Death of Outstanding Agricultural Program Is What Scott's Vengeance Has Wrought

Many Floridians are grieving over one cut or another after Gov. Rick Scott bludgeoned the budget in a fit of revenge Tuesday. I am no different.

The cut I'm feeling as deeply as any is the failure to fund a joint project by the University of Florida and IFAS, the Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences. 

This is an amazing, results-driven program conducted in a state-of-the-art laboratory on the edge of an orange grove in Fort Pierce. It's been funded for years. 

Shortly after it opened in 2004, I toured the lab and interviewed scientists at work there, looking for ways to control invasive plants and insects. It was a privilege and an experience I've never forgotten.  

The Tampa Times reported Thursday the facility likely will be forced to close and its 12 positions eliminated. The governor's stated reason: "A clear state return on investment has not been demonstrated at this time."

In a year when the state posted a $1 billion surplus, Gov. Scott owes us a better explanation.

Jack Payne, a UF senior vice president for agricultural and natural resources, told the Times the Indian River Research and Education Center, as it's called, "was poised to release the first control agent to control the Brazilian peppertree, which has infested nearly 700,000 acres in Central and South Florida and has been particularly abundant in the Everglades."

Shame on you, Governor. When was the last time you visited the center? Please tell me what you or your staff saw there that makes you believe this laboratory is shortchanging the state or the citizens who live here.

I suppose Gov. Scott and his staff would call this nonfunding collateral damage. Is that what it is, do you think? Because it seems the next time the governor is out rounding up jobs for Florida, he might be hard-pressed to replace 12 research positions of this caliber or importance in the private sector.

This is more than an embarrassment. It's a travesty. I'm sorry for Fort Pierce and the university. Most of all, I'm sorry for Florida.