LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

March 2008

Dear Members and Friends,

Preliminarily, I want to thank all of you who have helped to support and promote Friends of the Everglades over the past four decades as we have carried Marjory’s mission and banner.  As much as we lament the continuing deterioration of large portions of the Everglades ecosystem, it is clear that there is growing concern for, and interest in, preserving what is left of the Everglades and natural habitat in Florida in general.  Despite our sometimes gloomy predictions, progress is being made.  Everglades National Park, under Superintendent Dan Kimball has found its voice as an advocate for the greater Everglades ecosystem; the South Florida Water Management District has shown more willingness to throw the “drought” blanket on the “wildfire” that is uncontrolled urban sprawl while continuing its work on the 62 billion gallon Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir and restoring more than 13,000 acres as part of the Picayune Strand Restoration project.  Finally, Governor Crist said in a recent speech at the annual Everglades Coalition Conference that he will ask the Legislature to increase Florida's funding for Everglades restoration – hopefully shaming the Federal government into fulfilling its pledge and obligations to restoration.

Next year, Friends of the Everglades, the organization founded by Marjory Stoneman Douglas at the tender age of eighty, will celebrate its fortieth birthday. In preparation, we are undergoing historic change to meet the demands of the next generations of environmental stewards.  Our website, at everglades.org, one of the first and most visited Everglades internet sites is getting a facelift thanks to donations and a grant from the Munson Foundation.  We have been approved and are setting up a channel on YouTube.com to fundraise and highlight Everglades videos.  We are adding new board members and creating honorary and advisory boards.  Committees can now meet online thanks to Google groups and VoIP teleconferences.  Beginning this year, annual membership renewals are due at this time, to coincide with our Annual Meeting and Founder’s Day celebration. Dues are $35.00 for an individual and $50.00 for a family membership. By request, we have added two new lifetime membership levels, $350 and $500.00.

As for events, our second annual Glades walk/bike-a-thon fundraiser – the Gladeswalk – was held at Everglades National Park’s Shark Valley and exceeded all expectations. On April 13, 2008 Friends will hold its Founder’s Day meeting at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and honor Harvey Ruvin, Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts and environmental journalist Alan Farago for their years of conservation work.  Dozens of Marjory fans have signed up for “Marjory’s Circle” – our satellite fundraising and support group and we hope to establish an annual Autumn festival event. 

We hope all of these all of these changes will solidify our presence in Everglades activism in the years to come, but the ideas and ideals which have sustained us for the last forty years will not be lost.  We will still continue to press for change though legal challenges, public and political education and debate.  We will continue to need your membership and your support.

One of our goals over this next year is to double our membership base and with your help – with each of you prevailing on just one of your friends to join Friends of the Everglades this year – we may just get there.  Would Marjory be proud!

Very Truly Yours,
David P. Reiner, II, President

ANNUAL MEETING
APRIL 13, 2008

Proposed Slate of Directors: