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The Florida Communities Trust has a five-member governing
board chaired by Herschel Vinyard, Jr.,,
Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. The other members
include the four public members appointed by the Governor (Erick Lindblad, Ruth Stanbridge, and Lynette Self).
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Secretary Vinyard has more than twenty years of experience in environmental
law and business management. In his previous role as Director of Business
Operations at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards, the world’s second largest
defense contractor, Secretary Vinyard was responsible for strategic planning,
business development and regulatory and government affairs. He also served on
a number of professional and civic associations that draw upon his expertise
in environmental and complex business practices, including board service on
the Jacksonville Port Authority, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of
Commerce and the Manufactures Association of Florida. During his decade
in private practice at Smith, Hulsey and Busey, one of Florida’s most
well-respected law firms, Secretary Vinyard counseled clients in state
and federal environmental compliance and permitting, was heavily involved
in the siting of an electrical cogenerating facility and assisted in
industry waste minimization efforts. He also served as a chair of the
environmental and land use law section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
Secretary Vinyard received his undergraduate and law degrees from Louisiana
State University. Secretary Vinyard’s top priorities at DEP include
establishing permitting efficiencies, consolidating water policies to
create a more effective, consistent development and management strategy,
and maintaining the state’s legacy of an award-winning park system.
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Erick Lindblad has served as the Executive Director of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation since 1986. He has been instrumental in the Foundation's acquisition of over 1,190 acres of Wildlife Preserve areas on and around Sanibel and Captiva and has been involved in a variety of land management activities. During his tenure, the Foundation has grown from a full-time staff of four to over 25 employees, including grant-supported positions and interns. As part of his commitment to the sustainable development of Southwest Florida, Mr. Lindblad serves on Conservation 20/20, Lee County's Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Council and the Land Management Subcommittee. He also was appointed by the Lee County Board of County Commissioners to serve as the county's representative on the Babcock Ranch Inc. Board, which oversees the management of the state's 71,000-acre Babcock Ranch Preserve in Lee and Charlotte Counties.
Mr. Lindblad has served on the Board of the International Osprey Foundation, the Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association and the Babcock Preservation Partnership, and he has also served on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program. Prior to his tenure at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, he served as Director of Newfound Harbor Marine Institute at Seacamp on Big Pine Key, Florida from 1979 to 1986. He graduated in 1974 from Millikin University in Illinois with a B.A. in Biology. Mr. Lindblad fulfills the required appointment of a representative from a non-profit environmental organization. |
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Ruth Stanbridge is a native of Indian River County and served as a county commissioner
from 1998-2002. A respected historian, she was appointed as the Indian
River County Historian in 1997 and owns a small historical and environmental
research and grant writing firm in Vero Beach. Ms. Stanbridge has
an extensive background dealing with environmental and growth management
issues. She served for 35 years in the Florida Game and Freshwater
Fish Commission's Vero Beach Biological Field Office. She was appointed
to the Indian River County Planning and Zoning Commission in 1983
at a time when the county's first Comprehensive Land Use Plan was
being developed. She was appointed by then-Governor Jeb Bush to the Florida
Greenways and Trails Council and served the Florida Association of
Counties as vice chair of the Health and Human Services subcommittee.
Ms. Stanbridge received the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary
Program's Leadership Award in 2002, the Marine Resource Council's
Outstanding Elected Official Award in 2001, and Indian River County's Woman of the Year Award in 1983. Her book Special
Places - A First Field Guide, which is a guide to the natural and
historical resources of Indian River and south Brevard counties,
was published in 2005. Ms. Stanbridge and her husband, Bill, have
been married for more than 40 years and have two daughters and two
grandsons. Ms. Stanbridge fulfills the required appointment of a
former elected county official. |
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Lynette Self is a native of Jacksonville. She has been involved in her community
through business and community organizations, and served on the Jacksonville
City Council from 1999-2007. She was the 2001 recipient of the Charles
E. Webb award, which is presented to the year's outstanding council
member by the Council President. Ms. Self is owner and president
of Rose of Sharon European Florist, which she and her husband have
owned for more than two decades. As a small business owner, Ms. Self
is involved in various business organizations including the Regional
Chamber of Commerce, where she served as President of the Downtown
Council and on the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee.
She has received the Chamber's Downtown Council Small Business Leader
of the Year Award and was Jacksonville's 2003 Woman Business Owner
of the Year as selected by the Women Business Owners of North Florida.
Ms. Self and her husband, Lake, have been married for 29 years. They
have two adult children. In her free time, Ms. Self enjoys reading, photography and spending time with her family. Ms.
Self fills the required appointment of a former elected municipal
official. |
Additional Information
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Quick Links
Florida Communities Trust Quick
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2012 State of Florida