Letters to the Citizen Editor: June 16, 2006

Jump on board with Corkscrew Kiwanis

Dear Editor:

The local Kiwanis Clubs in Collier County are gearing up to form a new club right here in our own back yard. I have been asked to help "round up" potential members and leaders to help get this club started.

Currently, clubs from other parts of the county sponsor the Palmetto Ridge High School Key Club. There is a strong possibility that we may lose this club without a sponsorship from a local Kiwanis club. This is one of the driving forces to start up a new club in our area.

Kiwanis provides many programs that aid and assist children internationally, from kindergarten through college, as well as many other activities to help the community.

Kiwanis is a great organization and it would be the first club of its kind in our community. We have the civic and homeowners associations, as well as CERT teams that are all a benefit to our community, but a Kiwanis club will help us get the children of our community involved in a caring and fun way. Children of all ages and adults working together to improve their lives and the community we live in -what a great concept.

There will be an "Introduction to Kiwanis" meeting at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 20, at the Big Corkscrew Island Fire Station 10 Administration Facility, 13240 Immokalee Road.

Come and bring a friend to learn how you can make a difference. Call Carol Fries (Lt. Gov. Kiwanis Division 22) if you are interested or would like more information at 774-3001 or email her at lt_gov_div22@earthlink.net.

Let's get "The Kiwanis Club of Corkscrew/Estates" up and running!

— Rita Greenberg, Fire Chief / Big Corkscrew Island

Decision endangers the endangered

Dear Editor:

On June 7 at its regular quarterly meeting in West Palm Beach, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission ignored public outcry and voted to downlist manatees from "endangered" status to"threatened" over the objections of numerous scientists and manatee advocates.

One week earlier, 17 conservation, animal welfare, and public interest groups from Florida and around the nation filed a legal petition with the FWC urging the state to revise its imperiled species classification system and also asking the agency to delay any species' reclassifications, like the manatee, that recommended a lesser status of imperilment.

Find out why now, the action of the FWC may prevent the actual recovery of the manatee population and why the conservation community fears that the same fate may await other at-risk species in Florida like the northern right whale, Florida panther, and Florida black bear.

— Patrick Rose / Save the Manatee Club, 850-570-1373
— Laurie MacDonald / Defenders of Wildlife, 727-823-3888