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But escalating real estate development now threatens to disturb this age-old nesting ritual. The largest landowner in the region, the St. Joe Company, wants to transform vast tracts of land into a maze of housing developments, shopping centers, golf courses and parking lots. If these massive construction projects are allowed to move forward, the Emerald Coast's miles of coastlines, longleaf pine forests, cypress swamps and wetlands, which provide habitat for red-cockaded woodpeckers, Gulf sturgeon, Florida black bears and other imperiled wildlife, may be overwhelmed by pollution, roads and traffic. Along the shoreline, the glare of countless artificial lights will disorient loggerhead hatchlings, drawing them dangerously close to roads and other perils as they search for the ocean's edge.

The leading edge of the St. Joe Company's development plan is a proposed $312 million airport, despite the existence of an underused airport nearby that is more than adequate to meet projected air travel demand for the region. Funded mostly by taxpayer dollars, this project would threaten the health of important wildlife habitat and one of the most diverse bay systems in the country.

Tell officials not to approve construction of a new airport in this sensitive wetlands area.