Personally, it’s distasteful to me to call out people in public but in this case I’m making an exception, because the one sided and misleading information Mr. Bill Palmer, Ph. D. President/CEO of Tall Timbers wrote is just too onerous.
Commissioner Stephen Fulford was kicked off Pinckney Hill Plantation land his family has farmed for generations because he voted as he believed best for the people of Jefferson County. He has integrity and did not bow to threat.
Mrs. Cornelia G Corbett, Vice Chairman of Tall Timbers, owns Pinckney Hill and MEG PHP LLC that combined owns 14,036.9 (+/-) acres of Jefferson County.
Additionally, neighboring Dixie Plantation is owned Tall Timbers and is approximately 9,000 acres including a historic 14,000 square foot house. Tall Timbers focus is on bobwhite quail and land management which are central to preserving a way of life for the ultra rich.
Mr. Palmer as President/CEO of Tall Timbers answers to its board of directors.
Who is behind the funding and organization of the local No-Toll Road campaign? I have suggested it is the top of Jefferson County demographic pyramid. Under the guise of environmental protection and preservation of culture they are talking into people’s fear of loss and destruction. Power is maintained by fear in one form or another.
The only thing inevitable is over 330 thousand people per year are moving to Florida. They will most likely live in the already overcrowded urban areas where the jobs are. They will have a big impact on the environment. If Tall Timbers strategy is simply to say No, then they are doing nothing to protect the environment of the whole state. Rather, shouldn’t Tall Timbers be engaged in the process to assure the best possible outcome for the total environment? Just saying No could be that Tall Timbers is just interested in its own backyard and the wishes of its board of directors? What do you think?
The history of the Everglades is not the history of our Big Bend Area, because it has not been written yet and we live in very different times. Post WWII 1947 Congress built 1,400 miles of canals, levees, and water control devices. It diverted water to cities and created farmland primarily for big sugar. Yes, we all agree this environmental abuse should not happen again. It’s poor to use a nearly 75 year old bad example to predict future doom and create fear.
I can only imagine how tiring it is for the various task forces to continually refer those with biased imaginations and selective hearing to what it says in the statute. There is nothing about linkage with Georgia, nothing about what corridors will look like or the proposed routes. There isn’t anything that says this is a done deal as the No Build option remains open. What is there is the process the DOT has to follow. Three broad stages are 1) Task Force (information gathering), 2) Planning (narrower more specific level of detail) and 3) Project Development (detailed project analysis, alternatives). This will take a few years and includes at every stage the possibility of the No Build option.
Agreed, it is irrational to believe the world will not change. The seas will rise with warmer temperatures. Florida population will grow. Global, national and regional competition will continue and evolve. Population will need to migrate. New resident’s impact on everything needs mitigation. Economy and industry needs to be developed and spread.
It is equally irrational to believe we are helplessly unable to adapt and create the best possible outcome. It is twisted to paint our government and its employees as the evil ‘they’. Our legislature, department heads and all the task force experts working on the Toll Road are laying the foundation for the next 20 to 50 years. It is responsibility at its highest to anticipate and resolve big issues before they become crises. There are many complex issues to be solved to find the best balance now for a better future.
Phil Calandra