St. Simons Island is approximately the size of Manhattan. One island has been able to retain a rare, green lushness that remains on a close-to-the-earth human scale. It could not be more different from the sky-scraping density of that other island that sits between the Hudson and the East River.
I think about that often, what might have been. It’s not a pretty picture, imagining St. Simons filled with high-rise condominiums and arcades, imagining the composition of the island if there had not been visionaries who took a stand to preserve a barrier island that has some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, if this community had not partnered with the St. Simons Land Trust for more than two decades to preserve, protect, and manage nearly 1,200 acres of land.
Almost 1,000 of those protected acres – an area larger than Central Park – are on the north-end of the island. And more than 600 of those acres lie within what is considered one of the brightest, most precious gems in the state’s land conservation crown: Cannon’s Point Preserve.
This month the Land Trust is celebrating the 10th anniversary of having acquired and carefully managed the 608-acre Preserve. In 2012, at the completion of an 18-month-long, $25 million capital campaign, the peninsula known as Cannon’s Point was purchased, eventually making it possible for the public to visit and enjoy one of the only intact maritime forests on Georgia’s coast accessible by car. That successful fundraising initiative was one of the largest in the island’s history, with gifts coming from nearly 300 individuals, foundations, corporations, and other partners. It was a massive undertaking led by a tenacious group of people who were determined to see the property protected from development. As enormous as that effort was, however, some of the heaviest lifting came after the money was raised and the land was acquired.
All Land Trust properties are stewarded by management plans that are carefully crafted by professionals in environmental science, land conservation, education, scientific research, forestry, wildlife management, land restoration, climate change, storm protection, archaeology, recreation, and other pertinent fields of expertise. But a plan that would be required for a wilderness preserve with more than six miles of saltmarsh and river shoreline, fragile ecosystems, and rare habitat that would eventually be opened to the public, had never been designed for a St. Simons Land Trust property. This was unchartered territory. And those who were involved in ensuring the Preserve’s future had to have vision, passion, and a deep and abiding respect for all that had occurred on that land for the past 5,000 years and all that could come afterwards.
There was proof, for example, of indigenous peoples having lived on the land since 2500 BCE. The Native Americans’ shell middens were not just piles of discarded oyster shells but were both archaeological features and important natural factors impacting the island’s soil. The middens, which release calcium carbonate, had for centuries created ideal conditions for some of the rare plants that reside in maritime forests. These “prehistoric dumping grounds” had to be treated as carefully as other artifacts, like the ruins of a home from the 1700s and other plantation-era structures, including those built by enslaved people who had lived and labored on the property.
The area surrounding a long-abandoned cattle dip had to be remediated. Hundreds of dead and dying pine trees, infested with pine beetles, had to be felled and removed. The limited wetlands on the property needed to be protected and allowed to continue acting as critical aquifer recharge areas for the island. Plans needed to be created on how to identify, monitor, and control invasive species and to determine how and when visitors could enter the Preserve and what types of low-impact activities would be allowed. A forward-looking Perpetual Conservation Easement had to be drafted along with an arrangement with The Nature Conservancy to hold and monitor that easement. Reviewing documents of all that took place during those first months and years of owning the Preserve, and all that continues to take place daily, boggles the mind. The must-do list of projects, protocols, and activities would stretch from here to Darien.
Stephanie Knox, the first full-time Preserve Manager at Cannon’s Point Preserve, and now our Stewardship Director, worked seven days a week for the better part of two years, partnering with experts across a wide range of skills and knowledge, to whittle down that list. “The most challenging part of the position early on was working to create something that had never been done before by the Land Trust,” says Stephanie. “It’s thanks to the remarkable partners, staff, and volunteers who came together to share their expertise, passion, and guidance that allowed the Preserve’s vision to become a reality. The Preserve has truly been created by the community for the community and it’s incredible to see it now, as it was always envisioned to be, a model for conservation and a platform for education.”
When Stephanie was hired in 2014, the Land Trust owned and managed historic and iconic properties across the island, but nothing on the scale of a 600-plus-acre wilderness area with rare natural communities of plants and animals and that was being envisioned as a living laboratory for study and research that would include public access. It took a tireless, dedicated, knowledgeable, and young Preserve Manager like Steph to help make that happen.
As Susan Shipman, who twice served as Chair of the Land Trust’s Board of Directors, said recently, “In retrospect, I am astounded at the scope and extent of the plan’s management goals we’ve been able to implement in part or fully achieved. At the end of the day, the thing that awes me is that magnificent maritime forest and its component habitats that remain undisturbed. To think what could have happened had that peninsula been built out as envisioned in the PUD that the county had approved years ago.”
That PUD (Planned Unit Development) included hundreds of homes, a golf course, and associated amenities. Not Manhattan, for sure. But the “what could have been” is, thankfully, a far cry from the now protected green expanse seen when you take a boat from the Hampton River Marina toward Little St. Simons and Sea Island: miles and miles of pristine maritime forest, with not a roof top in sight.
It took people like Shipman, Knox, Scott Coleman (Ecological Manager for the Center for Coastal Conservation on Little St. Simons), Land Trust co-founders Ben Slade and Frances McCrary, Lee Richards (SSLT Board Chair at the time), and so many other past and current board members, advisory council members, staff from the Nature Conservancy and the Department of Natural Resources, along with countless volunteers to make that happen.
But few people worked harder and more tenaciously or had a more comprehensive vision for the property than Wendy Paulson. It was Wendy and her husband Hank, owners of Little St. Simons Island and internationally recognized conservationists, who not only made the lead gift to the Cannon’s Point Preserve fundraising campaign, donating more than $12 million to the effort, but who also tapped into the support of conservation leaders and donors across the country. Their commitments to coastal conservation didn’t stop when the checks were written, however. Rather, Wendy encouraged the development of different task forces that would provide critically important expertise to the staff and board of the Land Trust as they worked to create a national model for land conservation and nature-centered recreation and education.
On a borrowed bicycle, she peddled across the island, recruiting people like Mimi Rogers, Curator at the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, who agreed to head up the History Task Force. As a result of engaging people like Mimi, and other history and archaeology experts, Cannon’s Point Preserve is a “no-take” area, meaning that there is no collecting or disturbing of natural and historic features. Today, because of such leadership and foresight, the Preserve has become known as a world-class complex of archeological sites that is of tremendous regional importance and that draws scientists from across the nation.
Led by its Education Task Force, the Preserve has also become a platform for education and research. Input from and partnerships with local colleges and universities have resulted in the Preserve being utilized as a free educational resource for school groups across the state.
The Conservation Task Force, along with numerous other stakeholders and Task Force members, worked with staff and board to create the Preserve’s Ecological Management Plan. This living document provides guidance and processes for long-term management, research, public access, educational outreach, and the encouragement of and integration of citizen science throughout the Preserve.
In addition, Cannon’s Point Preserve contains habitat important to native and migratory species of birds that pass along the Atlantic Flyway twice annually. The rare climbing buckthorn and Florida privet, as well as the painted bunting (listed as a neotropical species of concern), are found at the Preserve; and its surrounding salt marsh, tidal creeks and rivers reduce the impact of storm surge on adjacent uplands, minimize erosion and subsidence, and provide essential habitat for fisheries as well as threatened, endangered and protected species.
“Cannon’s Point is rich in natural and cultural resources,” says Land Trust board and Stewardship Committee member Scott Coleman. “But perhaps even more important than protecting these resources is the access that SSLT has provided to this site and these resources over the past decade. In addition to opening this slice of coastal wilderness to the public three days a week, the Preserve has proved to be an incredible educational asset for students ranging from 1st grade to graduate school.”
One of the most remarkable things about Cannon’s Point Preserve is how many of the people who were initially involved in the fundraising, purchasing, and planning for a model wilderness preserve are still dedicated to and engaged in the work today. That includes Paulson, Shipman, Coleman, and most of the original Task Force members. As Scott has said, it’s extraordinary to find a conservation project where so many stakeholders have come together to preserve a property with so many uses and provides such a wide range of experiences to the public.
Many of those stakeholders will gather October 22-23 when the Land Trust marks the 10th Anniversary the Cannon’s Point purchase. It will be a weekend filled with activities for visitors of all ages, from plant and pollinator walks to bird walks to snake presentations to discussions with professors and students who have been involved in ongoing research over the years. There will also be tours to the north-end ruins led by experts from the Georgia Forestry Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and SSLT staff.
Bring a picnic and blanket and join us for lunch on the 22nd or 23rd under the 300-400-year-old trees that Wendy Paulson named the “Live Oak Rotunda.” In her words, “Cannon’s Point is an enduring gift from this community to future generations: the rare opportunity to experience Georgia primeval.” That’s better than anything you’ll find on that island in New York, and it won’t cost you a dime.
For additional information about the St. Simons Land Trust, please call 912.638.9109, drop by our offices at 1810 Frederica Rd., or visit sslt.org.
