Florida Senate - 2017                                    SCR 760
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       37-01402-17                                            2017760__
    1                    Senate Concurrent Resolution                   
    2         A concurrent resolution requesting the Joint Committee
    3         on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement
    4         of the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby
    5         Smith in the National Statuary Hall with a statue of
    6         Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, in March 2016, the Florida Legislature passed, and
    9  the Governor signed into law, Senate Bill 310, authorizing the
   10  replacement of the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby
   11  Smith in the National Statuary Hall with a prominent Florida
   12  citizen recommended by the ad hoc committee of the Great
   13  Floridians Program within the Division of Historical Resources
   14  of the Department of State, and
   15         WHEREAS, one of the three prominent Florida citizens
   16  recommended by the ad hoc committee is Marjory Stoneman Douglas,
   17  and
   18         WHEREAS, beginning in the 1920s, Marjory Stoneman Douglas
   19  invested years of her life researching what little scientific
   20  knowledge was recorded about the unique ecology and history of
   21  the Everglades, and
   22         WHEREAS, instead of gifts and celebrations on her birthday,
   23  Douglas asked that trees be planted, resulting in over 100,000
   24  planted trees across the state, and
   25         WHEREAS, in her book, The Everglades: River of Grass,
   26  published in 1947, Marjory Stoneman Douglas characterized the
   27  Everglades as a complex web of ecosystems surrounding a
   28  treasured river worthy of protecting, which redefined the
   29  popular conception that the Everglades were merely an
   30  insignificant swamp, and
   31         WHEREAS, until her death in 1998, Marjory Stoneman Douglas
   32  was a fearless crusader who dedicated herself to the protection
   33  and restoration of the Everglades, and
   34         WHEREAS, today, Everglades National Park is a World
   35  Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of
   36  International Importance, and a specially protected area under
   37  the Cartagena Treaty and continues to draw millions of tourists
   38  to the state, and
   39         WHEREAS, in 1980, the Tallahassee headquarters building for
   40  the Florida Department of Environmental Protection was named
   41  after Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and
   42         WHEREAS, in 1986, the National Parks Conservation
   43  Association established the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award,
   44  which honors individuals who go to great lengths to advocate for
   45  the protection of the National Park System, and
   46         WHEREAS, in 1987, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was named a
   47  Great Floridian by the ad hoc committee of the Great Floridians
   48  Program, and
   49         WHEREAS, in 1991, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was honored with
   50  a visit from Queen Elizabeth II, and
   51         WHEREAS, in 1993, former President Bill Clinton awarded
   52  Marjory Stoneman Douglas the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
   53  highest honor given to a civilian, calling her “a mentor for all
   54  of us who desire to preserve what we Southerners affectionately
   55  call a sense of place,” and
   56         WHEREAS, in 1999, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was inducted
   57  into the National Wildlife Federation Hall of Fame; and
   58         WHEREAS, in 2000, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was inducted
   59  into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and
   60         WHEREAS, in 2015, former President Barack Obama announced
   61  the designation of Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ cottage located in
   62  Coconut Grove as a National Historic Landmark, and
   63         WHEREAS, former Florida Governor Lawton Chiles explained
   64  the impact Marjory Stoneman Douglas had on the lives of
   65  Floridians by saying, “Marjory was not just a pioneer of the
   66  environmental movement, she was a prophet, calling out to us to
   67  save the environment for our children and our grandchildren,”
   68  and
   69         WHEREAS, Marjory Stoneman Douglas is a renowned journalist
   70  and author of the 20th century and Florida’s most eminent
   71  environmentalist whose legendary works remain the definitive
   72  reference on the Florida Everglades, NOW, THEREFORE,
   73  
   74  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House
   75  of Representatives Concurring:
   76  
   77         That the Legislature hereby respectfully requests the Joint
   78  Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement
   79  of the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the
   80  National Statuary Hall with a statue of Marjory Stoneman
   81  Douglas.