ABSTRACT
By the late 1960s social activists began to turn their attention toward environmental issues. The environmental movement began in earnest in the 1960s as a revival of the old conservation movements that created the Sierra Club and initiated our system of National Parks in the 19th century. The changing national mood toward environmental protection came at a time when local environmental groups began challenging vested interests in Florida, including railroads, agribusiness, tourism, and industrial elites. In 1972, the legislature, realizing that so much more needed to be done, set up a group of its membership known as the Environmental Land Management Study Committee as part of the Land and Water Management Acts package. By January 1980 over 300 of Florida’s 461 units of local government had submitted plans to the Florida State Department of Community Affairs for review and comment. The legislature, in response to criteria of R9j5, passed what was termed the “Glitch Bill” in the 1986 legislative session.
