HR 9053

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution recognizing the Woodville Karst Plain Project
3	for its outstanding contributions to the State of Florida
4	through scientific research and its dedication and
5	tireless efforts to promote the protection of the state's
6	precious natural water resources.
7
8	WHEREAS, the Woodville Karst Plain Project team was
9	developed and granted official project status by the National
10	Speleological Society in 1990 to conduct exploratory dives,
11	research, and mapping within the Wakulla-Leon Sinks Cave Systems
12	located in North Florida south of Tallahassee to the Gulf of
13	Mexico, and
14	WHEREAS, the Wakulla-Leon Sinks Cave System ranks number
15	one in the United States for longest underwater cave system,
16	fourth in the world for longest underwater cave system, and
17	sixty-fourth in the world for longest cave system wet or dry,
18	and
19	WHEREAS, the Woodville Karst Plain Project is a nonprofit
20	affiliate of Global Underwater Explorers and comprised of nearly
21	75 volunteers who have dedicated over 20 years of service and
22	resources to research, and
23	WHEREAS, the Woodville Karst Plain Project divers hold
24	multiple world records in underwater cave diving, and
25	WHEREAS, diving methods developed by the team members of
26	the Woodville Karst Plain Project have influenced scientific and
27	military diving protocols, and
28	WHEREAS, data gathered by the Woodville Karst Plain Project
29	has provided governmental agencies with a better understanding
30	of the underground aquifer system, surface water runoff, and
31	other nonpoint source pollution issues, and
32	WHEREAS, as a result of the mapping done by the Woodville
33	Karst Plain Project, the State of Florida and the United States
34	Department of Agriculture established a greenway surrounding the
35	Leon Sinks Cave System and a protection zone for Edward Ball
36	Wakulla Springs State Park, as well as numerous improvements in
37	water management district operations and development planning,
38	and
39	WHEREAS, in 2007, Woodville Karst Plain Project divers
40	Casey McKinlay and Jarrod Jablonski discovered the connection
41	between the Leon and Wakulla Sinks Cave Systems after nearly 20
42	years of exploration and continue to push the mapping efforts
43	southward to the Gulf of Mexico, and
44	WHEREAS, in March 2009, the Florida Cabinet recognized the
45	efforts of the Woodville Karst Plain Project and its 20 years of
46	volunteer service to the State of Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,
47
48	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
49	Florida:
50
51	That the Woodville Karst Plain Project team is recognized
52	for its outstanding contributions to the State of Florida
53	through scientific research and its dedication and tireless
54	efforts to promote the protection of the state's precious
55	natural water resources.
56	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
57	presented to Mr. Casey McKinlay, Woodville Karst Plain Project
58	Director, as a tangible token of the sentiments expressed
59	herein.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.