Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/118445
DRAWING THE BEST FROM DISASTER The cover of the Southwest Florida Regional Ecosystem Plan. Contributed image SARASOTA COUNTY RESTORE ACT PROJECTS FARE 'QUITE WELL' IN REGIONAL RANKING By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor "Quite well." zon oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in American history. That's the phrase Sarasota County Coastal Resources Manager Laird Wreford uses to de- Late last year, the county commissioners scribe how county projects fared in competi- tweaked and approved a list of 28 projects tion with other ecosystem restoration plans they would like to see funded through the RESTORE Act, the federsubmitted to a coalial legislation dictating tion of area estuary how penalties paid by programs. The comIt was interesting to see that what BP and other compapetition was created to came out of the governor's office was very nies will be distributsimilar to what the [estuary programs] ed. The county's wish determine funding priorities for future mon- had already moved forward with. list had an estimated ey paid out by BP in price tag of $145 milLaird Wreford Coastal Resources Manager compensation for the lion, with individual Sarasota County 2010 Deepwater Horiproject costs ranging