July
11, 2018
TALLAHASSEE
--- Nathaniel “Nat” Reed, an environmental advisor for six Florida governors
and assistant secretary of the interior to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald
Ford who was considered one of the founders of the modern conservation
movement, died Wednesday. He was 84.
The
Jupiter Island resident who started his career in the family real estate and
hotel business, the Hobe Sound Company, began his state work under Republican
Gov. Claude R. Kirk Jr. in 1967. He later was appointed by Democratic Gov. Bob
Graham to the South Florida Water Management District, where he served for 14
years.
Reed’s
son, Adrian, told The Tampa Bay Times his father died a week after falling on a
gravel riverbank while fishing in Canada.
The
environmental icon received bipartisan accolades as news of his death spread
Wednesday.
"Floridians
for generations to come are indebted to Nathaniel Reed for protecting our
beautiful environment and our Florida Everglades," U.S. Rep. Charlie
Crist, a Democrat who served as Florida governor as a Republican, said in a
statement. "We will honor his memory by recommitting ourselves to being
good stewards of our environment."
U.S.
Rep. Tom Rooney, a Republican who at one time represented the Treasure Coast,
tweeted that Reed was “a great man and mentor.”
Senate
President Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican whose district includes Jupiter
Island, called Reed “a resolute force of nature who devoted his life to
protecting the environment of Florida and the United States.”
“I
will personally never forget his unwavering support for the Senate Bill 10 EAA
Southern Reservoir and his lifelong commitment to Everglades restoration,”
Negron said in a statement. “Mr. Reed loved Jupiter Island, Hobe Sound and
Martin County. His prominent standing in the modern history of Florida is
secure and irreplaceable.”
And
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, praised Reed on the Senate floor Wednesday,
after hailing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' support for the $1.6 billion
reservoir project.
Reed
was “one of Florida’s greatest environmental advocates,” Nelson said, adding
that the state should name the new reservoir in Reed's honor.
“It
saddens me so much to announce this good news at the same time of announcing
the death of one of the nation's true environmental champions,” Nelson said.
“Nat and I have been so focused on advancing this new reservoir project south
of Lake Okeechobee ... It would be a fitting tribute to name that project in
Nat Reed's honor.”
In
2017, the National Audubon Society awarded Reed its Dan W. Lufkin Prize for
Environmental Leadership “for his lifelong commitment to conservation and role
in protecting America’s Everglades.”
“Nat
was a giant in conservation --- that phrase is used a lot but in Nat’s case
it’s true. His scientific knowledge and his passion for birds and wild places
made him a hero for decades and Audubon will miss him dearly,” said David
Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society,.
Audubon
Florida Executive Director Julie Wraithmell called Reed “a giant of a
conservationist, with his fingerprints on many of the most significant national
conservation accomplishments of the last 60 years.”
As
assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife
and National Parks, a post he held until 1977, Reed is credited with the
crafting and passage of the Endangered Species and Clean Water acts.
In
Florida, he played a pivotal role in the late 1960s in the successful fight to
block construction of a new jetport in the Big Cypress Swamp, successfully
convincing Nixon to withdraw funding for the project.
Author
and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen tweeted that “the Everglades has lost a
great friend and champion. Nat Reed was literally a force of nature.”
Among his many achievements in the Sunshine State, Reed helped found both 1000 Friends of Florida and the Everglades Foundation.
“He
was an avid fisherman and golfer with an unparalleled passion for restoring the
Everglades,” Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg said in a press release
Wednesday. “Personally, I’ve been privileged to know and work with Nathaniel
over the last 16 years, and I am proud to have called him my friend. He was a
master of words, bastion of principle, and a constant provider of sound
counsel.”
Reed
also served on the boards of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Natural Resources
Defense Council, National Geographic Society and Yellowstone National Park.
The
Bob Graham Center at the University of Florida noted on Twitter: “Mourning the
loss of our friend, board member and inaugural Citizen of the Year Nathaniel
Reed. Nat dedicated his life to public service and working to protect the
environment.”
