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Second Announcement & Call for Papers
The Mark A. Benedict Symposium on Science, Conservation & Restoration
of Southwestern Florida Ecosystems
Date: December 6, 2007

Meeting jointly with
The 12th Annual Exotic Species Workshop for Southwest Florida
Date: December 7, 2007

Venue: The Conservancy of Southwest Florida

Primary Meeting Contacts:
Benedict Sympsium: Ed Proffitt - cproffit@fau.edu
Exotic Species Workshop: Takako Hashimoto - Takako_Hashimoto@fws.gov

Organizers: Ed Proffitt, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University
Dave Addison, Director of Resource Protection, The Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Donna Devlin, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University
Gary Lytton, Manager, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Greg Tolley, Director, Coastal Watershed Institute, Florida Gulf Coast University
Takako Hashimoto, Florida Panther & Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuges

Concept for the Benedict Symposium: Conservation, management, and research are all of critical importance in maintaining the ecosystems of southwestern Florida. Work in all these avenues has been occurring for decades, but individual expertise and the results of various projects have often not been merged to the best effect. The Big Cypress, Fakahatchee Strand, Caloosahatchee River, Estero Bay, Rookery Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, the Everglades, and many other natural resource treasures have developed over eons in accord with south Florida's climatic conditions, soils, hurricanes, fire regimes, hydrology, and the myriad biotic interactions that, together, shape the nature of the ecosystems. Consequently, a symposium where conservation gains and losses are reviewed, new and on-going projects analyzed, and syntheses of how both are related will benefit natural resource managers and policy makers engaged in making the "big decisions" that will have implications far into the future.

Dr. Mark A. Benedict

Symposium Dedication: Dr. Mark A. Benedict was a powerful voice for conservation of southwestern Florida during his years as Collier County Environmentalist and at as the Director of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management Division for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. He led the development of the first conservation element of Collier's comprehensive plan, lead legal challenges to environmentally damaging development projects that ultimately resulted in the protection or purchase of a significant amount these lands for preservation, and worked cooperatively with Audubon staff at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to propose a Save Our Rivers Project to the SFWMD that eventually became the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed to name just a few of the conservation initiatives he was involved with. In recent years, he worked at the national level with the Conservation Foundation, but maintained deep ties to, and a love of, this region. His book, Green Infrastructure: Linking Landscapes and Communities (with Edward T. McMahon) provides a roadmap for dealing with the problem of development. Mark's passing in December 2006 left not only a hole in the hearts of his friends, but a void in the framework of the conservation community that will be difficult to fill. The organizers conceived the idea for this symposium while thinking about Mark's many contributions to ecology and conservation. We dedicate this meeting to his memory.
Ed Proffitt, Dave Addison, Donna Devlin, and Gary Lytton.

Forums and Programs: The Benedict symposium will be held on Dec. 6 and the Exotic Species Workshop on Dec. 7 at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples. A social event for the two meetings will be on the evening of Dec. 6 at the Rookery Bay National Research Reserve. A plenary session the first morning will consist of invited speakers that will review historical aspects of conservation in southwestern Florida, and link this body of knowledge and work to recent and on-going restoration & environmental protection in the region. The keynote talk in this session will be given by Dr. Bernie Yokel, of Florida Audubon. Also, Senator Burt Saunders (who was Collier County Attorney when Mark was in Naples) will discuss recent legislation that promotes conservation in SW Florida. The restoration of south Florida is a major undertaking, and projects in southwest Florida will be reviewed and integrated in to the whole-system view of the region's ecosystems. Comparisons between the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie River estuaries that both receive runoff from Lake Okeechobee will be a focus of a review. The afternoon session, will consist of contributed talks on conservation, natural resource management, environmental education, and research.

Call for Papers: Please indicate an interest in presenting an oral paper at the Benedict Symposium via email to Ed Proffitt (cproffit@fau.edu) with "SW Florida Benedict Symposium" in the Subject Line. For the Benedict symposium we are soliciting talks on any topic related to research, management, conservation, or environmental education in southwestern Florida habitats and communities. To make a presentation at the Exotic Species Workshop, please email Takako Hashimoto (Takako_Hashimoto@fws.gov).

Registration: Details regarding registration will be given in a later announcement. We anticipate no registration fee for this meeting.

Thanks to our Sponsors for making this possible!

Call for Additional Sponsors: To support this effort to bring our land managers together for this meeting and/or to participate in the planning, please contact Ed Proffitt (cproffit@fau.edu).

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