Jim Murley is the first recipient of the Strategic Environmental Achievement (SEA) Award presented by the Florida Ocean Alliance for his role in developing and managing the Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative (BBPI). Jim Murley is Director of the Florida Atlantic University/Florida International University Joint Center for Environmental and Urban Problems, an applied research center that specializes in policy analysis and planning issues.

The award was established by the Alliance to recognize one individual who has made a significant contribution to environmental policies over the past year in the state of Florida. In his role as co-Director of the Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative, Jim Murley personifies the type of leadership in environmental policies that are crucial to managing and protecting Florida's environment. Over the past year, he has selflessly devoted his efforts to managing this project and to steering the diverse parties to a successful conclusion in developing a common vision for the future of Biscayne Bay. The result is a series of detailed studies and legislative proposals that will help ensure the environmental health of Biscayne Bay for future generations.

BBPI was formed in response to a request by several south Florida legislators-Senator Mario Diaz-Balart and Representatives Rodolfo Garcia, Jr. and Carlos A. Lacasa. The 1999 legislature provided $350,000 to fund the initiative with a goal of protecting the general welfare of Biscayne Bay; the South Florida Water Management District committed an additional $200,000 to the project. BBPI has provided an effective forum for interest groups to promote the environment of Biscayne Bay, a shallow subtropical estuary located along the coast of southeast Florida.

The Bay encompasses a critical marine ecosystem of 428 square miles with 938 square miles of drainage, including 350 freshwater and coastal wetlands in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties. Its parks are home to major recreation areas that serve 16 percent of Florida's population. It is also site of one of the largest passenger and commercial ports of call in the world and supports important sport and commercial fisheries.

The Initiative has provided a cooperative citizen-based management forum to bring together diverse groups, including federal, state, county and local governments, marine industries, tourism and business development interests, the conservation community, recreational organizations, and citizens of south Florida. The Initiative will result in policy recommendations to the Florida Legislature in four categories impacting Biscayne Bay: management, social and economic values, science, and regulation. It involves interaction between an interdisciplinary policy development team and experts on each of these four survey teams to develop policy recommendations.