PREFACE


 The goal of the South Florida Environmental
Project, Phase 2, was to organize and synthesize
current scientific information concerning South
Florida into a form to aid decision-making. The
study area included all of the Kissimmee-Ever-
glades basin shown in Fig. 1. More detailed
studies were made for a number of county areas
within the region as well. This is a summary of
the Lee County study. Popular reports are also
available for the regional study and for Collier
and Hendry Counties.a

 Decision-makers in South Florida are pre-
sently in a dilemma. Florida's economy, popu-
lation, and resource demands have consistently
expanded over the past three decades. During
this period, resources appeared abundant, na-
tional economic prosperity seemed certain, and
the idea of inevitable growth became widely
accepted by planners, politicians, state agen-
cies, and others affecting the state decision-
making process.


 aTitles of the four popular reports prepared
during Phase 2 of the South Florida Environmental
Study are:
 South Florida: Seeking a Balance of Man and
 Nature
 Collier County: Growth Pressure in a Wetlands
 Wilderness
 Hendry County: An Agricultural District in a
 Wetlands Region
 Lee County: An Area of Rapid Growth


 Today, resources no longer appear limit-
 less. National affluence is in fact declining,
 and forecasts for continued growth in Florida
 may no longer be valid. Most decisions, how-
 ever, continue to be made within a context of
 growth as inevitable.

 A decision based on the assumption of con-
tinued expansion becomes erroneous policy when
expected growth does not occur. For example, if
a highway is constructed based on projected
urban growth, but subsequently the traffic load
does not increase, the highway becomes a waste of
resources and an economic liability rather than
a benefit. Society ends up with a highway it
doesn't need at the expense of other things it
needs desperately. Recognizing today's rapidly
changing energy and economic conditions, the
Division of State Planning constantly encourages
and occasionally sponsors studies which explore
new planning concepts which might assist
Florida's decision-makers. The South Florida
Study is one such experimental study.

 The purpose of the South Florida Study has
been to develop, refine, and apply ecological tools
and concepts which reflect the realities of re-
source constraints to the myriad of problems
facing South Florida. Because the ideas are new,
many of the conclusions reached and courses of
action recommended are quite different from those
of past planning studies.

 The researchers, however, maintain that so-
ciety has entered a new era--the age of resource
limitations--and, as a result, attitudes and life-
styles are never going to be the same again. If
so, a new conceptual framework for planners and
decision-makers is needed. The South Florida
Study may be a vital first step in that direction.
 iii