Ep. 437: Backwoods University - Florida Water Crisis
Bear Grease
MeatEater
4.9 • 7.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When you think of the state of Florida, a water crisis is likely not the first thing that comes to mind. However, There has been an ongoing fight for decades now centered around water, and more importantly how it is managed. In it's natural state, water would flow slowly south out of Lake Okeechobee, down through the everglades, and into the Atlantic ocean. Now, after some artifical damming and canal building- the water is released in large discharges to the St Lucie and Caloosahatchie Rivers, causing an aray of problems for those rivers, the residing wildlife, water quality, and neglects the everglades.
Connect with Lake Pickle and MeatEater
Lake Pickle on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and YouTube Clips
MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | O'oy, turkey hunters. Turkey Week is on now at the Meat Eater Store. |
| 0:04.3 | To help you get ready this spring, we've rounded up some of our favorite gear for chasing goblers from Miriams out west to hard goblin Easterns. |
| 0:13.2 | We've got brand new meat eater logo wear and seasonings, turkey calls from Phelps, Camel from First Light, decoys from DSD, packs and accessories from FHF gear, and a whole lot more. |
| 0:26.4 | Select products are up to 20% off. |
| 0:29.2 | From the field to the kitchen, everything you need this spring is all in one place. |
| 0:34.6 | We've also teamed up with First Light to create the ultimate spring |
| 0:38.9 | turkey giveaway worth over $13,000. From now until Sunday, you get double entries for every |
| 0:47.2 | $25 spent. That's 20 entries for every $25 spent at the meat eater store.com. Check it out now through April 5th |
| 0:58.0 | at store.com. Themeetere.com. Welcome to Backwoods University, a place where we focus on wildlife, |
| 1:07.7 | wild places, and the people who dedicate their lives to conserving both. |
| 1:12.0 | Big shout out to OnX Hunt for their support of this podcast. |
| 1:15.2 | I'm your host, Lake Pickle. |
| 1:17.1 | And on today's episode, we're going to be talking about the liquid that fuels life itself, |
| 1:22.6 | water. |
| 1:23.4 | But even more specifically, we're going to be talking about a water crisis, one that's been going on for over a century, really. |
| 1:30.7 | And to do this story justice, we're going to have to head south. |
| 1:33.7 | And I mean way south, to the beautiful and perfectly wild state of Florida. |
| 1:39.4 | Specifically, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, and the Colusa Hatchie and St. Lucie Rivers. |
| 1:45.5 | Let's dive in. |
| 2:01.6 | The Army Corps of Engineers is about to open the gates at Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee often choked this summer with toxic blue-green algae, the result of fertilizer runoff from all the phosphorus and nitrogen from farms and ranches that surround the Big Lake. |
| 2:12.6 | The Army Corps of Engineers has made it clear that if that lake level should rise to 16 and a half feet, then it would begin major releases to the east and west to protect against flooding for the communities around the lake. |
| 2:23.3 | But what does that mean for coastal communities? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from MeatEater, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of MeatEater and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.