What can one person accomplish for conservation without making it their full-time career?

In this episode, I revisit a conversation recorded more than two years ago with Rusty Chinnis, a retired building contractor, avid fly fisherman, award-winning writer and photographer who has spent decades protecting Florida's coastal waters. At the time, I was still working outside the conservation field but already thinking about how I could make a difference.

Rusty's impact includes helping found the Sister Keys Conservancy and Sarasota Bay Watch, and today works with Suncoast Waterkeeper to protect local waterways and hold municipalities and elected officials accountable under the Clean Water Act. We discuss the successful effort to protect the Sister Keys, the connection between Florida's coastal and inland landscapes, and how everyday citizens can shape the future of our state's natural resources.

With important conservation ballot measures approaching, Rusty's story is a reminder that protecting the places we love starts with getting involved.

Rusty is also a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and a past president and chairman of the board of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association. He is also a Fly Fishers International Casting Instructor and has served as the outdoors editor for the Anna Maria Island Sun.

Join Rusty, Carlton Ward Jr., and me at Suncoast Waterkeeper's Brunch for the Bay on Sunday, Nov. 1st, 11am-2pm in Longboat Key to celebrate and support efforts to protect our local waters and hear a keynote presentation by Carlton, founder of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, where I work.

Event details and tickets here: https://www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org/brunchforthebay2026

If you live in a Florida county with a conservation land acquisition measure on the ballot, learn more about what the measures mean for protecting Florida's natural landscapes.

Learn more: https://floridawildlifecorridor.org/our-work/advocacy/ballot-initiatives/

• Rusty Chinnis: https://www.rustychinnis.com/
• Sister Keys Conservancy: https://www.sisterkeys.org/
• Learn about the community effort to protect the Sister Keys, including the memorable jingle that helped spread the word.
• Suncoast Waterkeeper: https://www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org/
• Brunch for the Bay 2026: https://www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org/brunchforthebay2026
• Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation: https://floridawildlifecorridor.org/our-work/advocacy/ballot-initiatives/
• Book recommendation: The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis.
• Brice Claypoole’s website: https://www.thekidwhocares.com

Many folks know the swamplands of the Everglades, but often overlooked and less well-known is a swamp that spans between both Florida and Georgia, the Okefenokee. In today’s episode, we hear from Executive Director of the Okefenokee Swamp Park & Adventures, Kim Bednarek. The Okefenokee Swamp Park & Adventures is an 80-year-old nonprofit dedicated to fostering a deep connection with nature and conserving its ecological health through stewardship, education, and outdoor recreation in and around the Okefenokee. Kim stepped into this role in 2020, and has since led the transformation of the organization to become a regional backbone for conservation, expanded educational access, and advanced a bold vision: an initiative designed to connect community development with nature-based tourism around the Okefenokee Region. From conversations over lunch at Whistlin Dixie’s to representing the United States on the world stage at United Nations meetings, Kim and her team embody place-based conservation.

With her more than two decades of experience spanning environmental conservation, education, and nonprofit management, Kim championed and led the national effort to secure the inscription of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge as Georgia’s first, and Florida’s second, UNESCO World Heritage site, fulfilling a more than 40-year vision.

This discussion explores what this new status means, not only for the National Wildlife Refuge, but more importantly for the surrounding rural communities. We dive into the intersection of natural resource protection and economic development, learning about efforts Kim and her partners are shaping such as the Okefenokee Partnership, a collaboration among local governments, regional employers, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders to facilitate dialogue and connectivity around shared priorities that address regional challenges. This, as we discuss, can serve as a model beyond just the Okefenokee for fostering bio-regional collaboration for economic resilience and prosperity.

We talk about how to tell a representative story about a place, working on large time scales and how to take on and then pass the metaphorical baton of deep place-based work, leading through listening and empathy, and much more.

Be sure to visit the Okefenokee at either of the Okefenokee Swamp Park or Okefenokee Adventures at the gateway communities of Waycross, Ga, or Folkston, GA. To learn more, register and tune in to the Florida Wildlife Corridor’s Corridor Connect + “Flow Of Conservation” webinar on October 23rd at 11:30 AM to hear from Kim, along with other statewide partners; and check out the links below:

Thanks to Kim for her time, and to Josh Howard, Operations Manager at Okefenokee Adventures.

Resources mentioned:

• The Okefenokee Partnership – Okefenokee World Heritage Site
• Okefenokee Swamp Park
• Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative
• Company 1433 – Okefenokee Project
• Whistlin Dixie Custom Framing and Unique Gifts & Cafe – Folkston Georgia
• The Conservation Fund Halts Okefenokee Mining Threat - The Conservation Fund

This episode was recorded live at Where Waters Meet: Stories of Hope from Florida’s Gulf Coast Estuaries, a National Estuaries Week event hosted by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and Sarasota Bay Estuary Program at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton.

The conversation brings together scientists, journalists, and working waterfront advocates to explore stories of hope in estuary recovery, the connection between land and water, and how communities can protect Florida’s natural resources amid continued growth.

The panel, hosted by Mason Gravley, featured:

• Max Chesnes (Tampa Bay Times),
• Karen Bell (A.P. Bell Fish Company),
• Ryan Schloesser (Mote Marine Laboratory),
• Courtney Saari (Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute),
• Shaun Swartz (City of St. Petersburg)

Why it matters now: On November 3, 2026, voters in seven counties, including Manatee and Sarasota, will consider local conservation measures that could help protect natural lands, drinking-water sources, wildlife habitat, and public preserves. Learn more about each of the seven ballot measures here: 2026 Land Conservation Measures - 1000 Friends of Florida

Read more about the event below:

• sarasotabay.org/stories-of-hope-from-floridas-gulf-coast-estuaries
• Read the event coverage in the Anna Maria Island Sun

The takeaway: Healthy bays begin with healthy land. Protecting the places between our communities and our coast is essential to Florida’s conservation future.