2007 DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Every January for about the last twenty years, the Everglades Coalition met to discuss the successes, failures, and future direction of Everglades restoration. This year was no exception, but it was notable to us that numerous political lights appeared to remind the assemblage that each was working for the environment, whether in Tallahassee, Washington, D.C., or the county courthouse. Why would that be notable? Primarily because there were a number of lean years in the past 20, when few would appear, and political environmental support was weak to nonexistent.

During those lean years, Governor and then Senator Bob Graham continued the environmental call with enthusiasm, and this year was no different. But this year, he was joined by others, some new to the movement, who seemed just as passionate. A cynic would say that a different political wind is blowing; we like to think some of our more recalcitrant brothers and sisters have seen a different light. A call for energy independence and a need to reduce carbon footprints have stirred a slumbering giant. We think the next few years may well offer environmental opportunities last seen in the early 1970s. There will certainly be any number of naysayers in the future, but most now understand the “inconvenient truth.”

We continue to provide grants in broad areas of primary interest: growth management, water quality and quantity, and habitat conservation. Growth management grants for 2007 include: The Everglades Law Center, Inc. Florida Keys project; the University of Florida Foundation, Inc. stormwater management practices handbook; and the Florida Public Interest Foundation, Inc. media outreach program. Water Quality and Quantity grants included: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. for the benefit of the Florida Ocean and Coastal Coalition; the Indian River Land Trust, Inc. for protection of lands at risk in Indian River County; and the Institute for Fisheries Resources to protect Florida waters from inappropriate potential aquaculture processes.

Our interest in habitat conservation and protection issues led to grants to: Estero Community Improvement Foundation, Inc. to advance alternative rural land use planning in Lee County; to Wildlaw, to provide oversight of national forest practices and address energy issues in Florida located national forests; and to Gulf Restoration Network, to protect Nature Coast habitat from inappropriate development pressures.

The reader will see that the Directors continue to fund grantees who are large or small, who are national or local, and who are broad based or issue specific. We encourage anyone who has an interest in the environment and a proposed solution to a problem to contact us for support, subject to our guidelines. We thank each and every grantseeker, whether successful or not, for his or her dedication to this never ending quest. We continue to believe that better days for the environment are ahead. We hope you will continue on this journey with us.