Bruce Kaster
Bruce Kaster lives with his wife Sue in Ocala where he practices law. They have been married
for over 40 years and have two grown children, Melissa and Brian. He is an avid fisherman and
member of the local Bonita Club.
Bruce is a former officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers and paratrooper who served in
Germany, the Middle East, and Vietnam. He received an undergraduate degree from Virginia
Polytechnical University and has a law degree from the University of Florida Law School. Upon
graduation, he joined Buddy MacKay’s law firm in Ocala as a civil trial lawyer. Bruce has a long
history of environmental activism. In 1978, Buddy introduced him to Majorie Carr, the founder
of the Florida Defenders of the Environment, for whom he became a legal advisor. He has been
involved in working to overcome the adverse environmental effects of the Barge Canal since that
time.
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As a result of his environmental activism, Governor Bob Graham appointed Bruce to the
Ocklawaha Basin Board of the St. John’s Water Management District in 1983, where he served
as chairperson until 1987. He worked on the OBB with his longtime friend, John Hankinson on
restoration of the upper Ocklawaha River. Since that time, he has had special interest in water
management issues regarding the Ocklawaha River Basin. He has been a member of Florida
Defenders of the Environment for over 40 years and currently serves as Vice President. Mr.
Kaster has also been a member of the Sierra Club, Audubon and the Nature Conservancy for
many years.
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He has used the Federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain dam inspection reports of the
Rodman Dam that FDEP was suppressing. After considerable effort, the reports for 2015, 2017,
2019 and 2021 were obtained and Bruce had the reports analyzed by a renowned earthen dam
engineering company. The analysis revealed several troubling defects and there were obvious
glaring omissions in the reports. Bruce has shared the information he obtained and has also
worked with elected officials who support river restoration.
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Today, Bruce continues to advocate for the restoration of Florida's beautiful rivers and remains
active in his fight against FDEP's refusal to deal with the adverse environmental impacts of the
Cross Florida Barge Canal. Recently he began assisting WAR with the continuing efforts to
improve the water quality in the Withlacoochee.