The Florida Department of Environmental Protection last week agreed to allow the company, Anderson Columbia Co. of Lake City, to build the plant on condition it sell a lime rock mine north of the springs. State officials feared the mine could cut off the springs' water source, but Martin said his research shows the mine may not impact the springs one way or the other. A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to illegal trafficking in carnivorous plants. Ted Allan Minton sold Venus flytraps illegally taken from the wild to international plant dealers in Holland. A victim of its own popularity, the Venus flytrap is prized by collectors worldwide.
Consumer demand fuels the marketplace and contributes to the depletion of wild populations.
In 1996, Minton, a plant nursery owner, sold about 9,000 flytraps collected in eastern North Carolina to Hendrikus Lommerse of Holland. Minton gave Lommerse a false U.S. Department of Agriculture certificate stating that the shipment contained Christmas ferns. Later the same year, Minton tried to send another 5,000 illegal Venus flytraps to Holland with false permits stating that the shipment contained nursery raised flytraps. The new standards will reduce homeowners' utility bills, save energy and improve air quality. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson says the new standards are part of a six point initiative to help prevent major power outages.