Prominent lobbyist and former Florida Supreme Court justice Wade Hopping died today from complications from a stroke and esophageal cancer.

Hopping died a day before his 78th birthday and on the 30th anniversary of founding the Tallahassee law firm Hopping Green and Sams.

Hopping served as a Cabinet aide to Gov. Claude Kirk, who appointed him to fill an opening on the Supreme Court in 1968 but he lost reelection the following year. Supreme Court justices are now appointed by the governor and remain in on the bench by a merit vote.

Kirk, the first Republican governor elected since Reconstruction, credited Hopping and environmentalist Nathaniel Reed with helping to create both the state and national environmental regulatory agencies.

“I didn’t know how to spell conservation or environment but we learned about it,” Kirk, who lives in West Palm Beach, said. “Wade was in the middle of all of that with Nat Reed. With Wade’s help and Nat’s help we got (former President) Nixon to create the President’s Council on the Environment.” The council was the basis of what later became the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kirk said.

The white-haired, white-bearded lobbyist was an institution in the halls of the Florida Capitol throughout his thirty years of working on behalf of businesses including Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Sugarcane Growers Cooperative of Florida and the Florida Marine Industries Association.

Recently, Hopping was instrumental in the state’s $310 million purchase of the 74,000-acre Babcock Ranch Preservation Area in Southwest Florida. The 2006 deal was the largest conservation lands purchase in Florida history.

He frequently drew swords with environmentalists but was a willing and capable compromiser, said Audubon of Florida policy director Eric Draper, who frequently worked against Hopping in issues before the legislature.

“Wade has been a fixture at the capitol for as long as I can remember. He was always pushing firmly with his clients’ agenda but always in a friendly and good-humored way. He was one of the business lobbyists that conservationists were most willing to work,” said Draper, who is running for Agriculture Commissioner. “It’s hard to imagine working on environmental issues without him on the other side.”

Hopping is survived by his wife of 38 years, Mary Hopping of Tallahassee. He is also survived by children Hank and Margaret Hopping of Chattanooga, Jud and Jackie Hopping of Fort Lauderdale, Kiff and Lynn Mendoza of Tallahassee, and Beth Mendoza and Maureen Murphy of Atlanta.

A funeral service is scheduled Thursday at the Faith Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee.

Florida counties are suggesting something that sounds like a scarlet letter to warn innocents away from households with scary serpents.

It’s the latest twist in the tale of the python-induced paranoia that’s wound up with bounty hunters seeking the critters in throughout Palm Beach County on lands abutting the Everglades.

The July 1 death of a two-year-old girl who was strangled by a pet python in Central Florida set off demands for an open-season on the snakes, which have overrun the national park. Gov. Charlie Crist gladly complied and ordered the bounty hunt for the pests last week. (U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, has had the Burmese python infestation in his sights for some time).

Now, the Florida Association of Counties wants state wildlife officials to give them more control over dangerous animals. The association sent a letter to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last week asking them to let counties notify neighbors where perilous pythons and other classified creatures reside.

Perhaps the counties have something like the sex offender registry on the Internet where neighbors can see where perpetrators live.

Will the pythons be forced to take up residence under bridges like sex offenders banned from living near schools, parks or other places where children congregate?

A python posse armed with clubs and machetes will start combing the Everglades for the supersized serpents this weekend.

Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the python bounty hunt Wednesday at the urging of two Florida congressmen who were in an uproar after one of the exotic snakes strangled a 2-year-old girl July 1 near Ocala.

That python was a pet and didn’t live in the Everglades. But the case called new attention to the plague of the oversized reptiles that have spread throughout South Florida’s marshes, gobbling wading birds and posing a danger to native wildlife.

Estimates of the python population in the Everglades range between 10,000 and 150,000. They can reach up to 20 feet in length and have long, curved teeth, along with the ability to squeeze their prey to death.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney has filed a bill to blacklist Burmese pythons and other unwelcome animal immigrants from entering the country.

The Tequesta Republican has joined the movement, led by Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, to rid the River of Grass of the perilous pests after a pet python strangled to death a two-year-old Florida girl.

About 150,000 pythons, not native to Florida, have taken up residence in the Everglades, threatening other endangered wildlife there, including Florida panthers and wood storks.

Rooney’s backing two bills to crack down on bringing invasive animals into the country.

One McCarthy-esque proposal would create a black list of nonnative species would create a black list of nonnative species barred from being brought into the United States and a green list of creatures that would be welcome.
The other would add Burmese pythons to the list of dangerous animals, similar to a measure Nelson filed several months ago.

Rooney’s hunting proposal is similar to a Nelson made today asking U.S. Department of the Interior Ken Salazar to approve a python-killing season in the ‘Glades to rid the national treasure of the invaders.

Read Rooney’s press release here.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is asking federal officials for a posse.

A python posse, that is.

Nelson sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to approve a python-kill because the slithering beasts are taking over the River of Grass.

Nelson earlier this year introduced a bill to ban imports of Burmese pythons and classifying them as “injurious animals.”

Two weeks ago, a pet python strangled to death a two-year-old Florida girl, creating an uproar about the invasive predators.

Officials “need to get a grip on pythons invading America’s Everglades,” Nelson wrote.

“They are threatening endangered wildlife there – and, Lord forbid, a visitor in the Everglades ever encounters one,” he wrote.

Nelson’s proposing an organized hunt to diminish the ever-growing python population in the ‘Glades. The posse could consist of park rangers or deputies and volunteers, Nelson suggested.

Read Nelson’s letter after the jump.

Fatal python attack

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U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, left, announced today he will visit the Everglades on Thursday with Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland.

The group will receive a briefing on invasive species control, make an airboat tour of Alligator Bay and hold a media availability at Mile Marker 41 of Alligator Alley.

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Environmentalists say Gov. Charlie Crist’s latest deal to buy U.S. Sugar land is better than nothing, but Post staff writer Paul Quinlan reports that some South Florida Water District leaders think the latest proposal is still too costly.

So sweeping were today’s criticisms that they provoked a sharp ultimatum from U.S. Sugar Corp.

“This latest rendition is the last and only chance to complete this transaction,” U.S. Sugar senior vice president Robert Coker said in a news release immediately afterward.

Read the rest of the story here.

Listen to the press conference here
(Questions for Crist start at the 16:40 mark.)

New deal with U.S. Sugar:
• The price: $533 million, down from $1.34 billion
• The land: 72,500 acres south and west of Lake Okeechobee, down from 180,000 acres
• Other terms: The state has 10 years to decide whether to buy the remaining 107,500 acres. Through 2012, the state can match anyone else’s offer to purchase U.S. Sugar land between the Miami Canal and U.S. 27.
• Closing Date: Sept. 25

Reactions:
State Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid: “It’s a much better deal. It gives the company time to decide what their direction is and residents time to plan. It was the not knowing that was the scariest thing for the residents.”

Florida Crystals Vice President Gaston Cantens: “The issue is whether or not the governor is going to be able to get the flow-way. How will he acquire it? We own the land he needs for the flow-way. … It doesn’t appear they will have the money to buy more.”

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Gov. Charlie Crist this morning confirmed details we reported last week (here and here) that he’s hoping to buy 75,000 acres from U.S. Sugar for Everglades restoration instead of 180,000. He said he could announce details as soon as tomorrow or Thursday.

“My goal is to be able to hit the sweet spot, no pun intended, and really target in on the acreage that’s important to be able to be successful in reconnecting the lake to Florida Bay, to the Everglades and then maintain an opportunity to expand on it when the economy turns around,” Crist said today.

“I think we’re on the path to that. But we should be able to let you know tomorrow or Thursday for sure.”

With property values dropping and taking property tax collections along for the ride, there has been a lot of speculation on what that would mean for Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to buy U.S. Sugar.

Crist acknowledged this afternoon that the deal is in fact being modified.

“The facts have changed, the economy is what it is,” Crist said.

“And I think we all need to be cognizant of those factors, whether it relates to the Everglades preservation deal or any other fact. And we may have news for you on that front in a few days.”

Read the story here.

A meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Everglades Oversight was canceled this afternoon when several members were late arriving. The panel was supposed to hear an update on Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to buyout U.S. Sugar, but sounds like there was going to be little news committed.

Ernie Barnett, the director of policy for the SoFla Water Management District, said after the meeting was canceled that discussions are ongoing to modify the deal, but there was little he could say about it publicly.

Florida Environmental Protection Department Secretary Mike Sole said in an interview that “not a day goes by” without him hearing from or speaking to folks at Florida Crystals, which may be looking to become a partner in the deal.

“We’re continuously looking for ways to make sure this deal works,” Sole said. “The governor’s vision has been very clear in trying to acquire as much Sugar land, as much of this property as we can to get that connection. We’ve always said – always said – that we don’t need all the acres.

“We’re working everyday to make sure this thing works.”

A report commissioned by opponents of Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to buy U.S. Sugar Corp. said the deal could cost as much as $9.1 billion instead of the estimated $3 billion to $5 billion, Post reporter Paul Quinlan writes today.

But one leading champion of the land purchase dismissed the study as propaganda by the opposition, which includes rival sugar grower Florida Crystals Corp.

“Their goal is to undermine this land acquisition,” said Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, a nonprofit group that pushed Crist to put together the deal. “The report has no credibility.”

Still, opponents say the figures suggest that the ecological benefits from the mammoth land deal remain too distant to justify putting existing restoration plans on hold to pay for U.S. Sugar’s property.

More here.

U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney issued the following statement today in response to budget cuts for Everglades restoration, health care and education made by the Florida House:

“I call on the Florida Legislature and Governor Crist to pass a budget that reflects the values of the people of Florida. The Florida House budget that passed yesterday eliminates funding for Everglades restoration, and cuts funding for healthcare and education. These proposed cuts will amount to a hidden tax on Florida’s already struggling working families and hurts our efforts to ensure Florida’s children will be able to stay at home and compete in a global economy. Now that Congress has finally passed legislation for Everglades restoration, cuts in state funding will only serve to undermine our efforts to restore the Everglades and ensure that South Florida has the water it needs to grow our economy.”

Apparently Gov. Charlie Crist doesn’t think it’s blatantly political to urge President Bush not to veto the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill.

Crist sent a letter to the president today, a day after Florida’s U.S. senators — Mel Martinez, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat — and all nine of the state’s Democratic members in the U.S. House also sent letters urging him not to veto the bill that includes key projects related to Everglades restoration.

None of the state’s Republican members of the House signed the letter, which one GOP aide said appeared to be an attempt to “politicize” the issue.

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