Dear 1000 Friends,

If you haven't yet had the chance, register now for today's free Urban/Rural Interface webinar.

Free professional certification credits have been approved for planners, attorneys, landscape architects, and others. See below for more details.

Sign up now!

Vivian Young, AICP, Special Projects Director

Planning to Protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor 2.0

1000 Friends is proud to partner with the University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, Florida Smart Agriculture, Florida Conservation Group, Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, Live Wildly, and Solutions from the Land to share these informative events

Special planning challenges arise in areas where human development meets up with undeveloped wildland.  Building on the 2024 white paper, The Economics of Development in Florida, Urban3’s Joe Minicozzi, AICP, and Adam Carr, AICP, will focus on The Economics of Rural Land Use in Florida. Neil Fleckenstein, AICP, Tall Timbers Planning and Advocacy Coordinator will discuss human/wildland interface planning and land conservation strategies to protect working rural lands managed with frequent prescribed fire. Florida Department of Environmental Protection Office of Greenways and Trails Chief Sam Browne and Florida Trail Gateway Communities Coordinator Austin Burton will discuss using trail systems to link urban and rural areas.

This event has been approved for the following professional certification credits for those attending the live webinar: American Institute of Certified Planners (2 AICP CM, #9300637), Florida Bar (2.5 General CLE #2411880N), Certified Floodplain Managers (1 CEC), and Florida DBPR Landscape Architects (2 DBPR hours, #0014598). This event has not been approved for credits for Florida Environmental Health Professionals.

The 2025 Planning to Protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor 2.0 series has focused on the myriad interrelationships between agriculture and conservation. The final webinar, Building Bridges, will crystalize areas of common concern and strategies for cooperation. Each panelist will give a brief presentation and then join in a group discussion, to be followed by a Q&A session with those in attendance. Panelists include Florida Farm Bureau President Jeb Smith, fifth generation Hardee County citrus grower Ned Hancock, Florida Conservation Group Executive Director Julie Morris, Central Florida Regional Planning Council Planning Director, Jeff Schmucker, AICP, and University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning Director Dr. Tom Hoctor. The session will be facilitated by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Chief of Staff to the Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Chris Moran.

Professional certification credits have been approved for the following professions for those who attend the live webinar: American Institute of Certified Planners (2.0 AICP CM #9306574), Florida Bar (2.5 General CLE #2502239N), Florida Environmental Health Professionals (2.0 Contact Hours or 0.20 CEUs), and Certified Floodplain Managers (1 CEC) 1000 Friends has applied for the following credits but cannot guarantee they will be approved: Florida DBPR Landscape Architects.