Press hard to figure out the human political proponents by name, then expose these individuals with every avenue of media possible. Someone take the lead on this. Many others will follow and support your effort.
Your vocabulary was correct. I had a property in Lake Elsinore , California. I😅t stinks what we have allowed to happen to our United States of America. It’s in every state and it’s very sad. And I agree with you.
Thanks for having the BALLS to speak up. I’ve been in Lake Placid for 12 years now and can’t believe how the water quality has changed due to the spraying. We had the FWC in Sebring a while back they think their doing a great job. That must be why I’ve seen numerous avid fishermen leave and never return.
I think. All the spraying has caused the red tides on both of our coast. I have lived in palma sola floridia. For the past 20 years and have watched the red tide destroy the coastal sea life . Your chart shows the connection😢 we all have got to do something about it.
My friend lived right on Taylor Creek. He used to be a fishing guide. That water is so brown now from the spraying. It’s so nasty now. 17:19 My friend lived right on Taylor Creek. He used to be a fishing guide. That water is so brown now from the spraying. It’s so nasty now.
Cody, very compelling story. The data supports what all of us are seeing on the lake. I would like to have a copy of the chart. Is it an FWC chart or did someone else mine the data and put it together? If you could provide the source of the chart, I would appreciate it.
Aweome videos as always- just a suggestion. Mike Lendl would be an awesome guy for a podcast. If he is available haha. Tons of history down here. And you fish KOTG so you know him. Keep up the awesome vids man!
Great video Cody. Watching the lake die when it doesn't have to is super depressing. Wish we had a billionaire in our pocket to raise some hell in Tallahassee.
I just left a 2 day tournament on Okeechobee. That's the dirtiest nastiest most disgusting lake I've ever seen or fished and I've fished lake Apopka when it was at its worst and that's considered a toxic lake. Okeechobee is worse by far. Lots of huge dead fish all over the lake. I'm from Orlando and I'm aware the nutrient overload starts in Orlando and gets worse with all the weed spraying from here south. We have to demand change from Tallahassee. And especially from game and fish that contract the sprayers and incentivise them to overspraying
You guys are complaining to the wrong audience. Every project or alteration to an ecosystem has to go through the United States Fish and Wildlife Services (feds) Ecological Services review....even the Army Corp of engineers have to answer to them on any project. Raising the water levels on Okeechobee is a drastic alteration to an ecosystem as shown by the charts. You have to use the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act, clean water act etc. to you advantage. (Ex. The loss of vegetation and water quality will cause certain Migratory Bird species to flounder or alter migratory patterns, so you find specific instances and present them to Ecological Services. If there is any validity to the claim, they will act.). ESA comes into play with manatees or any other endangered species (think spotted owl and the Pacific northwest). Loss of habitat is a big deal these days (think indian river UME) Less vegetation for them to eat is considered a take under the ESA if the perpetrator are aware of it (that fwc chart). Clean water act comes into play when sediments increase in the water column due to the loss of vegetation...especially if there are heavy metals in the said sediment. Also partner with the dreaded environmentalist. Sierra Club is a big stick in these fights and they are always looking for new fights. Find a reason for them to get involved. You guys are out there every day and could easily document the consequences of the ecosystem alterations, but using their own data is very convincing. Bird counts, vegetation studies, fish population studies are all weapons to be used. I'm sure Lake Okeechobee has a Friends group (if they don't have one start one)...approach them with your concerns. Economic impacts also are a consideration when seeking approval for these projects. Roland Martin Marine would be a good start for this angle. I mean really who wants to visit a nasty mucked up settling pond on their vacation. Get a copy of the Environmental Impact Statement (every government project has to have one) and rip it apart.
It's not if it becomes a reservoir with million-dollar homes around it, it's when. When you see them digging out the rim canal making it deeper and larger, that will be the start of it. Spraying will never end until they want to stop it. It's a shame that this lake has brought so much joy to fishermen and their families over the years to let it die this way. East and west coast has been built up and what is left..the middle. Look at the big housing development going in on the north end.
Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but is the water level related to our population and growth? Seeing that it feeds the Southern part of the state population as well as the Everglades and many other tributaries tributaries. There must be hundreds of considerations or even thousands to take issue with here.
I'm a captain on pine Island. Same story here. It's not just mismanagement. Cape Coral has chosen expansion of its tax base and growth over the environment
It’s not just spraying they are running these amphibious grinding machines they look like something u would see at a land fill grinding up trash completely ridiculous killing birds fish everything in sight when those machines are running no one seems to talk about these grinding machines
Never going to fix Lake Okeechobee to much developed land now to go back. Just think of all the development that’s taken place in the past 30 years, how many acres of land are now concrete and homes, all that rain water now has to be directed somewhere because it’s no longer absorbed into the soil. Not only has it effected the freshwater lakes it’s also killed off everything in the Indian river and other estuaries . Talk about what use to be a world renowned destination for speckled sea trout completely destroyed, the grass flats are no longer there. Another 20 years and Lake Okeechobee will be fishing like the Sabine River lucky to catch a few 1lb bass. At this point you’d be talking about hundreds of billions of dollars to solve this problem which would take cutting new inlets in along both coasts to let more saltwater in to flush out the fresh water in the estuaries and also develop 2-3 massive lakes between ocala and Okeechobee to hold run off and also cut new canal systems in to handle the drainage out to the estuaries. I think the state would rather loose 3-4 fresh water lakes then spend the money needed to actually fix the issues, the real money for the state is the beaches and salt water fisheries. They will make a few fresh water fishing lakes like headwaters but the big bodies of water like okeechobee will be holding tanks.
