Author: Editor

The Awareness Billboard is now in place along SR 70 west of Arcadia just before entering the proposed strip mining area of Desoto County. With its dramatic colors and juxtaposition of dragline vs rural heritage, this will help bring attention to this imminent threat.

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As of this week travelers leaving Arcadia and traveling west to Sarasota on State Road 70 cannot miss a new bill board imploring DeSoto County residents to reject Mosaic’s proposal to mine 18,000 acres just west of Arcadia – roughly along that part of the highway where the billboard is located. This action was approved unanimously by the 3PR Board of Directors many of who took part actively in the design and message it conveys.

Special thanks go out to all 3PR officers who took part in this project and to those members who made contributions to the cost of the sign. 

Although phosphate rock was first discovered in the Peace River in DeSoto County at the end of the 19th century it is the only county in the Bone Valley phosphate mining district that does not have an active mine within its boundaries. The economy of the county is predominantly agricultural. The annual state rodeo is held in Arcadia in an arena that now bears the name of Mosaic,  the world’s leading producer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.

 If you wish to support our efforts to oppose phosphate mine expansion and protect  DeSoto County and the Peace River from this destructive industry please make a special contribution to our organization, 3PR (People for Protecting Peace River, Inc). You can send your contribution by PayPal or any other online payment service to [email protected] or through the Donate page on this website.

Please help us preserve real Florida from a fate that has already ravaged and will possibly destroy the integrity of one of Florida’s most beautiful river systems….

Dennis Mader

Executive Director 3PR