September Program: Wetlands: One of Hillsborough County's Most Valuable Resources

Thursday, Sept. 1

6 pm Photo Club (click here to learn how to participate)

7 pm - Announcement and speaker

In-Person Meeting at the Tampa Garden Club 

2629 Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629


Presented by: Kim Tapley and Kelly Holland 

Wetlands Division of the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC)


This presentation will outline what the EPC does and its history serving the residents of Hillsborough County. Topics will also include the history of wetlands in Florida and the wetland impact trends over the last century, the importance of wetlands and what the public can do to protect them.


Environmental conservation is the practice of protecting the natural environment by governments, organizations and individuals. The objectives of the EPC are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair damage and reverse trends.


Kim Tapley is a Senior Environmental Manager in the Wetlands Division of the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County. She has 16 years of wetland regulatory experience and oversees the Assessment permitting section in the Wetlands Division. She routinely coordinates and assists local and state governments with development projects and wetland conservation.


She is the Vice President of the Florida Local Environmental Resource Agencies (FLERA), a non-profit organization, and is the chair of their Natural Resource Committee. Mrs. Tapley received her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and a Master of Science degree in Geology from the University of South Florida and has been certified by the Society of Wetland Scientists as a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS).


Kelly Holland is an Environmental Scientist in the Wetlands Division of the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC). He has almost 30 years of wetland regulatory experience and also wrote Watershed Management Plans for Hillsborough County for another 4 years.  


Holland has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL. His present duties at EPC primarily involve wetland protection through wetland delineations / identification and the review of development plans, including wetland impacts. He is an avid outdoorsman and has traveled extensively in his pursuit of things avian, botanical and herpetological.




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