Representative Jim Fuller drew up House Bill number 1599 that would make Rodman a "Rodman Reservoir Recreation Area''- This would give Rodman an official State Park status. Senator Jim King drew up Senate Bill number 1976 that would do the same thing.

I made my first trip to Tallahassee after the session started with the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and used this two day trip to call on and lobby some of our Representatives on the Rodman issue. When we were preparing to make the trip home, Representative Fuller told me he wanted me back in Tallahassee the next morning. The reason being his bill number H1599 was going to be voted on in the Water & Resource management Committee. I knew then we were on our way. Representatives Kelly Smith and J.D. Alexander, Chairman of the Committee told me we were OK in this committee but to fill out a speakers card and hold it. They would give me the signal if they wanted me to speak, other than that, just sit back and enjoy. And enjoy I did, as David White with the FDE took the floor and started his inaccurate, farfetched and misleading information as we are so accustomed to hearing. When he finished, he got really hammered by the committee members, it was all I could do to keep from making a scene with my laughter. We won in this committee by a vote of 9 to 2.

The next committee we were scheduled for was Environmental Protection, but support for the bill was so great it got passed on to the next committee without a vote. We then were scheduled for the committee on General Government Appropriations. Representative Fuller called on me again and said I needed to talk to the members of this committee as there were 6 known no votes. I had some conversations with some of these "no votes" that would curl your hair as to what the FDE had led them to believe. We won in this committee 11 / 2.

Now things started to heat up with the FDE and their brother organization, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They were losing, so then what happened was that the US Fish and Wildlife Service ordered Buckman Lock closed to protect the Manatees. Now, it does not take a rocket scientist to understand these locks were not closed because of the Manatee, they were closed because they were losing the fight in Tallahassee and were trying to frustrate us. As usual they are wrong, it just makes us stronger and more determined than ever to win this battle.

Our bill then went to the full House of Representatives for a vote where the bill passed with an amendment added that would allow hunters to hunt on Rodman. The bill passed 70 to 45.

We then moved on to the Senate. We knew the Senate was going to be a tough nut to crack. The first committee we faced was the Natural Resources Committee, and we went in with the expectations of a 5 to 3 vote in our favor. But, I will have to admit, I was caught by surprise on this one. Up to this point it seemed we were one on one, David White with the FDE and myself with Save Rodman. This time there were probably 25 to 30 supporters from the FDE and they had scheduled six speakers. On our side there was myself and a reporter! After their six speakers were finished which took up about 30 minutes I was told I had two minutes. I objected but it did no good. The vote was 4 to 4, a tie. Usually a tie means the bill dies, but Senator Forman who betrayed us had the decency to make a motion to reconsider the bill at the next meeting. We survived the next meeting 5 to 3 in our favor. You turned the tide on the FDE at this meeting by turning out in good numbers in support of Rodman. I knew they were not going to take any testimony at this meeting but apparently the FDE didn't. They brought in two carts of books and documents for window dressing. But as I told one Rodman supporter the FDE surely doesn't want the Legislators to read them as it would prove detrimental to their cause.

The bill skipped by the next scheduled committee and ended up in the Fiscal Policy Committee, where it stayed.

Now comes the ugly part. There were two people responsible for this bill not moving on to the Governor's Office. Senator Latvala and Senate President Toni Jennings. We had sailed through the House, passed our roughest committee in the Senate and had committed votes in the Senate for the bill at a count of 28 yes to 8 no and 3 uncommitted. All that had to be done was for President Jennings to pull the bill out of committee and put it on the Senate floor for a vote and we were home free. At the urging of Senator Latvala she failed to do this. Now I can understand Latvala doing this because he has always been associated with the environmental extremists. They tell him exactly what they want him to do and he seems to oblige them with open arms. But President Jennings came as a surprise as she has always supported Rodman in the past. She alone is responsible for this bill not being passed. But one thing for sure, Save Rodman had the majority of support from our legislators and we lost by default. ..............We'll try again next year.