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Celebrating SCCF’s 57th Anniversary
Need to Preserve Lands Amid Rampant Development Leads to Creation of Nonprofit
To honor the City of Sanibel’s 50th anniversary on Nov. 5, 1974, SCCF is sharing stories throughout the year to celebrate and chronicle our community’s incredible commitment to conservation. Our second story explores the looming threats to the environment in the 1960s and how SCCF came into existence.
The 1960s marked a major turning point for Sanibel and Captiva amid significant threats to the Sanctuary Islands from traffic, development, and the destruction of vital natural habitats.
Major factors included the opening of the causeway in 1963 and the availability of potable water as the Island Water Association (IWA) came online in 1966. Prior to IWA, people were dependent upon cisterns and shallow wells. Once drinking water was available, developers ramped up plans for the islands.
Underlying these events was zoning set by Lee County in the late 1950s for 35,000 units to be constructed on Sanibel — a decision made with little regard to protecting the environment. The Sanibel Zoning and Planning Committee was created to work with Lee County to advocate for orderly development and limit building height, but it met with little success.
“The Lee County Board of Commissioners treated the island at that time as though it were a mainland area suited for intensive development,” said SCCF CEO James Evans. “By permitting construction of condominiums on beach dunes and conversion of wetlands into canalized, golf communities, the county zoning of Sanibel would have allowed a population of more than 90,000.”
“Not only were the natural systems of Sanibel in jeopardy by such inappropriate uses, but life and property were endangered by the obvious threat of hurricanes,” he added.
Completion of the Causeway
When the Sanibel Causeway first enabled cars to drive onto the island in May 1963, the original toll was $5 per car to match the fee for the car ferry. It was later reduced to $3, opening a veritable floodgate for development and environmental impacts.
“The causeway that was constructed with spoil islands and a drawbridge was not the bridge to the islands that had been recommended based on a biological assessment by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) on impacts to San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound,” said Evans.
SCCF founding board member Charles LeBuff, who was with USFWS and assisted with the assessment, recently wrote an opinion piece for the News-Press that included “the folly of the pending construction of the Sanibel Causeway.”
“USFWS recommended that the roadway of the Sanibel Causeway be constructed completely elevated above the water, supported by pilings — without any large scale, estuarine habitat damaging dredge and fill operations required,” LeBuff wrote.
The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission and the Florida State Board of Conservation — now combined as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, agreed with USFWS assessment.
At the permit approval meeting in Jacksonville with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the agency that would issue the construction permit — Lee County representatives and their engineers insisted the county could not afford to build a fully elevated roadway and requested that the costly design change be dropped.
The Corps agreed and the permit was issued.
“The decision by the county to go against what was best for the environment was yet another signal to the island community that we needed to take action to protect and care for our fragile ecosystems,” said Evans.
Causeway’s Impact on Wildlife
Not only did the resulting causeway threaten recreational and commercial fisheries, including oysters and a small commercial bay scallop industry, the USFWS assessment “also noted incidental changes to salinities and alterations to tidal flow would occur because of the intrusion of the spoil islands,” LeBuff wrote.
Another incidental impact was to shorebirds, which was also documented by LeBuff and other wildlife officers. From its opening in 1963 during shorebird nesting season, the causeway’s spoil islands led to the death of hundreds of least terns and other shorebirds as they used the fill and shoulder areas as nesting grounds.
Wildlife officers reported that 6,000 least terns lost their lives in 1964, the second year the causeway was operational, according to a 1965 article in The Islander newspaper.
LeBuff, in his role with the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society, worked with Lee County to erect bird nesting and crossing signs to help alleviate the problem. But, in the 1980s a similar problem occurred due to nesting black skimmers and it continued to be an issue until the early 1990s.
Birth of SCCF on Oct. 31, 1967
Also unfolding in the 1960s was a movement that would result in the creation of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.
After Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling’s death in 1962, conservation-minded islanders began working to solidify the future of what was then the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge and rename it to honor this great conservation leader. Locally the group worked as the “Ding” Darling Memorial Committee.
Five years, thousands of letters, meetings, and fundraising efforts resulted in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge’s formal dedication in 1967, honoring the man who had given so much to the islands and the nation and helped to make the world a better place for humans, wildlife and the wild places we cherish today.
The “Ding” Darling Memorial Committee knew there was still much to be done to preserve the natural resources of the islands. Since its inception, its role had been to cooperate with agencies and organizations to protect the natural heritage that makes these islands so special. Instead of retiring with a sense that their mission had been accomplished, the group rededicated themselves to looming issues that would challenge the integrity of the island’s well-being.
On Oct. 31, 1967, The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) was incorporated as an outgrowth of the “Ding” Darling Memorial Committee. SCCF’s initial purpose was to nurture the newly dedicated refuge and to protect the islands’ “rich treasury of wildlife and vegetation through land acquisition, wildlife protection, promotion of orderly development, and education.”
Early organizers of SCCF included members of the Captiva Civic Association (CCA), which was founded in 1936 and incorporated in 1959. The CCA has long since been a partner with SCCF in preserving the quality of life, ambiance, and environmental integrity of Captiva’s unique barrier island community.
“For 57 years, we have remained a key partner of the Refuge and other island nonprofits to safeguard our Sanctuary Islands,” said Evans. “This year, we are thrilled to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of home rule. If islanders hadn’t voted to become the City of Sanibel, it would be a much different place.”
Next month, we’ll explore in more depth Lee County’s plans for the development of Sanibel and what led to the vote to incorporate.
A Community Committed to Preserving Our Sanctuary Islands – Sept. 2024
SCCF is proud of the partnership role we have played over the last five decades to protect our unique island environment and the wildlife habitat it provides. Please make your most generous donation to support our work now and in the future. For more information, please contact SCCF Development Director Cheryl Giattini at 239-822-6121 or cgiattini@sccf.org.
This article includes excerpts taken from Story of the Islands, written by former SCCF Education Director Kristie Anders. Currently being updated by SCCF, the printing of the Story of the Islands is generously funded by the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Association of REALTORS. The Association promotes appreciation and understanding of the ecosystems of the islands, requiring new members to participate in training that includes a program at SCCF. New residents, through the relationship with their Realtor, are better informed about the unique environment on and around the islands.