Paving Paradise

"Draws readers into its difficult subject by resorting to the dirtiest trick in the journalistrs"s bag of tricks: great storytelling."-Creative Loafing "Uncovers what ought to rank among Floridars"s most notorious development scandals-and thatrs"s something in a state infamous for swampland scams and subprime sprawl. . . . An infuriating, all-too-familiar tale of how powerful developers, shrewd lobbyists, and callow politicians shape public policy for private profit."-Miami Herald "This is an exhaustive, timely, and devastating account of the destruction of Floridars"s wetlands, and the disgraceful collusion of government at all levels. Itrs"s an important book that should be read by every voter, every taxpayer, every parent, every Floridian who cares about saving whatrs"s left of this precious place."-Carl Hiaasen Florida possesses more wetlands than any other state except Alaska, yet since 1990 more than 84,000 acres have been lost to development-despite presidential pledges to protect them. In this hard-hitting book,St. Petersburg Timesinvestigative journalists Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite explain how taxpayers who think theyrs"re paying for wetland protection have been stuck with a program that creates the illusion of environmental protection while doing little to stem the tide of destruction. A potent combination of groundbreaking historical research and no-holds-barred reporting, this book portrays a landscape that has been compromised by greed, fear, and incompetence. A volume in The Florida History and Culture Series, edited by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino

 

Craig Pittman, a Florida native, is a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, and Matthew Waite, who hails from Nebraska, is the Times’s news technologist. Their reporting on wetlands has twice earned the top investigative reporting prize in the nation from the Society of Environmental Journalists as well as the Waldo Proffit Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism in Florida.