“The Tamiami Trail was built in the early 1920s to connect Miami and Tampa and as that work went in, it obviously created a major impediment to flow in the Everglades, so it really acts almost like a damn. In order to move flow from the northern part of the system to the Everglades Park south of the trail, you obviously need to deal with hydrologic connections. The bridge is historic toward that.” -Stuart Applebaum

“The Tamiami Bridge was under my direction when I was in the Everglades division. We have about a one mile piece of that under construction now. More of that will need to be done in the future. “ –Stu Applebaum

“For the past 20 years, I have primarily been working on ecosystem restoration projects. Back 20 years ago, we the Corps were really not doing ecosystem restoration, so I feel very proud that I have been on the forefront of ecosystem restoration, which is challenging in terms of the policy and where we want to go” –Stuart Applebaum

“We blazed a lot of trail here in South Florida. Ecosystem restoration is a high priority” –Stuart Applebaum

“At 21 ft. [the depth of Lake Okeechobee], there is a 100 percent chance the [Hoover] Dike would collapse.” –Stuart Applebaum

Currently, the Corps is concerned with fixing the foundation of the dike, because the engineering of the dike in 1930s is much less tolerant to risk then it is today. The rehabilitation of the dike will take place over the next 15 years.

“The Corps provides a lot of expertise where we have to reconcile and try to balance all these different interests, so obviously each interest is trying to maximize things to their advantage.” –Stuart Applebaum

Gary Fischer (South Florida Water Management District)

Eleanor Hodak (Big Cypress National Preserve)

Kirk Singer(Everglades National Park)

Paul Gray (Audubon of Florida)

Lee Davis & Judy Sanchez ( U.S. Sugar Corporation)

A Timeline of Stuart Applebaum’s Career with the Army Corps

1993-2002: Chief, Ecosystem Restoration Branch

2002-2005: Chief, RECOVER Branch

2005-2007: Chief, Planning Division

2007-2011: Chief, Everglades Division

2011-Present: Chief, Planning and Policy Division