Ditch of Dreams The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for Florida s Future Florida History and Culture

   

Traces the long standing effort to build a canal across Florida Offers timeless lessons about pork barrel politics and the power of citizen environmentalism Most important it reminds us that today s economic coup may well be tomorrow s environmental crisis Cynthia Barnett author of Mirage Ties the exploitation of the Ocklawaha to Florida history across nearly two centuries Moreover they bring to life the personalities of canal supporters and detractors including such dynamic individuals as Franklin Delano Roosevelt Claude Pepper and Marjorie Harris Carr Frederick Rowe Davis author of The Man Who Saved Sea Turtles For centuries men dreamed of cutting a canal across the Florida peninsula Intended to reduce shipping times it was championed in the early twentieth century as a way to make the mostly rural state a center of national commerce and trade Rejected by the Army Corps of Engineers as not worthy the project received continued support from Florida legislators Federal funding was eventually allocated and work began in the 1930s but the canal quickly became a lightning rod for controversy Steven Noll and David Tegeder trace the twists and turns of the project through the years drawing on a wealth of archival and primary sources Far from being a simplistic morality tale of good environmentalists versus evil canal developers the story of the Cross Florida Barge Canal is a complex one of competing interests amid the changing political landscape of modern Florida Thanks to the unprecedented success of environmental citizen activists construction was halted in 1971 though it took another twenty years for the project to be canceled Though the land intended for the canal was deeded to the state and converted into the Cross Florida Greenway certain aspects of the dispute including the fate of Rodman Reservoir have yet to be resolved

- ISBN13 9780813034065
- Condition NEW
- Notes Brand New from Publisher No Remainder Mark
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Robert C Hudson | 2009/12/12
The book is a detailed documentary of the history of the Cross Florida Barge Canal The surprising thing to me was that it wasnt a recent thing It actually began during the days of the Spanish explorers several hundred years ago The book chronicles how a small group of passionate citizens can ultimately defeat big government through persistence and facts I would not rate the book as entertaining but is more like a textbook But it is a very good history of this project

Douglas R Brown | 2009/10/19
Steven Noll David Tegeder did a great job in this new book I live in Ocala and have a vaction home in Crystal River which is a few miles from the completed western section of the barge Canal Inglis Florida Ocala has the Ocklawaha river which I have been on many times which was the main contention the enviromentalist fought the canal over I have also fished on the Rodman reservoir and have been to Palatka Santos and many of the places listed in the book so it was great to read the history about t...