(Photo by Jan Loftin)
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board commended the Town of Cutler Bay on Sept. 8 during the board’s monthly meeting in West Palm Beach. The SFWMD presented Mayor Peggy Bell and town manager Rafael Casals with a proclamation praising the town’s work in providing recreation and educational opportunities on public land to bring heightened awareness to Biscayne Bay.
Mayor Bell and Casals accepted the proclamation which lauded Cutler Bay for bringing ecosystem restoration education out of the classroom and into the field to benefit Biscayne National Park.
“I applaud the Town of Cutler Bay for working in partnership with Miami-Dade Public Schools on a program for local high school students to see ecosystems and study projects in their community that improve Biscayne Bay,” said SFWMD Governing Board member Sam Accursio. “The district shares this commitment to environmental education and encourages approaches like this one.”
Bell was pleased to accept the award.
“On behalf of the Town of Cutler Bay, I thank the South Florida Water Management District for supporting this successful collaborative effort,” Bell said. “The town is proud to be a part of a program that brings our student residents and restoration together for the benefit of Biscayne Bay.”
Cutler Wetlands, one of the components of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands restoration project, is in the Town of Cutler Bay. The Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project will expand and restore the wetlands adjacent to Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, enhancing the ecological health of Biscayne Bay/Biscayne National Park.
The town also is home to Cutler Bay High School, which is a Miami-Dade County Public Choice School with three academies: Cutler Bay Ocean Academy of Science and Technology (COAST) Environmental Science, iPrep and Liberal Arts. The town has an Interlocal Agreement with Miami-Dade Public Schools that allows it to work with all three programs, particularly the COAST Program, by organizing and conducting activities in the field so that students can connect their classroom studies about the ecosystem to ongoing restoration projects in Miami-Dade County.
For more information about the project, visit www.evergladesrestoration.gov.
