Audubon Florida raising opposition to changes at SGI state park

Having trouble reading this email? Click here to read it online. Audubon Florida Advocate St. George Island State Park - November 2014 Help Audubon's Policy Team Tell Your Friends Send this message to your friends and family! Stay Connected Bookmark the Audubon Florida News Blog Take Action: Protect St. George Island State Park Wildlife and Habitat Say NO to increased development on State Park conservation land. Send a letter right now.  Snowy Plover St. George Island State Park in Franklin County is one of a few remaining nesting sites for rare and declining beach-nesting birds like Least Terns, American Oystercatchers and Snowy Plovers, and provides crucial stopover habitat for neotropical songbirds arriving from their long migration nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico. The park also provides an important, more natural experience for visitors and a glimpse of much what of the windswept barrier islands of the Panhandle looked like before the arrival of coastal development. The Florida Park Service recently rolled out a draft management plan for St. George Island State Park that included shocking development proposals to expand the park’s infrastructure including: St. George Island State Park A 30-slip marina for boat camping with bathhouse and picnic pavilion on the bay side of the island. Six cabins and a support building developed in an area of healthy habitat and requiring a new road. An additional 30-site camping loop in undisturbed habitat An expanded parking area at the kayak launching site and additional parking along roadside pulloffs Paved bike lanes on both sides of the road (where beach-nesting birds have had nests in the past) Additional pull offs and trails in the restricted access area of the point Furthermore, the carrying capacities of the plan appear to have been set based on the number of parking spaces rather than the amount of user pressure the resources could withstand. The plan does not acknowledge the impacts of human disturbance on the park’s imperiled beach-nesting birds and vulnerable habitats. The plan did not include any funding requests for additional staffing to manage the increased use or maintain the proposed infrastructure.  Beach-nesting birds used to be common along the entire length of St. George Island. Now they are restricted to the state park for nesting, and are struggling even there under the weight of disturbance and predation.  Audubon staff, members, and supporters attended the public meeting. The Tallahassee Democrat quoted Audubon’s Director of Wildlife Conservation Julie Wraithmell as saying, “I don't know anyone who after visiting the state park says ‘that was nice, but too bad there wasn’t more pavement, buildings and another 600 people. This is a place that is special — providing essential habitat for rare and threatened species and a visitor experience that is exceptional. The proposed plan simply assumes ‘more’ is always ‘better.’" Last Tuesday, concerned citizens from St. George Island, Eastpoint, Apalachicola, and Tallahassee turned out at the public hearing on the proposal to speak against the plans to add expansive campgrounds, cabins and a marina to this sensitive barrier island park.The public meeting was full, with all speakers expressing concerns with the proposed management plan. The meeting was covered in the Apalachicola Times. You Can Help - Send a Letter in Support of St. George Island's Wildlife If you weren’t able to attend the public meeting, St. George Island State Park still needs your help! Use Audubon's easy email form to contact Park Planner David Copps. Let them know that you value the natural resources of this park and the wild experiences it offers, and that you do not support these infrastructure expansions which would come at the expense of wildlife and habitat. Update your profile | Modify your email preferences or unsubscribe

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