You might recall the announcement last week by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that the federal government would provide $100 million plan to buy conservation easements and help with wetland restoration in four Florida counties.
The move was aimed at better protecting Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.
Florida Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson was effusive in praising the move, in which in exchange the ranchers will give up development rights to as much as 24,000 acres — some 37 square miles — in four counties northwest of Lake Okeechobee and preserve them under permanent conservation easements.
Florida Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam also was happy about the decision, saying,"“Agriculture plays an integral role in the restoration of wetlands in the Northern Everglades. Agricultural lands have some of the greatest natural resources of any private lands in Florida."
But a Tea Party member in the Panhandle town of Navarre apparently didn't catch the comment by the Republican Putnam, or in any case decided to unleash his anger at the decision only at the Democrat Nelson, in unambiguous tones: