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===Park establishment and history=== [[File:Biscayne NM proposal NPS1.png|thumb|alt=Map of the original Biscayne National Monument|Biscayne National Monument as proposed in 1966]] [[File:Columbus Day weekend boaters at Biscayne Bay.jpg|thumb|alt=Boats on Biscayne Bay|[[Columbus Day]] boating crowd]] The earliest proposals for the protection of Biscayne Bay were part of proposals by Everglades National Park advocate [[Ernest F. Coe]], whose proposed Everglades park boundaries included Biscayne Bay, its keys, interior country including what are now Homestead and [[Florida City, Florida|Florida City]], and Key Largo. Biscayne Bay, Key Largo and the adjoining inland extensions were cut from Everglades National Park before its establishment in 1947.<ref name=grunwald1/> When proposals to develop Elliott Key surfaced in 1960, Lloyd Miller asked Secretary of the Interior [[Stewart Udall]] to send a Park Service reconnaissance team to review the Biscayne Bay area for inclusion in the national park system. A favorable report ensued, and with financial help from Herbert Hoover, Jr., political support was solicited, most notably from Congressman Fascell.<ref name=alvarez1>{{cite news|last=Alvarez|first=Lizette|title=A Florida City That Never Was|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 8, 2012}}</ref> A {{convert|90|acre|ha|adj=on}} area of Elliott Key was by this time a part of the Dade County park system.<ref name=bnmproposal2>{{cite web|title=Present Use|url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/bisc/proposal/sec2.htm|work=Biscayne National Monument: A Proposal|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=13 January 2013}}</ref> The 1966 report noted the proposed park contained the best remaining areas of tropical forest in Florida and a rare combination of "terrestrial, marine and amphibious life," as well as significant recreational value. The report found the most significant virtues of the potential park were "the clear, sparkling waters, marine life, and the submerged lands of Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Here in shallow water is a veritable wonderland."<ref name=bnmproposal6>{{cite web|title=The Case for Preservation|url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/bisc/proposal/sec6.htm|work=Biscayne National Monument: A Proposal|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=13 January 2013}}</ref> President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 90β606 to create Biscayne National Monument on October 18, 1968. The monument was expanded in 1974 under Public Law 93-477 and expanded again when the monument was redesignated a national park by an act of Congress<ref name=npsbisc10/> through Public Law 96-287, effective June 28, 1980. The 1980 expansion extended the park almost to Key Biscayne and included Boca Chita Key, the Ragged Keys and the Safety Valve shoal region, together with the corresponding offshore reefs and a substantial portion of central Biscayne Bay.<ref name=gmpbisc-a>{{cite web|title=Biscayne National Park General Management Plan: Appendix A|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/parkmgmt/upload/GMP%201983_part8.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=21 November 2012|year=1983}}</ref><ref name=draftgmp1>NPS, ''Draft General Management Plan'', pp. 295β299</ref><ref name=npca9>NPCA, p. 9</ref> The first Islandia property owner to sell land to the [[National Park Service]] was Lancelot Jones, together with Katherine Jones, Arthur's widow. They sold their lands for $1,272,500, about a third of the potential development value. Jones was given a life estate on {{convert|3|acres|abbr=on}} at the age of 70. He visited with park rangers stationed at the former Cocolobo Club, which eventually burned down in 1975. The other life estate in the park was held by Virginia Tannehill, the widow of [[Eastern Airlines]] executive Paul Tannehill.<ref>Shumaker, p. 64</ref> Jones' house built by Lancelot, his father and his brother, burned down in 1982. He lived in a two-room shack for the next ten years, riding out hurricanes on Porgy Key, but left his home permanently just before Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The house was destroyed and Jones remained in Miami until his death in 1997 at 99 years.<ref>Shumaker, p. 66</ref> Deprived of a rationale for existence by the national monument's establishment, Islandia languished. The hiring of a police chief in 1989 prompted questions from the National Park Service to the Dade County [[state's attorney|state attorney's office]], headed by [[Janet Reno]]. In 1990 Reno's office determined after investigation that all of the town's elections were invalid, since the elections were restricted only to landowners, not residents.<ref name=mozingo1/> The town was finally abolished by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners in March 2012.<ref name=alvarez1/> The impact of Hurricane Andrew on neighboring [[Homestead Air Force Base]] caused the Air Force to consider closing the base and conveying it to Miami-Dade County, which was interested in using the base for commercial air traffic as an alternative to [[Miami International Airport]]. An environmental impact study concluded the resulting flight paths over the bay, only {{convert|2|mi|abbr=on}} to the east, would result in degradation of the park. In 1999 The Air Force prohibited major commercial development at Homestead as a result.<ref>Miller, pp. 137β139</ref> The park's popularity as a destination for boaters has led to a high rate of accidents, some of them fatal. The [[Columbus Day]] weekend has been cited as the "most dangerous weekend of the year." An annual boating regatta in its 57th year in 2012 resulted in six deaths between 2002 and 2011, with damage to seabeds from vessel groundings and littering.<ref name=npt1>{{cite news|title=Biscayne National Park Preparing For "Most Dangerous Weekend" Of The Year|url=http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/09/biscayne-national-park-preparing-most-dangerous-weekend-year10526|access-date=21 November 2012|newspaper=National Parks Traveler|date=September 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028032734/http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/09/biscayne-national-park-preparing-most-dangerous-weekend-year10526|archive-date=2012-10-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although official regatta activities take place outside the park, the area of Elliott Key has become a popular destination for some participants.<ref name=npsbisc14>{{cite web|title=Biscayne National Park Gears Up for Most Dangerous Weekend of the Year|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/parknews/columbus-day-weekend.htm|work=Biscayne National Park|publisher=National Park Service|date=September 11, 2012|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> A fifth generating unit fueled by natural gas and oil was added to the Turkey Point generating station in 2007.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/rbssUtilitiesElectric/idUSN1344614220081013|title=FPL Fla. Turkey Point 4 reactor shut|date=October 13, 2008|agency=Reuters|access-date=November 21, 2012|first=Scott|last=DiSavino}}</ref> In 2009, Turkey Point was proposed as the site of two new 1117 MW [[AP1000]] nuclear reactors, to be designated Turkey Point 6 and 7. If built, the new reactors would make Turkey Point one of the largest generating sites in the United States.<ref name=nrc1>{{cite web|title=Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Application|url=https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/turkey-point.html|publisher=Nuclear Regulatory Commission|access-date=21 November 2012|year=2012}}</ref> Other neighboring influences on the bay are the agricultural lands of south Miami-Dade County, a sewage treatment facility on the park boundary at Black Point, and its neighbor, the South Miami-Dade Landfill.<ref name=npca14>NPCA, p. 14</ref>
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