FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Jim Lavender, Lee County Public Works,
                (941) 479-8301
                Dick Anderson, Little Pine Island Wetland Restoration and Mitigation Bank
                (941) 481-2011, ext. 104

FORT MYERS, Fla. (January 25, 2002) – The Board of Lee County Commissioner on Tuesday (Jan. 29) will consider extending a mitigation program that has saved the county taxpayers $1.7 million while restoring an environmentally sensitive area near Pine Island. The Board is being asked to extend its initial five-year agreement with the Little Pine Island Mitigation Bank for another three years.

The bank – operated under an agreement between Mariner Properties and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection – is restoring the 4,700-acre Little Pine Island between Matlacha and Pine Island to its original wetland ecosystem. This involves removing an average of 30 tons of exotic biomass – primarily high-density Melaleuca infestation – from each acre, along with hydrologic restoration and perpetual maintenance, so that wetlands can be restored and species such as ospreys, otters, hawks, bobcats and nesting bald eagles can return to the environmentally significant site.

Using a mitigation bank permit from the DEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the bank can sell offsite mitigation credits to public and private entities needing to compensate for wetlands impacted by their projects. Participating organizations have included Lee and Collier counties, the City of Fort Myers, the Florida Department of Transportation and private developers.

In 1997, Lee County purchased $1 million of mitigation credits from the Little Pine Island Mitigation Bank. To date, its has used $740,000 of the credits for such road projects as the Midpoint Memorial Bridge; Gladiolus, Bonita Beach and Corkscrew road widenings; and Del Prado Extension. It also will use a significant amount of credits for the upcoming Alico Road widening and North Lee County Water Treatment Plant construction.

When the county purchased the lump sum credits, it received a 30 percent discount and locked into a price that has yielded $1.7 million of savings compared to the market value for alternative mitigation sites.

"This unique partnership has allowed Lee County to bring its citizens needed roads projects at a reduced cost, while restoring an important natural and wildlife ecosystem near Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound," said County Commission Chairman Bob Janes, Pine Island’s district commissioner.

When the state purchased Little Pine Island in the late 1970s, it had 100 acres of Melaleuca infestation. That had grown to 1,800 acres by 1997. To date, more than 600 acres have been restored. This innovative public-private partnership has allowed native vegetation that had been dormant in the soil for years to sprout and produce a well-balanced and appropriate native wetland flora. For more information on the bank, call Dick Anderson at 481-2011, ext. 104.