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Denham to speak at Everglades Coalition Conference in January

By Staff | Dec 18, 2008

Submitted by KAREN NELSON



Mayor Mick Denham of Sanibel will be featured on an SCCF-moderated panel at the 2009 Everglades Coalition’s 24th Annual Conference in Miami, to be held Jan. 8-11.

Denham led the development of urban water quality initiatives in the Lower West Coast Watershed Subcommittee of the six county Southwest Regional Planning Council. Initiatives included resolutions adopted by the Council on fertilizer, municipal wastewater, package plants and septic systems and two resolutions for storm water improvement.

The panel, moderated by SCCF Natural Resource Policy Director Rae Ann Wessel, entitled “A Case Study of Local Initiatives for Water Quality Improvement,” is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 9 at 11 a.m. at the Hilton Miami Downtown. The third panelist will be Dorothy Hirsch, a Naples community activist in water issues.

Early registration deadlines for the hotel and conference have been extended to Dec. 19. Confirmed speakers include Senator Bill Nelson, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart and Secretary Kopelosous (Florida DOT). For more information or to register, go to www.evergladescoalition.org/.

The 24th Annual Conference of the Everglades Coalition will be held at the Hilton Miami, and it is being hosted by the National Parks Conservation Association. Last year’s Conference was held on Captiva and hosted by SCCF. The conference brings together leaders, elected officials, community and environmental activists, and the general public to discuss the many opportunities and challenges in 2009 and beyond in efforts to restore the entire Everglades ecosystem.

Conference sessions focus on topics such as growth management, political and public partnerships, endangered and invasive species, wildlife habitat, energy policies, water quality and flow plans.

The Everglades Coalition is comprised of 51 allied environmental and conservation organizations. Its conference is the largest annual forum for Everglades’ conservation and restoration, bringing together the Coalition’s membership with its local, state, and federal partners. Members of Congress and the Florida state legislature, and other political figures come to the conference to discuss their positions, pledge their support and present challenges to the community.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of natural resources and wildlife habitat on and around Sanibel and Captiva through environmental education, land acquisition, landscaping for wildlife, marine research, natural resource policy, sea turtle conservation and wildlife habitat management. As part of the SCCF Marine Laboratory’s work, real-time water quality data from the SCCF RECON (River, Estuary & Coastal Observing Network) sensors can be found at www.recon.sccf.org. Community support through membership dues and tax-deductible contributions makes this work possible.