Sunday, January 5, 2014

Fight over citrus canker payments may resume - Sun Sentinel

My tangerine tree received the telltale white spray mark around the base of its trunk. That's how far state workers got before the program was abandoned sometime back in 2006 or so. I remember them coming on my property unannounced leaving leaflets on my door about how any citrus I had was doomed. Seven years later, I can report that the tangerine tree is still alive and well and this year pushed out a solid crop of tangerines. According to this story, click title for link, others weren't as lucky and are still seeking compensation from the state. There is also talk about reviving the program.
From 2000 to 2006, Agriculture Department crews roamed Florida neighborhoods and cut down trees found within 1,900 feet of infected ones, in an attempt to halt a disease that threatened some of the state's most economically significant crops. But homeowners fought back in court, saying their private property was being sacrificed to protect a powerful agricultural interest. They won injunctions that temporarily shut down the chain saws and went to court to win compensation for trees that had been destroyed.