Kissimmee River Wild and Scenic Designation Proposed

U.S. Rep Darren Soto, whose district includes sections of Polk and Osceola counties at the headwaters of the Kissimmee River, has proposed seeking Congressional approval to designate the Kissimmee River an official Wild and Scenic River as allowed under the 1968 National Wild And Scenic Rivers Act.

Soto announced his proposal recently at a forum in Orlando, according to Politico.

The only Florida Rivers that have this designation are the Wekiva River near Orlando and the Loxahatchee River in South Florida.

The law recognizes significant streams and provides assistance to landowners along the rivers to help to preserve their important characteristics. It does not restrict development or land use.

Most of the land along the river is in public ownership or included in large tracts of agricultural land, which means there is little imminent development threat anyway.

The once wild free-flowing 103-mile river was ditched in the 1960s as part of a misguided flood-control project. The project destroyed thousands of acres of wetlands, displaced wildlife and removed the natural river’s ability to filter pollution coming downstream from urban areas at its headwaters before the water reached Lake Okeechobee and the lower portions of the Everglades.

Restoration work is under way to restore much of the river’s original channel. It is the largest river restoration project ever attempted anywhere in the world. The latest projected completion date is sometime in 2019.

Posted in Group Conservation Issues.