House Bill 4787

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HM 4787

        By Representatives Albright, King, Thrasher, Sembler and
    Smith





  1                          House Memorial

  2         A memorial to the President of the United

  3         States supporting in part and opposing in part

  4         the nomination of the entire St. Johns River

  5         for federal designation as an American Heritage

  6         River.

  7

  8         WHEREAS, the American Heritage Rivers Initiative is a

  9  program created by Executive Order 13061, and

10         WHEREAS, Executive Order 13061 states that the American

11  Heritage Rivers Initiative has the objectives of natural

12  resource and environmental protection, economic

13  revitalization, and historic and cultural preservation, and

14         WHEREAS, an application was submitted by the City of

15  Jacksonville on December 7, 1997, to designate the entire St.

16  Johns River, a river stretching 310 miles in length, an

17  American Heritage River, and

18         WHEREAS, the primary point of contact for the

19  nominating organization resides in Duval County, and

20         WHEREAS, the St. Johns River runs through 12 counties

21  and numerous diverse communities with different environmental,

22  economic, cultural, and recreational concerns and needs, and

23         WHEREAS, numerous county commissions and state and

24  federal legislators representing certain counties along the

25  St. Johns River south of Duval County have expressed their

26  opposition to designating the entire St. Johns River as an

27  American Heritage River, and

28         WHEREAS, the Federal Government provides limited

29  options for those counties to opt out of an American Heritage

30  River designation, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HM 4787

    66-200-98






  1         WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that the American

  2  Heritage Rivers Initiative is intended to be a locally driven

  3  initiative, taking into account the desires of the local

  4  communities and local representatives, and

  5         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds it appropriate for the

  6  primary nominating party to submit an application for that

  7  stretch of the river starting at the southern Duval County

  8  line and running north to the Atlantic Ocean, but

  9  inappropriate for the primary nominating party to include

10  counties south of Duval County without their full support, and

11         WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that the American

12  Heritage Rivers Initiative allows for the nomination of two or

13  more noncontiguous segments of a river, NOW, THEREFORE,

14

15  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

16

17         That the Florida House of Representatives supports the

18  application to designate a portion of the St. Johns River as

19  an American Heritage River for that portion starting at the

20  southern Duval County line and running north to the Atlantic

21  Ocean, excluding those areas lying within the Sixth

22  Congressional District.

23         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida House of

24  Representatives opposes the inclusion of counties south of

25  Duval County in that application, and therefore, opposes

26  federal designation as an American Heritage River of any

27  stretch of river running through those counties unless such

28  counties have submitted an application on their own behalf.

29         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be

30  dispatched to the President of the United States.

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