Florida Audubon Voices Support for Sector Plan That Allows Airport Relocation

In a recent email to leaders of local Florida Audubon chapters, Eric Draper, Deputy Director of Policy at Audubon of Florida, explained his organization’s involvement with the West Bay Sector Plan and why his organization is supporting the sector plan that allows airport relocation.

In part, his email said:

"Audubon has been a voice for Florida conservation for over 100 years. During that time other environmental organizations have come and gone. There have been occasional points where we differed from another group on an issue. That appears to have happened on a series of decisions involving the Bay County Airport. The groups we tend to work closely with – Florida Wildlife Federation, 1000 Friends of Florida and The Nature Conservancy – are, like Audubon, not against the Sector Plan, which allows the airport to be moved. In fact, those organizations are working together to accelerate the protection plan for the preservation area.

Several years ago, the Bay County Audubon Society approached first the Northwest Regional Conservation Committee and then the Audubon Assembly with a resolution requesting support for preservation of the undeveloped land ringing St. Andrew Bay. Dr. Ed Keppner attended the Assembly and presented a resolution, which was voted on by the Assembly and subsequently the board. Since that time, Audubon of Florida has worked with Bay County Audubon Society to support the West Bay Sector Plan based on the premise that roughly 40,000 acres of land, much of waterfront land would be protected.

Bay County Audubon had engaged on the issue of moving the local airport initially in opposition to a proposal to extend a runway into West St. Andrew Bay. Subsequently, the opportunity to preserve a considerable amount of land and wetlands led first Bay County Audubon Society and then Audubon of Florida to accept the sector plan. That plan ties the land preservation to the relocation of the airport.

The site of the relocation, in spite of claims by some environmental groups, is a former industrial pine forest. While there are former wetlands on the site, they were mostly heavily ditched and drained decades ago to allow for pulp wood production for a local paper mill.

The alternative to the relocation of the airport and the Sector Plan would still be large scale development over this entire area, but it would be haphazard, anything-goes development. The sector plan locks in place a plan of development that is well-thought-out and follows a blueprint for the entire area and protects the most environmentally sensitive habitat."