U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) today joined six other Florida Members of Congress in supporting $88.5 million for Everglades restoration in President Obama’s upcoming budget proposal.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and John Paul Woodley, Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, the Florida delegation members wrote, “The first budget by the new administration will lay the groundwork for future budget priorities.” The letter was authored by U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and joined by Putnam and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Tom Rooney, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein, and Kendrick Meek.

“’The River of Grass’ is more than a Florida treasure,” said Putnam, “It’s a unique, vitally important, and delicate ecosystem recognized around the globe.  It is home to more than 60 different threatened or endangered species. Restoring the Everglades to health is enormously important to the environment, economy and heritage of Florida, but it is also a national matter.  I strongly urge President Obama to show his commitment to the Everglades ecosystem and all it represents.”

Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12^th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties. 

Here is the text of the letters to Secretary Salazar and Assistant Secretary Woodley:  

As Members of the Florida Delegation, we write to you to request your support for ongoing Everglades Restoration efforts.  The restoration and preservation of the South Florida ecosystem and the Florida Everglades is one of our top priorities, and we hope that it will become one of your priorities as well.  As you know, there is no other ecosystem in the world comparable to the Florida Everglades, and it is our responsibility to preserve this unique ecosystem for future generations.  We currently face a critical time in ongoing restoration efforts; to date the Federal contribution has been significantly behind State efforts; a new Administration provides an opportunity to reduce this trend and show strong leadership and support for restoration. 

We urge you to request funding in the President’s FY10 Budget that will fund restoration efforts at their full capabilities.  This first Budget by the new Administration will lay the groundwork for future year Budget priorities, thereby making it essential that the Everglades are given high priority. 

We respectfully request the Administration fund restoration related projects at $88.5 million in FY10 for projects detailed below:

Additionally, we request that the Administration utilize any available funding provided in an economic stimulus package to continue ongoing efforts to improve water flows under Tamiami Trail, remove invasive exotics, continue enhanced water quality and water level monitoring and continue important scientific research.

We look forward to working with you on Everglades issues and we hope you will visit this unique and special ecosystem in the near future.