He's accustomed to hearing "no."

"The attitude is, 'it's natural, don't touch it,' " said Mongioi, chairman of the Friends of Turkey Creek, a grassroots group that supports dredging. "The resistance to get things done is incredible."

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is gathering public comments to change how it manages a system of 41 state aquatic preserves that encompass 1.8 million acres of Florida's most ecologically valuable submerged lands.

The agency also plans to rewrite management plans for each individual preserve, including the three in this region: Mosquito Lagoon; Banana River, which includes Sykes Creek; and the Indian River Lagoon, from Malabar to Vero Beach.

At a recent workshop at the Lagoon House, about 35 residents -- including Mongioi -- said they hope the new plans help clean up more trash on spoil islands, discourage boaters from dumping sewage in the lagoon, remove derelict vessels and allow dredging to improve water quality.

"The way the river is degrading right now, we won't be boating on it, we'll be polling on it," said Pat Reed of Micco. "A lot of people aren't even aware that an aquatic preserve exists."

The site-specific preserve plans are 100-plus-page documents that lay out the goals and objectives of each preserve.

The plans ban such things as: drilling oil and gas wells, diking and ditching for mosquito control, dredging and filling, and storing toxic, radioactive and other hazardous materials within a preserve.

They also outline the types of public use allowed.

State officials say the plans must be updated to account for land use, population and technology changes since they were written, some more than 20 years ago. The Banana River plan was last updated in 1985, Mosquito Lagoon in 1991 and the Indian River Lagoon, from Malabar to Vero Beach, in 1986.

Daniel Dvorak of Merritt Island hopes the plans don't become attempts to keep boaters out.

"My fear is a management plan that will turn into a document that says 'no,' " said Dvorak, the president of Citizens for Florida's Waterways, a boating advocacy group in Brevard County.

He suggested provisions to the plans to speed removal of derelict vessels.

Duane De Freese, senior research biologist for the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, said management plans should focus on protecting entire ecosystems.

"It should demand science-based management," he said. "We need to be looking at invasive, exotic species.

"There are a lot of things we don't know about the lagoon."

Recent threats

The new preserve plans could address some of the more recent threats here, such as the planned State Road 528 causeway widening from four to six lanes and rip-rap rocks going in along the preserve banks, state officials said.

"We just want the public to be part of the process, if were going to be rewriting these plans," said Sharon Tyson, an environmental specialist and aquatic preserve manager with DEP's East Central Florida Aquatic Preserves Office.

She said changes could include greater setbacks around the aquatic preserves.

Other than concerns about enforcement of existing preserve rules, environmentalists have expressed few worries about the new plans.

Mongioi's optimistic the plans can restore healthier habitats, as long as state officials keep an open ear to those who've know the lagoon for years.

"They have to keep us involved and believe what we say," Mongioi said.

Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@flatoday.net