Florida Native Plant Society Blog

The Florida Native Plant Society is honored to introduce the esteemed panel of jurors for the 2024 Landscape Awards. Each juror brings a remarkable blend of knowledge, experience, and passion for native plant conservation and sustainable landscape design. Their diverse backgrounds and unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship make them exceptional leaders in promoting Florida's unique natural heritage. Meet Our Distinguished Panel: Stephanie Dunn - Broward County Stephanie Dunn is an Associate with Cadence, a South Florida based landscape architecture firm that works throughout the Gulf South. As a Florida Atlantic University School of Architecture graduate, she brings a unique perspective to landscape and urban design on the Cadence team. She is passionate about the state’s unique flora and promotes alternatives to conventional planting approaches in the urban context. She has been a member of Florida Native Plant Society since January 2017 and President of the Broward Ch

FLORIDA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY PO Box 278 Melbourne, FL 32902-0278 July 10, 2024 Gadsen County Planning Commission 9 East Jefferson Street Quincy, Florida 32353-1799 Subject: Mainline Contracting Small Scale Future Land Use Map Amendment (SSPA 2023-02) and Likelihood of Impacts to Chapman’s Rhododendron Dear Gadsden County Planning Commission: The Florida Native Plant Society is committed to the conservation of Florida’s native plants and native plant communities. The proposal to allow mining on the Mainline Contracting parcel may pose a very serious threat to one of Florida’s most imperiled and distinctive native plant species. Chapman’s Rhododendron (Rhododendron minus var. chapmanii) is listed as Endangered by both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Department of Agriculture due to its dire level of imperilment, which is partly a function of its extremely narrow geographic range. The proposed change to Gadsden County’s Future Land Use Map would allow sand mining