Some bird enthusiasts on Fort Myers Beach say there are “major conservation issues on the south end of Fort Myers Beach.” Residents who live on the south end say they’re doing everything they can to protect nesting shorebirds while also protecting their property rights.
It all got a little heated when MERTF Chairman Steve Johnson used the word “poison” when talking about the south end.
At the June Marine Environmental Resources Task Force meeting, Johnson read a letter from FWC Southwest Regional Species Conservation Biologist Rebecca Schneider who said FWC has “experienced a lack of understanding and unreasonable resistance from the community.” Schneider was looking to MERTF for help “protecting your natural resources.”
The use of the words “unreasonable resistance” peaked our interest so we reached out to Schneider to ask her to be more specific about her accusations of “unreasonable resistance.” She did not respond to our request.
This apparently has to do with allegations of bird monitors being yelled at and signs near the roped off nesting areas being pulled out. At least that’s what people are telling us off the record. Nobody has been able to offer us any proof that this took place or who may have done what is being claimed.
At the MERTF meeting, Johnson followed his reading of Schneider’s e-mail with the comment that the “Southern end of the Island is starting to poison itself against everything conservation oriented and I think that’s a big problem.” He followed it up with, “I don’t know if there’s a way we can help this poison from spreading on the South End of the Island.” In addition to the situation with the birds, Johnson also lumps Eddie Rood and Kurt Kroemer’s dune walkover into his accusations that the south end is against conservation.
We pressed Johnson on who he was referring to on the south end that is against conservation. In an e-mail to Beach Talk Radio Thursday Johnson said, “There was never an individual, a property owner, nor condominium named nor faulted for causing any issues but the problem remains. We aren’t really sure who they are. I just don’t want to lump everyone together.” Johnson reiterated on the phone with us Thursday that there’s an impression that the southern end of the island is against conservation. We jostled back and forth a bit about what he said. He made the accusation about the south end but didn’t provide proof of who it was or evidence of what was happening.
And, for the record, there’s also an impression with some residents on the south end that the MERTF committee has gotten too radical. They want more balance on the committee.
Committee member Jennifer Rusk took it one step further at the MERTF meeting. “These people are buying this property not thinking anything of the environment. People come here and they’re thinking beach and bars and making money off of the rentals.”
The people who live in condos on the south end beg to differ. Island’s End, Castle Beach and Carlos Pointe have an agreement with FWC that allow for the private property areas of their beach to be roped off, for 6 months, to accommodate the birds.
Castle Beach President Sharon Hegstrom says Castle Beach has allowed FWC to rope off their beach for six months for the past 18 years. “That means we cannot use the beach and we have rentals who stay at Castle Beach who want to do that. In addition the roping off causes thousands of sand spurs to grow and ruins our beachfront for weeks after the birding season is over. Last year we were informed we would need to pay for a bird monitor for the entire season even though FWC instigated this program and supported it financially up until this time.”
Condo HOA’s have been told that FWC is planning to charge thousands of dollars in fees if the condo’s want to rake the beach back to it’s pre-bird-nesting status.
Back in 2022, during a presentation to the MERTF committee, Schneider said FWC returns the private beach that they took over to monitor the birds “the way we found it, if not better.” Schneider went on to say that the beach is groomed by the property owners, using mechanical treatment to reduce growth, which attracts the birds year after year. She added we support that grooming because it’s the only place where the birds are able to nest.
Hegstrom wonders how FWC got so much control of their land? “It makes no sense. That sand wasn’t even there before Tropical Storm Gabriel brought it to us in 2001. But the government seems to be taking control of it. We pay the taxes on and take care of it and allow the birding which is not always easy.”
New FWC imperiled-bird nesting regulations go into effect on September 1st. The new regulations include how much money property owners will now have to pay to return their beaches to pre-nesting condition. Fees that property owners never had to pay before after allowing the government agency to come on their private property to rope off the beaches. FWC did not make the new regulations easy to understand. If you’d like to give it a try, the 77-page document is HERE.
A series of e-mails between Town Councilman John King and MERTF Chair Steve Johnson reveals how heated the debate about the south end is becoming. King told Johnson he was extremely disheartened by the tone, tenor and rhetoric used by the members of the committee. “Not once, but twice you used the word “POISON” in describing the residents of the South End in what you said was a “Big Problem.” That problem was FWC accusing people of removing signs and allegedly confronting FWC representatives. I’m not condoning any attacking behavior, but I seriously doubt there are landowners doing this. I don’t believe there are any owners at their residences at Island’s End, Carlos Pointe and Castle Beach as they have not been certified for occupancy.” King said MERTF committee members owe the residents on the south end an apology.
Johnson responded that he was sorry King took offense with his use of the word poison. “I can tell you that this noun is a very descriptive word used in the context of the discussion to describe the general mood toward conservation on the geographically southern end of the island. Due in part to the ongoing boardwalk conflict as residents take up sides. The discussion began due to an unsolicited communication sent to the Chair from the FWC Species Conservation Biologist looking for help due to “a lack of understanding and unreasonable resistance from the community”. No one was called poison, the situation is poison as it is fatal to the ecology in question.”
Island Winds President Dave Nusbaum also took offense to the use of the word poison and let the town council know that in an e-mail. “I strongly disagree with Mr. Johnson’s statement. The condominiums on the south end continue to work to find a balance between nature and the property owners rights. We have stated that fact again and again, in correspondence with the Town, MERTF and government agencies. We are not a “poison”….. but we are property owners trying to find a balance with nature, to preserve our backyards and maintain them to be the driving force of the town’s economy.”
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