True enough at the present time, but the populations
of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Lee, and Collier
counties have been surging, and are possibly larger
than you may think. The water wars on the wests coast
are getting uglier every year. I believe Tampa now has
a desalination plant!

Southwest Florida, in particular Collier county, is
growing enormously. Possibly some of this has been
stimulated by the completion of I-75 a few years back
from Naples to Miami. (My folks are snowbirds who
winter in Naples, so I've seen the population surge in
the past decade.)

David H.

--- Lee Bell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> The reefs around the Tortugas are influenced much
> more by activities of
> north and western Gulf of Mexico states than by
> Florida's excessive
> population.  Compared to the east coast of Florida,
> the west coast is
> downright unpopulated.  There is a significant
> effect from Florida's
> aggricultural industry,  but, like the tourist
> industry to the east, that's
> where the biggest money and the most politically
> active interests are.
> Plans to clean up the Everglades have been put on
> hold and money diverted to
> other projects.  Neither President George W. Bush
> nor his brother, Florida
> Governor Jeb Bush, have distinguished themselves
> with their concern or
> action on ecological issues.  With all the terrorist
> and war issues
> constantly in the news, their abysmal record on
> environmental issues is
> likely to go relatively unnoticed.


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