Preservation Lands Being Threatened

"Jonathan Dickinson State Park contains a wild river, lots of endangered plants and animals and some of the state's finest scrub habitat, largely wiped out by development elsewhere in Florida. Soon, the 11,000-acre state park near Tequesta may contain something seen in few other parks: a stormwater treatment system to fix the drainage woes of homeowners outside its boundaries. The $2-million stormwater project may obliterate the nation's largest colony of one type of endangered plants, as well as destroy the homes of gopher tortoises and scrub jays. But Martin County officials insist they need to take 23 acres from the park to alleviate flooding in a subdivision next door. The Jonathan Dickinson stormwater project is just one in a series of attempts in recent months to chip away at the 4-million acres the state has bought for environmental preservation. "Clearly we are starting to see a wave of this," said Eric Draper of Audubon of Florida."