There will be a public meeting for information and public comment on Florida’s Early Restoration Projects Thursday, January 12 at the UWF Conference Center (1100 University Pkwy, Pensacola, FL 32514). Open house starts at 6 PM. Meeting and Comments session begins at 7 PM.

The meeting will give the state Department of Environmental Regulation (DEP) and federal agencies an indication of the importance to our community of marine restoration projects. This is a great opportunity to provide your support for reefing project funding in our area from the BP Oil Spill funds being allocated by the state of Florida.

Check out this video of how the Pensacola Snorkeling Reefs were made and installed – the Navarre reefs are of the same design.

The October 15th date for the 3rd Annual Run for the Reef 5K and Kid’s 1 Mile Fun Run is fast approaching.  You can download a registration form here from our site or register online at Active.com

Come on out and help Make Navarre Snorkelicious!

Here are some other locations where you can find Race Registration Forms.   You can also register at Packet Pickup  (2-6 PM Navarre Visitor Information Center) or the day of the race on the Navarre Beach Pier Deck.

Come on out and help Make Navarre Snorkelicious!

Just 3 more weeks to register for The Run For The Reef 5K.  The 2nd annual run will start and end at the Navarre Pier with a great awards ceremony to follow.   Race Day (Saturday Oct 16th) registration starts at 6 AM with the race starting at 7:30 AM.

You can register online at active.com.  You can also mail or drop by your completed registration form to the Navarre Visitor Center.  Registration  Forms can be downloaded from our site or you can pick them up at one of the following locations:

Navarre Visitor Center

Run With It – Fort Walton Beach

Hurlburt Gym (All 3)

Holley By The Sea Weight Room

Running Wild Pensacola

Navarre Press

Navarre YMCA

Academy Sports Pensacola

Dragon Sports – Fort Walton

Fort Walton YMCA

Remember – you don’t need to run to participate.  Just register and you can get the colorful shirt and be eligible to participate in the fun at the Navarre Pier awards ceremony with free food, beverages, door prizes and music.

Impact 100 Pensacola announced today (Sept 16, 2010) at a press conference that the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary is among ten finalists  competing  for five grants of $114,000 in each of five categories.  There are two finalists per category – the Marine Sanctuary is in the Environmental category.

This marks the Marine Sanctuary’s 2nd consecutive year  as a finalist for the annual Impact 100 Grant.   It is a huge opportunity for the Marine Sanctuary Program, and can provide the necessary funding for the Phase I Gulf Side Reefs and good portion of the  Phase II Sound Side Reefs funding.  The final determination will be made after brief presentations by each finalists to the entire Impact 100 membership at their annual meeting on Sunday October 24th at 1:45 PM.

We believe the positive environmental benefits  from the  reefs – up to 1.8 million gallons of water filtered per day, increased biodiversity and juvenile marine species habitat – is very grant worthy.   In addition the Marine Sanctuary project provides huge economic and educational benefits for the area with an estimated increase of $1.17 million in annual economic output  and increased local educational institution and grant funded study opportunities,

The Marine Sanctuary Committee is  honored to be among this years finalists and  very grateful to the women of Impact 100 – not only for the current grant program but for  their past seven years of  contributions to making our community a better place to work and live.

Plans are set and the race is on to register for this year’s Run For The Reef 5K and Kid’s 1 Mile Fun Run.  Last year we had over 300 registrants ……help put us over the 400 mark and register now.  Plenty of places to pick up race registration forms:

Navarre Visitor Information Center
Navarre Beach Fishing Pier
Navarre YMCA
The Club – Tiger Point
Run With It – Fort Walton Beach
Running Wild  – Pensacola
Holley By The Sea Recreation Center
You can also download the registration form here or register online at active.com.    We will have race day registration also, but early registration is recommended.

Avoid the rush and REGISTER NOW!

Escambia County received word today from NOAA,  of a favorable ruling for the  snorekeling reef permits in the sound near the Fort Pickens gate and nearshore in the Gulf, just west of  Casino Beach.   This means  after the Army Corps of Engineers is officially notified of the ruling, that Federal Permits should be forthcoming.

This is GREAT NEWS for both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.  Because of the favorable ruling, the way is paved for application of the same criteria and precedent  inthe permits being sought by the Marine Sanctuary.  We are one very large step closer to Making Navarre Snorkelicious!!

Another bit of good news is that the re survey of the Navarre Gulf Reef Site came back with no changes to the original survey.  This means no  information gathered for the Navarre Gulf side snorkeling reef permits will need to be altered, which should further help the speed of the permitting process.

Impact 100 Pensacola announced today at a press conference that the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary is among ten finalists that will compete for five grants of $102,800 in each of five categories.  There are two finalists per category – the Marine Sanctuary is in the Environmental category.

This is a huge opportunity for the Marine Sanctuary Program ,and can provide most of the necessary funding for the completion of Phase II (sound side reefs).  The final determination will be made after brief presentations by each finalists to the entire Impact 100 membership at their annual meeting on Sunday October 18th at 1:45 PM.

We believe the positive environmental benefits that will come from the sound side reefs – up to 1.8 million gallons of water filtered per day, increased biodiversity and juvenile marine species habitat – is very grant worthy.   In addition the Marine Sanctuary project provides huge economic and educational benefits for the area with an estimated increase of $1.17 million in annual economic output for the combined gulf and sound side reefs and increased local educational institution and grant funded study opportunities,

The Marine Sanctuary Committee is is honored to be among this years finalists and is very grateful to the ladies of Impact 100 – not only for the current grant program but for their continued contribution to making our community a better place to work and live.

The grant application package for the 2009 Impact 100 Grant is complete and has been delivered.  The Marine Sanctuary has submitted the grant package in the Environmental category.  There are five categories, each with an award of $102,800.   The grant specifically targets using the funds for the Phase II sound side reef due to the ability to actually complete all the Phase II work before Fall of 2010 should we get the grant.

A site visit will occur where two to three of the Impact 100 grant reviewers visit with us to learn more about our project and the Chamber Foundation (the 501 c 3 that we opperate under).  The site visit should occur in the July/August time frame with finalist selected the latter part of September.

Finalists make a presentation in October immediately prior to the final selection of grantees.  Think good thoughts and spread the word about our great project and the wonderful community benefits with regard to Environment, Economy and Education.  We feel it’s definitely grant worthy.    Here’s to hoping Impact 100 helps us to “Make Navarre Snorkelicious”.

Impact 100 is a Pensacola organization that annually gives $100k+ grants for projects in different  categories including education, environment, recreation,and preservation.

The sanctuary committee needs a volunteer to spearhead the grant application process.  The first task is to attend the workshop put on by Impact 100 for prospective applicants.   The workshop will be Friday, March 27th, 9 – 11:30 AM, at the Lewis Bear Company, 6120 Enterprise Drive in Pensacola.

Please contact Mark Griffith via email  (mark.griffith@myzenyx.com ) or phone (850-677-1875) if you can help in this area.