Presented by the UF Levin College of Law and co-sponsored by The Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section and student government, this two-day conference titled, “Beyond Doom and Gloom: Illuminating a Sustainable Future for Florida,” will focus on long-range and innovative approaches to Florida’s environmental problems. Conference attendees can earn 13 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits and explore sustainability solutions from science, technology and progressive regulations, and economic and behavioral changes through communication and social marketing.

“This year’s conference offers a timely focus with an interesting set of themes including the role of social marketing, and panel discussions dealing with energy and climate change,” said Alyson Flournoy, director of the UF Levin College of Law Environmental and Land Use Law Program and one of the organizers of the conference.

“We’ve also expanded the workshop format to include skills training and the final plenary session will provide a unique interdisciplinary look into Florida’s future by historians, ecologists, planners and public-interest advocates.” Flournoy added that the Friday night keynote speaker Rena Steinzor, president of the Center for Progressive Reform, will offer insight into likely policy developments under the Obama administration.

Conference topics slated for discussion include, “Thinking Outside the Grid,” “Ports: Balancing the Economic and Environmental Impacts,” “Public Education: Understanding the Science of Environmental and Land Use Policies and Law,” “Hope Springs Eternal: Overcoming the Water Supply Issues,” “The Cost of a Human Life: Beyond Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis,” “Social Marketing: Green is the New Black?,” “The Long Slow Flood: Science, Policy and Adaption to Sea Level Rise,” “Credits and Trading: Air, Water and Land,” and “The Role of Journalism in Communicating Environmental Issues and Fostering Public Participation.” Workshops include, “Land Use 101: Understanding the Land Use Approval Process and How to Effectively Participate,” and “The Art and Skill of Communicating with Legislators.”

Robert Hartsell, trial counsel for the Everglades Law Center Inc. and a past PIEC participant, encourages those interested in, and working on environmental issues to attend the PIEC. “This conference exposes the practitioner to fresh thinking and an opportunity to collaborate with the best and brightest on the cutting edge environmental issues.”

February 20 is the postmark deadline for PIEC pre registration at $85. Onsite registration is $100. The registration fee includes CLEs and all program activities. Banquet registration is $35. The conference is free for all UF students, faculty and staff. A discounted registration fee of $45 is available for non-UF students, as well as scholarships. Visit the PIEC Web site to view the room assignments, scholarship form and conference brochure, which includes program and registration information.

Contact: Leslie Rogoff, 813-810-5542; Lrogoff@ufl.edu

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.—Sustainability is a concept that is sweeping the nation—from hybrid vehicles to green buildings—but as a movement it is still in its emerging stage. Finding ways to help organizations discover solutions that are both sustainable and cost-effective is the focus of the thirteenth annual University of Florida Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC), to be held March 1-3 at UF’s Levin College of Law.

Co-sponsored by The Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section and UF Student Government, this year’s PIEC embraces the theme “Talk, Technology and Techniques: Game Plan for Green,” and addresses the movement toward sustainable “green” design, institutions, and infrastructure. The conference is free for UF students. Scholarships are available for students who attend school in Florida, and a discounted registration fee is available for out-of-state students. Registration for the conference is $85, and the banquet is an additional $35.

Panels on Friday and Saturday will cover topics such as sustainable architecture, rural stewardship, low-impact development, and green corporations, featuring speakers who are leaders in government, academics, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Friday morning’s roster of speakers will feature five leading academics, each of whom will focus on a technique or technology that offers promise for moving us towards sustainability. Their presentations will focus on innovative approaches for engaging market competition as a tool to promote environmental protection, valuing ecosystem services, designing energy policy and promoting green building, and a perspective on the role of litigation in attaining sustainability.

The conference is designed to provide an opportunity for meaningful conversation among a group with a diversity of perspectives but a shared commitment to sustainability. On Saturday morning, conference attendees will have the opportunity to meet in a unique workshop format for conversation with corporate leaders who are committed to sustainability, to discuss how to communicate effectively with the private sector on this topic. The finale on Saturday will explore the ethical challenges and opportunities presented by working with non-traditional partners to achieve sustainability.

The conference kicks off with a reception March 1 featuring speaker Jil Zilligen, vice president, Sustainable Business Practices at Nau Inc., a technical and lifestyle outdoor apparel company that is a unique business model built around sustainable business practices, the innovative use of technology and philanthropic partnerships.

UF President Bernie Machen, whose tenure has been marked by environmental initiatives, is the reception’s closing speaker. In 2004, Machen created the UF Water Institute, which provides a focal point for water-related research, education and public outreach programs. And in 2005, he gave sustainability a higher profile when he announced a series of measures to reduce the university’s impact on the environment. UF held its first Sustainability Day in late 2005, and in February 2006 the university named its first director of sustainability.

A Friday evening banquet at the Florida Museum of Natural History is highlighted by a keynote speech by Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc. Anderson has transformed Interface, Inc. into a leader in sustainable and successful industry by redesigning processes and products, pioneering new technologies, and increasing the use of renewable materials.

Continuing Legal Education credit (13 general CLE credits, including 1.5 ethics hours) will be available for lawyers attending the conference.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Four leading environmental scholars will headline the inaugural University of Florida Levin College of Law Environmental & Land Use Law Speaker Series in spring 2005.

The sessions, announced by ELULP Director and Professor of Law Alyson Flournoy, feature academicians from the colleges of law of Arizona State, Texas and Duke universities, and the head of the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University.

This is the newest in a series of initiatives by the law school for an environmental law program that was recognized in 2004 as one of the nation’s top 20 such curricula – and in the top 10 of public law schools – by U.S. News & World Report in a ranking by law school faculty and deans throughout the U.S.

“Our environmental and land use law program since its inception in 1999 has gained national respect while expanding and strengthening through a series of initiatives,” said law Dean Robert Jerry. “Three outstanding faculty hires, summer externships and study abroad for credits, the award-winning Conservation Clinic, 11 years of the student-organized Public Interest Environmental Conference, an ELULP Certificate Program for law graduates wanting to specialize, and now a national speaker series are examples of the innovations.”

Sponsors making the sessions possible are Hopping Green & Sams P.A., Tallahassee; Lewis Longman & Walker P.A., West Palm Beach; and the Florida Bar Environmental & Land Use Law Section.

According to Flournoy, professors to be featured:

• Rebecca Tsosie, Arizona State University / March 11, 2005
  Specializes in Indian law, property, bioethics and critical race theory, and is the executive director of the ASU Indian Legal Program and its Lincoln Professor of Native American Law & Ethics. She is co-author of a federal Indian law casebook, and serves as a Supreme Court Justice for Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.
• Barbara Knuth, Cornell University / March 18, 2005
  Chairs the university’s Department of Natural Resources and is co-leader of Human Dimensions Research. She has written extensively on environmental and natural resources planning, management and policy processes.
• Wendy E. Wagner, University of Texas / March 25, 2005
  Leading authority on use of science by environmental policymakers; one of seven attorneys on the American Bar Association’s National Conference of Lawyers & Scientists. Worked for U.S. Departments of Justice (Environmental and Natural Resources Division) and Agriculture (Office of General Counsel).
• James Salzman, Duke University / April 8, 2005
  An editor of Environmental Impact Assessment, and principal liaison for the Trade & Environment Policy Advisory Committee. Visiting professor at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Macquarie (Australia) and Lund (Sweden) universities; 2002-03 McMaster Fellow and Fulbright Senior Scholar in Australia; 2004 fellow at Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California-Santa Barbara.

Some limited seating will be available at the free engagements. Additional information is available by contacting ELULP Program Assistant Marla Wolfe, 352.392.3427 / elulp@law.ufl.edu.

Both Flournoy and Jerry give credit for ELULP’s success and growing national recognition to the 13 full-time law school faculty, including five from the College’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, and five adjunct professors from throughout Florida that are responsible for the program’s curriculum.

“We also owe a great deal to our more than 40-member volunteer ELULP advisory board composed of leading environmental attorneys and experts from throughout the country,” Flournoy said. “An example of the quality of our advisors is Carol Browner, a 1979 UF law grad, who is a former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and presidential cabinet member.”

Additional information:
Professor and ELULP Director Alyson Flournoy, 352.392.2268 / flournoy@law.ufl.edu
ELULP Program Assistant Marla Wolfe, 352.392.3572 / elulp@law.ufl.edu

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Noted novelist and newspaper columnist Carl Hiaasen and major environmental issues facing Florida will share the agenda here Feb. 19-21, at the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s 10th Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference.

Entitled “Shaping Florida’s Future: A Decade of Protecting an Eternity,” the event will take place at UF’s J. Wayne Reitz Union and include state and national legal, academic and governmental officials. Focus will be on Florida’s water supply, marine and coastal problems, human health risks and land and development concerns.

Hiaasen, Miami-Herald columnist and author of nine best-selling novels, is noted for his strong pro-environmentalist stands which are reflected through his book’s characters. He will be keynote speaker on the 20th at a 7 p.m. banquet to be held at the UF Hilton Hotel & Conference Center.

Tulane University Professor of Law Oliver A. Houck will open the session at a 6 p.m. reception on the 19th at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Houck is former general counsel and vice president, National Wildlife Federation; a director of Defenders of Wildlife and the Environmental Law Institute; and a member of the Environmental Defense Fund litigation review board and committees of the National Science Foundation. Houck currently is consulting on the development of Cuba’s environmental law.

Among other participants are Lee Arnold of Colliers-Arnold/Colliers International, chair of the Florida Council of 100 Water Resources Taskforce; Dr. David Guggenheim, conservation policy vice president, Ocean Conservancy; Sonny Vergara, former executive director of SW Florida and St. Johns River Water Management Districts; Dr. Beverly Wright, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice; and attorney Jeanne Zokovitch, Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation.

Organizers of the event are students of the UF Environmental and Land Use Law Society, with sponsorship assistance from the law school’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, Florida Bar’s Environmental & Land Use Law Section, Law College Council, Law Center Association, UF Student Government, Jelks Family Foundation, and the law firms of Hopping Green & Sams, P.A., Tallahassee; Lewis Longman and Walker, P.A., Tallahassee / Jacksonville / West Palm Beach; and Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell, Orlando. Lawyers attending the conference are eligible for Continuing Legal Education credits.

Conference co-chairs are Erika Zimmerman, second-year student from Mandarin, and Ryan Osborne, 3L from Longwood. Detailed information on the conference, registration, speakers and panelists is available at http://grove.ufl.edu/~els.

Media contacts: Chairs Erika Zimmerman & Ryan Osborne (352.392.2237)
Communications Chair Drew Melville (352.392.2237)

“From Penn Central to Pensacola: New Perspectives on Historic Preservation” will be the main focus of the Third Richard E. Nelson Symposium scheduled Friday by the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

National legal experts will join UF law school officials to discuss such topics as economic benefits of historic preservation, its church and state implications, tax and ethical considerations and regulatory taking questions.

The session – co-sponsored by the Florida Bar sections of Environmental and Land Use Law and City/County/Local Government Law – will be held from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Paramount Gateway Resort and Conference Center in Gainesville.

Major participants, both professors of law, will be Robert W. Tuttle of George Washington University and David A. Brennen of Mercer University. Also participating and coordinating the event is the UF law school’s Professor Michael Allan Wolf, Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law.

A report on the “Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida” will be presented by Timothy McLendon, staff attorney for the Levin College of Law’s Center for Governmental Responsibility. McLendon is author of a handbook on Florida historic preservation law, and is co-author of the State of Florida-funded research report on which he will base his presentation.

Information on symposium details: Barbara DeVoe, Director of Conference Planning (352.392.8070 or eMail: devoe@law.ufl.edu) Professor Michael Alan Wolf (352.392.3056 or eMail: wolfM@law.ufl.edu)