Wakulla Spring Update

Stuff is still going on behind the scenes, but the Wakulla News recently agreed to publish pro/con opinion pieces on the subject.

Here is the unedited "Pro" argument:

Quote:

Wakulla News Edit 5/26/11

Economic Impact Proposal for Wakulla Springs
By Dr. J Hess, PhD
Most of us know the story of King Solomon’s judgment. Two women brought a child before the king, claiming it as their own. Wise Solomon asked for a sword, so that he might divide the child in two, giving each woman one-half of the baby. The child’s true mother cried out, and begged the king not to cut her baby in two. The other woman said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two.” King Solomon knew that the child’s true mother would care more for her child’s life than for her pride, and so he gave the child to the first woman.

A parallel to this story is unfolding before us now. Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park is in serious financial trouble. The lodge is on the verge of closing, and the overall outlook is dim. Additional revenues could save this “baby”, but the one group willing to step in, with wallets in hand, is turned away at every attempt. Some folks claiming to care deeply for the park would rather lose the park than share it with scuba divers.

I know that scuba divers are an unruly bunch, rolling into town and taking up hotel space, eating at all the restaurants in the area, gassing up their vehicles and cleaning up after themselves, they’re almost as bad as those outlaw trail hikers and horseback riders. The truth is, that most cave divers in Florida are middle-aged married men with bachelor’s degrees and average salaries of just over $100,000 a year. Cave divers have deep pockets, disposable income, and they want to dive Wakulla Spring. They do so successfully at other state and county parks across Florida, and they are well known among park officials as responsible and safety minded. Wakulla Spring Park can’t afford to turn away cave divers, and Wakulla merchants can only benefit from divers coming into the area and patronizing their businesses.

The excuses for excluding divers from Wakulla Spring are outdated and frankly, uninformed. Divers do not kill manatees or themselves, harass swimmers, or disable tour boats. In fact, the scuba diving community has shared beaches, reefs, rivers and springs for decades with boaters, swimmers, and even manatees all across the state of Florida. The director of Park Services, Donald Forgione, expresses his thanks and admiration for the cave diving community’s contribution at Wes Skiles Peacock Springs Park, amongst others. Without the divers’ efforts, that park would have had to be closed on several occasions. Numerous gazebos, steps and walks are financed and built by divers. It is this diving group that organizes clean-ups inside and around the park and other sites to remove traces left by other, non-diving visitors. It is merely at Wakulla that any efforts of the community to resolve the situation in a civilized manner have been either ignored or undermined, in spite of the local Wakulla County Dive Club’s efforts to improve and preserve the area.

The park's management handbook has us believe that diving at the park is already possible at Emerald sink, which is one of the arguments against opening the main spring. In order to support the park, the dive community invested a significant amount of time and money into building the steps and platform at Emerald at no cost to the State or the Park. At the very last minute, these divers were told that the rules had changed, and that only the most elite of technical divers would be allowed to dive there under great limitations, and only then, after submitting an application to private interests, and receiving permission from those entities.
Allow me to translate the current policy on diving into the hiking world: Let’s say you want to hike the trails of Wakulla Springs. Mind you, there are challenges, like any adventure activity, with hiking trails in Florida, such as tripping hazards, rattlesnakes, alligators etc. How would you feel if you were to be treated like a diver: You were required to submit your hiking credentials months in advance, to be reviewed by individuals who arguably have strong financial interests to limit your access. If you don't have an award for safe hiking, and a medic first aid certificate, you don't need to apply. Should you pass muster, then you still have to ask, in writing, five days in advance to receive the blessing to pay your entrance dues. An application four days in advance is denied. On the day you find out that weather conditions prohibit the visit, but cannot demand your money back. However, should you be lucky enough to overcome all the hurdles, you would only be allowed to visit a tiny area, far away from the main attraction that makes Wakulla unique. You would still not be allowed to use your motorized vehicle in the park, because clearly you are not sufficiently responsible to be trusted with that.
If such a policy sounds ridiculous to you, be advised that this is how it applies to diving. Next time you drive up to the lodge to visit the beautiful spring consider such a treatment instead. Under the rule of equal access, this is what you should be facing. Would you be willing to tolerate such treatment? Neither are international visitors, who understand the message loud and clear: Stay away – but welcome to Wakulla Springs!

Rumor has it that diving at the main spring at Wakulla is considered by its management to have a negative financial impact on the park. A study on a far less attractive site, Jackson Blue in Marianna, demonstrates that this could not be further from the truth. At Jackson Blue, the financial contribution made by divers has generated a bonus income to the park in excess of $100,000, and created over 30 jobs, and revenue for the area in excess of 1.72 Million US Dollars. All this is a plus to the site, while the physical presence of divers is hardly noticeable. Another study performed recently on Wakulla Springs by a leading economist suggests a much higher potential here. As it stands today, we have reason to believe that private individuals pay thousands of dollars merely for their chance to dive Wakulla, today, under the cloak of science. Obviously this money benefits neither the park nor the community.

To give you a view of the bigger picture, Wakulla Springs is situated in the center of what has been termed the “cave trail”, reaching west to north of Panama City, and South to just north of Tampa. There are numerous support facilities available to the diving eco tourist. At the moment, these are individual shops and centers which establish their individual customer base. Opening the main spring in Wakulla to diving will bring the whole trail to the attention of the international diver, with no more than 2 hours drive time between support stations and world-class sites. Wakulla connects the pieces, and makes Florida more attractive than areas like the Yucatan. Of all the international areas available for the diver, Florida has the best and most advanced infrastructure. Without Wakulla, there are merely dots on the map. Emerald, or any of the other small springs will not be able to substitute for the real thing.
If you are a business owner related to the tourist industry, such as restaurants, hotels, life-style businesses, supermarkets and such, and find yourself struggling with the economy: How do you feel about the fact that you face difficulties because public servants decided to run a public resource like a personal kingdom?
My personal view is very simple: The main spring in Wakulla will be opened to the diving public. It is the right thing to do, any other position violates the constitutional principle of equal access, and is economically disastrous to the park, as well as the surrounding community. The question to be answered is merely, how much damage will be sustained until that happens, and under what circumstances will the motion be implemented. We have listened to all kinds of excuses, and made-up reasons to why the park should exclude a large portion of its potential visitors, for the personal benefit of a select few. The good people of Wakulla County should be outraged over being forced to burden the multi-million dollar price tag that comes with this exclusivity and the implemented practices by public servants over a public resource. It is the purpose of the park to preserve, and make available to the public. The diving community has time and again demonstrated that it does not negatively impact the resource but instead works to preserve it. They have safely managed sites more complicated than Wakulla but with similar depths, and therefore have a right to equal access.
We, the cave diving community, are committed to working with the Division of Recreation and Parks to find compromises that allow our members lawful access, without detracting from the experience of others. Those that work against us would apparently prefer that the lodge, and perhaps even the park itself be closed to everyone. Their attitude seems to be: “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two.”