Below is a letter addressed to President of the United States Joe Biden, regarding the FY23 budget.
April 7, 2022
President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden,
The undersigned organizations thank you for recommending a record $407 million in the Fiscal Year 2023 President’s Budget for Everglades restoration for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This is the largest annual federal spending request since the passing of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in 2000. We applaud the commitments communicated in the budget rollout to provide significant funding toward the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir. CERP is a complex framework of infrastructure projects, and the EAA Reservoir is essential to connecting and enhancing other projects of critical concern and maximizing federal investments. Construction of the EAA Reservoir will reconnect Lake Okeechobee to the Central Everglades, Everglades National Park, and Florida Bay. It will expand large-scale carbon sequestration, recharge the aquifer that provides drinking water for 9 million Floridians and millions of tourists, and reduce harmful discharges that too frequently devastate coastal economies and communities. We are hopeful that the administration will use all available policies and funding to complete this project in an efficient and effective manner. We support full funding for this project, for Everglades restoration, and for the important work of the USACE Civil Works construction program in the years ahead. Everglades restoration is driven by unmatched bipartisan support and we are confident of the path forward. We are grateful for your recognition that investing more in Everglades restoration is critical given the dire needs of the ecosystem and the myriad of benefits it provides to the environment and many facets of human life. We are on the cusp of ensuring that future generations will enjoy and benefit from this truly unique place. We are thankful for your commitment to invest, and together we can tackle the continued challenges ahead and keep our country on track to restore America’s Everglades.
Sincerely,
