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SAFER members are
strong supporters of Everglades Restoration. For decades, bass anglers have
been concerned about our environment. We have long realized that
a healthy, restored Everglades, with its increased connectivity,
will provide additional spawning, nursery, and foraging habitat
for our favorite sport fish. The system wide benefits
have the potential to improve the quality and quantity of
an already great fishery.
SAFER has its roots in an
organization named Fishermen Against the Destruction of
the Environment. FADE was founded in the mid 1980's by Tom
Cunard of the Trail
 Glades
Bassmasters fishing club, based in Miami, Fl. The immediate
focus of the group was the deteriorating condition of Lake
Okeechobee, famous at the time as one of the finest bass fishing
destinations in the country. Long before it was politically
correct to do so, Tom Cunard was warning about the dire
consequences facing the lake. "Lake Okeechobee must not be
allowed to die," he wrote in December of 1986. "The
American people historically have never been the kind to stand
up and be heard or help when it comes to preventive measures.
The American people historically will stand up and help after a
situation has already happened. By then it will be too late, the
damage to Lake Okeechobee, if allowed to die, will take
centuries to repair." Filled with foreboding, the group
organized the "Wake on the Lake," a procession of bass boats and
tow vehicles that extended more than 15 miles, from
Clewiston to South Bay. Overflown by the helicopters of South
Florida's news media, and attended by Governor Bob Graham and
Everglades icon Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, the images—and
the message—of
the concerned anglers were broadcast throughout Florida.
  
As we know today, FADE's concerns were prophetic. Nearly three
decades later, the health of Lake Okeechobee continues to hover
near death, and its reputation as one of the nation's great
fisheries greatly diminished. For bass anglers, it doesn't get
much sadder. By the early 90's, FADE's
concerns had moved closer to home, and the deteriorating
condition of Florida's Water Conservation Areas (WCA's), and in
turn, Everglades National Park. It all began in August of 1985,
when SFWMD, in an effort to to halt the flow of nutrient
laden water into Lake Okeechobee, began diverting over 90% of
the agricultural run-off to the south. As the new decade dawned,
chronically high water levels, toxic algae blooms, tainted water
with high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, insecticides
and fertilizers, the proliferation of exotic vegetation and fish
kills were visibly symptomatic of the adverse impact on the
habitat. The effects on the WCA 3 fisheries was immediate and
harmful. Long accustomed to the incredible catch rates of the
WCA canal system, fishermen were stunned at the virtual
disappearance of game fish.
The Corps of Engineers published its solution
to the endemic problems in September of 1990. The $70 million
proposal called for the construction of three spillways on the
L-67A Canal, a heavily fished section of canal stretching from
the Tamiami Trail in the south, to Everglades Holiday Park in
the north. Water would be shunted from WCA3A, to be filtered
through the marshes of WCA3B, before before being delivered to
ENP. The backpumping of the polluted waters from the Everglades
Agricultural Area (EAA) into South Florida, declared FADE's
President had "already created a septic tank out of
Conservation Area 3A. Now, the new recommendations will make a
septic tank out of Conservation Area 3B." Bass fishing in
the 'Glades had come to a standstill, and now angler access was
going to be severely restricted. FADE was again galvanized into
action, and the stage was set for a confrontation.
That took place at the public comment meeting held later that
month. Again, FADE galvanized the fishing community, as dozens
of fishermen packed the Miami Dade Commission meeting room
in protest. "When we set out to do this project, we thought
it was a situation where we would come out looking like good
guys," declared a one of the project planners. "Next
thing you know, I've got fishermen on my butt and understandably
so."
But it wasn't just fishermen who were to be disappointed, for
the massive document (officially known as the General Design
Memorandum for Modified Water Deliveries to
 Everglades
National Park) pleased no one. The proposed plan was soon mired
in controversy and plagued by a series of lawsuits from a
variety of stakeholder groups that brought any forward progress
to a virtual standstill. But in October of 1999,
the Corps of Engineers and their partners at SFWMD were back
with new proposals. At a public meeting held at the Bass Pro
Shops in Dania, Fl., bass anglers continued to balk. The MWD
Project Design Meeting Summary stated, "The public voiced the
desire to maintain recreational access in the project area and
have consistently requested maintaining the canal for
recreational fishing/boating access from L-29 to Holiday Park,
which would require not removing L-67."
SAFER
was formed on June 12, 2001 at a meeting held in Bass
Pro Shops Outdoor World, Dania Florida.
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