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Bob Bendick

Director, Gulf Program (Retired)

Florida

Bob Bendick headshot.

Bob Bendick Gulf program director. © Mark Godfrey

Areas of Expertise

policy, natural resource management, coastal and marine conservation

Media Contact

Andrew Blejwas
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Biography

Bob Bendick retired as the director of The Nature Conservancy's Gulf program on June 30, 2025. Prior to this, Bob was the director of U.S. Government Relations where he supervised TNC’s relationships with Congress and the Obama Administration over a wide range of policy activities. Previously, Bob was vice-president and managing director of TNC’s ten-state Southern U.S. Region, among other roles. Bob worked for the organization since 1995.

Prior to working for TNC, Bob was deputy commissioner for natural resources of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (1990-1995) where he managed the natural resources functions in New York State government. During this time, he served for three years as chair of the Northern Forest Lands Council, which proposed actions to protect the future of the northern forests of New York and New England.

From 1982 to 1990, Bob was director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management where he supervised all conservation and environmental functions of Rhode Island State government.

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Articles

My retirement message of thanks to colleagues, partners and friends.

On a hot Saturday this May, we launched our kayak from the beach in “downtown” Cedar Key on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Some buildings along the shore were still broken and shuttered from last year’s hurricanes. We stopped to watch young dolphins feeding on mullet and then paddled on toward Atsena Otie Key, the closest of the offshore islands. Graceful V-shaped flights of white ibis passed just overhead.

Atsena Otie has changed in the years since the last time we paddled there. Mangroves had almost completely displaced the salt marshes. Oaks and pines were dying from saltwater intrusion and from the storms’ salt-laden winds. Two cabbage palms stood at the edge of an eroding beach.

Anyone who doubts that the Gulf region’s climate is changing should come to this place. Despite these changes, nature has adapted and survived, revealing hope for the future. 

Two palm trees grow on a beach of sand and seaweed.
Gulf Coast Palms grow on Atsena Otie with Sea Horse Key in the distance. © Bob Bendick

I have dedicated the last 12 years of my long conservation career to working on the Gulf’s restoration with TNC colleagues and many partners. While we cannot put the Gulf back to the way it was 100 or even 50 years ago, we are still making remarkable progress toward a healthier Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill threatened the region’s future 15 years ago. I have learned from dozens of meetings, field trips, science papers, and colleagues and partners that several conservation strategies are particularly important to continued restoration success. 

We can and should:

  1. Bring together practical science and inclusive citizen engagement to find the common ground needed to produce effective long-term restoration plans.

  2. Use work in individual bays and estuaries as the building blocks for overall Gulf restoration.

  3. Recognize and coordinate the important federal, state, local and nonprofit roles in the restoration process.

  4. Create and allocate reliable sources of funding to adapt the Gulf to changing conditions over the long term.

  5. Use natural features and processes as tools for shaping the future Gulf —nature-based solutions.

  6. Understand the importance of communication in inspiring conservation of the Gulf’s resources.

From a beach on Atsena Otie, we could see Sea Horse Key much further offshore. My wife and I used to paddle there and make side trips to other islands, but now in our late 70s, the distance and exposure to open water look daunting. We must be content with shorter trips, leaving the epic journeys to the next generations just as creating a healthy future Gulf now falls to the younger people to strengthen and sustain the effective community of public and private organizations shaping the region. I have every confidence they will succeed.

Profound thanks to my colleagues at TNC and to the talented and motivated partners in and out of government who are achieving such great success in saving the Gulf’s future. Onward!