Category Archives: Sea Level Rise

Governor DeSantis’ “Great” Plan to Turn Florida Public Park Land Into Pickleball Courts, Golf Courses, 350 Room Resorts & More

On August 19, 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Department of Environmental Protection announced the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” which by its name might sound like a positive (or as the title suggests “great”) measure but, as they say, the devil is in the details. The Governor’s “Great” plan seeks to add several different “amenities” such as pickleball courts, disc golf courses, 350 room lodges, and even an entire 18-hole golf course and clubhouse to what are currently beautifully natural State Parks designed to protect Florida’s fragile environments. You can read about the Governor’s “great” plan here.

Needless to say, adding a golf course or pickleball courts to old-growth mangrove forests that protect our shorelines from storm surge and rising seas, as just one example, is not an environmentally sound idea. And while I can’t say I am surprised, what with Florida’s Governor recently signing the “Don’t Say Climate Change” bill that outlaws phrases such as “climate change” and “greenhouse gases” from much of the state’s legislation, amongst other draconian steps, developing Florida’s limited natural public environment into golf courses and pickleball courts sounds like fiction from a Carl Hiaasen novel, but, like much of that author’s incredible work, is rooted in short sighted reality where nature is nearly always paved over for profit.

If you believe that protecting our State Parks and keeping them natural is more important than developing resorts, golf courses, and really much of anything else on them then I hope you will join me and my friends at the University of Miami Environmental Law Society by signing a letter of protest that we will be sending to Governor DeSantis opposing his “Great Outdoors Initiative.” Here’s the text of the letter and you can sign it by clicking here.

#AlwaysBelieve, #BeInconvenient, #MyOceanPledge, #RatherBeInCourt, #SaveMiami, Climate Change, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Environmental Law Society, Florida State Parks, Global Warming, Great Outdoors Initiative, Miami, Miamisearise.com, Politics, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, The Sink or Swim Project

EPIC Summer National Parks Trip 2024

I adore America’s National Parks and those of you that have followed me for any length of time know that one of my bucket list goals is to visit all 63. Last summer I spent over two months exploring many of our amazing western Parks, places like Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and you can read about those adventures by clicking here.

My 2023 trip was such a wonderful experience, the nature, people, and places so spectacular, that I decided to celebrate my recent law school graduation by heading back out on the road into the wilderness again this year and have just returned from an epic summer trip that took me to 24 of America’s most spectacular natural environments, including 19 additional National Parks. As of today, I’ve visited 41 and that now includes this summer’s National Park stops: Gateway Arch, Mammoth Cave, New River Gorge, Cuyahoga Valley, Indiana Dunes, Voyageurs, Isle Royale, Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Wind Cave, Great Sand Dunes, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend, Hot Springs, and US Virgin Islands. Along the way to those parks, I was also able to stop many other special places including Gooseberry Falls State Park, Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park in Canada, Meteor Crater National Landmark, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore National Monument, and the British Virgin Islands.

While much of my travels were remote and largely off-line, I most certainly filled my camera with hundreds of memories so rather than write a lengthy post about my trip allow me to use some of those pictures to paint the majesty of what I cannot fully describe in words:

I ended my summer travels in the postcard picture perfect US Virgin Islands National Park on St. John, amidst its pristine coral reefs, dense mountain jungles, and crystal clear waters where I made a few new sea turtle friends.

I’m off to No Name Key to enjoy what remains of the summer, as well as do some writing related to my Ph.D. work and other projects before the new school year begins. This fall will be a busy one for me between grad school, studying for the Florida Bar, acting as a Teaching Assistant for one of my very most favorite professors, progressing a significant new project for the State that I am excited to soon share details about with you along with my service to both the CLEO Institute and CAVU Boards. As summer draws to a close and the new school year approaches or work picks back up, I do hope that you can find time to get outside and experience nature whether that’s at local park, a state forest, a beach, a lake, a nearby national park, or somewhere else special to you before we all are swept up in in our day to day hectic lives.

#AlwaysBelieve, #BeInconvenient, #MyOceanPledge, #RatherBeInCourt, #SaveMiami, Climate Change, Custer State Park, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Global Warming, Gooseberry Falls State Park, Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, Meteor Crater National Landmark, Miami, Miamisearise.com, Mount Rushmore, National Park Service, Politics, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, The Sink or Swim Project

An Inspiring Legal Education

When I decided to apply to the dual degree graduate program through the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy here at the University of Miami to pursue my law degree and a Ph.D., I honestly had no idea just how inspirational my legal education would be. Like most prospective law students I anticipated spending endless hours each week reading countless law textbooks and cases and writing legal briefs, and while all of that was a significant part of my studies, I could never have anticipated the amazing hands-on experience that the School of Law provided as I traveled all over Florida and the world beyond.

I mean, where else can a young law student deeply interested in the world’s climate crisis and our environment be selected to attend the United Nations’ annual Conference of the Parties (aka COP) meetings as part of their education by traveling to the far corners of the world, Egypt in 2022 and then Dubai in 2023, the latter of which while acting as the Head of Delegations? Just amazing, life changing experiences.

The words “thank you” are simply insufficient for my gratitude towards Dr. Jessica Owley not only for selecting me to participate in these incredible educational experiences, but for leading so many of the environmental courses that I enjoyed during my time on campus. I also owe her a special “shout out” for hosting an environmental symposium at the School on Earth Day in 2022 where my friend and famed environmental constitutional lawyer Andrea Rogers and I talked about my historic 2018 climate case, Reynolds v. Florida, and her impactful work at Our Children’s Trust when I was just a 1L (22-year-old first year law student) or, for that matter, recently awarding me the Inaugural University of Miami School of Law Environmental Writing Award.

Dr. Owley, thank you for being such a powerful supporter of my work and an inspiration as a lawyer, doctorate, academic, professor, and woman.

Where in the world can you attend law school and as part of your curriculum board an airboat to explore issues facing the Everglades, kayak through Big Cypress National Preserve to learn about endangered species, cruise the waters of Lake Okeechobee that’s vital to South Florida’s fresh water supply while hearing from the South Florida Water Management District leadership, meet with Elders from both the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to learn about their environmental concerns or spend a day hiking (“mucking” about as it’s called) waste deep (ok, chest deep in my case!) in the brown waters of Big Cyprus while vividly experiencing the environment while you are literally submerged in it? Well, those are just some of the awe-inspiring experiences that Professor Kelly Cox’s Everglades Law course gave to seven of my classmates and me. You can read more about that course and my adventures in it in an article the University recently published that you’ll find here.

I have an endless list of people to thank for supporting me over the last three years but want to mention a couple who have played an extra special role and that begins with my dear family (mom Juli, dad Bob, and brother Owen). Thanks as well to the Abess’ Director, Dr. Kenny Broad, for his confidence in selecting me to join their program; to Jennifer Jacquet, Abess’ Graduate Program Director; and my PhD advisor, Dr. Catherine Macdonald for her never ending support and wisdom.

So what’s next?

The dual degree program through the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy is fairly unique in all of higher education and with my law school element complete I am excited to focus on my Ph.D. candidacy over the next three years. My thesis focuses on the viability of proposed manmade climate change solutions for South Florida, what their environmental and societal impacts are/might be as we continue to come up with different ways to protect our coastlines, and how we might utilize technologies others around the world have developed. You can learn more about the Dual Degree graduate program at the University of Miami in a recent article about me and some of my colleagues that you can find here.

In addition to my Ph.D. related academic work, I will be acting as a Teacher’s Assistant for Dr. Wanless’ Climate Change/Sea Level Rise and Landscape, Habitation, and Society classes this fall, preparing for the Florida Bar exam before sitting for it early next year, and working on a range of environmental projects through The Sink or Swim Project including some very big news later this year, while also serving on both the CLEO Institute and CAVU Boards.

But first, I am excited about the prospects of a nearly summer-long trip to 19 more of America’s National Parks and other special natural places all over our incredible country like the one I took in 2023. I will look forward to sharing the details about those adventures late this summer with you and, until then, hope you have a truly fantastic summer that allows you to also get out into our amazing natural environment.

#AlwaysBelieve, #BeInconvenient, #MyOceanPledge, #RatherBeInCourt, #SaveMiami, Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, Big Cypress National Preserve, Catherine Macdonald, Climate Change, COP 28, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Global Warming, JD, Jennifer Jacquet, Jessica Owley, Juris Doctorate, Lake Okeechobee, Miami, Miamisearise.com, Miccosukee, PhD, Politics, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, Seminole, SFWMD, The Sink or Swim Project, University of Miami School of Law
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