Nearly 300 Central Florida citizens and leaders gathered  for in-depth discussion concerning environmental preservation and the Naturally Central Florida initiative on Wednesday January 25,2006 at the Ballroom at Church Street, Downtown Orlando.

Sponsored by the University of Central Florida’s Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies led by Linda W. Chapin and myregion.org, Naturally Central Florida is a recognition that the quality of life for our citizens and visitors is, in large part, dependent on the beauty and health of the environment in which we live, work, and play.

In response to the decades of rapid growth and poor resource management that are threatening Central Florida’s natural resources and financial future, guest speaker Carl Hiaasen remarked, “This is every bit as important as the Everglades - this is not restoration - it's preservation.”  

Mr. Hiaasen is a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and strong defender of Florida's environment. The author of eight best-selling novels including Sick Puppy and Skinny Dip, Carl Hiaasen also has an outstanding reputation as an investigative journalist.

For two decades, local communities, the state of Florida, the federal government and private foundations have worked to acquire and save the seven jewels of our natural world that expand from Wekiva River to the Kissimmee Prairie. "The thing that attracts people, the incredible beauty, is what we’re doing best to destroy,” says Hiaasen.

To sustain environmental and economic prosperity, we must alter our region’s destiny by making collaborative decisions that encourage ecologic responsibility and foster environmental excellence. 

For more information about Naturally Central Florida, please visit www.myregion.org. To access a copy of of the article featured in the Orlando Sentinel on January 26, 2005, please click here.