A Gladesmen's Guide to Florida Waters with Terry Gibson

October 4, 2020

Florida coastal waters are degraded but folks are working

On this episode, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham take a tour of the Florida coast, from the perspective of water. Our guide is Terry Gibson, the Legislative Affairs Director for the American Water Security Project, a bona fide gladesmen who has dedicated his life's work to protecting and restoring the waterways of his home state and beyond. Come along as we follow the Florida coast, beginning along the Georgia line and concluding in the panhandle.  An interesting discussion that weaves together water quality, fishing, policy, and a few legislative updates to boot.

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.