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DUNEDIN— Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael W. Sole today joined a host of federal and state officials, including a representative of The White House, along with educators to applaud the DEP’s Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) program for winning a prestigious federal award and to celebrate Wednesday evening’s presentation honoring Florida during a Gulf of Mexico coastal protections regional conference. This marks the first time that Florida has won the national Coastal America Partnership Award.
On Wednesday evening, the DEP’s LIFE program was awarded first place in the education category of the Gulf of Mexico Program Partnership's 2007 Gulf Guardian Awards dinner event in Tampa. This is the eighth year for that awards program, which was established to honor the businesses, industries, non-profit organizations, government agencies, individuals and partnerships striving to make an environmental difference in the Gulf of Mexico. Award entries were received from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. First-, second-, and third-place awards are given each year in seven categories – individual, business, youth and education, nonprofit organizations, government, partnership and bi-national/federal efforts.
Today, at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, DEP Secretary Sole was on hand to celebrate the new benchmark for the agency’s LIFE program with a presentation by federal officials of the 2007 Coastal America Partnership Award to Florida for outstanding efforts to restore, protect and educate the public on the coastal environment. Margaret Davidson, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Director of Coastal Services Center, representing the President of the United States, presented the award based on the program’s significant accomplishments and contributions to the objectives of Coastal America.
“As a regulatory agency primarily, the DEP has a very small team for environmental education outreach efforts, and I am proud of the great results that small group have achieved to engage our students in hands-on programs working with our great partners in the school system—all to help nurture the next generation of environmental stewards and to help restore Florida’s natural resources,” said DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole. “The successes of the field-based education program can be seen in the hundreds of new students who participate in the hands-on program each year that highlights public access to our public lands, estuaries, and aquatic preserves.”
The LIFE program addresses problems facing coastal conservation and builds on opportunities, which include increased emphasis on science education in Florida; increasing interest in the need to diversify the workforce in fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and increased support for outdoor education. The program grew from one coastal site in 2004 to today’s use of three coastal areas and one upland site in a Gulf Coast watershed.
“Since the launch of our first LIFE site in 2004, we have used the methods of science to introduce students to the environments they live in,” said Greg Ira, director of DEP’s environmental education program. “It is very encouraging to see other organizations recognizing the importance of education, and we are proud to stand beside all our partners in this recognition of all our efforts.”
Since 2004, more than 3,300 possible future scientists and stewards have participated in the LIFE program. The LIFE partnership with schools is a short series of field-based, environmental-science education. Each of the nine existing programs is a partnership between the DEP and a local school district. The goals of the LIFE program are increased student achievement, teacher professional development in science, increased participation of underserved and under-represented populations, and increased stewardship of public lands.
The Gulf of Mexico Program was formed in 1988 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a non-regulatory, inclusive partnership to provide a broad geographic focus on the major environmental issues in the Gulf. The mission of the Program is “to facilitate collaborative actions to protect, maintain, and restore the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico in ways consistent with the economic well-being of the Region.” The partnership includes representation from state and local governments and the citizenry in each of the five Gulf States; the private sector (business and industry); federal agencies responsible for research, monitoring, environmental protection, and natural resource management; and the academic community.
The Coastal America Partnership was established in 1992 to protect, preserve and restore coastal watersheds by integrating federal actions with state and local government and non-governmental efforts. Federal partners include the Departments of Agriculture, Air Force, Army, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Navy, State and Transportation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Executive Office of the President. To recognize outstanding partnership efforts, Coastal America created a national awards program in 1997.
For more information on DEP’s LIFE program, visit
www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/ed.
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