Everglades National Park is getting $13.2 million in federal stimulus

• Everglades National Park is getting $13.2 million in federal stimulus funds -- the lion's share going to repair two failed dams near Flamingo that were supposed to prevent saltwater intrusion into interior marshes. The dams on East Cape Canal and Homestead Canal failed in 1997, compromising the freshwater habitat of minnows, wading birds and crocodiles. Park officials have installed cables with floats to bar motorboat entry, but canoes and kayaks, which may legally enter those no-motor zones, also have difficulty crossing the blockades. Meanwhile, park deputy superintendent Keith Whisenant said an environmental assessment for three proposals to rebuild the dams is expected to be released for public comment in June. He said $12.5 million in stimulus money will be sufficient to pay for whichever alternative is selected. Whisenant said he expects the contracts will be awarded by September, with work completed by mid-2010. The remaining funds will be used for new ranger housing in Key Largo, for solar heating in campgrounds, and to resurface the Guy Bradley Trail.
Meanwhile, volunteers led by Tom Rahill and Jim Brack are working steadily to reopen the Bear Lake Canoe Trail in the park that was blocked by debris tossed by hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005. The volunteers said they have nearly completed clearing the first 1.6 miles of the canal at the end of Bear Lake Road to Bear Lake. They expect to work all summer and into the fall to reopen the trail for the 2009-10 paddling season.

The Coastal Prairie Hiking Trail, also blocked by the 2005 hurricanes, has reopened to visitors. Workers cleared debris by hand along the 7.5-mile trail, which begins at the rear of C-Loop campground and ends at Clubhouse Beach. For more information about hiking the trail, call 239-695-3990.

• NOAA Fisheries has announced an emergency rule to take effect May 18 in the Gulf of Mexico to protect threatened loggerhead sea turtles. The interim measure, which will be in effect for 180 days, requires commercial bottom longline fishermen who target grouper to move their gear out past a depth of 50 fathoms, or 300 feet. Currently, they are allowed to set gear seaward of the 20-fathom, or 120-foot depth contour. The rule also prohibits all reef longline fishing east of 85 degrees, 30 minutes west longitude after quotas for deep-water grouper and tilefish are met. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council requested the rule after a NOAA observer study showed that too many turtles were being caught and killed incidentally by bottom longliners.