Sierra Club Conservation Group: Protecting Florida’s Future Together

Sierra Club Conservation Group

Event Details

Date: Thursday, September 18, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Selby Public Library – Conference Room
(Downstairs, Southeast Corner)
1331 First St, Sarasota, FL 34236


Admission: Free and open to the public

Team Statement: Staying Focused on What Unites Us
  • We welcome people from all walks of life. Our meetings are a non-political and religion-free zone, allowing us to focus on our shared goal: protecting the environment.
  • Respect, inclusion, and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do.
  • Let’s work together to build a future where Florida’s land, water, wildlife, and communities can thrive. Our group includes people with a wide range of perspectives and beliefs. That diversity is valuable — and it’s essential we respect it. Let’s focus on what brings us together, not what could set us apart.

Topic: Greenbelts: Sarasota Manatee Wildlife Corridors and our archaeology in Manatee and Sarasota 

Guest Speaker: Dr. Uzi Baram.
A Sarasota resident since 1997 and a former professor of anthropology at New College, he was awarded the 2019 Archaeological Conservancy Award by the History and Preservation Coalition of Sarasota County.  His professional career has focused on exposing and documenting local history through community-based projects. Much of his work has concentrated on the nearly erased history in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Dr. Baram is known locally for the community-based effort that revealed the early 19th-century settlement of Angola, a community of people of African heritage along the Manatee River. Other public archaeology projects he has organized include archaeology at Philippi Estate Park, educational programs on the Cuban fishing ranchos of Florida’s Gulf Coast, and surveys of the Rosemary and Galilee cemeteries in Sarasota. 

Dr. Baram earned his master's degree and doctorate in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He received his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. 
⸻

Project 1: Our Wildlife Corridor – REAL Greenbelt Preservation

Join us to discuss the vital importance of preserving and enhancing Sarasota’s Wildlife Corridor — also known as the Greenbelt. These native forested areas act as natural buffers that:

• Purify water
• Slow down stormwater runoff
• Provide critical wilderness habitat
• Increase resilience to inland flooding, rising temperatures, and stronger storm events.

Our message is clear: While responsible development is welcome, uncontrolled rezoning is endangering our environment.

We must protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the lands that sustain Florida’s unique ecosystems. Rural land loss, aquifer depletion, and habitat destruction can’t continue unchecked.

Focus Areas:
  • Stormwater Management
  • Nutrient and Water Pollution Reduction
  • Ecological Health in Urban & Rural Environments
  • Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity Conservation
  • Forest Restoration through Microforests

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