By RYAN MATTHEWS
Welcome back to Marco Island! We’re thrilled you have decided to join us for this year’s 39th Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School.
As in years past, we have an exciting lineup of speakers, presentations, and topics of emerging importance for you to actively participate in and engage with during your time in paradise. This year, we are proud to offer 80 courses for attendees to choose.
For those who have been attending for decades, yet again, both Florida and the nation’s foremost environmental experts, regulators, and practitioners are descending on the island to highlight current environmental policy at the local, state, and federal levels of government. You will notice that due to the conference’s popularity, we have expanded the areas of the hotel that we are utilizing to sufficiently house our evolving panels.
The JW Marriott and Florida Chamber of Commerce continue to be the ideal partners and synonymous with our annual retreat to Southwest Florida in July. The entire Florida Environmental Network team extends our gratitude to both organizations for their continued support.
The vast course curriculum this year will focus on recent trends in permitting and various environmental agency’s directions during a period of transition in Washington, D.C. Personally, the conferences held after a state or national election are a favorite of mine as often significant changes in policy and procedure are implemented early on in new administrations. This year, we’re excited to be joined by Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambertand while no stranger to attending the conference in years past, Secretary Lambert will be making her debut as a speaker in 2025.
Florida continues to lead the way in solving water quality and quantity quagmires, establishing pre- and post-hurricane mitigation measures, adapting and implementing new technologies in the environmental space, and carefully crafting growth management policies to coupe with an influx of new residents while balancing natural resource protections that make our state unique and the envy of the nation. Much of our work that will be completed at the conference finds its way into rulemaking, legislative proposals, and executive action in the subsequent months after our time in Marco.
For new attendees, please take the time to network, attend as many classes as possible, and be sure to build in a half or full day of leisure exploring the resort’s pools, beach, and the island’s numerous restaurants that have become favorites to so many repeat attendees. We pride ourselves on offering the perfect mix of accomplishing significant work in an unparalleled location that allows attendees to be heralded as heroes to their families that join them. As a new attendee, please reach out to Jeff Littlejohn, Jamie Sheehan, or I if we can help provide any guidance or if you have feedback on the event. We’d love to hear from you.
In preparation for our 40th conference in 2026, we’ll be rolling out several efforts that will highlight our past, present, and future of our time in Marco Island. Thank you for continued support of Florida’s best environmental conference.
Ryan Matthews is Government Affairs and Lobbying Deputy Section Chair Shareholder at Gray Robinson and co-organizer of the conference
