Kirk Fordham Quits Everglades Foundation for Gill Action in Colo.

Kirk Fordham, CEO and the human face of the Everglades Foundation since 2008, has resigned to become executive director of Gill Action, a Colorado-based organization that provides funding for pro-gay political campaigns across the nation. It's a job that starts April 16.

Billionaire founder of the organization Paul Tudor Jones will lead the search for a replacement for Fordham.

The 44-year-old, one-time aide to former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley told The Miami Herald that he is taking the job basically "to make sure American families have the same rights as everyone else regardless of sexual orientation."

The Everglades Foundation was instrumental in helping put the mostly unsuccessful U.S. Sugar-Gov. Charlie Crist land deal together. The Everglades Foundation is also a chief proponent of the Everglades' restoration and lobbied the Florida Legislature earlier this session to provide significant funding for it.