Respondek.

Attached find the “smoking gun” that definitively links fertilizer run-off to Red Tide. Turns out Turns out the reason that no one has been able to defintively link Red Tide to fertizier runoff is that the link is actually a 3 way connection: Red Tide, karenia brevis, eats synechococcus, the Gulf bacteria that loves to eat nitrogen from urea in lawn fertilizer. I’ve attached this journal article from the March 2009 issue of Aquatic Microbial Ecology.

Our challenge continues to be to build broad based support for strong & effective action in Pinellas County as well as Manatee & Hillsborough. Such a show of support has won the day in 10 Florida Gulf Coast communities, from Naples up the coast to St. Petersburg 2 months ago, and such a showing will win the day throughout Tampa Bay. Your help in adding more supporters, both “grassroots” (individuals signing our petition) and “grasstops” (businesses and organizations signing on to our Coalition for Cleaner Water letter) will make all the difference in whether we succeed in cleaning up all our waterways, or stay stuck with Red Tide, impaired lakes and rivers, and nothing but million-dollar attempts to clean them up the old, ineffective way, after the fact through costly chemical treatment & mechanical infrastructure.

We can do better.

You can help make it happen.

Now’s the time.

How YOU can help!

• Send an email to Gov. Crist's Office indicating your support of the local ordinances 
• Sign your Business onto the Colaition Letter bring presented to the local City & County Commissioners.  You only need to email your name & Business Name - as well as indicate support - to Phil Compton.
• Spread the word: tell your friends about this campaign and ask them to help the cause!
  

The state of Florida is losing beach accesses across the state at a rampant speed. We, the Florida Surfrider Foundation Chapters, want to save beach access for all people.

FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR

Simply let YOUR towns Representative know how important this bill is to you, your family and friends.

 The bill number is Senate 488(Justice)/HB527(Sachs).

READ BILL 488 HERE

READ HB527 HERE

You can simply leave a pleasant message with her staff person on this matter and let them know we have been working diligently with Audubon, FSBPA, Florida Association of Counties and League of Cities. You can refer them to the www.flbeachaccess.blogspot.com so they can see the pixs themselves how this is a statewide issue.