Water For Fighting

In this special episode, released under the Water for Fighting as well as the Florida Specifier banner, Brett gets to sit down with Bartow’s favorite son, Adam Putnam. At the time he served, Putnam was the youngest person ever to be elected to the Florida House of Representatives at barely twenty-two years old. He would go on to serve as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms, becoming the 3rd ranking member of that body, and he was elected statewide as Florida’s 11th Commissioner of Agriculture where he served two terms. He is now the CEO of Ducks Unlimited but still splits time between Tennessee and Florida. They discuss his deep roots in Imperial Polk County; growing up in the family’s citrus and cattle business; his long-term, successful participation in the 4H Club and Future Farmers of America (FFA) and the leadership tools he developed there; how he drifted into politics at such a young age; how he brought the character and challenges of his community to Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. as he pursued fresh perspectives on old problems; his appreciation for the expansion of the Rural and Family Lands program; his frustration with the federal government’s opaque and overbearing nature as it relates to Waters of the U.S.; and what it’s like to have one of the coolest jobs you can imagine. This episode has plenty to capture the attention: a story about how his grandparents kept truck tires inside with them because they were so vital to their livelihood; some incredible stats on what Ducks Unlimited is accomplishing; a University of Florida shoutout (if you’re into that sort of thing); flashbacks to the citrus freezes from the 80s that captured hearts of area communities; a solid Alexis de Tocqueville reference; a simultaneously optimistic and realistic view on the future of citrus in Florida; and how he has no plans on getting back into politics again (see above re: coolest job ever). To visit the Ducks Unlimited website, go here. To learn more about Florida’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, go here. This episode is brought to you by my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us This episode is also brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline. Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com. Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and Brett as part of the environmental news and discussion brought to you by the Florida Specifier. To learn more about our flagship print publication, weekly newsletter and more, visit The Florida Specifier. You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at [email protected] with your comments and suggestions for who I should be talking with. Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance. And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band for giving permission to use his music for this podcast. The song is called Doing Work for Free, and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.

In this episode, Brett sat down with his friend and fellow Southwest Florida Water Management District alum, Eric Sutton. Before his current role, Eric has spent his entire career in public service. He’s worked for Sarasota County; the water management district where he and Brett met; and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where he would eventually get to serve as the organization’s Executive Director. He’s currently a Vice-President with Garcia Land Management and Environmental Services. They discuss his family’s deep roots in rural Western Kentucky; a childhood spent outdoors; how he changed paths at the University of South Florida and wound up working in the natural sciences; his desire to learn, improve, and take on new challenges; his management philosophy as his responsibilities grew; the love he had for his staff, board, and organization – and when he knew it was time to move on; his new role with Garcia and the challenges of working in the private sector; and a flirtation with the “RV Life”. They also share a glass of whiskey from the Green River Distillery, an historic institution in Owensboro, Kentucky, near walking distance from his childhood hometown of Henderson. Did we mention that Eric is a long-time musician and jingle writer, and a one-time professional elephant washer (we mean, zoologist) at Busch Gardens as well? Well, he is. Special Note: To our fellow Floridians (and even to our listeners and readers in Georgia and North Carolina) who are recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, our hearts are with you, and we won’t forget you in the hard months to come. The Florida Specifier/Water for Fighting team is pulling for you and hoping for a safe and speedy recovery for your families and communities. If you’d like to share your story with us, we’d love to hear from you. Just reach out to Brett at [email protected] or Patrick Gillespie at [email protected]. To visit the Garcia Land Management and Environmental Services website, go here. To check out the Green River distillery, go here. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us This episode is also brought to you by our friends at Sea and Shoreline. Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com. Water for Fighting is part of the Specifier media family – Florida’s home for environmental news, discussion, and personalities. Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and Brett as part of the environmental news and discussion brought to you by the Florida Specifier. To learn more about our flagship print publication, weekly newsletter and more, visit The Florida Specifier. You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach us directly at [email protected] with your comments and suggestions for who Brett should be talking with next. Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance. And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band for giving permission to use his music for this podcast. The song is called Doing Work for Free, and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.

For this episode, Brett sat down with his friend, colleague, and fellow DEP alum Andrew Ketchel as Hurricane Helene barreled toward its collision with the Southeast United States. Andrew is a former Legislative Affairs Director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; college football player for the University of South Florida; and an Eagle Scout. He’s currently a partner with Capital City Consulting, one of the largest lobbying firms in the state of Florida. They discuss his parents’ forays into national and local politics; growing up in a military town; why he chose USF for college; the challenges of a student athlete who sees a life after football; how he ended up in the “family business”; how lobbying government is different than lobbying for government; and his philosophy for how to be an effective, and more importantly - ethical, lobbyist. Special Note: To our fellow Floridians who are recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, our hearts are with you. The Florida Specifier/Water for Fighting team is pulling for you and hoping for a safe and speedy recovery for your families and communities. To visit Capital City Consulting’s website and find out how to reach Andrew, go here. Watch Andrew score a touchdown versus the Florida Gators here. This episode is brought to you by my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us This episode is also brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline. Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com. Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of the environmental news and discussion brought to you by the Florida Specifier. To learn more about our flagship print publication, weekly newsletter and more, visit The Florida Specifier. You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at [email protected] with your comments and suggestions for who I should be talking with.

In this episode, Brett has a conversation with Mark Merkelbach, the CEO of Green Earth Operations and COO of Sustainable Water Infrastructure Group (SWIG).  Mark has dedicated his career to water quality improvement all over the world including India, Mexico, Haiti, and China.  He’s now using his creativity and experience to solve water quality problems right here in Florida.  They discuss growing up around the Jersey Shore; a love of the outdoors passed down from his father; a professional wanderlust that has taken him all over the globe; his need to solve environmental problems; the secret sauce that he and SWIG are using to impact water quality in Florida; and of course, they talk about the Merkelbach family’s rescued one-eyed and three-tooth Shitzu name Button.   To visit SWIG’s website and find out what Mark and his team are doing to make Florida (and the world) a better place, head here.  To see more information about SWIG’s Doctor’s Lake project as reported in the Florida Specifier, head here: To read the Florida Specifier article that introduced the work of SWIG to Florida’s environmental scene, go here. This episode is brought to by my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us  This episode is also brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline.   Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com.   Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of a new venture where we’re striving to become Florida’s first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state’s natural environment and the events that shape it.  To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier. You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at [email protected] with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you’d like to know more about. Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance.   And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band for giving permission to use his music for this podcast.  The song is called Doing Work for Free, and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.