Franklin County is now
enforcing its “Leave No Trace” ordinance so make sure to bring your chairs and
tents in with you when you leave the beach at night.
That ordinance was created as a way to protect
nesting sea turtles and to make the beaches on St. George Island look cleaner.
The ordinance bans people from leaving items
like tents and beach chairs on public beaches on St. George Island overnight -
items that are left out can be confiscated and destroyed at the landfill.
It also requires people to fill in any holes
they dig on the beach before leaving.
The ordinance does allow people to keep their items on the
beach as late as they want as long as they are actively using them.
Franklin County beaches are popular with sea
turtles – every year hundreds of sea turtle nests are laid in our beaches and
thousands of baby turtles hatch and crawl to the gulf.
When people leave item like tents and chairs out
overnight it can hinder the sea turtles from laying their eggs in the dune line
and can also keep hatchling sea turtles from making their way to the Gulf.
Under the “Leave no Trace” ordinance, every Tuesday morning,
Parks and Rec personnel go on the beach to tag items as a reminder that
unattended personal property has to be removed by 9 PM.
Later in the week Park and Rec employees drive the beach
with a motorized vehicle and trailer and remove unattended items – those items
are taken to the landfill and destroyed.
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