Collier buys Marco Island land to protect wildlife

Collier County commissioners have agreed to spend up to $1.768 million to purchase three properties on Marco Island to protect gopher tortoises and burrowing owls.

Commissioners on Sept. 22 approved using Conservation Collier funds to pay HK Investment AG up to $560,000 for a 0.37-acre parcel; Dwight and Ulrike Klett $720,000 for 0.57 acres; and the Kim M. Kueffner Trust $475,000 for a 0.34-acre parcel.

Gopher tortoises thrived on Marco Island for millennia, when Calusa Indians built massive shell mounds, including Key Marco and Olde Marco, to elevate homes above water. Before more recent development, native plants protected tortoises and provided refuge for wildlife — but little remains, and tortoise populations have dwindled.

Nancy Richie, owner of Island Environmental & Marine Services, urged commissioners to purchase the properties to protect them from development.

“In the past five years we’ve had … almost 500 tortoises removed off the island,” Richie said of moving them to protected ground in her job as a gopher tortoise agent for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “… They’re isolated on this island.”

Richie noted the population is denser on the island than in Golden Gate Estates and statewide.

“We probably have one of the densest populations of gopher tortoises and they’re healthy. We’re seeing all ranges of size. That shows a healthy breeding population,” she added.

Former City Councilor Rich Blonna, who has spent years advocating for the island’s ecosystems, also urged commissioners to approve the purchases, noting the parcels will create an integrated system, a “unique trail of geological, historical and conservation significance.”

“The availability of these parcels allows us to preserve this habitat and protect these creatures for generations to come,” Blonna said. “It will create the perfect learning laboratory for students, residents and visitors from around the world.”

County Development Review Director Jaime Cook told commissioners the HK parcel comprises 0.37 acres of coastal scrub habitat, which is defined by upland soils that are sandy and drain well. The sand ridge, she said, contains scrub palmettos, live oaks, Florida rosemary and prickly pear cactus.

“This property itself contains at least 13 gopher tortoises, of varying ages, which indicates that there is a breeding population on this parcel and it also contains habitat for burrowing owls,” Cook added.

She noted the HK Investment parcel abuts an existing Conservation Collier preserve, Barfield Burrows, while the other two parcels, both zoned single-family residential, are more isolated from protected lands.

Both contain coastal scrub and maritime hammock, which is influenced by sandy soils and salt spray from the sea, Cook said, noting the Klett parcel contains live oaks, cabbage palms, gumbo limbo, strangler figs and scrub vegetation. There are eight gopher tortoises onsite on the property, which borders two streets and two single-family homes, and seven gopher tortoises on the trust-owned parcel.

Conservation Collier began in 2003 after county residents, in a November 2002 voter referendum, approved a property tax increase of up to 0.25 mills — $25 per $100,000 of taxable property value — for up to 10 years and bonding of up to $75 million to create a taxpayer-funded land-acquisition program. Voters supported it in three referendums, and the program has since preserved 6,672 acres across 28 project areas.

During budget hearings this year, commissioners reduced the Conservation Collier millage rate from 0.2096 to 0.1772, which will generate $30.17 million, compared with $35.69 million at the higher millage. There’s $22 million in the fund. Although conservationists decried the reduction, commissioners maintained there is enough money in the fund and they continue to purchase land as part of the county’s new, expedited process.

This year, the county updated its Conservation Collier appraisal policy and now uses the lowest of two appraisals to negotiate a price instead of the average of the two. A, B and C rankings have now been limited to an A-list only.

The HK purchase already was approved by Marco Island City Council, while the others are pending approval.

“The true value of Conservation Collier is what’s on the lot,” Commissioner Rick LoCastro, who lives on Marco Island, said before the vote. “These are exploding with endangered wildlife. … The whole program is about protecting endangered species and wildlife.”