South Amelia Island Shore Stablization Association

SAISSA, Inc. Press Release

Contact: 904.753.4178

October 30, 2014 1:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 6, at 3:30 PM, Racquet Park Conference Center, Omni Amelia Island Plantation

Photo courtesy of SAISSA

The South Amelia Island Shore Stabilization Association (SAISSA) is pleased

to announce the third in its series of informative presentations. These

lectures with experts in coastal engineering aim to generate an in-depth

conversation concerning Amelia Island's most important economic and natural

resource. our valued beaches.

This year's topic "The Value of Florida's Beaches" is particularly

interesting and important to all Floridians. Feeling the refreshing on-shore

breezes and hearing the surf as it crashes ashore, we sometimes forget the

economic value our beaches provide. Did you know that Florida Beaches have 70 times more tourist visits than Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon combined?

In 2012, Florida Beaches attracted about 810 million beach day

visits. In fact, Florida's Beaches had more tourist visits than all theme

parks and National Parks combined and generated an annual recreational value of about $50 billion dollars.

Dr. James Houston

Our guest speaker, Dr. James Houston, will discuss the value of Florida's beaches with his insightful approach and astonishing facts. As an added benefit, Dr. Houston will address a critical issue related to the ability of our beaches to provide storm protection-- "Sea Level Rise". Dr. Houston, a prominent researcher and scientist will help us better understand sea level rise and sort out the conflicting and sometimes dire projections related to this worldwide trend.

Dr. Houston is Director Emeritus of the Army Engineer Research and Development Center which consists of 7 Laboratories in four states with 2000 employees and a budget of $1.5 billion. While he retired from this position in 2010, Dr. Houston remains an active researcher, author and speaker with more than 170 publications with more than 40 since his retirement and has won numerous awards including the 1997 National Beach Advocacy Award and 2003 Morrough P. O'Brien Award from the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association and the 2014 Bob Dean Coastal Research Award from the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation

Association.

This program will be Thursday, November 6, at 3:30 PM, Racquet Park Conference Center, Omni Amelia Island Plantation. It is free of charge and open to the public with convenient and free parking directly off A1A.