The Environmental and Land Use Law Society (ELULS), through its Public Interest Environmental Conference Committee (PIECC), will host the Sixth Annual environmental conference in March 2000. Organized and run by students at the law college, it has matured into one of the premier fora for exploring the key environmental and land use topics of our time. The conference is fully-integrated into the College of Law through its new Environmental and Land Use Law Program. Student organizers receive academic credit for researching and developing substantive topics for the conference. Each year, members of The Florida Bar provide valuable expertise by assisting in the development of panel topics and participating in the panel discussions.

     While focusing on public interest issues, the PIECC believes the public interest is best represented when all interest groups are given the opportunity to engage in spirited discussion. The goals of the conference include: 1) increasing public and professional knowledge of environmental and land use issues and applicable laws in Florida; 2) empowering citizens with the skills and knowledge necessary to impact the decision-making processes; and 3) exploring new approaches to complex environmental problems. This year’s conference will again provide an array of educational opportunities to meet these goals.

     Conference support is provided by the Public Interest Committee of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section of The Florida Bar, U.S. E.P.A. Region IV, private foundations, the University of Florida Board of College Councils, and individual donors. Continuing Legal Education Credits are available for legal practitioners. The Conference provides a wide-range of topics and speakers of interest to citizens, industry representatives, students, politicians, regulators and academicians. Environmental Justice, Water Law, Growth Management, and International Environmental Law are among the expansive lists of previous topics.

     In March 2000, the conference will focus on some of the cultural and natural resources that make Florida unique and the pressures that are continuously exerted upon them. The thematic focus of the conference is developed through a series of conversations among students, faculty, and practitioners. The different topics may have an academic or practical component or both. We are also reinventing the conference each year by exploring new approaches to stimulate discussion and foster the development of workable solutions. We welcome suggestions for topics, self-organized sessions, and keynote speakers. Our keynote speakers are typically nationally prominent figures who bring new perspectives to Florida’s environmental and land use dilemmas. Additional information can be obtained in future issues of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section Reporter, by contacting one of us at (352) 392-2237, or by visiting our website at http://grove.ufl.edu/~els/.