Local environmentalists admit they were worried but say they are largely satisfied with Hillsborough County's yearlong effort to revise its wetlands rules. ...more

July 19, 2008

Hillsborough County commissioners stirred a hornet's nest last year by proposing to eliminate local protections for wetlands. Public outcry made them back off, though they ordered a review of developers' complaints that county rules were arbitrary and extreme. ...more

July 17, 2008

Here we are once again replaying last year's fiasco with special interests trying to weaken the regulation and enforcement of the Hillsborough County's wetlands protections. ...more

July 16, 2008

At E.G. Simmons Park, contract workers scale towering Australian pines and lop off limbs before felling the trees and feeding them to an industrial-sized wood chipper. ...more

July 12, 2008

Representatives of state and county agencies overseeing environmental preservation and related issues will meet Tuesday with residents of the southernmost portion of Hillsborough County to discuss how growth will affect natural resources. The discussion is part of the development of the South Side Community Plan, which is expected to guide county planners and shape the look of the community south of the Little Manatee River in years to come. ...more

July 3, 2008

The idea of banning outboard motors in the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve has not gathered steam on a local task force considering the possibility of Hillsborough County designating its first pole-or-troll zone. ...more

June 28, 2008

State ethics commissioners have cleared Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair of charges he used his position to interfere in regulatory action by the county's Environmental Protection Commission. ...more

June 13, 2008

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback Vinny Testaverde has been cited for clear-cutting more than 40 trees on his lakefront property. ...more

June 13, 2008

In an era when politicians can't seem to get enough television exposure, some Hillsborough County commissioners want to pull the plug on a station that broadcasts their commission meetings. ...more

June 12, 2008

KEYSTONE The Environmental Protection Commission has cited former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Vinny Testaverde for ripping out mature cypress trees from the shoreline of his Lake Keystone home. The trees were in protected wetlands, the county said. "Three or four weeks ago I was getting all these calls from people who saw the trees being ripped up right on the shoreline," said Keystone resident Jim Swain, president of the Lake Keystone Property Owners Association. He said Testaverde removed between 40 and 50 trees altogether. Testaverde has been ordered by the EPC to replace 20 of those trees, some as tall as 40 feet. "We sent an inspector to the site and some of the trees were removed from wetlands," said Bob Owens, a supervisor with the EPC. He said complaints from neighbors began coming into the department April 22. On April 24, Bill Inch, environmental scientist for the county, visited the property and cited Testaverde for violations of the wetlands division code. By April 30, Testaverde called Inch and told him all tree removal had stopped. He asked if the already-cut debris could be removed from the property. Inch said it could. A third visit on May 1 documented 19 cypress tress and one dahoon holly tree removed from protected wetlands on the shoreline. ...more

June 7, 2008