My fellow Floridians,

Florida’s beautiful and unique ecosystem has always attracted droves of people from around the world. Florida offers warm weather, pristine beaches, beautiful sunsets, exotic wildlife, and the dream of swaying in a hammock under the palm trees in the ocean breeze. Since the beginning we have exploited our states beauty, which was once undiscovered tropical paradise (mosquitos not included). I’m sure you have experienced the exasperation of driving in increased seasonal traffic worsened by drivers who don’t know where they are going. This can be inconvenient for natives, but what is worse than the inconvenience is the severe damage tourist have on our ecosystem and its wildlife. There is a logical solution for this dilemma; A portion of Florida tourist tax money should be spent on state park restoration, specifically the Florida Everglades, to prevent further deterioration of ecosystem, its wildlife, and its waters.

Within South West Florida we face a critical problem that instead of being addressed is being sponsored. Tourism is a highly profitable industry; the costs are directly taken from our incredibly precious and fragile ecosystem. A percentage of profits from our booming attractions could easily be used to preserve and restore our unique environment. According to Oxford Economics(visitflorida.org) “112 billion dollars was spent by tourist last year, of this 52 billion on hotels and rental cars which provided the tourist tax of 3.4 billion.” If we were to take just 25 percent of this, it would be 855 million dollars. I feel this money would be best used saving and restoring Florida’s ecosystem. However, it is state law that the profits must be placed back into the development of tourism, which leads to the destruction of our land and water. As a community, we must first come to an understanding of the costs hidden within the attraction of tourism. The detrimental effects of tourism are commonly swept under the rug considering a majority of locals profit in some form from tourism. However, it is being overlooked just how much is being compromised and lost. If tourism continues to deplete Florida’s natural resources as quickly as it does now, we will soon be facing serious issues such as: drought, poor water quality, increase of wildfires, extinction of unique wildlife, and ultimately even loss of the tourism which fuels the economy.

The prevailing problems in the Everglades is water quality and threatened habitats for the many endangered species which call it home. According to Anthony at the Everglades Foundation, “the Everglades is home to 73 threatened or endangered species. With the decline of the Everglades, specifically drought and flooding due to man-made interventions, this habitat becomes more inhospitable ever year. One out of three Floridians, 8 million people, relay on the Florida Everglades for their water supply. The water purity of the Everglades continues to decline every year because of pollution and man’s interference with its natural filtration process.” The Everglades is in continuous decline so it requires a solution with equal continuity.

One of the solutions that has been implemented to help restore Florida’s Everglades is the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP. This plan was created to “restore, preserve, and protect the South Florida ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region, including water supply and flood protection.” The CERP has planned many projects centered around the needs of residents as well as the environment, however these plans have proven to have flaws. For example, it has been pointed out by the new “National Academies” report that the plan has become somewhat outdated since being authorized in 2000. The report suggests that the plans do not consider climate change and without updates the plan will not achieve projected levels of water flow and extreme weather tolerance. Professor of atmospheric and oceanic science at the University of Maryland and interim director of UMD’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center spoke up about these issues by saying “Adjustments are necessary because climate change leads to both a rise in sea levels and changes in rainfall patterns. The sea is salt water and the rain is freshwater. The combination leads to dramatic changes in the distribution of freshwater throughout the Everglades wetlands. This impacts not only the ecosystem, but also the ability of the canals and reservoirs to provide adequate protection against floods and droughts in the increasingly urbanizing south Florida environment.” The CERP is a highly budgeted multibillion dollar plan that also neglects reviving the Everglades National Park which costs contributes to the $11.3 billion national park maintenance backlog. Per the Miami Herald News government park administration has suggested a different solution to restoration and ongoing preservation which includes doubling entrance fees to Everglades National Park during the 5 busiest months of tourist season. While this plan would help with park maintenance, park advocates worry that the price increases will deter visitors from the park. Loss of visitors would decrease park awareness and future park donations, potentially worsening the problems this plan intends to fix.

Since tourism is a huge contributor to the deterioration of the Florida Everglades, then it makes sense to be a contributor in its restoration. The money is already there. Tourists pay taxes on rental cars and hotel rooms, but by state law this money can only go into the tourism industry. Florida is the anomaly in this practice. Most states use a portion of the money they collect to go back into things like roads and education. It is my assertion that a portion of the taxes collected from tourists every year go back to the ecosystem, which the influx of tourists impacts in a negative way. If we took 25% of the hundreds of millions of dollars collected yearly and put it back into the restoration of the Florida Everglades, it would be the first step on a very long road to restoring and maintaining the lands and waters which are preserved in the Everglades National Park. I realize that it can be a scary proposition to rock the boat of an industry which is a huge factor in driving our economy. I also realize by the time the trickle-down effect has a negative impact on the daily lives of the average citizen it will be too late to change. Yearly water samples have become more polluted over the years. This plan takes common sense and foresight to put it in action. The Florida voter must realize that it is our beautiful and unique ecosystem which draws tourists here in the first place, so it is crucial to preserve this ecosystem. Many of the animals people come here to see, such as the Florida Panther, Sea Turtle, and the manatee, already face extinction. Our pristine beaches, which people flock to see, are effected by the Florida Everglades whose waters drain into this ocean.

Most of Florida’s economy is built on tourism; some feel it is best not to rock the boat. They fail to understand that tourists come to Florida for our unique ecosystem. Evidence can be provided of this by the number of visitors to our parks and wildlife sanctuaries. It has been argued that to fix the everglades it will take billions; many feel it is too large of a problem to undertake. If taken one step at a time, then it is feasible. There are some restoration projects currently underway like the “hole-in-the-doughnut” and many more are needed. Some argue that the Florida Everglades is already the largest preserve in the U.S so enough has been done. As long as we negatively impact the Florida Everglades there needs to be an equal amount of restoration done just to fix what we have broken.

Carol Dover, who is president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association argues that our economy will suffer if tourist taxes are not invested in tourism. She states that “not only would local economies see losses in revenue due to scaled-down marketing efforts, but our hotels, restaurants and businesses would undoubtedly suffer if lawmakers were to open the floodgates and deplete these funds by using them for basic government services.” Hotels, businesses, and restaurants do have marketing budgets of their own. They would also have a large percentage of the substantial amount of money produced by these taxes. I feel that 2.5 billion, which is 75 percent of the Florida tourist tax on hotels and rental cars, is more than enough money to spend on marketing and development for tourism. “In 2015, out-of-state visitors spent $108.8 billion and, including indirect and induced impacts, generated $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue”, states Carol Dover. There is no question that our economy is driven by tourism, but they fail to mention the negative impacts tourism has on the local ecosystem and its wildlife, which is what so many tourists come to see. There are already exemptions made to help finance stadiums, arenas, and some museums. As a local example of this, there is the Baker Art Museum which is currently funded by tourist tax, according to Naples Daily News. The argument is that they draw more tourist to our state. Why can’t the environment fall under the same category? Carol Dover states “it’s unfair to raid one industry’s fund in hopes of correcting issues that are the collective and fiscal responsibility of local communities.” It is completely fair that every industry should pay to repair problems they create. Carol and people in similar positions have an obvious bias towards the tourism industry because their income is paid by this industry.

My grandpa always said, “if you make a mess, clean it up.” I think he was teaching me responsibility. I think as a society, if we take responsibility for our actions and fix the problems that we create this world would be a better place. It is clear that ongoing restoration is needed for the Florida Everglades to survive. Ongoing restoration requires ongoing funding which could be provided by using a portion of the state’s tourist taxes. While federally funded programs like the CERP need to continue, federal funding is a slow and unreliable process. While waiting the problem only increases until it may become unmanageable. As Florida residents, we need to make our environment and its wildlife a priority. This can easily be done without any negative consequences, contrary to what the tourism industry says, by appropriating a portion of the tourist taxes. Nothing will change until government officials realize a majority of Florida’s citizens have untied to demand the necessary funding to preserve and improve our ecosystem, specifically the unique Florida Everglades. If you sign the attached petition hopefully our voices will be heard. If we fail to be good stewards of this land, we will not only fail ourselves and our community we will also destroy the industry on which Florida relies.

Sincerely,

Annalynn Hunter