Coastal Management Policy and Gulf Restoration

FWF is engaged in critical coastal policy issues such as protecting the Coastal Barrier Resources System which helps protect over 700,000 acres of coastal Florida by removing federal subsidies that would typically stimulate development in low-lying, flood prone areas. FWF director Tom Evans, Jr. authored the Coastal Barrier Resources Act while in Congress. FWF also works to have state policies discourage development intensification along our beaches. Florida currently has tremendous exposure to storms and sea level rise. Undeveloped or lightly developed shorelines provide incredibly rich fish and wildlife habitat.

Florida Wildlife Federation joined with National Wildlife Federation in commissioning a scientific report, Unfavorable Tides, which documented the tremendous impacts that a modest sea level rise of 15 inches by 2100 would have on a number of Florida’s estuaries and bays. The effects on the state, southeast Florida especially, would be dramatic.