the pines of sanibel

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Australian Pines
On Sanibel
Gulf front pine grove after hurricane Charley
Issued by "Friends of the Pines," an informal, grass roots organization
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A note from Friends of the Pines
All photos in this booklet were taken after hurricane Charley and in most cases
after hurricane Wilma hit Sanibel, with the exception of the pre-2004 shot of Periwinkle
Way.
This is not an exercise in nostalgia, but a proposal for the future.
Friends of the Pines recognize and support the need to top or remove pines and
any other trees that pose a threat to public safety because of proximity to lift stations,
power lines, and evacuation routes. Our goal is to achieve a reasonable plan to manage
and maintain Australian pines as an integral feature of the ecology that has developed on
Sanibel over more than a century, a plan that recognizes the rights of private property
owners as well as community needs and ecological integrity.
Pines on private property
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The World We Have (Almost) Lost
On Friday August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley destroyed a national treasure – the
canopy of Australian pines that lined the roads of Sanibel and Captiva. Many undamaged
pines were removed in the days that followed, but thousands of pines remain on City and
private property, and on conservation lands far from power lines and access roads.
The pines that survived Charley and Wilma now face a man-made threat from the
City of Sanibel Vegetation Committee, which proposes that Australian pines on Sanibel
be eradicated. We believe that such an extremist measure would be financial folly and
could threaten the delicate balance of flora and fauna that has developed over a century or
more, attracting residents as well as visitors to the Island.
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In preparing this survey, Friends of the Pines do not pretend to answer the
allegations and speculations of "experts" cited in the Committee recommendation with
irrefutable "facts." Rather, we report what our eyes, common sense, and the observations
of friends and neighbors tell us about the benefits of pines as Sanibel's "upper canopy",
plus what we see as the costs and dangers of reshaping the Island's ecology to propagate
environmental purism.
We hope that Sanibel will avoid the consequences that "experts" have visited on
many parts of our state and country as they straightened rivers, drained swamps, and
otherwise tampered with an existing balance of nature.
One of hundreds of groves of
Australian pines remaining on Sanibel
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The Issues
Cost
In its January 2006 report to City Council, the Vegetation Committee defined its
role so narrowly that it ducked the most obvious questions: "How many trees?" "How
much will it cost?" "Who will pay?" "Would the money be better spent on Sanibel's
important projects, such as addressing releases from Lake Okeechobee, building a new
recreation center, re-vegetating Periwinkle Way, or improving the shared-use path
system?"
The Committee proposal shifts responsibility to other agencies: "A complete
inventory of Australian pines is most efficiently conducted by the Department of Natural
Resources using GIS software." Eradication should be "modeled on the Brazilian pepper
removal plan" – but the Committee gives no explanation of what this plan was, who paid
for it, whether it was successful, or whether the two situations are at all comparable.
In one public hearing, held after their report was submitted to City Council,
members of the Vegetation Committee admitted that the cost of removing just one
Australian pine is at least $1500.
An Australian pine thicket
If only 10,000 trees are involved, the cost at this low rate will be 15 million
dollars – and how much more will replacement plantings cost?
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Because cost is the number one issue, no discussion of Australian pines should
proceed without clear information on how many trees the Vegetation Committee wants
removed and how much it will cost to remove them. Look at any roadside or open area on
Sanibel to observe how many thousands of pines still stand. It's much easier to say than to
pay for eradication.
Many of the remaining pines are on conservation lands, so taxpayers would not
have to pay for their removal. But will Sanibel citizens continue to contribute to worthy
conservation causes when they see money spent for an unnecessary and destructive
project?
Most of the remaining pines are on private property,
which raises its own set of issues . . .
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Private Property
Some of the loveliest and best maintained groves and hedges of Australian pines
are on private property: individual residences, condos, and the meticulously topped and
trimmed pines in Periwinkle Park. Much of the cost of eradication would not be borne by
tax revenue, as most pines are on private property. Placing the burden on private citizens,
however, amounts to seizing private property without due process, not only in the cost
of removal and replanting, but in the inevitable devaluation of properties whose character
and charm are inextricably tied to pines. Forced removal could invite class action as well
as individual lawsuits. Can City Council justify spending taxpayer money for such
lawsuits?
What is gained by destroying the following landscaping?
Summer of '42
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Ten foot high Australian pine hedge at Sunset South
Sea Pines of Sanibel
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Australian pines shading the tennis courts at Harbour Cottages
Managed pines in Periwinkle Park
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Wildlife Habitat
"Experts" tell us that the nesting and roosting birds we observe in pines are
"opportunistic". But all of nature is "opportunistic." Flora and fauna of all species
(including human) survive by adapting to and using available resources. "The birds will
use other trees," the Vegetation Committee tells us, and "native" vegetation will
"eventually" replace the pines.
What will our wildlife use for habitat during this lengthy replacement process?
Will they be forced to leave our Sanctuary Island, or will they simply perish?
Pelicans on pines at Gulfside Place – thirty-seven on the day of this photo
Where will the flocks of brown pelicans go that roost in the pines on the shore
below Gulfside Place condos and in the pines on both sides of the canal south of
Beachview? To our eyes, these pelicans prefer Australian pines. Ask these roosting birds
why they diminished in number after the pines at Bowman's Beach were killed in place or
hacked down a decade or so ago. Brown pelicans, endangered in the recent past, have
continued to survive on Sanibel because their preferred roost thrives here.
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Pelicans prefer Australian pines for perching and roosting
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Other birds, such as anhingas, nest and shelter in Australian pines
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Yellow-crowned night herons also choose
Australian pines for their nests
as do great blue herons . . . .
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Ospreys dine in Australian pines
Bald eagles roost, as well as nest, in Australian pines
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Competing Vegetation (The "Invasive" Argument)
"Experts" tell us that Australian pines are invasive – they crowd out native
vegetation; "nothing will grow around or under Australian pines".
It is true that Australian pines have been remarkably successful in establishing
themselves since their introduction more than a century ago, but they are nowhere
NEAR as invasive as the State Tree of Florida, the "native" cabbage palm, which
proliferates so profusely it becomes a monoculture and out-competes other vegetation.
Friends of the Pines have observed many species growing under or near groves of
Australian pines, including "native" and "non-native" species, which blend to enhance
Sanibel's beauty and distinctive character.
Shorefront home off Sanibel-Captiva Road post-Charley
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A variety of vegetation mingles with Australian pines,
including native cabbage palm, sea grape, wild olive and blue porterweed
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Parsley thrives under Australian pines
Here it is useful to remind ourselves what Sanibel does not have, namely beaches
clogged and unusable because of fallen pines such as is the case for portions of upper
Captiva and other islands in the area. In our observation, the number of Australian pines
along wide stretches of Sanibel beaches has not increased over many decades. Whether
this is the result of careful management or the particular conditions on Sanibel, our eyes
tell us that the pines are NOT "taking over."
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West end beach
Australian pines on the causeway islands provide welcome shade
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“Experts" also tell us that Australian pines are dangerous because they are shallow-rooted.
But all trees on Sanibel are shallow-rooted and will come down in a severe storm. For example,
the Coquina Beach complex, which has more than a dozen towering Australian pines, suffered its
only significant damage during Charley from a black olive tree that toppled into its pool.
Native trees, such as these gumbo limbos,
also fall during high wind events
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Aesthetics and Ambiance
Taste is subjective, so no amount of discussion can decree whether Australian
pines are attractive or ugly. But many individuals feel that Australian pines are attractive
and appreciate their welcome shade – a rare luxury on a barrier island, especially during
the summer months.
Properly managed Australian pines make attractive and welcome shade trees
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Seed Dispersal
The last-ditch argument of the Vegetation Committee – increasingly the main
argument of the anti-pines faction – is that ANY pines that remain on Sanibel will be a
"continuing seed source" that perpetuates "the pine plague" indefinitely.
A single Palm Beach County forester has decreed that there should be 500 feet
between remaining pines and conservation land in order to prevent reseeding. Here again
our eyes and common sense prevail. Seedlings do appear, but not in the numbers
suggested. Examine, for example, the area from Sundial to Sanibel Arms West, where
clusters of pines remain more or less as they have for decades. If/when unwanted
seedlings appear, they are easy to pull up. Common sense can control pine propagation
and avert the eradication of Australian pines to eliminate seed dispersal.
Lone pine between Song of the Sea and Sanibel Moorings
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A Sanibel Solution
Democratic societies accommodate as many citizens as possible through political
compromise – and compromise is what Friends of the Pines recommend to Sanibel City
Council. Rather than accept the Vegetation Committee proposal to eradicate Australian
pines from Sanibel – an extremism that denigrates the "Sanibel way" of governing – we
recommend an approach that respects concerns for public safety, the rights of private
property owners, the community good, and ecological integrity.
The first step toward a Sanibel solution to the Australian pines issue should be an
objective survey of remaining pines to determine which trees pose a threat to public
safety. If pines deemed dangerous are located on public property, they should be topped,
or, only as a last resort, removed.
Management and guests at historic Island Inn
treasure its shade-giving Australian pines
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If such pines are on private property, however, the City of Sanibel must
acknowledge and honor the rights of property owners. It costs at least $1500 to remove
an Australian pine, not to mention the expense of replacement vegetation. Accordingly,
those who choose to top or remove their pines should be offered financial assistance.
A Sanibel solution would recognize that we are a diverse group of citizens of
many opinions. With no clear evidence that preserving pines on private property courts
disaster, the situation calls for a compromise that will preserve the best features of the
remaining pines. Sanibel City Council has the wisdom to balance situations that combine
benefit and risk, such as their recent formulation of a policy to manage, rather than
eradicate, the Island's alligator population – a quite different situation, but one that
required equal political acumen.
A Sanibel solution would also recognize that different communities and
environments evolve individual patterns. Sanibel is neither Palm Beach nor the other
places cited in the Vegetation Committee proposal. As Sanibel's City Manager told the
Lee County Visitor and Tourist Bureau in her memo of 6/15/06, "You don't fool with
Mother Nature." Pulling apart an eco-system that has evolved over more than a century is
risky business. Before we spend millions to destroy a habitat on which brown pelicans
and other native birds rely for nesting, roosting, and dining, some carefully constructed
studies are necessary, along with greater humility in the face of nature's complex plan.
Australian pines welcome guests to Pelicans Roost resort
The unique environment of our barrier island still holds mysteries for its human
stewards, but we know for sure that "experts" have made a mess of things in the past by
tampering with an existing balance of nature. These errors have required multi-billion
dollar restorations.
We hope to prevent that from happening
to one of the most beautiful places on earth.