| Estero Bay Watershed Public Symposium and Field Trips
Sunday, September 27, 2009: field trips Monday, September 28, 2009: conference
Please complete by October 16 so and return your response by email to wgray@swfrpc.org.
For additional, visit Conference Details. The health of Estero Bay and its watershed will be the focus of a free conference on September 27-28, 2009. The public is welcome to participate in several informative and fun field trips on Sunday, September 27. On Monday, September 28, join us for a day of summaries of the conditions in the Estero Bay watershed. Topics presented will include land use and transportation, issues in the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR), water quality, fish surveys and aquatic exotics, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) projects and outreach in the watershed, and climate change. A poster session will highlight current research. Amy Bennett Williams, editor of Tropicalia, a publication of the Fort Myers News-Press, will share her observations during a lunch of foods representative of southwest Florida. Following the conference, a fund-raising dinner will feature author and journalist Craig Pittman, whose recent book, Paving Paradise: Florida's Vanishing Wetlands and the Failure of No Net Loss, highlights many environmental issues of concern in southwest Florida. Proceeds from the dinner will fund conservation land acquisition in the Estero Bay watershed. Sponsors of the two-day event are the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Florida Gulf Coast University, the Responsible Growth Management Coalition, the Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management and the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. Conference Location and Agenda (as of September 14) FGCU Student Union Ballroom
8:00-9:15 Continental Breakfast and Poster Session (bring your own mug)
9:15-9:30 Welcome by FGCU President Bradshaw
9:30-10:00 State of the Bay (PDF @ 2,156 KB) by Whitney Gray and Jim Beever, Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council
10:00-10:25 BREAK
10:30-12:00 Session I
10:30-10:45 Land acquisition update on Lee County's land acquisition programs including Conservation 20/20 (PDF @ 1,912 KB) by Lynda Thompson with Lee County Division of County Lands
10:50-11:05 Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) planning and land use (PDF @ 6,233 KB)by Bill Spikowski with Spikowski Planning Associates
11:10-11:25 The Lee County DR/GR: Implications for future restoration and management (PDF @ 3,089 KB) by Kevin Erwin with Kevin L. Erwin Consulting Ecologist
11:30-11:45 Transportation issues (PDF @ 1,368 KB) by Don Scott with Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization
12:00-1:00 Amy Bennett Williams, Editor, Tropicalia Fort Myers News-Press
1:15-3:00 Session II
1:15-1:30 Long-term Water Quality monitoring in the Watershed (PDF @ 2,278 KB) by Keith Kibbey with Lee County Environmental Laboratory
1:35-1:50 Bird Surveys and Monofilament Impacts (PDF @ 889 KB) by Cheryl Clark with FDEP Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve
1:55-2:10 Fish survey in Estero Bay (PDF @ 1,267 KB) by Phil Stevens with FWC Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
2:15-2:30 Southwest Florida Frog Monitoring Network (PDF @ 419 KB) by Win Everham with Florida Gulf Coast University
2:30-3:00 BREAK
3:00-5:00 Session III
3:00-3:20 Riparian Vegetation study (PDF @ 1,538 KB) by Dave Ceilley with Florida Gulf Coast University
3:25-3:45 Community initiatives for improving Water Quality and habitat (PDF @ 8,158 KB) by Nora Egan Demers with Florida Gulf Coast University
3:45-4:05 FGCU Projects in the Watershed (PDF @ 2,827 KB) by Aswani Volety with Florida Gulf Coast University
4:10-4:30 Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) initiatives in the Watershed (PDF @ 10,740 KB) by Lisa Beever with CHNEP
4:35- 5:00 Climate Change in the Watershed (PDF @ 4,399 KB) by Jim Beever with Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council)
5:00-6:30 Cash Bar and Artists Reception at ARTLAB (FGCU)
7-9 Fundraising DINNER featuring Paving Paradise author Craig Pittman with St. Petersburg Times
Past CHNEP Public Conferences
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