Florida Scenic Highways Program Annual Meeting 2025

In-person attendees for the Florida Scenic Highways Annual Meeting 2025 at
the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola, Florida

The Florida Scenic Highways Program (FSHP) hosted its Annual Meeting on February 26, 2025, in coastal Apalachicola, Florida. Apalachicola is home to the Big Bend Scenic Byway (BBSB), a 200+ mile long Scenic Highway in the Florida Panhandle. The group met at the Gibson Inn; a historic hotel located in the heart of this small coastal community.

View of the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola, Florida from the Big Bend Scenic Byway

The day began with a welcome from Dean Stoddart, Florida Scenic Highways Program Coordinator and State Landscape Architect. Dean shared this year’s theme, “The Florida Scenic Highways Program and the National Perspective,” and the agenda for the day. This year’s meeting was intended to educate the byway community on different scenic highway programs and organizations from around the country, the resources they offer, and how the program in Florida fits within the national perspective.

During this session, program updates were given to highlight different initiatives and celebrate achievements. Over the previous year, the FSHP community had the opportunity to gather and learn from each other at the 2024 Annual Meeting and the first annual Mid-Year Meet Up. Other highlights from the year included the completion of the Program Annual Report and the submittal of three National Scenic Byway grant applications. The FSHP continues to support its byways by providing resources and raising awareness of byways and events through the Byway Buzz blog and the quarterly newsletters, both sharing byway news, events, project highlights, interviews with byway leaders and much more!

The 2024 Garry Balogh Inspiring Excellence Award recipient, Bill Jonson, attended the Annual Meeting and was recognized again for his outstanding contributions to the program. To read more about Bill and his role with the Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway, read the blog post featuring his announcement. 2022 winner Georgia Turner was also in attendance.

Dean welcoming the FSHP community and providing a FSHP update

The first speaker of the day was Sharon Strouse, the Executive Director of the National Scenic Byway Foundation (NSBF) and a leader of the Amish Country Byway in Ohio. Sharon presented on the NSBF and their partnership with the FSHP. The NSBF’s goal is to advance byways through education, promotion, and advocacy. Sharon shared several resources that the NSBF provides to byways throughout the county including trainings, webinars, and events, which can be found on the NSBF website.

During this session, Sharon spoke on the importance of byways finding balance in attracting more visitors while also preserving resources and visitor experience. An increase in visitors can lead to more traffic, trash, and degradation of natural resources. Byway members in attendance discussed the delicate balance of these aspirations in their local communities.

Sharon also discussed three significant trends in byway goals nationally: maintenance, protection, and improving visitor experience. She provided resources and information to help byways attain these goals. Sharon highlighted viewshed protection as one of these goals, and byways were encouraged to identify their important views and consider protection efforts. A Protecting our Byway Viewsheds webinar from the NSBF is available that expands on Sharon’s presentation. Additional resources involving conservation and protection of natural resources were shared including the Alliance of Land Trust and the Byway Resource Library from the NSBF.

Finally, Sharon noted that one of NSBF’s major initiatives in recent years was creating webpages for each byway across America. Each page features details of the byway and an interactive map powered by Overlook. These maps are integrated into the free Overlook Maps mobile app. Check out the Byways in Florida page to view the individual byway pages from our program!

The Big Bend Scenic Byway (BBSB) is in the Florida Panhandle and expands across Leon, Wakulla, and Franklin Counties. It is one of FSHP’s largest byways, at 220 miles, and is home to some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.

The Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve showcases the fantastic biodiversity of the Big Bend Scenic Byway region

Del Suggs and Dixie Partington, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Big Bend Scenic Byway, presented an overview of the Byway’s key regional qualities. The byway is characterized by two distinct sections, the Forest Trail and Coastal Trail, both highlighting unique features of the area.

The Coastal Trail includes coastal communities each with a rich history, culture, and scenic beaches. The Forest Trail has many woodland access sites including Apalachicola National Forest and Wakulla Springs State Park, home to one of the world’s largest and deepest freshwater springs.

Recreational trails are a large part of the Big Bend Scenic Byway. The St. Marks Trail, a National Recreation Trail, is a 16-mile-long paved trail from Tallahassee to St. Marks that connects the byway’s Forest Trail to the Coastal Trail. The Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail is a 1,515-mile-long paddling trail along the entire coast of Florida. A portion of the trail follows the Coastal Trail of Big Bend Scenic Byway from St. George Island to the St. Marks Lighthouse. These are just a few of the recreational offerings along the BBSB!

Visit the Big Bend Scenic Byway website to see an extensive list of resources along the byway that can serve as a model for other byways.

In support of this year’s theme, the meeting also included a panel featuring Coordinators from other state’s Scenic Highway Programs. The panel was made up of coordinators from across the county, including:

• Tim Wilcox (Minnesota Scenic Byways Coordinator)
• Michael McClanahan (Tennessee Scenic Roadway Coordinator)
• Tom Barrett (Ohio Scenic Byways Coordinator).

Each Coordinator discussed their program, best practices, and lessons learned. These professionals shared their thoughts and feelings on a wide variety of topics related to scenic highways and their role within the national program. Their insight provides the FSHP ideas for ways to continue operating at such a high level into the future as program needs and responsibilities evolve.

Jean-Pierre, an 11-foot alligator, is a resident of the Gibson Inn and was an attendee of this year’s Annual Meeting

To end the day, byway organization leaders and members were invited to share stories about their byways and pose questions to the group on the program or byway related topics. The Byway Leader Roundtable allows the byways to share their successes and learn from each other. One discussion of the roundtable highlighted community members being aware of the byways but not knowing how to be involved, and how byways can invite and encourage participation.

The roundtable also included a discussion on the Land and People Approach, a strategy recommended by the National Scenic Byway Program (NSBP) to reimagine and recategorize the intrinsic qualities of each scenic highway. This approach allows the byways to identify themselves as either land byways or people byways. With this approach, byways can highlight important features and simplify marketing strategies.

The FSHP would like to thank all our speakers, panelists, and participants for their interested in this year’s Annual Meeting! This program is successful thanks to all your contributions, big and small.

View or download the presentations and agenda in the Statewide Meeting 2025 tab on the Meeting & Workshop Archives page.