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Welcome to the LOST Bicycle Club. Our purpose is to promote responsible recreational bicycling particularly on and around the improved bicycle trail atop the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee known as the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail.
Ken Steinhoff and Adele Gastle at sunset on the trail.
A proposed rock mine that stood in the way of Everglades restoration may have disappeared with the new year.
But the disputed mine already increased the value of land sought by the state, and that cost could remain with taxpayers for decades to come.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Florida's water managers agreed to buy nearly 300 square miles of land from United States Sugar on Tuesday, approving a $1.34 billion deal that could reshape the Everglades, the sugar business and several small towns that have relied on agriculture for decades.
The decision by the board of the South Florida Water Management District, by a vote of 4 to 3, with one abstention, moves the state closer to completing its largest and most expensive environmental acquisition. But supporters and opponents said economic uncertainties could keep the deal from closing.
The good folks at Rails To Trails have an email campaign going to nudge the new administration towards helping us adopt a more healthy lifestyle. They want any new economic stimulus package that funds transportation to include bike paths, bike lanes and trails. Here is their petition.
Within days of the president-elect taking office, Congress will likely pass a new large-scale economic recovery package, aiming to create millions of jobs.
A significant percentage of this package may be allocated specifically to transportation infrastructure. This presents both a threat and an opportunity.
The threat: Unless we speak up, these transportation funds will go overwhelmingly to road projects - the same unbalanced strategy that has created our existing transportation problems.
The opportunity: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, in partnership with Thunderhead Alliance and America Bikes, has collected a list of hundreds of ready-to-go active transportation projects from communities across the country. These projects would create new jobs and revitalize communities by funding trails, bike lanes, sidewalks and other infrastructure.
This would meet the ultimate goal of the recovery package: creating immediate jobs. Additionally, such an investment strategy would provide both immediate economic benefits and lasting positive change.
The long-term benefits are many: promoting local businesses along active transportation corridors; reducing health care costs; and curbing climate change emissions and oil dependency. These projects would also establish the principle that active transportation infrastructure is a wise, efficient and desirable public investment.
Click here to sign the petition. Do it now. This is just win-win.
The state's $1.34 billion bid to buy sugar cane land for Everglades restoration cleared a key hurdle this afternoon when U.S. Sugar Corp.'s board of directors approved the contract to sell 180,000 acres that could help reconnect Lake Okeechobee to the River of Grass.
Now the South Florida Water Management District has until Dec. 16 to decide whether to approve the contract and agree to use taxpayer dollars to pay for what has been billed as the largest conservation land buy in state history.
PALM BEACH GARDENS - Two years after plans to turn his ranch into a 10,000-home community fell apart, Charles Vavrus is back with a new proposal.
He wants part of his land to become the future home of the "inland port" that Glades leaders hope will be built near Lake Okeechobee.
WEST PALM BEACH - Palm Beach County commissioners today reiterated their support for a plan to develop an industrial complex on land south of Lake Okeechobee, despite environmentalists' concerns that the plan could interfere with Everglades restoration.
The commission voted 6-1, with Commissioner Karen Marcus dissenting, to begin the process of changing the county's long-term growth plan, which could allow the port to rise somewhere between the Glades cities and a 9,000-acre site that sugar company Florida Crystals owns.
Lake Okeechobee is three-fourths the size of Rhode Island and contains, at capacity, an astounding 1 trillion gallons of water.
It takes a staggering amount of rain to raise the level by even 6 inches.
Tropical Storm Fay did it in two days.
An eagle sighting.
Okeechobee is cattle country.
Waiting for lunch.
Lake Okeechobee condos sirca 1948.
On Christmas Day, 1837, a band of Seminoles ambushed Col. Zachary Taylor and about 1,000 men as they marched along the northern shore of Lake Okeechobee coming from Fort Bassinger on the Kissimmee River. Each year the battle is re-enacted in a field and woods beside the LOST.
The two forces met as Taylor's men were crossing a bog. The Seminoles killed 26 and wounded 112 in Taylor's party. They sustained 11 killed and 14 wounded before melting away to the east. Taylor did not pursue because of the number of wounded his force suffered.
Merchants sell Indian clothing, beads, handicrafts, even bows and arrows at the re-enactment. Sponsors included the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Lightsey's Restaurant and the South Florida Water Management District.
There are no restrooms on the dike. If you can't make it to one of these private facilities, improvise. If you do use one of these private facilities, please patronize or at least smile and thank them profusely. Restroom information courtesy of Adel Mae Gastle.
| Mile Marker | Place | Name | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Indiantown | Burger King | 10 miles east of Port Mayaca |
| 36 | Route 76 | Dupuis Park | 2.9 miles east of Port Mayaca |
| 43 | Chancy Bay Creek Lock | J &S Fish Camp | Descend from the dike and go right .1 mile to J & S Fish Camp Bar. (10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday) |
| 54 | Nubbin's Slough | Ancient Oaks Trailer Park | Descend from the dike and go right on U.S. 441 for .3 miles to the park office (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) |
| 54 | Nubbin's Slough | Cajun Charlie's | Descend from the dike and go left on U.S. 441 for .1 miles. And don't miss the hot boudin, their Cajun sausage specialty. |
| 56 | Taylor Creek | Citgo Gas Station | Descend from the dike and go right for .1 mile (5 a.m.-11 p.m.). |
| 56 | Taylor Creek | USA Grocer | Descend from the dike and go right for .1 mile. (24/7) |
| 56 | Taylor Creek | Brahma Bull | Descend from the dike and go left for .1 mile. Daily lunch specials. |
| 59 | Lake Okeechobee Public Use Area | Hess Gas Station | Descend from the dike. .1 mile. Under construction |
| 63 | Okeetantee Park | Park and Lightsey's Restaurant | Descend from the dike and go left .2 miles. Several facilities. |