ARTICLES

   CHAIR'S COLUMN
       Robert W. Wells
       (September, 1997)
   

Little did I suspect, in 1983, when I attended my first Environmental and Land Use Law Section Executive Council meeting, that in the future I would become the Section's Chair. The future has arrived and I find myself writing my first column for the Section Reporter. (Just another non-billable activity.) Much has happened since I joined the Section. Membership has risen from under 1,000 to over 2,000. The CLE Manual has gone from a white hardbound book to a green two volume looseleaf treatise. Computers that used to fill rooms are now the size of a bread box and can be found on almost everyone's desk. And the Internet . . . .

The Section is now 25 years old. The 25th Anniversary Annual meeting, just completed, was really remarkable and will go down in the records as a blast. Those who were not there missed out on entertainment by John Henry Hankinson and the Non-Essentials and on a great CLE program (as usual).

At the Annual Meeting luncheon, I told those present of my plan for this year. It is simple yet ambitious. I have set three goals. First, I want to increase membership by 10%. That means we need 200 new members. To do this, I request that each member of the Section endeavor to recruit a new member, either from your firm or from among your colleagues. The Section has much to offer attorneys practicing in the areas of real estate, banking, financing and litigation. The Chair of the Section's Membership Committee is Maribel Nicholson-Choice. If you have any ideas on how we can increase Section membership, please coordinate with her.

Second, I want the Section's CLE manual to be current and relevant, and to be considered the best treatie on Florida environmental and land use law that can be purchased at any price. With the high quality volunteer authors available within the Section, there is no reason that the Section's project to revise the CLE manual into three (3) volumes and to provide frequent periodic updates cannot be accomplished this year. The Section is planning to make a significant financial and time investment in this project. Each of you can participate by purchasing the new manual when it is available. If you want to be more active in this project, contact the CLE Manual Committee Chair, Tom De Rose.

Third, I want to improve our Section's Internet web site (www.eluls.org). Visit the website often. Use it as a jumping off point (link) in conducting environmental research. We want high quality source material to publish on the site and we want links to other high quality environmental and land use web pages. If you have knowledge or suggestions for the web site, provide it to the Internet Committee Chair, Joe Richards.

I am looking forward to reporting to you periodically on the progress of these three (3) projects and on other significant events throughout the year. I am also wondering how on earth the 26th Annual Meeting at the Boca Raton Resort on August 22, 1998, can top the blast we just had. Any ideas will be welcomed.