Our journey to providing environmental expertise.
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In my time as an undergraduate, I spent many weeks of the sophomore and junior summer terms in the field as a UF Extension Agent Specialist. Night-time respiration rates of a slashpine flatwoods forest as related to global carbon sequestration; that was the research unto which I was the individual identified to collect such data. Yep, head out into the Florida flatwoods past midnight with infrared lighting and leaf potometer; a tool used to measure the amount and/or rate of leaf transpiration. The research was published through the UF SFRC and authored by my Ecology professor. My name was not published with the research of course, but I was able to negotiate college credit hours for my nocturnal efforts.
The junior summer was a hot one for sure, if the temperature hits triple digits in Gainesville you know it is scorching in the Everglades, and that is exactly where I was! Neighboring the Everglades to the West resides an Indian tribe, the Miccosukee Indians. The Tribe predates Columbus and has sustained their population through agriculture. This Extension Agent Specialist responsibility was not individual, instead several Extension Specialists were tasked with the control and reduction of an invasive species that has completely dried up the water reservoirs of the Tribe. Punktree (Melaleuca quinquenervia) is an incredible fiber production species, however these huge trees are also incredibly invasive. This invader has taken over large areas of Tribal land, so much so it is very difficult just to walk through the punktree stand. All these immense stems rising from what once was wetland, now the water is being soaked up by this invasive spongy species.
The Society of American Foresters has a UF student chapter to which I was elected Chair. There was a great deal of travel around the Southeast representing not only UF but SAF as well. My endeavors as Chair focused on leadership and communications with other State and Regional Forestry groups as well as focusing on their concerns. The UF Forestry Club has a Forestry Conclave event annually at the Austin Carey Forest just Northeast of Gainesville. My participation was as the Secretary for the Forestry Club.
Canal Forest Resources was my first professional Forester position. The timber cruises here in the Southeastern US kept me lean and mean, but I wanted more. The Florida Forestry Service offered me a position in the Hydrology Section of the Directors Office, which I gladly accepted. Upon being briefed with my responsibilities of restoring hydro-periods on over 1,000,000 acres of impacted wetlands, I posed my question. What’s my budget? This question brought laughs around the room, as my budget was my salary and benefits. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services desired to have a Wetland Restoration Specialist employed within the Department, but without a budget how the hell was I going to restore any of these altered wetlands?
Over 1 million acres of wetlands to be restored in our State without a budget! Hello environmental impact mitigation! The term mitigation as related here, serves to offset unavoidable wetland impacts with wetland enhancement, creation, or conservation/preservation easements. My office initiated a wetland restoration program for lands owned by the State Board of Trustees and managed by the Forestry Service. The program offered environmental impact mitigation projects for impacts within the same watershed boundary. It was and still is a huge success! The impacting party (usually a developer) could mitigate their impacts without the cost of a 20-year easement minimum, which at that time was required for restoration projects on private lands. The mitigation bankers did not care for the program, as they didn’t like any form of competition. As the demand grew for my program it lured clientele from the mitigation banks to the State Lands program. This is also the primary reason why the DOACS, Forestry Service, Wetland Restoration Program is not advertised.
Wetlands play very key roles for human sustainability. There is a long list of benefits these wetlands provide, at the top is water quality and water quantity. Only 3% of the Earths’ water is freshwater. Of this 3%, nearly 98% of this freshwater is locked up in glacial sheets or icebergs at our poles which leaves all creatures and vegetation a mere 2% or 0.06% of Earths water for biota use. This 2% does not consider tainted water or water which has been affected by non-point source pollution. Diverting urban stormwater run-off to functioning wetlands allows the wetland soils to filter the water as it infiltrates. Removing chemicals and cycling the water as it eventually returns to the aquifer.
Sarasota County Government was my next career move. The County identified my work ethic and means of efficiency which they utilized in relation to a new program, the County’s Navigable Waterway Program. The county parcels which abut a waterbody or shorefront are in very high demand, which is demonstrated through the market values of these waterfront properties. The County tasked me with initializing and managing the program which serves to maintain these waterfront homeowners’ enjoyment of Florida Riparian Rights (FS 253.141).
My office created two new County taxing units, Municipal Services Taxing Unit and Municipal Services Benefit Unit. These taxing units which funded my position and program were attributed to the County constituents who own property abutting saltwater or brackish waterbody. Parcels abutting bodies of freshwater were also included so long as this waterbody was connected to a navigable channel or canal to reach the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW). The program is still in operation today.
Sarasota is a great place to call home. The environmental terrain of the County possesses a broad range from sand-hill scrub to large areas of sloughs and wet prairie. The slightly elevated topographic effects along the West coast of Florida seem to end just south of Sarasota. Two and one-half miles from the coast and my home lies in Zone D for hurricane evacuations. When compared to locations miles South of Sarasota where Zone D is 20 miles inland!
Wetland Extent Landward (WEL) is a company servicing residential and commercial clientele. Utilizing natural resource knowledge, coupled with environmental impact mitigation provides WEL clientele with a certain edge benefiting the landowner. History provides when environmental permitting challenges exist the landowner options to reach their desired outcome are greatly reduced. Here at WEL we don’t like challenges, we love them! Overcoming what often may limit a property’s market value and delivering satisfaction to our clientele. This is why we enjoy the relationships we build with all parties involved.