“Humans are responsible because the harm is directly tied to our land uses”
By Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson
Editor’s Note: Ichetucknee Alliance Advisory Board Member Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson wrote the following in an email in reaction to an article in the September/October 2003 issue of Mother Jones magazine, “The Ungreening of America: Down Upon the Suwannee River” (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/09/ungreening-america-down-upon-suwannee-river). The article mentions Svenn and Joy Lindskold, who were interviewed by the article’s author.
Here are no scientific statistics, no numbers, no alphabet soup of acronyms. Instead, Merrillee writes from her heart and compellingly captures the feelings of so many of us who are trying to save Florida’s priceless natural treasures—treasures that emotions such as love and compassion may help us to save, if we can tap into those emotions deeply enough to realize they must extend not only to our springs but also to each other.
This article! This is exactly why I am so very upset about mining industry in Florida. People who are in charge of approving permits to destroy and harm know. They know what we know. They choose to look away and manipulate the laws to support the greed machine.
Look for upcoming action on the following three issues, all attention on mining in particular. Nutrien (formerly Occidental and Potash Corp) wants to expand into Columbia County. Twin Pines wants to mine for titanium and other rare earths in the Southeast corner on the edge of the largest backwater swamp in North America. Chemours violates a very large NPDES permit often, making people and natural systems sick.
Svenn was the President of Save Our Suwannee (SOS), an organization that was formidable in this region; I think he founded that organization too along with Four Rivers Audubon. I was unfortunately the last SOS president before their seated board voted to shutter the organization. The group became ineffective and floundered, I think because of this kind of crap (in the Mother Jones article). They had to continue to persevere during their strongest efforts to protect the Suwannee Basin; a very distinguished and science based all volunteer group! They used a strong educational platform in their organizational style. There were printed SOS materials that were distributed. They knew how to act before governmental leadership to lean into policy changes to protect the Suwannee; however, how to engage with the public was changing to keep up with emails and then social media. Most of the SOS board members grew tired of the insanity (I mean this respectfully—saying the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results).
All groups go through changes. Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) came fairly close to closing a year ago.
It’s maddening to read this article from 2003. It’s the same story, just different people. It makes me sick to my stomach to read this, honestly. Twenty years later and things are worse, far worse.
All the influencers prior to social media were making rounds in government-funded meetings. I sat in a meeting at Gateway College in Lake City where over 70 people were in the same room learning from Jim Stevenson about the Ichetucknee.
The living know and walk among us making lousy decisions for the next generations.
The leaders know.
They are failing the springs and us and all of Nature’s offspring, in every sense.
There is low-hanging fruit to change our ways before it’s over and out. If we stay on this path, the freshwater gems will be dried up and our freshwater systems choked with filamentous algae and polluted.
It’s a sad state of water in Florida. Humans are responsible because the harm is directly tied to our land uses.