President Signs Into Law H.R. 890 Clawson Bill To Redirect 17,044 Acres in SWFL To The Coastal Barrier Resources System
President Obama today signed into law a Congressional Bill authored by Congressman Curt Clawson (FL-19) to place 17,044 acres of land in Collier County - in perpetuity - to the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). Congress created the CBRS in 1982 with the Coastal Barrier Resources Act.
Clawson's bill includes portions of Marco Island, Keewaydin Island, and Cape Romano -- part of a pristine, picturesque Ten Thousand Islands chain that begins 20 miles south of Naples.
H.R. 890 will also create the largest grouping of CBRS units nationwide -- protecting the Florida Everglades and ecosystem, aquatic plants and animals, other wildlife, and private properties from flood and storm damage. The new maps also correct errors in outdated 40-year-old maps that erroneously placed 99 acres of privately owned development in the area into the CBRS, affecting over 1,600 Southwest Floridians.
Following the President's signing of the bill, Congressman Clawson thanked the President and Florida's two Senators for their quick action in passing the bill into law:
"It was a lifetime of fishing and diving in our oceans and the Gulf that led to my involvement in local water quality issues in Southwest Florida and into public office. Having this piece of legislation enacted into law so soon after arriving on Capitol Hill is both humbling and gratifying. I want to thank the President and both of Florida's U.S. Senators for acting so quickly and promptly for the residents of Collier County, following the bill's passage in the House. The 15 miles of coastal barrier protected by this new law is sound economics, as it will grow Southwest Florida's real estate values and tourism industries, which attract over five million visitors each year, generating $4.6 billion in annual revenues."
Clawson's bill initially passed the U.S. House of Representatives on February 9, 2016 and the U.S. Senate on February 22, 2016.
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