HM 0575, Engrossed 1 2003
1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to enact legislation to halt dredging on the
4	Apalachicola River, to continue authority of the United
5	States Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance of
6	the river's navigation channel markings and lock system
7	for recreational boating, and to provide for the
8	restoration and maintenance of fish and wildlife resources
9	and habitats of the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola
10	Bay.
11
12	WHEREAS, Florida's Apalachicola River has been designated
13	by the State of Florida as an outstanding Florida Water, and
14	WHEREAS, the Apalachicola Bay has been designated by the
15	United States as a National Estuarine Research Reserve and by
16	the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve, and
17	WHEREAS, the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay are
18	the cornerstones to the economy of six Florida counties and
19	provide thousands of jobs in commercial fishing, recreational
20	fishing, and ecotourism to Floridians, and
21	WHEREAS, Apalachicola Bay provides nearly 90 percent of
22	Florida's oysters and over 10 percent of the nation's oysters,
23	and
24	WHEREAS, the health and productivity of the Apalachicola
25	River and the bay into which it flows are dependent upon the
26	amount and quality of water that flows into and out of the
27	river, and
28	WHEREAS, the Apalachicola River has been subject to
29	navigational dredging performed by the United States Army Corps
30	of Engineers that has resulted in environmental harm, including
31	degraded water quality, loss of productive bottomland, hardwood
32	habitat, and damaged fish habitat, and
33	WHEREAS, the dredging of the Apalachicola River is not
34	economically efficient in that the Federal Government spends an
35	estimated $20 million a year to maintain the river for barge
36	traffic, which amounts to an expenditure of approximately
37	$30,000 per barge, and
38	WHEREAS, the House of Representatives of the State of
39	Florida finds that the cessation of dredging on the Apalachicola
40	River, the continuation of the authority of the United States
41	Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance of the river's
42	navigation channel markings and lock system for recreational
43	boating, and the restoration and maintenance of fish and
44	wildlife resources and habitats of the Apalachicola River and
45	Apalachicola Bay are essential to the continued ecological and
46	economic health and well-being of the region, NOW, THEREFORE,
47
48	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
49
50	That the Legislature of the State of Florida hereby urges
51	Congress to enact legislation to halt dredging on the
52	Apalachicola River, to continue the authority of the United
53	States Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance of the
54	river's navigation channel markings and lock system for
55	recreational boating, and to provide for the restoration and
56	maintenance of fish and wildlife resources and habitats of the
57	Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay.
58	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
59	transmitted to the President of the United States, the President
60	of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States
61	House of Representatives, and to each member of the Florida
62	delegation to the United States Congress.