The symposium – “Going Coastal: 21st Century Challenges to Our Fragile Coast” – will take place Friday, Feb. 11, at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center in Gainesville from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by the Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section and by The Florida Bar City, County and Local Government Section.

Presentations will focus on sea rise mitigation, oil spill litigation, drilling moratoria, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, ocean acidification and judicial takings. The program will be of special interest to those in the legal field dealing with land use, environmental, energy and state and local government issues.

“The line-up for the tenth Nelson Symposium is impressive in its depth and breadth, which is appropriate, as the legal problems involved in protecting our coast demand the creativity and energy of the best and brightest of our profession,” said Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law Michael Allan Wolf of the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

This year’s speakers include Georgetown Law Professor Peter Byrne; Sarah Chasis, Natural Resources Defense Council; University of Miami Law Professor Cynthia Drew; Florida Solicitor General Scott Makar; Alida C. Hainkel, Jones Walker, New Orleans; University of Washington Law Professor William Rodgers; Stanford Law Professor Buzz Thompson; University of Florida Levin College of Law Professor Michael Allan Wolf; and two University of Florida law students, Tony Bajoczky and Celia Thacker.

The symposium is named to honor Richard E. Nelson, who served with distinction as Sarasota County attorney for 30 years, and his wife, Jane Nelson, two UF alumni who gave more than $1 million to establish the Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law, which is responsible for the annual event. Their support of the Levin College of Law’s Environmental and Land Use Program has been key to the program’s success and national recognition for excellence.

Registration is required to attend the event. Registration forms and further information can be found at http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/events/2011/nelson/.

Members of the media are invited to attend, but space is limited so please contact Matt Walker at mlwalker@law.ufl.edu or 352-273-0650 at the UF Law Communications Office to make arrangements.

Co-sponsored by The Florida Environmental and Land Use Law Sections and UF Student Government, the conference will take place in conjunction with the 1st Annual University of Florida Water Symposium—”Sustainable Water Resources: Florida Challenges, Global Solutions.” In addition, the PIEC and the National Association of Environmental Law Societies is hosting a Campus Climate Neutral Roundtable for the southeast region.

On the evening of Wednesday, February 27, 2008, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit climate change and human rights activist and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will present a pre-conference keynote speech at the Reitz Union Ballroom. The event is co-sponsored by the UF Office of Sustainability and is free and open to the public. Doors open at 7 p.m.

The conference is free for all UF students, faculty and staff. Scholarships are available for non-UF students, as well as a discounted registration fee of $45. Please see the scholarship and registration forms available online at http://www.law.ufl.edu/piec for more information. The PIEC pre-registration fee is $85, and the on-site registration is $100. Both fees include all program activities except the banquet, which is an additional $35 for all conference attendees.

The opening reception will be held at the President’s House, 6-9 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28, with welcoming remarks by UF Law Dean Robert H. Jerry, II, as well as a keynote speech by Shannon Estonez, governing member, South Florida Water Management District. The conference resumes at the Levin College of Law Friday, Feb. 29, with an entire day of panel discussions involving dozens of participants on such topics as sea-level rise, climate change, agricultural challenges, water resources, community land management, carbon markets, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the impact of war on the environment, and Florida’s needs for sustainable energy. The conference banquet, 7-10 p.m., will feature keynote speaker David Hunter, assistant professor of law and director, program on International and Comparative Law at American University Washington College of Law.

Saturday’s schedule starts with a 9 a.m. workshop on “Walking Small: Reducing Your Personal Footprint,” featuring Michelle Adamski, sustainability extension agent, Wakulla County, UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS). Saturday’s panels begin at 10:30 a.m. and cover such topics as environmental injustices and dams, biodiversity loss, and communication between scientists and policymakers. A two-hour closing plenary, entitled “The Focus on Florida,” begins at 1:30 p.m.

Since its inception in 1994, this student-organized conference has attracted top practitioners, legal scholars and scientists from around the state and beyond to discuss Florida’s most pressing environmental issues. Now in its fourteenth year, the PIEC has enjoyed a continual increase in reputation, attendance and popularity. Detailed schedule, panel descriptions, speaker bios, registration, directions and parking information are available at www.ufpiec.org. For more information, contact Andrew Beckington (abeck82@ufl.edu) or Yee Huang (lyh@ufl.edu).

Presented by the University of Florida Levin College of Law and co-sponsored by The Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section and The Florida Bar City County and Local Government Section, this year’s conference is entitled “Green Building: Prospects and Pitfalls for Local Governments.” The event will draw experts from law and related fields to discuss topics such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and other certification programs, state and local climate change initiatives, private environmental lawmaking, building industry and local government programs, and national trends.

The state of Florida is positioning itself to be in the forefront of governmental efforts to incorporate design and construction practices that will yield energy efficiency, enable the conservation of resources, and protect the environment. Some local governments and universities have also been experimenting with their own green building programs. This rapidly changing field presents challenges and potential problems for local government counsel, as well as attorneys who specialize in real estate, land use, environmental and construction law.

“There are certainly a lot of positives to green building practices,” says UF Law Professor Michael Allan Wolf, Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law. “Local governments can promote themselves as being green. They might provide incentives for people to build green-certified buildings and create a green corridor or green district, and that can sort of promote the city, because there are a lot of people when they are choosing where to live or where to shop who are cognizant of these issues.

“But ultimately there might be some strings attached that might prove troublesome for local governments. There might be some extra regulatory hoops that they have to jump through, additional costs that the state could pass on to them, or legal challenges that could arise from these green building incentives and requirements.”

UF has been one of the leaders in the state in the green movement. UF’s Rinker Hall became Florida’s first LEED Gold-Certified building in 2004, and last year Library West became the second building at UF to attain gold status. Other UF buildings are now certified by LEED and several more are being renovated to meet these standards.

Scheduled presenters include Douglas Buck, director of governmental affairs, Florida Home Builders Association; Kristen H. Engel, professor of law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law; Douglas E. Meyers, III, a lawyer at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, Jacksonville, Florida; Charles J. Kibert, professor, University of Florida M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction; Errol E. Meidinger, vice dean for research and professor, University at Buffalo Law School, State University of New York; Joshua Yaffin, energy coordinator, Florida Department of Management Services; Jeffry S. Wade, director, Environmental Division, Center for Governmental Responsibility, UF Levin College of Law; and Jariel Bortnick, J.D. candidate, UF Levin College of Law.

This is the seventh symposium honoring Richard E. Nelson–who served with distinction as Sarasota County attorney for 30 years–and Jane Nelson, two UF alumni who gave more than $1 million to establish the Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law, which sponsors the annual event. Their support of the Levin College of Law’s Environmental and Land Use Program has been key to the program’s success and national recognition for excellence.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.— The Sixth Annual Richard E. Nelson Symposium, to be held Friday, Feb. 2, at the University of Florida Hilton Conference Center, will assemble an unprecedented panel of experts to discuss the legal aspects of a growing real estate development phenomenon in Florida and throughout the nation—the conversion of existing golf courses into more intensive land uses.

In many communities that are experiencing intense growth pressures and that contain a shrinking inventory of developable parcels, golf courses are being targeted for residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects. Local government officials often find themselves in the middle of heated battles between neighboring residents, golfers, builders, and environmental and conservation groups.

“It’s a national phenomenon,” said the symposium’s organizer, UF Law Professor Michael Allan Wolf, Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law at the Levin College of Law. “It raises some very fascinating questions about the role of local government, neighborhood organizations, and the limits of zoning and planning.”

In some areas, such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Wolf explained, the perception is that developers built too many golf courses, and they are being converted to other uses. In high growth areas such as South Florida, golf courses are looked at as prime, undeveloped parcels by real estate developers. “Private golf course owners often are finding it tough to stay in the golf business, and so they’re willing to sell out to developers.”

Symposium presenters will survey national trends in golf course conversions; review the pertinent case law; explain the perspectives of, and special challenges facing, attorneys representing developers, neighbors, and local governments; debate the legitimacy of the use of eminent domain to take a golf course; explore relevant conservation easement and covenant law concepts; discuss environmental aspects of golf course operations and conversions; and examine special Florida law concerns and the potential for linking conversions to the provision of affordable housing, open space, and other public benefits.

More often than not, Wolf said, golf courses are being converted into residential properties. “You have different groups that are potentially opposed to this,” he said. “Often you have neighbors and neighborhood organizations that are unhappy that there’s going to be increased congestion, and loss of the golf course if they happen to belong to it.”

The conversions can create headaches for local government officials who have to make zoning decisions and are caught between residents who want to keep the golf course on the one side and developers who want to build homes on the other. Environmentalists could go either way on an issue like this, Wolf said. While they are often opponents of golf courses because of the practices that they perceive to be bad for the environment, the prospect of bringing in thousands of new residents to an area who are going to be watering and fertilizing their lawns, and increasing traffic doesn’t make them happy either.

To facilitate discussion, Wolf has brought in attorneys who have represented all the competing forces in this issue—neighbors, developers, and local governments. In addition, the symposium will include local and national experts on zoning to discuss planning considerations. A consultant from the National Golf Foundation will discuss conversions taking place throughout the country, and a national director with the United States Golf Association will discuss its program to develop courses in an environmentally friendly way.

Several law professors also will participate, including Eric R. Claeys, assistant professor of law at the Saint Louis University School of Law, who will debate Wolf on the use of eminent domain by a locality to take a golf course. Nancy A. McLaughlin, professor of law at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, will discuss the use of conservation easements, and UF Law student Steven Wernick will discuss some of the court cases related to golf course conversions.

The event is not open to the public, but is free to members of the media who wish to attend. This is the sixth symposium honoring Richard E. Nelson–who served with distinction as Sarasota County attorney for 30 years–and Jane Nelson, two loyal UF alumni who gave more than $1 million to establish the Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law, which sponsors the annual event.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Historic preservation enhances the quality of life of Floridians through economic and cultural contributions to an improved sense of place, according to a new study from the University of Florida.

“Determining a specific dollar value for quality of life is a challenging undertaking,” said project co-director Timothy McLendon, staff attorney at the Center for Governmental Responsibility at UF’s Levin College of Law, which conducted the study along with UF’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning. “Therefore, we offered local decision makers a number of options for protecting historically valuable assets that contribute to the community.”

Florida citizens also recognize the importance of historic preservation, according to a survey commissioned as part of the overall study. Based on surveys of more than 1,500 Floridians during November and December, 2005, and January, 2006, the most threatened historic resources in Florida include historic and scenic landscapes; old homes and neighborhoods; and old downtowns. Respondents, likewise, saw a need to preserve Florida’s historic resources for future generations, scenic reasons, and education. The survey was conducted by UF’s Bureau of Economic & Business Research as part of its monthly statewide consumer confidence survey.

The report includes models and tools available to further historic preservation in Florida and to measure the impact of historical structures, events and related activities on the enhancement of the quality of life in Florida.

Specifically, the use of community indicators is described as a tool for decision-makers to measure their success in improving the quality of life in their communities. Community indicators are bits of information that when combined, provide a picture of what is happening in a community. For historic preservation purposes, these may include items like the number or type of local ordinances; the amount of projects qualifying for historic tax credits or exemptions; changes in property values; numbers of historic districts; and visitors to and support for local historic museums. Other tools included in the report are preservation laws and policies, tourist-related tax revenues, and creative solutions to conflicts of gentrification, sustainability, and rehabilitation.

“We’re excited to have this wonderful study to confirm that along with the economic impacts that result from historic preservation, the quality of life is indeed improved as well,” said Caroline Tharpe Weiss, executive director of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, which provided key support for the study.

Sprinkled throughout the report are examples of model communities and projects that have succeeded in using the tools to enhance quality of life. DeFuniak Springs and Fernandina Beach are described as communities whose historic roots lure tourists and improve the economies of their regions. The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum; the Fort Christmas Historical Park in Central Florida; and the Riley House museum near Tallahassee are provided as case studies of how history museums can be an important community resource.

Also described in the report are conservation districts in Tampa, Sarasota, and Zephyrhills which offer ways for local governments to balance historic preservation through protection, rehabilitation and revitalization, all contributing to a neighborhood’s culture. Other incentive programs, including tax credits and exemptions and grants have been key to preserving and improving Florida communities.

The 18-month study was funded with historic preservation grant assistance provided by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Florida Historical Commission. The study was a collaborative effort involving multiple UF partners: the Center for Governmental Responsibility; the Department of Urban and Regional Planning; the Center for Building Better Communities; the Graduate Program in Museum Studies; and the Center for Tourism Research and Development.

The Quality of Life study complements an earlier study on the Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida released in 2002. The full Quality of Life report copies may be obtained from the Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State (850) 245-6333.