NAPLES, Florida -- President Bush pledged to expand the nation's wetlands Friday [April 23] before making a fund-raising run across Florida that reeled in $4.4 million for Republicans. His wife, Laura, and Vice-President Dick Cheney fanned out to three other states on the trail of more GOP dollars.
Though Mr. Bush spent most of the day banking campaign money, his official business was to reinforce a promise he made Thursday in Maine to increase and safeguard the country's wetlands. He directed six federal agencies to restore and create at least 1 million acres and protect 1 million acres over the next five years.
"For years, our nation has sought to slow the loss of wetlands," Mr. Bush said, with his back to a slow-moving river at the Rookery Bay Estuarine Research Reserve in southwest Florida, on the western edge of the Everglades. "I believe we must change that goal to one that says we'll have an overall increase in wetlands every years. Instead of just reducing loss, the goal of this country must be to increase wetlands."
He spoke to a supportive audience after he and his brother Jeb, Florida's governor, shed their coats and ties and yanked out non-native species of plants that biologists say are harming the state's lush wetlands. The president jokingly menaced reporters with a large pair of pruners before using the clippers on the undergrowth. For the second day of his environmental tour, Mr. Bush made his 21st visit to the state that decided the 2000 election.
Recent polls show Mr. Bush running slightly ahead of Democrat John Kerry in Florida, and feelings about him run strong. Hundreds of people lined the streets along Mr. Bush's motorcade route into the reserve, and many were supportive. But about 100 gathered near the reserve's entrance and waved signs denouncing his policies on Iraq and the environment. The political divide was even more apparent in Coral Gables, where a boisterous crowd of GOP donors yelled "Four more years!" but protesters outside chanted "No more Bushes!"
Carol Browner, head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, said it was "quite stunning" that Mr. Bush chose to highlight the need to protect wetlands, given his record on the issue. "Unfortunately, these events are the sum total of his commitment to clean air and clean water," she said in a conference call with reporters. "This administration has simply the worst record ever."
After his speech at the reserve, Mr. Bush spent the next six hours chasing campaign dollars. He was the star attraction at two fund-raisers, one in Naples and one near Miami, for the Republican National Committee's Victory 2004 fund, which helps Republicans up and down the ticket. The president and his wife arrived at Andrews Air Force Base together early Friday morning, then went their separate fund-raising ways -- he to Florida, she to Tennessee to raise $350,000 more for Victory 2004.