JohnCWaldron

The FDEP Division of Recreation and Parks' Office of Greenways and Trails and the East Coast Alliance Greenway Alliance are hosting a webinar this Thursday on the importance of development and growth of trail systems in Florida. The photos and information below are from the official Press Release for the webinar and also includes a link to register. Hope to see everyone on Thursday!

The Florida East Coast Greenway (FECG) is a critical and evolving spine in Florida’s state system of trails.  It is already paved, off-road and mapped for 200 of its 600 miles between Key West and Fernandina Beach.  Act on the opportunity to further advance this important project that's urban, rural, scenic and utilitarian.  The popularity of the FECG and trail systems as a whole draws from many trends:

• Young people grow with bikes and want trails as adults.
• Trails keep families together while keeping them fit.
• Working adults increasingly socialize on bikes, just as on the golf course.
• Seniors ride trails because they’re safe, affordable pathways to exercise.
• Tourists come from around the world to experience Florida off the beaten path.
• Trails help revitalize downtowns such as Dunedin and Winter Garden.
• Business finds a bonanza by locating alongside trails.
• Realtors like trailside houses because they generate premiums and sell faster.
• Transit-oriented developments and live-work-play downtowns benefit from trails.

If you are in business, tourism, real estate, recreation, health-and-fitness, multi-modal transportation or allied fields, this free one-hour webinar is for you. Gain advantage from learning what’s ahead.  Help close the FECG gaps.  This webinar will address:

• How you can support and become involved with the FECG
• The economic benefits and impacts of trails on communities
• The advantages to connecting trails locally, regionally and nationally
• Trails in multi-modal transportation systems and how they advance safe and efficient mobility, tourism, and recreation

Presented by:  FDEP Division of Recreation and Parks' Office of Greenways and Trails and the East Coast Greenway Alliance

Click HERE to Register for the Webinar

The University of South Florida College of Marine Science in collaboration with the International Ocean Institute (IOI – USA) and the City of St. Petersburg is hosting the Coastal Cities Summit 2012 on April 30 - May 3 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Summit will provide a venue in which to discuss risks, environmental vulnerabilities, smart growth opportunities and provide information about innovative programs and approaches that communities are implementing to preserve and restore natural assets. At this summit there will be a day dedicated to eco-tourism and economic development as described in the following press release from the Coastal Cities Summit:

Rethinking Tourism: Sustaining Economic Development and the Environment: Professionals working on economic development, tourism and coastal/environmental management initiatives will be interested in 2012 Coastal Cities Summit on May 1-3. The Summit's one-day tourism track will feature new public-private sector approaches that support tourism development and preserve or restore environmental assets. Experts in Florida, around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean will discuss principles, policies, financing, innovative “products” and case studies on eco-tourism and destination management.

This year’s Innovating Tourism panelists will discuss trends and ideas about what tourism convention bureaus, cities, environmental NGOs can do to strengthen local tourism.  The panelists include Keith Overton, President, TradeWinds Hotel, Mary Ference, owner of Mis en Place, Sono Cafe and appointee to the US. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and John Waldron, Executive Director, Florida Outdoor Recreational Coalition. This track will provide an effective framework for collaborating on strategic tourism development. For more information on the summit log onto http://www.coastalcities-ioi.org/.

Information for this article from: The Coastal Cities Summit

FLORC held a regional meeting in Tallahassee on April 24 with twenty six people in attendance. While the busy agenda addressed a number of items concerning outdoor recreation issues in Florida the highlight was a discussion of subject topics for the upcoming Florida Outdoor Recreation Summit this September 22-23, in Sanford Florida.  In addition to subject material for the summit, program format was also discussed, such as having some smaller break out session and/or table meetings to allow more interaction between speakers and attendees.

The following is a list of topics being considered for the upcoming summit

• Develop of the 2013 Statewide Outdoor Recreation Plan - DEP (General)
• Outdoor Recreation Perspective from the Top – agency head panel – (General)
• Moving from Enthusiasts to Advocates (General)
• DOJ Ruling to Assist Meeting the Needs of Special Populations – (General)
• From Idea to Implementation – Story of FNST (General)
• Dollar and Sense of Outdoor Recreation - It’s a Community Thing – (Economy)
• Outdoor Recreation in the Tourism Mix (Economy)
• What is New in the Outdoor Recreation World (Economy & General)
• Meeting the Outdoor Recreational Needs through Private Providers (Economy)
• Costing Health Care Cost through Outdoor Recreation Participation (Economy & Health)
• A Healthier Florida through Physical and Mental Activities (Health)
• Outreach through Meet up Groups – (Outreach)
• Outreach to a Greater Diverse Outdoor Recreation Populations – (Outreach)
• You Want Me to Do What, Where? Overcoming Anxiety in the Outdoors (Outreach)
• Communicating your Activity through Multi-Media Outlets (Outreach)
• Blue Print of the Outdoor Recreation Expo – 2013 (Outreach)
• Getting Public Land Manager Buy In (Environment)
• Safeguarding Our Resources for the Future (Environment)

A second regional FLORC meeting is scheduled for the Orlando area on May 2, 2012 at 7:00 pm in the Gander Mountain – Lake Mary Store.  The agenda will include soliciting more input for the fall summit as well as discussing other outdoor recreation issues.  Everyone with an interest in outdoor recreation is welcomed.  If you can’t attend a regional meeting, please send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any suggestions for the summit or any other issue dealing with outdoor recreation in Florida.

It was forty-two years ago that a notion became action. A day would be dedicated not honoring any single religious, historical, or other action centering around  the human species, but for the stage in which all living and nonliving things interact to make our planet so unique, this day was to be called Earth Day.

While 1970 was an excellent springboard for many innovated and thought provoking programs to help safeguard our earth’s resources for future inhabitants of our planet, today these safeguards are often decried as being too restrictive and without merit, particularly if they interfere with financial growth and development of our cities, counties, states and our nation.

However, no segment of the human population should be more in-tuned to the importance of our environment and natural resources than outdoor recreationists.  For it is us, who find the waterways, uplands and airspace as playgrounds for our most cherished outdoor activities.  It is for this reason that we, as outdoor recreationists, can no longer sit idly by and think that government alone can safeguard our interests.

Therefore outdoor recreationists, whether we hike, fish, bike, camp, surf, boat, paddle, horseback ride or ATV ride (and the list goes on) must begin to unite under one banner and protect the resources that we depend on to give us our place to recreate and to re-create.  In 2012 and beyond, we need to move from just participating in outdoor recreation activities to advocating for the protection of our green spaces and waterways and our outdoor recreational freedom.

This year the 2012 Florida Outdoor Recreation Summit in September will focus on two important aspects of the outdoor recreation community:  the economic importance of outdoor recreation, and the advocacy for outdoor recreation and the resources that support our needs.  On this Earth Day, let it be our ongoing mission to voice the importance of outdoor recreation for our health, the health of local businesses, but most importantly to the health of the lady who makes it all happen – Mother Earth.

Photo courtesy of - Wikipedia.org