Chad Taylor To Receive Community Steward Award

Tallahassee, Fla. (October 6, 2009)… Chad Taylor will receive 1000 Friends of Florida’s Community Steward Award at the Thursday, October 8 meeting of the Jackson Blue Spring Basin Working Group. The event will be held at 10:30 a.m. Central Time at the Chipola College Continuing Education Conference Center in Jackson County.

“Chad is a remarkable individual,” notes 1000 Friends President Charles Pattison, who will be presenting the award. “He has been a leader on some of the most pressing planning and environmental issues facing rural Northwest Florida.”

A land manager of farm and forestland, a conservationist and engaged citizen, Taylor was nominated for the award by Jim Stevenson, the Wakulla Spring Basin Working Group Coordinator. Stevenson notes that Chad has been the catalyst for many major planning projects in Jackson County, which is the largest peanut-producing county in Florida, and one of the largest in the Nation. The county is also home to more springs than any other county served by the Northwest Florida Water Management District. Stevenson explains that Chad’s agricultural experience has been very valuable, particularly in dealing with water quality protection issues. “Chad has educated springs protection specialists about farming in spring basins and has been a liaison between agencies and the farming community.”

Among his accomplishments, Chad worked with many other citizens and organizations to help organize, locate funding, and ensure the successful completion of the Jackson County Visioning Project, called Imagine Jackson. This countywide visioning project enabled 1,000-plus county residents to draft a 20-year blueprint for the future of the county. The process included community-based workshops and forums, visualization techniques, a community character map, a widely-distributed survey, and an interactive website.

Chad also has played an instrumental role in the formation of the Jackson Blue Spring Basin Working Group, helping to convince the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to fund the group and Chipola College to administer it. He also helped secure DEP funding for a Chipola River Springs Ambassador and found an excellent local citizen to fill the position. Chad has been a catalyst and local advocate for the Jackson County Sinkhole Amnesty Program, which educates landowners about sinkhole protection. An active member of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper, he is a current board member and former president of the group. Chad also serves on the board of RiverWay South, is a member of the Florida Springs Task Force, and has joined with other Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) river basin citizens to incorporate the recently formed ACF Stakeholders working to end the Tri-State Water War.

A natural science professor at Chipola College, Allan Tidwell also serves as Jackson Blue Spring Basin Working Group’s coordinator. “Chad is truly genuine regarding his passion about preserving and protecting the environment, particularly our water resources,” says Tidwell. “With regard to groundwater and springs protection, he practices what he preaches in every facet of his personal, business and political life.”

1000 Friends’ Pattison concurs. “With his community roots and strong sense of vision, Chad truly epitomizes the concept of ‘Community Steward.”

1000 Friends’ Community Steward Award is presented annually to individuals, organizations, local governments, agencies, and public/private partnerships that have brought about positive and lasting change in the way their community manages growth. 1000 Friends of Florida is also presenting three other awards over the course of 2009. A statewide nonprofit organization, 1000 Friends was founded in 1986 to serve as Florida’s growth management watchdog. It has been presenting awards for innovative growth management efforts since 1990. For more information on 1000 Friends, visit http://www.1000friendsofflorida.org.