Charlette Roman Receives Public Service Award

On January 26, 2024, Charlette Roman received The Everglades Coalition’s Public Service Award at the 39th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida served as host for this year’s conference at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs.

According to the Everglades Coalition (EVCO), this award is given to an outstanding elected, appointed, or agency professional who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to advance Everglades Restoration. 

The Coalition is an alliance of nearly 60 local, state and national conservation and environmental organizations dedicated to the full restoration of the greater Everglades ecosystem, from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes into Lake Okeechobee, through the “River of Grass” out to Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. 

In accepting the award, Roman remarked, “I accept this award with profound humility, for it recognizes not just my achievements, but those countless individuals who have supported, inspired and guided me along the way.  I’m very grateful to have my life’s work and service to my country, state and county recognized in this special way.”

Roman also thanked the “wonderful District team of professionals, recognized the Big Cypress Basin Board and dedicated staff,” and expressed “pride in what we have accomplished together.”

In closing, Roman added that “success is a team sport, and this is especially true when it comes to restoring America’s Everglades. We have scored big for our environment, our communities, and for Florida’s economy with over 67 milestones reached.  This marks the golden era of Everglades Restoration. There may never be another time like this in Florida’s history. I can’t think of a greater honor than working with all of you.”

Michelle Arquette-Palermo, Water Policy Director for the Conservancy of SW Florida and a Board Member of the EVCO, presented the Public Service award. She remarked, “Charlette is a true champion for America’s Everglades and Florida’s environment. She was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2019 and serves as an at-large member of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board and the Chair of the Big Cypress Basin Board. But Charlette’s public service did not begin there.”

Roman enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1973 and served for 26 years, retiring as a full-bird colonel. Highlights of her career include command of an Airborne Signal Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, service as an Inspector General, and command of the U.S. Garrison, Fort Gordon, Georgia. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Roman was one of the first U.S. military personnel present to witness East Germans crossing the Freedom Bridge in Berlin. She is a graduate of the U.S. Armed Forces Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

In addition, Roman is a certified Florida Master Naturalist and has volunteered more than 1,000 hours for the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. In 2009, she received the prestigious Collier County Audubon Society “for outstanding achievement that has benefited the natural world.” 

In 2022, Roman was honored with the Laverne Norris Gaynor Environmental Champion Award by the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Board “for her years of service in protecting the coastal environment.”

Locally, Roman has also served as the President of The Friends of Tigertail Beach and was a founding member of the Gulf Coast Orchid Alliance. She is a full-time resident of Marco Island, an orchid grower, and in her spare time, she helps foster cats for the Naples Humane Society.

Earlier that week, on January 25th, Roman joined Governor DeSantis in a ribbon-cutting event for the first cell of the 6,500-acre Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Stormwater Treatment Area, which will store and clean water flowing from Lake Okeechobee before it is sent south. The EAA is considered the crown jewel of the Everglades restoration project.

Roman added, “Next month will mark five years since Governor DeSantis appointed me to the SFWMD Governing Board. This time has been incredibly rewarding.  Thank you, Governor, for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”