Step up to beat cancer with a chance at a backwoods getaway! This is one sweet mountain cabin that’s owned by my friend Teresa’s parents. We’re taking donations for the American Cancer Society in which you can join the drawing for a week-long stay for up to 6 people  in the woods.  Yes, you heard right:  an entire week!

It’s near Blue Ridge, GA and borders a National Forest with the Appalachian Trail and Benton Mackaye Trail nearby.

The raffle is $5 per chance or $20 for 5 chances.

There are three ways to enter.
1) Make a donation at  http://main.acsevents.org/goto/sandrafriend
In the comment box, specify that this is for the raffle. OR, contact me directly after you make your donation to let me know you want in on the raffle. Here’s the catch. I must hear from you by NOON on Friday Apr 23. Our Relay for Life starts later in the day and I’ll be offline after that.

2) Send me a donation via PayPal and I’ll bring it in person to the event. I also must have your donation in hand by NOON Friday April 23.  Be sure to specify in the PayPal comments that it’s for the raffle!

3) Show up at the Relay for Life at Auburndale High School on Fri Apr 23 after 6 PM to buy tickets from our team. We’ll be selling them in person until we do the drawing at the end of Relay for Life, 10 AM this Saturday.

All of us on the team will pool our raffle participants for the drawing.
Thank you for participating, and good luck!

Teresa & Jack hiking with me at Estero Preserve State Park

Relay for Life is a different kind of hike, and one I’m finally taking the banner up for, 11 years after I lost my sister to cancer. My friend Teresa, who hiked with me back when I worked on “50 Hikes in South Florida,” went on to both hike the Appalachian Trail *and* beat back cancer. When she said “would you like to be on my team,” how could I say no?

Rather than just donate, I’m going to walk. And walk. And walk. And support the efforts of the American Cancer Society to both support cancer patients and their caregivers through the difficult process of recovery or loss.

How can you help? Support our team’s fundraising effort to help fight back cancer.

For my story, and links to help our team meet our goal,
visit my page on Relay for Life.

On Tuesday, the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee backed down from their proposal-in-committee to fold the Office of Greenways and Trails into Florida State Parks.  After the committee wrapped their recommendations for the day, I received an email from my friend Kent Wimmer that confirmed that OGT was not under discussion for loss of budget.  Thanks again for your calls and emails to the committee.

The Florida Legislature is at it again. Last year the cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection threatened the continued existence of certain Florida State Parks; now it’s a frontal assault on a full department of the government, the Office of Greenways & Trails.

This is terribly ironic at a time when Florida was named the top state for trails in America - hiking, biking, paddling, birding, equestrian, and more - and more people are turning to trails as an inexpensive way to relax during this stressful recession. Florida has more than 8,000 miles of trails, including our 1,400 mile Florida National Scenic Trail.

For more than a decade, the Office of Greenways and Trails, first instituted to manage the newly-formed Cross Florida Greenway from Cross Florida Barge Canal lands decommissioned and ceded to the state, has worked directly with user groups to develop the recreational potential of former railroad lines and other linear corridors throughout Florida. Success stories include the Cross Florida Greenway, which serves many user groups; the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail, a prime destination for paddlers from around the world; and the Withlacoochee State Trail, providing a two-day trip for bicyclists between Dunnellon and Dade City.

Recreational corridors - greenways and trails - are the future of America. As our country reshapes itself to meet existing challenges, we’ll be looking for alternative ways to travel, vacation, and commute. Greenways provide these options. And they bring in the cash. More than $95 million of revenue can be traced to visitors coming to Florida to use our trails last year.

Only a few voices have spoken up to let me know about this impending crisis. Senator Charlie Dean (R, Inverness) is leading the charge to dismantle this important state agency. Their committee vote may be as soon as THIS TUESDAY, March 16. Please make your concerns known to Senator Dean and the other members of his committee; their names and contact information can be found on this Florida Senate Committees web page.

Several folks sent me a snippet of email that came from an article by environmental writer Bruce Ritchie on March 10:

“The Office of Greenways and Trails within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection would be merged with the state park system as a cost-saving move under a proposed budget recommendation released Wednesday by the Senate General Government Appropriations Committee….The merger, suggested by Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, would allow for the elimination of 16 positions and save $974,000 a year, Baker said. Dean said visitors to state parks and greenways shouldn’t notice the difference after the merger. Meanwhile, the committee also proposed $142 million for the petroleum tanks cleanup program at DEP. The program, which receives trust fund money from a tax on oil imported into Florida, was reduced last year to $90 million in bonding after the Legislature swept money from the trust fund. Jim Smith, president of the Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, said he hoped the budget recommendation, along with HB 1385, would allow the state to speed the cleanup of the state’s 14,000 petroleum contamination sites.”

Do let Senator Dean and your legislator know the importance of Greenways and Trails to you … and yes, that without staff to manage (and clean) trailhead amenities such as campgrounds and restrooms and to work with user groups and surrounding landowners, visitors would indeed notice the difference. Thanks!

Today at 1 PM, the successful Environmentally Endangered Lands Program (EEL) will be under discussion at the Brevard County Commission Meeting at the Viera County Commission Chambers in Bldg C  (Google Map for directions to meeting).

According to the meeting agenda, the line item is *1:00 p.m. 3. Citizen Request, Re: Amy Tidd – EEL Program Procedures.

Apologies for the lateness of this alert, but my friends in Brevard County sent me this late yesterday:

“County Commissioner Anderson went on the Bill Mick radio show this morning and asked all persons who are against the EEL program to come to tomorrow’s Commission meeting!

This is our chance to fill the room and show the Commission that wide support still exists for EEL and the wildlife and plants it protects and the nature-based recreation it offers. You don’t need to speak unless you choose. Wear green, if possible, to identify the Defenders of the EEL Program, its  lands and wildlife, and our rights as citizens and taxpayers for assurance  that county policy, procedures, and Charter requirements are followed.”

If you live in the region and have enjoyed hikes at such diverse places as Enchanted Forest Sanctuary, Maritime Forest Sanctuary, Turkey Creek Sanctuary, Micco Scrub, Coconut Point Sanctuary, and the dozens of other Brevard lands that were purchased through citizens taxing themselves to preserve land for recreation, habitat, and future generations, please attend this meeting to make your feelings known about the importance of this conservation program.