COTI Hosting Florida Audubon Executive Director March 8

provided to The Santiva Chronicle

The Committee of the Islands will welcome Audubon Florida Executive Director and National Audubon Society President for Florida Julie Wraithmell on Sunday, March 8, for a timely discussion on Florida’s environmental challenges and opportunities.

The 4 p.m. presentation, a part of COTI’s Annual Meeting, will be at The Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way on Sanibel. COTI will also announce its 2025 Person of the Year award at this event. Refreshments will be served.

The general public is welcome to attend. The program is free, but registration is required for members and non-members. To register, click here.

Immediately following the presentation, there will be a brief business meeting for COTI membership only. Attendees are encouraged to join COTI or renew their membership at the event.

Florida’s natural environment has long shaped the state’s identity, economy, and quality of life. From its coastlines and wetlands to its working lands and wildlife, the Sunshine State is defined by extremes – and by resilience.

In her presentation, Wraithmell will explore Florida’s history of overcoming environmental threats through innovation and dedication, examine the state’s most pressing conservation issues, and highlight pathways for collective action to protect Florida’s natural resources while sustaining its economy.

This discussion is timely for Sanibel. After incorporating as a city to protect against overdevelopment, our sanctuary island is once again facing development pressures as the county approves major new development on Captiva.

There are also several large-scale developments planned in both Lee and Collier counties. As a result, we are seeing key habitats around us threatened, along with regional water quality and the general quality of life.

It is clear that the best future for our sanctuary islands requires protection of land and ecosystems in the region, and indeed throughout the state.

Coming fresh from the 2026 Florida Legislative Session, there may be no one more qualified to provide perspective on the environmental challenges and opportunities in the state than Julie Wraithmell.

She is a biologist and has led Audubon Florida since 2018, overseeing a team of 80 researchers, resource managers, educators, and policy experts working to advance durable, science-based conservation solutions statewide. Previously, she served as Audubon Florida’s Deputy State Director, leading the organization’s coastal conservation and wildlife policy efforts.

Her career includes service as a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where she created the nationally recognized Great Florida Birding Trail. In 2015, Wraithmell received the National Audubon Society’s highest staff honor, the Charles Callison Award, for her leadership during the Deepwater Horizon disaster response.

She has also been named three times by the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald as one of Florida’s Top 50 Influencers.

For more information about the Committee of the Islands, visit www.coti.org or email COTI33957@gmail.com.