The man who led the

Department of the Interior’s

efforts in Florida to restore

the Everglades has been appointed to a key

Department of the Army position.

Terrence C. “Rock” Salt was

appointed principal

deputy assistant

secretary of the

Army for the

nation’s civil works

program. “With

Rock Salt, we have

a leader who can hit

the ground running

and carry the civil

works program

forward to greater

achievements in the

future,” stated John

Paul Woodley, Jr.,

assistant secretary of the Army for civil

works during the Bush administration.

Salt has spent 17 years engaged in

Everglades issues at the federal level, in

positions with both the Department of the

Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers. Salt most recently served as the

DOI advisor on Everglades issues, as its

director of Everglades restoration

initiatives since 2003. From 1994 to 2003,

he served as the executive director of the

multi-agency South Florida Ecosystem

Restoration Task Force, which

coordinated restoration efforts among

seven federal departments. Salt began his

Everglades involvement in the early 1990s

The third independent

review of Everglades

restoration progress has

begun, and will be delivered to

Congress as a report in December 2010.

The committee conducting the review is

still determining major topics upon

which to focus, and agencies and the

public may submit suggested topics.

The restoration of Florida’s

Everglades is considered the nation’s

largest environmental restoration effort.

It encompasses 16 counties and will be

accomplished over three decades. It

involves complex planning, state-of-the-

art science and engineering, large

projects, and many diverse interests.

Congress recognized this in 2000

and required through the Water

Resources Development Act (WRDA)

biennial reviews of the Comprehensive

Everglades leader appointed to Pentagon post

March/April 2009

continues on page 3

Third independentreview of Evergladesrestoration begins

continues on page 4Nicholas Aumen of the National Park Service

addresses the committee on March 3.

Terrence C. “Rock” Salt, the recently appointed principal deputy assistant

secretary of the Army (civil works)

Everglades Report

Corps reaches out for input on “Decomp” field test

Restoring sheet flow and

connectivity of habitats

within the Everglades is one

of the most important goals of Everglades

restoration. Removal of more than 240

miles of canals and levees was included

for consideration in the “Yellow Book,”

the framework for the Comprehensive

Everglades Restoration Plan.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

Jacksonville District is developing a

temporary field test, as a part of the Water

Conservation Area 3

Decompartmentalization and Sheet

Flow Enhancement (Decomp) Project to

investigate design of features for restoring

sheet flow and for removing barriers to

habitat connectivity in Water Conservation

Area 3. The field test is important because

there are critical questions regarding

design and effectiveness of

decompartmentalization features that we

cannot answer with our current knowledge

or computer simulation models.

During the scoping and planning

phases of its projects, the Corps solicits

input in many ways

including meetings with

interested stakeholder groups,

holding public meetings and taking

written comments. Providing

meaningful opportunities for public input

is an important part of the process required

by the National Environmental Policy

Act, NEPA.

The field test will gather data to better

understand the hydrological and ecological

effects associated with different types of

canal modifications and degradation of

levees to benefit the Everglades, and to

better understand how to design effective

project features. The test will take place

along a small portion of the L-67A levee

and L-67C levee and canal in Water

Conservation Area 3. Data gathered will

be evaluated to help guide detailed

planning and design of later phases of the

Decomp project.

The entire testing process will last

approximately five years. It includes

planning and evaluation of test alternatives

in an environmental assessment, baseline

monitoring,

installation of test

features, operation, post-

installation monitoring and removal of all

field test features. The project is designed

to be completely reversible, and the area

will be returned to its pre-test condition.

All comments are welcome. Please

send written comments to Sue Wilcox,

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning

Division, Environmental Branch, South

Florida Section, 701 San Marco

Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32207-8175

or send by e-mail to

DecompPMComments@

evergladesplan.org.

For more information on the field test,

please visit www.evergladesplan.org/

pm/projects/docs_12_wca3_model.aspx.

The field test site is in western Miami-Dade County.

page 2

Everglades Report is an unofficial publication authorized under the provisions of AR 360-1 and published by the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, Jacksonville District, P.O. Box 4970, Jacksonville, Fla. 32232-0019. Comments regarding this report are encouraged and

may be sent to nanciann.e.regalado@usace.army.mil.

Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

This is the third such biennial review.

The National Research Council

of The National Academies is

conducting the review. It has

established a 14-member team: the

Committee on Independent

Scientific Review of Everglades

Restoration Progress. Most members

are from the academic community

across the nation and all are experts in

their respective fields.

Committee Chair Frank W. Davis,

Ph.D., University of California, Santa

Barbara, hopes to develop a final report

that is an “accurate, current, unbiased

assessment of the progress in the

restoration of the Everglades.”

Terrence “Rock” Salt, a recent Obama

administration appointee to oversee the

nation’s Corps civil works program,

believes the review can create positive

change for Everglades restoration. It

provides “an opportunity to illuminate a

better way forward,” he said.

The committee is exploring major

topics for this review. They do not have to

be specifically about CERP, but must be

projects that have a direct impact on CERP.

Last year, the committee focused on

Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades

National Park, which is a project that pre-

dates CERP.

Senior Program Officer Stephanie

Johnson, Ph.D. said the committee is still

identifying topics, but some issues that will

be discussed at upcoming meetings include

water quality and the sustainability of

stormwater treatment areas, progress in

model development, and defining

restoration success.

Past reports have provided

recommendations that are now being

implemented in CERP. One example is

Incremental Adaptive Restoration, in

which larger CERP projects are broken

into smaller, more manageable pieces that

provide information for use in future

project pieces. The committee also

recommended simplifying CERP, which is

being considered today in the revision of

the programmatic regulations.

The committee will meet six times

over 18 months. The first meeting was held

March 3 and 4 in Fort Lauderdale. The

next meeting is June 8 to 10 in Key Largo.

Members of the public or involved

agencies may submit topic ideas for the

committee to consider by sending them in

writing to Johnson at sjohnson@nas.edu.

They may also present ideas in person

during open-meeting sessions at the

committee meetings, which provide a

comment period. To request notification of

upcoming meetings, please send an e-mail

to mstoever@nas.edu.

The public also can follow the

committee’s progress by visiting

www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectvie

w.aspx?key=95

March/April 2009

The scientific review committee held its first meeting in March. A final report will be delivered

to Congress in December 2010.

Third independent review of Everglades restoration begins continued from page 1

page 3

The 2008 report isavailable online and for purchase.

www.evergladesplan.org • 1.877.CERP.USA

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District701 San Marco Blvd.Jacksonville, Fla. 32207-81751-800-291-9405 or 904-232-2568 www.saj.usace.army.mil

®

The Journey to Restore America’s Everglades

A partnership of the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, South Florida Water

Management District and many otherfederal, state, local and tribal partners.

To add your name to the EvergladesReport electronic mailing list visit:www.evergladesplan.org. To addor remove your name, please call 305-948-8063.

while serving as the commander of

the Army Corps of Engineers

Jacksonville District.

A retired colonel, Salt served

30 years in the U.S. Army. He is a

graduate of the U.S. Military

Academy at West Point, has a

master’s degree in physics from the

University of Colorado, and has

held a variety of Army command

and staff assignments in the U.S.,

Germany and Vietnam. He retired

from the Army in 1996.

Terrence C. “Rock” Salt

Original artwork from local elementary school students will be on

display. All students who submitted artwork will receive a certificate.

Everglades leader appointed to Pentagon post continued from page 1

Join the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local officials

for an Earth Day 2009 celebration at the Pahokee

Marina on Saturday, April 25. It will be a fun event for

the entire family!

Activities include viewing original artwork by local

elementary school students, games, multi-media presentations

about the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, free refreshments,

barbecue and conch dinners as local fundraisers, and a visit to the

new marina.

Earth Day 2009 will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,

Saturday, April 25 at the Pahokee Marina/Lake Okeechobee

Outpost, 190 North Lake Way, Pahokee, Fla. The event is free. For

more information, call 305-948-8063 or 561-503-9466.

Join us April 25 for Earth Day in Pahokee!

page 4