1926 Victoria Avenue  |  Fort Myers  |  FL  |  33901  |  Phone: (239) 338-2550  |  Fax: (239) 338-2560    




Mission: to work together across neighboring communities to consistently protect and improve the unique and relatively unspoiled character of the physical, economic and social worlds we share for the benefit of our future generations.

Ecosystem Services

The Environmental Planning Section of the SWFRPC is involved in a variety of research and planning activities designed to provide technical assistance and decision services based upon the best available contemporary science.

    Activities include:
  • Coordinating Regional Wildlife Habitat Planning including the SWFRPC GREENPRINT, Coastal Conservation Corridor Plan and Regional Wildlife Resource Inventory
  • Review of Developments of Regional Impact in the areas of vegetation and wildlife, wetlands, and historical and archeological resources
  • Review of Department of Transportation Projects that have environmental issues
  • Review and Planning for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
  • Review and Planning for the Southwest Florida Comprehensive Watershed Plan (SWFCWP)
  • Review of large and regionally significant State Clearinghouse, Florida Department of Environmental Protection/Southwest Florida and South Florida Water Management Districts/US Army Corps of Engineers permits
  • Fish and Wildlife Technical Assistance to multiple committees and partnerships including the Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management, South West Florida Regional Restoration Coordination Team and Myakka River Coordinating Council
  • Original grant-supported research directed toward important ecosystem planning and applied science questions including wetlands, climate change, and land use planning
  • Technical support to the SWFRPC and associated committees and local, regional, state, and federal government partners
  • Current grant-supported work includes the three coastal impacts studies entitled An Inventory and Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of Salt Marsh Types within the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Study Area
  • Participation in the Coastal Areas Climate Change Education effort funded by the National Science Foundation and spearheaded by the University of South Florida
  • Participation as invited speakers/panel members at regional and state-level conferences including Florida Audubon, the Florida League of Environmental Resource Agencies, University of Florida IFAS, Resilient Tampa Bay, the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, the Florida Department of Transportation, and others.
  • Organization of regional symposia such as the 2008 Conservation Lands Acquisition Cela Tega,the 2009 Estero Bay Watershed Public Symposium, and the 2011 Ecosystems Services Cela Tega.

Completed projects include:
  1. Beever III, J.W. 2008. Growth Management Regulation, Public Investment and Resource Implications for the Estero Bay Watershed 2006-2007– Southwest Lee County, Florida. SWFRPC
  2. Beever, III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, D. Cobb, J. Utley and L. B. Beever 2009. Comprehensive Southwest Florida/Charlotte Harbor Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Technical Report 09-3, 298 pages.
  3. Beever, III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, D. Cobb, J. Utley David Hutchinson, John Gibbons, Moji Abimbola and L. B. Beever, Judy Ott 2009. Adaptation Plan for the City of Punta Gorda. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Technical Report 09-4, 406 pages. Adopted by the City of Punta Gorda on November 18, 2009.
  4. Gray, Whitney, J.W. Beever III, and L.B. Beever. 2009 Estero Bay State of the Bay Update. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. 93 pp.
  5. Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, D. Cobb, J. Utley, D. Crawford, and D. Hutchinson 2010. Lee County Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. 226 pp.

  6. Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, J. Utley, D. Hutchinson, Tim Walker, D. Cobb 2010. Lee County Climate Change Resiliency Strategy. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. 163 pp.
  7. Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, L. Beever, D. Cobb 2011. A Watershed Analysis of Permitted Coastal Wetland Impacts and Mitigation Methods within the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Study Area. 391 pp.