By Sarah Eisenhauer, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 25, 2001

PORT ST. LUCIE -- Wielding kayak paddles, several local residents and environmentalists demonstrated Saturday morning exactly what they'd like to do if a bridge is ever built over the pristine Halpatiokee Preserve.

The environmental groups erected a large sketch of the proposed West Virginia Corridor Bridge at a spot where they believe it would intrude on the preserve if plans for the city's third east-west crossing ever come to fruition.

Near the edge of the St. Lucie River, several residents vented their frustration by yelling "What are we going to do with a bridge? Take it down!" Then, swinging the kayak paddles, slashed large holes in the paper rendition of the bridge.

"We thought this was a good, non-violent demonstration that made a point," said Harold Phillips, conservation chairman of the St. Lucie County Audubon Society. "This is a buffer preserve, and the impact a bridge would have on the habitat would really destroy the propose of the preserve."

Local residents, along with members of the Conservation Alliance, a St. Lucie County-based group dedicated to preservation efforts, and members of several other environmental organizations took a nearly half-mile hike through the mostly scrub habitat, some wearing signs saying "Halpatiokee Yes" and "Bridge No." The event was meant both to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the preserve and to protest the prospect of a bridge in the area. Others choose to kayak up the river to the preserve.

"This is just an effort to educate people on what a wonderful resource we have here, and what a great resource we would lose if it was allowed to be taken by this bridge," said Alliance member Kevin Stinnette.

Staff of the state Department of Environmental Protection at the demonstration said the bridge "would highly impact the preserve." For the state to allow this type of construction through the preserve, the city would have to prove it's in the public interest and it's needed, said Jeff Beal, DEP aquatic and buffer preserve manager.

"We've already asked the city to consider its alternatives. They could choose to put the corridor someplace else," Beal said. "There are better ways we can do things, like decreasing reliance on large thoroughfares by using public transportation."

Supporters of the bridge say a third span is needed to prevent traffic gridlock in the growing city.

But as the group passed through the saw palmetto and wax myrtle and across the "Florida Black Stream," with tea-colored water stained by native plants, several said it would be hard to prove a need to encroach on the preserve.

"I just see the development invading everywhere. This land should not get usurped just to accommodate more vehicles," said resident Billi Wagner.

sarah_eisenhauer@pbpost.com