The Board of Directors of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Foundation encourages you to participate in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Restoration Blueprint process. Now is the time to have your voice heard to determine the management actions and tools that will protect our marine environment that supports our local economy and way of life.
The foundation works alongside, yet independently of, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, focusing on the restoration and management of our most valuable asset, the marine world we all share. As a nonprofit, we look forward to working with everyone to support responsible, sustainable marine activity within the Keys.
In response to public concerns about threats facing the Florida Keys, the Sanctuary released its Restoration Blueprint, and, as the guiding interest of the foundation, we lend our support to this endeavor. Successful management of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary relies on all of us: residents, businesses, as well as tourists. Together, we can be part of the solution.
We are all aware of the assaults on our marine system. In an effort to protect and restore critical marine habitats in the Florida Keys, the sanctuary is proposing changes to its boundary, marine zones, regulations and management plan that embodies what has been learned through more than 20 years of cutting-edge science, technical experience and local community involvement. The proposals before us now are a result of more than 70 public meetings and 200 recommendations from the Sanctuary Advisory Council, which is composed of local citizens. In short, the alternatives offered to the current management plan and tools were devised transparently, and in concert with citizens and stakeholders.
The ecosystem-based approach provides sanctuary management with the platform to address a wide variety of issues including the coral reef ecosystem, water quality and increased human use with the aim of long-term sustainability. Action is needed to help the Florida Keys marine environment recover and become more resilient. We need our marine environment for our own economic stability.
In July of this year, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation released a study showing that economic activity generated by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is responsible for contributing $4.4 billion and 43,000 jobs across the state of Florida, with 60% of jobs in the Florida Keys connected to the marine ecosystem. Understanding the economic impact of the sanctuary’s resources is critical. The sanctuary is an irreplaceable treasure that will require careful management to maintain and enhance its splendor.
The process of managing our marine system relies on input from you. The Restoration Blueprint is easily viewable online at www.floridakeys.noaa.gov/blueprint. An interactive map enables citizens to move to areas that may be of particular interest, recognizing that residents of Key Largo may have comments that a resident of Key West would not. Key to this public process is the word comment. The website provides instruction on how to present comments in response to the sanctuary’s proposals, and this portal is open until the end of January.
As representatives of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, we ask you to participate. The Restoration Blueprint is complex by nature of the needs for access while sustaining the valuable resources. It will take all of us to find a balance. We do, however, believe the time is past due to act.
The Restoration Blueprint is a starting point for all of us to become involved. Our foundation is involved daily in the betterment of our marine environment. The Restoration Blueprint now enables you to be involved as well at this critical time. Please help us chart a viable future and join us in support of meaningful change for the Florida Keys and the waters that surround us.
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
Board of Directors
Tom Davidson
Stephen Frink
Peter Liashek
Bruce Popham
Russell Post
