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Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

Tampa Bay Times reporter Craig Pittman is a native Floridian. He graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him "the most destructive force on campus." Since then he has covered a variety of newspaper beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature. Since 1998 he has reported on environmental issues for the Times. He is a four-time winner of the Waldo Proffitt Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism in Florida and a series of stories on Florida's vanishing wetlands that he wrote with Matthew Waite won the top investigative reporting award in both 2006 and 2007 from the Society of Environmental Journalists. He is the author of three books: "The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid" (2012); "Manatee Insanity: Inside the War Over Florida's Most Famous Endangered Species," (2010); and, co-written with Waite, "Paving Paradise: Florida's Vanishing Wetlands and the Failure of No Net Loss," (2009), all published by the University Press of Florida. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife and two children.

Phone: (727) 893-8530

Email: craig@tampabay.com

Twitter: @CraigTimes

  1. Indian River Lagoon mystery ailment killing dolphins, manatees, pelicans

    06/16/13EnvironmentBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    The Indian River Lagoon on Florida's east coast has long been known as the most diverse ecosystem in North America.

    Its 156 miles of water boast more than 600 species of fish and more than 300 kinds of birds.

    The lagoon is not just an ecological treasure. To the towns along its edge — Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, Vero Beach and Stuart, among others — it accounts for hundreds of millions in revenue from angling, boating, bird-watching, tourism and other waterfront activities....

    A kayaker spotted a sick dolphin stranded in shallow water in Indian River Lagoon this week and stayed with it for two hours until rescuers could capture it. Because it was suffering some from sunburn, they draped it in a sheet until they could take it to rehab. After finding 46 dead dolphins in the lagoon, this is the first live one and could provide clues to what’s been killing them off.

  2. DEP secretary denies controversial wetlands permit, vindicating agency expert

    06/14/13WetlandsBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Florida's top environmental regulator has denied a permit for a controversial wetlands project, saying it failed to offer a reasonable assurance that it would work.

    The decision late Friday by Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard Jr. in effect upholds the warnings of the DEP's top wetlands expert, Connie Bersok, who was relieved of duty, investigated and taken off the case last year....

  3. DEP lawyer says clashes over enforcement led to his firing

    06/14/13EnvironmentBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Lawyer Chris Byrd had just won a court victory on behalf of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. After a four-day trial, a jury had ruled that a Marion County couple had illegally filled in wetlands by an aquatic preserve along the Rainbow River. Instead of celebrating, the DEP attorney felt worried.

    "As soon as the verdict came back, I had a sinking feeling," he said. "I thought, 'When (Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary) Jeff Littlejohn hears about this, I'm probably going to lose my job.' "...

    Chris Byrd

  4. Gov. Rick Scott approves controversial environmental legislation

    05/31/13 Blog Craig Pittman

    Gov. Rick Scott has signed HB 999, a bill so detested by a host of environmental groups that they brought in former Sen. Bob Graham to try in vain to stop it.

    Scott's action Thursday disappointed environmental advocates but did not surprise them, said Estus Whitfield of the Florida Conservation Coalition. He predicted it might hurt Scott at the ballot box when he seeks re-election in 2014....

  5. Thousands mark St. Petersburg Pier's final day

    05/31/13 Local Government By Waveney Ann Moore, John Woodrow Cox and Craig Pittman

    ST. PETERSBURG

    Two plastic cups sat side by side on the bar, empty but for a few cubes of melting ice. They had, moments earlier, been filled with Coke and Captain Morgan, the last drinks ever served at Cha Cha Coconuts.

    "I'm just kind of enjoying the moment," said Bill Shadley, but his face displayed anything but joy. It was 9:30 p.m. All around him, tables had been cleared and chairs stacked upside down on the bar. ...

    At 8:54 p.m. Friday, visitors line the railing on the top floor or take the elevator one last time, just a couple of hours before the Pier closed for good.

  6. Gov. Scott approves controversial bill opposed by environmental groups

    05/30/13EnvironmentBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Gov. Rick Scott has signed HB 999, a bill so detested by a host of environmental groups that they brought in former Sen. Bob Graham to try in vain to stop it.

    Scott's action Thursday disappointed environmental advocates but did not surprise them, said Estus Whitfield of the Florida Conservation Coalition. He predicted it might hurt Scott at the ballot box when he seeks re-election in 2014....

    Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, sponsored the anti-regulation bill signed into law Thursday.

  7. Divers say they still suffer ailments from 2010 BP oil spill

    05/26/13WaterBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    During the Deepwater Horizon disaster three years ago, few people got as close to the action as Scott Porter.

    Porter, a diver with a degree in marine biology, worked in Louisiana as a contractor for oil companies and had become fascinated with the corals growing on oil rigs. He and some friends volunteered to collect samples of corals near the spill for federal officials. They were also paid to take reporters from CBS News and other outlets into the Gulf of Mexico to view the spreading slick....

    Scott Porter, a diver with a degree in marine biology, brought up coral samples for federal officials during the oil spill.

  8. Gulfport woman accused of hitting man with garden gnome

    05/22/13CrimeBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    GULFPORT

    Garden gnome used in attack, police say

    A domestic dispute that involved yelling and thrown household items ended in violence Sunday when, police say, a woman clonked a man on the head with a New Orleans Saints garden gnome.

    A report by Gulfport police Officer Jennifer Crowson says that at about 4:17 p.m. Sunday, Lisa D. Buckley, 47, a server at a local restaurant, arrived at her home at 5407 29th Ave. S "and began yelling at the victim." Buckley then "threw items all around the residence and then picked up a New Orleans Saints garden gnome and struck (the victim) with it."...

  9. River of Grass flows again into Everglades National Park

    05/15/13WetlandsBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Eighty-five years ago, work crews built a dam across the Everglades and called it the Tamiami Trail. The two-lane highway, completed in 1928, blocked most of the flow of the River of Grass just as it began trickling into what would become Everglades National Park.

    On Wednesday, the dam broke.

    About 10 a.m., a worker driving a backhoe cracked apart the old roadbed, letting the shallow water flow into the park the way it did eight decades before. ...

    A backhoe breaks through the roadbed of the old Tamiami Trail, which blocked the flow of the famed River of Grass for 85 years.

  10. Legislature allocates $10 million for springs; DEP scrambling over how to spend

    05/10/13WaterBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    In the waning days of the legislative session, Florida lawmakers approved putting an extra $10 million in the $74.5 billion state budget for "the restoration, protection, and preservation of Florida's springs."

    There's only one problem: The agency that's supposed to spend the money, the state Department of Environmental Protection, doesn't know yet quite what to do with it.

    The legislative budget language doesn't mention any specific projects. It just says the money should enable DEP "to initiate direct actions that will reduce pollutants and promote the proper flow volume of underground and above ground springs that provides a balance between the agricultural industry and water quality."...

  11. Study: phosphate mine expansion will cause 'significant' wetlands damage

    05/05/13WetlandsBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Creating three phosphate mines and expanding a fourth will destroy nearly 10,000 acres of wetlands and 50 miles of streams, causing a "significant impact," according to a study prepared to guide permitting by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    But the two-year study —- prepared for the corps by a consultant paid by the phosphate industry — contends the miners would do such a good job of making up for the damage, through a process called mitigation, that the impact will not be all that noticeable....

  12. 10 people who deserve to be 'Great Floridians' more than Bubba Watson

    05/04/13PerspectiveBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Last month, Gov. Rick Scott named golfer Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr. and 22 other people (including some unemployed guy named Tebow) to the state's official list of "Great Floridians." The list began in 1981 with former Gov. LeRoy Collins as the first honoree and has since come to include 88 more names, including Walt Disney, Juan Ponce de Leon, Mary McLeod Bethune and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, not to mention a passel of politicians and a couple of big campaign donors. But ... Bubba Watson? No offense to Bubba, the 2012 Masters champ and the pride of Bagdad, but here are 10 people who deserve to be called "Great Floridians" more than he does:...

    Photographer Clyde Butcher is the Ansel Adams of our Florida flora and fauna. This photo was taken in April 2012 when he joined the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition team for a stretch during its 100-day trek from the Everglades all the way to the Georgia border to call attention to the possibilities of a protected, unbroken path for wildlife to use to traverse the Sunshine State.

  13. Panhandle lawmaker loads bills with environmental deregulation

    04/28/13EnvironmentBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Every year during the legislative session in Tallahassee, state Rep. Jimmy Patronis does two things:

    He organizes a day for everyone to wear seersucker suits. And he pushes a bill to change Florida's environmental regulations, like the one Thursday that passed the House, blocking local governments from protecting thousands of acres of wetlands.

    Patronis, R-Panama City, is the man who gives environmental activists nightmares — a charming and savvy lawmaker convinced that Florida would be better off if government would get out of the way and let businesses boost the economy....

    Rep. Jimmy Patronis, right, of Panama City is sponsoring a bill that strips local government protection from wetlands.

  14. Health survey watching cleanup workers from 2010 gulf oil spill

    04/27/13WaterBy Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

    Three years ago, during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP hired thousands of people across the Gulf Coast to don protective suits and go out in boats to collect the oil or to scrape up the tar balls washing ashore.

    Now the government is watching 33,000 of those people to see if coming in contact with the oil made them sick.

    The vast study, overseen by the National Institutes of Health, began signing up participants in 2011 and should last for a decade. So far, "it confirms much of what you would expect," said Dr. Dale Sandler, who's in charge....

  15. Environmental groups enlist Bob Graham to help stop bills

    04/23/13 Blog Craig Pittman

    A pair of bills now steamrolling through the Florida House and Senate have drawn such strong objections from environmental groups that former Sen. Bob Graham flew to Tallahassee this week to lobby against them.

    The two bills — HB 999 sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Patronis and SB 1684 by Sen. Thad Altman — are packed with provisions relating to sugar company leases in the Everglades, making it easier to wipe out wetlands and limiting the power of water districts to control pumping....