Dear:

Members of the Florida Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (Chapter) unanimously passed a resolution conceptually supporting the Senate's "Florida Forever" bill (SB 906 and 908) and the House's companion "Stewardship Florida" bill (PCB-EP-99-1), at our 1999 Business Meeting. The nearly 300 members of the Chapter represent a broad cross-section of fisheries professionals from Federal and state agencies, Florida universities and the private sector.

In November 1998, the voters of Florida by a 72 percent majority passed Revision-5 to the Florida Constitution. The revision authorized continuation of the state's outstanding land acquisition programs, which were initiated in 1963, and provided for sale of bonds for land acquisition programs. Programs like Preservation 2000, Save Our Coasts, Save Our Rivers, Conservation and Recreation Lands (CARL) and Environmental and Endangered Lands have been enormously successful and popular resulting in purchase of nearly one million acres that are being conserved and protected.

The membership resolution encourages you to ensure that the final "Florida Forever Act" continues the tradition of acquiring land for conservation without providing a loophole to divest the state of conservation lands nor to allow developers to adversely impact natural resources on lands acquired with state funding. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, in 1996, Florida's recreational fisheries provided an economic output of $6.1 billion, support 81,815 jobs and generated $197 million in state sales and income taxes. It is the consensus of our professional members that the most critical factor to conserving and enhancing those resources and their associated commercial, aesthetic and natural values is habitat protection. Consequently funding management activities to conserve, restore and enhance these areas once purchased is equally vital.

Please help ensure the future of Florida's fisheries and aquatic wildlife by passing a strong "Florida Forever Act."

cc: Robert Kendall, Acting Executive Director, AFS
Robert Carline, President, AFS