Senate Bill sb2144

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2006        (NP)                      SR 2144

    By Senator Dockery





    15-1262-06

  1                        Senate Resolution

  2         A resolution commending the Division of

  3         Recreation and Parks within the Department of

  4         Environmental Protection on the excellence of

  5         its management of Florida's magnificent state

  6         park system and declaring a year-long

  7         celebration of Florida State Parks.

  8  

  9         WHEREAS, the Division of Recreation and Parks manages

10  an expansive and diverse state park system spanning 720,000

11  acres and 159 park properties, and has again received national

12  recognition for its partnerships, resource management,

13  recreation programs, and innovative marketing initiatives

14  promoting ecotourism, and

15         WHEREAS, Florida's park rangers, managers, and support

16  staff have dedicated their lives to "the Real Florida" as

17  great interpreters and stewards of the state's most treasured

18  natural and cultural resources, and

19         WHEREAS, Florida's countless public and private

20  partners have helped to provide expanded resource-based

21  recreational opportunities for more than 17 million annual

22  visitors to Florida's state parks, and

23         WHEREAS, the Friends of Florida State Parks and 78

24  Citizen Support Organizations assisted the Florida Park

25  Service last year and more than 6,000 volunteers donated a

26  record-breaking 1 million hours of service, the equivalent of

27  505 full-time employees, having a value of more than $18

28  million, and

29         WHEREAS, the division's program known as "Get REAL in

30  Florida State Parks" uses parks as classrooms and provides

31  programs for school-aged children, seniors, other residents,

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006        (NP)                      SR 2144
    15-1262-06




 1  and visitors to boost interest and participation in cultural,

 2  historical, and resource-based recreation, and

 3         WHEREAS, in addition to preserving 720,000 acres of

 4  Florida's finest, most pristine natural areas for enjoyment by

 5  this and future generations, the Division of Recreation and

 6  Parks has an annual direct economic impact of $665 million and

 7  has created more than 13,000 jobs for Florida's communities,

 8  and

 9         WHEREAS, the Division of Recreation and Parks was

10  awarded the prestigious 2005 National Gold Medal Award for

11  excellence in the field of park and recreation management and

12  Florida was recognized as having the best state park system in

13  all 50 states at the recent meeting of the National Recreation

14  and Park Association Annual Congress in San Antonio, Texas,

15  and

16         WHEREAS, the Division of Recreation and Parks is the

17  first state park system in the nation to receive this award

18  twice, and has been named a finalist or winner in each year of

19  eligibility, NOW, THEREFORE,

20  

21  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

22  

23         That the Senate proclaims that the entire year of 2006

24  be celebrated statewide in honor of Florida State Parks and

25  authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to

26  celebrate and publicize the great accomplishments of the

27  Division of Recreation and Parks.

28         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution,

29  with the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Colleen

30  M. Castille, Secretary of Environmental Protection; Bob

31  Ballard, Deputy Secretary of Environmental Protection; and

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006        (NP)                      SR 2144
    15-1262-06




 1  Mike Bullock, Director of the Division of Recreation and

 2  Parks, as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida

 3  Senate.

 4  

 5  

 6  

 7  

 8  

 9  

10  

11  

12  

13  

14  

15  

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.