House Delivers Everglades Somber News

Those looking for federal help with Everglades restoration suffered something of a blow Wednesday when the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would cut $32.7 million from the president's $162.7 million fiscal 2012 spending request.

That would leave just $130 million in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' budget and it would mean nearly a $19 million reduction from the current appropriation.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Everglades proponents claim work already under way would continue, but there could be no new contracts or the jobs they create.

Clearly, its going to have an impact, Julie Hill-Gabriel, who tracks federal funding for Audubon of Florida, told the Sentinel. Our biggest concern is that we are going to prevent the start of new contracts, which have all those additional benefits of providing jobs for private-sector workers in Florida.

Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, claims in a year like this one, cuts could have gone much deeper. "Im actually really pleased, the Miami Republican said.

The bill isn't finished in either the House or the Senate.
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