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Tropical Audubon Society Board member, environmental attorney and former Florida lawmaker Richard “Dick” Pettigrew has received the Everglades Coalition Everglades Hall of Fame Award for his lifetime commitment to Everglades restoration. Pettigrew was honored on Jan. 7 at the Everglades Coalition’s awards ceremony held at Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys.
Created in 2003, the Everglades Hall of Fame Award recognizes those who have made a significant lifetime commitment to Everglades restoration. Its recipients are therefore Everglades champions from many walks of life, united in the ability to persuade and persevere on behalf of our region’s irreplaceable River of Grass.
Pettigrew, a Coral Gables resident who served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1963 to 1972, was appointed to serve on the Governor’s Commission for Sustainable South Florida in 1994. The commission’s determinations became a blueprint for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s conceptual plan for Everglades Restoration, which ultimately became the foundation for the landmark Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) inked in 2000.
“We honor Dick tonight because without his singular leadership building this enduring conversation — this enduring coalition — none of this could have happened,” said fellow Tropical Audubon Society Board member and retired USACE Col. Terrence “Rock” Salt, who introduced Pettigrew.
By awarding its highest honor to Pettigrew, the Everglades Coalition memorialized Pettigrew’s tireless work on the Governor’s Commission.
An Everglades Coalition statement reads in part: “Dick’s singular leadership, negotiation skills and determination during the Commission made the difference for the Commission to be successful. The Commission relied on strong technical and scientific knowledge to support its vision to sustain Florida’s communities. His leadership for the collaboration of stakeholders with opposing interests — including environmental, sugar industry, development and business groups, as well as Local, State, Tribal and Federal agencies — resulted in the unanimous support for the resulting plan. The foundation for this consensus has continued throughout the plan’s implementation. Quite simply, without Dick Pettigrew’s leadership, we would not have Everglades restoration today.”
Salt further noted that “Dick Pettigrew belongs on the list of the giants of Everglades Restoration,” which includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Senator Bob Graham.
Tropical Audubon Society President José (Joe) Francisco Barros attended the induction ceremony, and noted, “I’m incredibly proud of Dick for receiving this richly deserved honor. His acceptance speech touched everyone in the room — there wasn’t one dry eye. I’m truly privileged to serve alongside this amazing conservation hero on our board of directors.”
Pettigrew’s acceptance speech was moving.
“I am deeply honored at [age] 91 to be added to [the Coalition’s] Everglades Hall of Fame,” he said, adding that he is hopeful that the work he began on Everglades restoration will ultimately be successful. He concluded by borrowing from Martin Luther King Jr. “I may not get there with you, but I know you will keep pushing and pressuring until it’s done.”
