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Last updated: June 12, 2007

Mary Plumb, South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

That cooperation was formalized in 1993, when Secretary Babbitt formed the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force to coordinate the many interrelated federal programs, and quickly expanded it to include state and tribal representatives. The Task Force was codified by the 1996 Water Resources Development Act and now includes the assistant secretaries of seven federal departments (Interior, Agriculture, Army, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Commerce, Justice, and Transportation), as well as appointees from the top levels of state, tribal, and local governments.

Assistant Secretary Patricia Beneke

Under the leadership of Patricia Beneke, Interior's assistant secretary for Water and Science, the Task Force aims to achieve, in cooperation with all interested parties, the restoration, preservation, and protection of the ecosystem while promoting a sustainable south Florida. "The Task Force is playing a key and unprecedented role in coordinating federal, state, local and tribal efforts to restore the south Florida ecosystem," said Beneke. "We are working collaboratively toward the common goal of restoring this unique and magnificent ecosystem."

Chairman Richard Harvey, South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Working Group, welcoming participants to the South Florida Restoration Science Forum. See "Forum Showcases Restoration Science". Col. Terrence 'Rock' Salt (ret.), executive director, South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.

Critics of the Task Force's consensus approach have urged Secretary Babbitt to take administrative control of the project. But no legal framework exists for such a command structure. Terrence "Rock" Salt, the executive director of the Task Force, describes it as a "NATO model, where each government organization brings its mandates, budgets, and priorities to the table, collaborates, and then returns to its office to carry out the agreed upon objectives." The Task Force provides policy-level guidance to its Florida- based Working Group, which is comprised of the top managers of each government agency and tribe that has a stake in south Florida. The Working Group, in turn, has a Science Coordinating Team that provides advice and recommendations on the complex integrated re-search findings and technology that informs the decision-making process.

The Working Group has taken on a "non-denominational" dynamic, rotating its regular meetings among different parts of the region as it coordinates on- the-ground restoration projects and budgets. Staff-to-staff coordination from the bottom-up is ensured through intergovernmental teams formed in smaller geographic subregions, or through special Issue Teams that have been formed to resolve a particularly compelling need. As a result of this public policy model, intergovernmental coordination is strengthened from both the top-down and from the bottom-up, resulting in great savings to taxpayers as duplication of efforts is eliminated.

To ensure that all of south Florida's residents who have an interest or stake in ecosystem restoration are represented, the Governor's Commission for A Sustainable South Florida was appointed in 1994 as a bipartisan body. The commission's underlying premise was that South Florida's environment, society, and economies are inter-linking subsystems of the overall ecosystem. Members represent business, agriculture, environmental, civic, and governmental organizations.

The commission enhanced coordination among private and public organizations and was a key to reaching consensus on several issues that previously would have been sidetracked in conflict and controversy. A model of creative collaboration, the commission formulated strategies that addressed both natural and human-induced ecosystem problems in integrated and innovative ways and presented its recommendations to the governing bodies that would carry them out.

The South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force formally recognized the Governor's commission as its stakeholder advisory body. Soon after its charter expired, current Governor Jeb Bush reestablished it as The Governor's Commission for the Everglades.

A sunset view of Florida Bay from Everglades National Park.

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Mary Plumb is the Public Affairs Officer for the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force and works for Executive Director Rock Salt from their office on the campus of Florida International University in Miami. For more information about the Task Force, visit its home page at www.sfrestore.org