"Lest We Forget" -- This is probably the "Big-Three" of political personalities responsible for halting the Cross Florida Barge Canal and giving us the opportunity STILL to "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM!" U.S. PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON, FLORIDA GOVERNOR CLAUDE KIRK, & FLORIDA GOVERNOR LAWTON CHILES. They were all Military veterans and they all won election to the office of U.S. President or Florida Governor which gave them the necessary POLITICAL POWER to "dare greatly!" You have to demonstrate wide support to be declared the official winner of an election. And you have to have POLITICAL POWER -- by getting MORE VOTES than the other side -- to get most worthy governmental things done! Isn't that the American way? FLORIDA GOVERNOR CLAUDE KIRK (R): U.S. Marine Corps (WWII and Korean War) veteran Claude R. Kirk, Jr. in 1966 became the first person to be elected Florida's GOVERNOR as a REPUBLICAN since 1872 -- a span of 94 years. Since 1876, the Democrats had been firmly entrenched as the majority party in state politics in Florida. After being inaugurated in January 1967, Governor Claude Kirk (R) opposed the further building of the Cross Florida Barge Canal project. Campaigning in Florida in 1970 on behalf of Governor Claude Kirk and other Republican candidates, President Nixon noticed, at one of the stops, signs urging "Stop the Cross Florida Barge Canal!" Nixon then turned to Kirk and said, "Governor, there is opposition to your canal." Where-upon Claude Kirk waggishly replied: "No, Mr. President, not my canal, YOUR CANAL!" U.S. PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON (R): Then several months later President Richard M. Nixon (R) issued the following: "Statement about Halting Construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal" January 19th, 1971 "I am today ordering a halt to further construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal to prevent potentially serious environmental damages. "The purpose of the canal was to reduce transportation costs for barge shipping. It was conceived and designed at a time when the focus of Federal concern in such matters was still almost completely on maximizing economic return. In calculating that return, the destruction of natural, ecological values was not counted as a cost, nor was a credit allowed for actions preserving the environment. "A natural treasure is involved in the case of the Barge Canal -- the Oklawaha River -- a uniquely beautiful, semitropical stream, one of a very few of its kind in the United States, which would be destroyed by construction of the Canal. "The Council on Environmental Quality has recommended to me that the project be halted, and I have accepted its advice. The Council has pointed out to me that the project could endanger the unique wildlife of the area and destroy this region of unusual and unique natural beauty. "The total cost of the project if it were completed would be about $180 million. About $50 million has already been committed to construction. I am asking the Secretary of the Army to work with the Council on Environmental Quality in developing recommendations for the future of the area. "The step I have taken today will prevent a past mistake from causing permanent damage. But more important, we must assure that in the future we take not only full but also timely account of the environmental impact of such projects-so that instead of merely halting the damage, we prevent it." Richard M. Nixon President of the United States It should also be noted that U.S. Navy (WWII) veteran Richard Nixon in 1968 became only the second person elected U.S. PRESIDENT as a REPUBLICAN since 1928. Since 1932, the Democrats had been firmly entrenched as the majority party in presidential politics in America. The only other elected-as-a REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT in the 40 years after 1928 was Dwight. D. Eisenhower who was a former 5-star General of the Army and a WWII National Hero -- and "IKE" most surely would have won the presidency as either a DEMOCRAT or a REPUBLICAN. So Richard Nixon -- like it or not, it is what it is -- was the beginning of the modern Republican Party in national politics. According to Mike Thomas, "Orlando Sentinel" newspaper columnist: "And Nixon brought some of the nation's top environmentalists into his administration. "There was Nat Reed, the South Florida Everglades activist, named as assistant secretary of the Department of Interior. There was Russell Train, Nixon's second EPA secretary, who went on to head the World Wildlife Fund. There was Lee Talbot, the Council of Environmental Quality's chief scientist, who wrote much of the original Endangered Species Act. "In a 1998 interview, Talbot said, "No president since or before, except maybe Teddy Roosevelt, has been willing to put as much political muscle into the environment." "Nixon's 1973 State of the Union message to Congress on natural resources remains one of the most comprehensive and farsighted assessments of the environment ever given." FLORIDA GOVERNOR LAWTON CHILES (D) U.S. Army (Korean War) veteran Lawton M. Chiles, Jr. in 1994 (being known as a Florida "Cracker" and the "Old He-Coon") became the last person to be elected Florida's GOVERNOR as a DEMOCRAT -- a span now of 23 years (that the Republican Party has for the most part controlled Florida politics). A lifetime Floridian, Lawton Chiles was an avid angler, hunter, and outdoorsman who came to regard the continued existence of Rodman Reservoir as not being beneficial to Florida's ecology and environment. Governor Lawton Chiles (D) in Tallahassee on June 16, 1995 issued the following order: "After a careful review of the Ocklawaha River/Rodman Reservoir issue, I am hereby directing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the St Johns River Water Management District, to proceed immediately in applying for permits to restore the Ocklawaha River and in moving forward with a plan to begin an orderly and phased drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir." -------------------------------------------- "Let us leave no bit of useful information uncollected, unstudied, or unused in our shared work for the restoration to free-and-swift-flowing again of Florida's 56-mile Ocklawaha and Silver River system" - "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca. The SJRWMD "Technical Publication SJ2016-1" by John Hendrickson contains the data -- about DISSOLVED SILICA, NITROGEN, and PHOSPHORUS (and their combined effects on possible [downstream] St. Johns River harmful algal blooms) -- best supporting that the restoration of the Ocklawaha River will be beneficial for the entire St. Johns River basin. Hendrickson, John. 2016. Effects on Lower St. Johns River Nutrient Supply and TMDL Target Compliance from the Restoration of a Free-Flowing Ocklawaha River. Technical Publication SJ2016-1. 107 pages. St. Johns River Water Management District, Palatka, Florida. FOLKS, we are continuing to add more FOR-FREE $$$ signatures supporting the "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" (https://www.change.org/p/st-johns-river-water-management-district-free-the-ocklawaha-river-by-the-breaching-of-rodman-dam) online petition. This is possibly the most important petition in the history of the Ocklawaha River issue since those that were sent to President Lyndon Johnson (D) and later President Richard Nixon (R) asking that the Cross Florida Barge Canal (CFBC) be stopped. Remember that it was the Republican -- President Nixon --that halted the CFBC (1/19/1971). "Lest we forget" all that has been accomplished for Ocklawaha River restoration and the breaching of Rodman Dam by the various non-governmental watchdog "alphabet-soups" of groups since 1971. Has it amounted to "a spit in the river?" "Ocklawahaman" is willing to believe that you might have a sincere opinion about that question. "Ocklawahaman" is of the honest opinion that you should consider the following while you still can: PLEASE SIGN -- FOR-FREE $$$ -- THIS PETITION! When you join with the "Ocklawahaman" to "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" by signing the online petition FOR-FREE $$$ it costs you NO $$$. "Ocklawahaman" has NO lawyers or staff for you to payroll! YOU get to buy a backpack, BBQ dinner, canoe, or kayak with your own DOUGH and enjoy the remaining segments of the free-flowing Ocklawaha River and its superbly forested jungle-like corridor. At some point "Ocklawahaman" would perform the final delivery of petition signatures and comments to SJRWMD and FL DEP along with contacting SJRWMD to arrange -- if possible -- for a hearing(s) with certain staff and/or management where "Ocklawahaman" would do his best to represent the will of this petition's signatories: Who, "do hereby respectfully petition the SJRWMD and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FL DEP) to earnestly begin, move forward with, and finally carry out the process of restoring to free-and-swift-flowing-again the Ocklawaha River -- 'Source to the Sea' -- from its Silver Springs supreme headwaters to its St. Johns River estuary. This restoration process would require the breaching of the earthen Kirkpatrick (Rodman) Dam at the location where the historic Ocklawaha River channel flowed through it prior to September 30, 1968." It may be the MOST IMPORTANT THING that YOU can do (or have ever done) to assist SJRWMD and FL DEP to determine that the best interests of the greater St. Johns River basin are enhanced by the restoration of a free-and-swift flowing-again "Source to the Sea" 56-mainstream-mile "Real-Florida-By-God" Silver Springs-Silver River-Ocklawaha River system. Where else can you get "this much bang for the $$$ buck?" "Ocklawahaman" NEEDS YOUR FOR-FREE $$$ HELP! Show your support for the free migration -- St. Johns River to Silver Springs -- of the Florida manatee, channel catfish, and Atlantic-race STRIPED BASS. Note that the native Atlantic-race STRIPED BASS lost its only suitable spawning habitat of the entire St. Johns River basin (and the most southern in the U.S.) when Rodman (Kirkpatrick) Dam was closed across the Ocklawaha River on September 30, 1968. Riverine LARGEMOUTH BASS have been native to the Ocklawaha River for perhaps thousands of years -- they don't need Rodman Dam or Rodman Reservoir for their survival! Thank you to all that have already signed this petition FOR-FREE $$$ https://www.change.org/p/st-johns-river-water-management-district-free-the-ocklawaha-river-by-the-breaching-of-rodman-dam and desire a free-and-swift-flowing-again "Source to the Sea" 56-mainstream-mile "Real-Florida-By-God" Silver Springs-Silver River-Ocklawaha River system! Currently (as of 1500 hrs EDT 6/22/18) there are 2,395 signatures supporting the breaching of Rodman Dam. What does this number represent? "Ocklawahaman" reckons it means that 2,395 INDIVIDUALS so far have been willing to BOLDLY and PUBLICLY add their name (sort-of like "John Hancock" did in 1776) FOR-FREE $$$ -- following their own sincere whims, wishes, wants, or purposes (whatever) -- to this outdoorsman-single-citizen-created "Declaration of Independence from Rodman Dam" proclamation that is officially known to SJRWMD and FL DEP as the "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" online petition. -------------------------------------------- Read this 7/11/16 email from SJRWMD's contact person to "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca: "Paul, So long as everyone is aware that we are housing the petitions, and so long as everyone knows we will not be sending receipts to petitioners, I think we are fine. You will always have an open dialogue available with me, and I may even recommend you come to our board meeting tomorrow to tell our board that you have over 1,000 signatures; which is an impressive feat!" -------------------------------------------- If "Ocklawahaman" meets in the future with staff and/or management of the SJRWMD in Palatka wouldn't it be impressive to have many more than 2,395 such "votes" of individual citizens supporting restoration that "Ocklawahaman" represents? Encourage others and spouses and/or significant others to support this grassroots petition! ONE problem that "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" has now is that an individual person signs it BUT THEIR SPOUSE OR SIGNIFICANT OTHER DOES NOT! So instead of TWO signatures the petition only gets ONE! Remember that in the "Rough and Tumble" of politics, TWO (or THREE) "votes" beats ONE! Both "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca and Captain Erika Ritter have signed FOR-FREE $$$ this petition. Are WE (including YOU) serious about getting Ocklawaha restoration started in earnest? Or are WE (including YOU) just talking TRASH? IMPORTANT NOTE: "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca is a totally non-commercial, retired, private citizen and does not seek $$$ and does not accept any $$$ contributions for the administration and promotion of his individually-created petition! The State of Florida and the United States governments -- that provide me retirement benefits (for my past services to them) -- OWN almost all of the Ocklawaha River's water and its submerged and corridor lands and collect taxes from MOST all of us. Lets FOR-FREE $$$ encourage Florida and the U.S.A. to wisely follow the principals of ecology and FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM! Sign the petition FOR-FREE $$$! And keep in mind that the last available online data -- that "Ocklawahaman" has been able to uncover -- about the "Save Rodman Reservoir, Inc." not-for-profit group shows that they have about 1,700 contributing $$$ members! Are we serious about getting Ocklawaha restoration started in earnest? Or are we just talking TRASH? Please be aware that many active public employees of the Federal and/or State of Florida governments -- or applicants for such positions -- who otherwise agree with this "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" petition might be very reluctant to sign it publicly because of social media policies that may apply to them -- they have their careers, retirements, and families to consider! "Ocklawahaman" understands their situation because "Ocklawahaman" himself was a dedicated, loyal, and patriotic U.S. and Florida governmental employee before retirement. For these government employees that aren't allowed to sign the petition publicly, "Ocklawahaman" has created a SECRET VOTE "Do You Favor the Breaching of Rodman Dam to Restore a Free-Flowing Ocklawaha River?" online poll at http://www.poll-maker.com/poll790342x4Bd4496B-32. As of 1500 hrs EDT on 6/22/18 the results of this SECRET VOTE online poll are 229 "Yes" for breaching Rodman Dam and only 21 "No" (against breaching Rodman Dam). "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca, who strives for accuracy and honesty, worships zealously a more natural Ocklawaha River valley that includes the restoration of the 56 mainstream river miles from Silver Springs to the St. Johns as a free-and-swift-flowing stream again. I am a private, retired citizen and U.S. Army veteran and a member of NO environmental organization but I volunteer my Ocklawaha River experience, observations, research, and sources to sincere individuals or groups that share my zeal for restoring this old "crooked river." "Ocklawahaman" has canoed, explored, fished, hiked, and lawfully hunted the Florida outdoors since 1962 (and still does). UNLIKE ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE INVOLVED WITH THIS ISSUE, more of my life's outdoor time -- fishing, exploring, and hunting -- has actually been spent in the Ocklawaha River basin (canoeing its waters and swamp-stomping or hammock-humping its jungle-like swamps and hammocks) than anywhere else. My Florida bass fishing began 52 years ago in 1965 and I want Rodman Dam breached to allow the restoration to free-and-swift-flowing again of the 56-mile "Real-Florida-By-God, Source-to-the-Sea" mainstream Ocklawaha River-Silver River system. And "Ocklawahaman" has actively advocated for Ocklawaha River restoration since 2006. ALL PROBABLY SHOULD KNOW THE FOLLOWING FACT: "Ocklawahaman" already has bass-fishing, canoeing, hunting, and exploration access to the best, coolest-watered, and most natural remaining part of the Ocklawaha River and its splendidly-forested wilderness corridor (i.e., the middle Ocklawaha River from the Silver River inflow/SR-40 Bridge to the Eureka/CR-316 Bridge). Along with Captain Erika Ritter, "Ocklawahaman" owns property at Eureka that borders the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway and the Ocklawaha. "Ocklawahaman" can request the FWC to stock more striped bass and channel catfish into those 18 river miles. And "Ocklawahaman" can go back to being happily retired! But for now until somewhat more than 2,395 supporting signatures have been obtained, "Ocklawahaman" is going to try to do a selfless thing as JOB #ONE -- promote and administrate this "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" online petition so that WE, while daring greatly for a worthy cause, can finally make a difference! At some point in the future, "Ocklawahaman" will be hoping to negotiate his best possible hearing(s) with staff and/or management of the SJRWMD -- the more public signatures that he represents, the louder shall be the "voice" of "Ocklawahaman" for breaching Rodman Dam! Captain Erika Ritter was once told by a high-ranking official of the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease!" Help "Ocklawahaman" if possible FOR-FREE -- sign the petition (if you haven't already) which currently (as of 1500 hrs EST 6/22/18) has 2,395 signatures. Thank you very much to all of you for your time reading this webpage and for any positive consideration that you might have towards signing the "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" petition and/or encouraging others to do so! And know that I am in favor of a free-and-swift-flowing-again "Source to the Sea" 56-mainstream-mile "Real-Florida-By-God" Silver Springs-Silver River-Ocklawaha River system! How about YOU? Most sincerely, "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca. "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" Facebook public group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1937718656450177/. THE SONG "Ocklawaha, Set Her Free" videos at: https://vimeo.com/179479588 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIUn5Hg5ePE "There are lake fishermen, and there are river fishermen, and seldom do the twain agree!" - The original author’s name is unknown to me. -------------------------------------------- PETITION SIGNERS, again, YOU may ALSO want to email SJRWMD & FL DEP directly! The "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" online petition at https://www.change.org/p/st-johns-river-water-management-district-free-the-ocklawaha-river-by-the-breaching-of-rodman-dam now has 2,395 SIGNATURES of individual folks that are in favor of a free-and-swift-flowing-again "Source to the Sea" Silver Springs-Silver River-Ocklawaha River 56-mainstream-mile system by breaching Rodman (Kirkpatrick) Dam. Again, YOU may ALSO want to email your comments -- after your FOR-FREE $$$ SIGNATURE has been added to this petition -- to SJRWMD & FL DEP directly! clerk@sjrwmd.com applicationsupport@sjrwmd.com public.services@dep.state.fl.us You then should eventually (if not right away) get a reply email to your own email address from SJRWMD & FL DEP -- logging in your name AND COMMENT as a FLORIDA PUBLIC RECORD. My Mom's ONE email to all 3 SJRWMD & FL DEP addresses can serve as an example for you -- IMPORTANT, PLEASE INSERT YOUR OWN NAME AND YOUR OWN COMMENT though! -------------------------------------------- To: clerk@sjrwmd.com applicationsupport@sjrwmd.com public.services@dep.state.fl.us Hello SJRWMD and FL DEP: Regarding the "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" petition at: https://www.change.org/p/st-johns-river-water-management-district-free-the-ocklawaha-river-by-the-breaching-of-rodman-dam I have signed the petition. I stand with my late friend Gwen Parramore Ritter (Capt. Erika's Mom) and my son Paul. FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER! Jennie Nosca, Saint Petersburg, FL -------------------------------------------- I realize that signing this petition FOR-FREE $$$ is causing you some use of your time and possibly some extra unwanted emails in your in-box. I hope that you believe as I do that this effort is for a worthy cause -- A free-and-swift-flowing-again "Source to the Sea" (from its Silver Springs supreme headwaters to its St. Johns River estuary) 56-mainstream-mile "Real-Florida-By-God" Silver Springs-Silver River-Ocklawaha River system. For the free migration of Florida-native (for thousands of years): manatees, striped bass, American eels, American shad, channel catfish, riverine LARGEMOUTH BASS, black bears, Florida panther, etc. Most sincerely, "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca