Sea Turtles Go Wild

Eleven sea turtles are back in the wild after being released at the beach on Jekyll Island by the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. The Sea Turtle Center let the turtles go back to the ocean Wednesday after they recovered successfully from sickness and injuries. Nine of the turtles came from the New England Aquarium in Boston. They were sent to Georgia for release because of the warmer waters off the southern Atlantic coast.

(Associated Press)

Jekyll Island Hopes for Bigger Crowd at Easter Festival

Jekyll Island is combining events into a single festival this spring in an effort to generate a bigger crowd and more money.
The Jekyll Island Easter festival will be replaced by a festival April 18 that combines it with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center's Shell-a-bration.
Organizers hope to increase overnight motel stays, reduce the strain on event resources and draw one large crowd instead of two smaller ones.

(AP)

Loggerheads rescued from 'cold stunning'

Two loggerhead turtles and one green sea turtle stranded along North Carolina's coast have been taken to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island for treatment and rehabilitation.

Dr. Terry Norton, director of the center, said Friday about 30 green turtles and a number of loggerheads washed up on the shoreline over a 3-day period. He said it happened after a cold weather snap caused them to become sluggish and immobile.

Norton said they were victims of a "cold stunning" event. He said the center is trying to get the body temperature up by three to four degrees a day.

Norton said the three will stay at the center through the winter.

Information from: The Brunswick News, http://www.thebrunswicknews.com

(AP)

Jekyll opens bird watching tower

A new bird-watching tower on Jekyll Island is giving nature lovers a better view. The tower stands 25 feet tall, allowing bird watchers to look out over the treetops and surrounding marsh. The Jekyll Island Authority built the tower over the past three months. It opened to the public Monday. Jekyll Island officials hope the bird-watching tower will become a major attraction for naturalists visiting the state park.

Rockefeller getaway gets facelift

Restoration work is under way on oil tycoon William Rockefeller's Jekyll Island winter getaway. Indian Mound is the most famous of the historic Jekyll Island cottages. It was built in 1892, and this is the first facelift since the 1990s. The island held winter homes for some of America's wealthiest industrialists before the state of Georgia bought it in 1947.

Jekyll Island readies for festival

Visitors will get a chance to try southern dishes featuring shrimp and grits at the Wild Georgia Shrimp Festival this weekend. The festival kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday in Jekyll Island's picturesque historic district. Events will include shrimp and grits cooking competition, music, arts and crafts and antiques. The festival continues through Sunday.

Jekyll toughens rules to help turtles

Sea turtles on Jekyll Island will get some help on the beaches. The island’s Board on Monday approved an update to rules from the early 1980’s that prohibits lights shining directly on the beach. New rules state that exterior lights visible from the beach must point down and be completely shielded. They must use particular types of bulbs, be of red or amber color, and be compact fluorescent lamps under 13 watts. The rules on lights are meant to protect loggerhead turtle hatchlings from being disoriented.

Fishing hole re-vamp in the works

A popular fishing area on Jekyll Island is getting a new look. A $15,000 grant from the Fish America Foundation will go toward improving Ski Rixen Pond, a 23-acre manmade saltwater fishing site. The state Department of Natural Resources is trying to increase recreational fishing on the island.

Spike in sea turtle nests

Jekyll Island hosts not only tourists as seasonal visitors, but also sea turtles. Scientists there say more than 130 sea turtle nests are on the beach this year. Last year there were only 48. Loggerhead sea turtles hatch in late summer.

Jekyll Island resort breaks ground

Construction is underway on the first new hotel on Jekyll Island in 36 years. The resort will include a hotel, conference center, a condo-style long-term residences. It will be called Jekyll Island Club Beach Village. Jekyll Island's most modern hotel was built in 1972.

Georgia coastal attraction getting footsteps

After one year, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island has already attracted 120,000 visitors.

The center's staff veterinarian, Terry Norton, says allowing people to get up close to turtles that have been harmed by boats, fishing nets and other human contraptions has helped send a strong message to visitors.

Jekyll beach development halted

The company chosen to re-develop Jekyll island state park, Linger Longer, decided not to build condos on a public beach area. Conservation groups had opposed the idea and had tried to pass legislation to block it.

That failed, but people started a lobbying effort flooding lawmakers with calls and e-mails in protest.

Today the company said it would not longer build on the beach and legislation was not necessary. The Jeckyll island authority now plans to turn the area north of the convention center into a green space.

It is currently a parking lot. Republican Senator Jeff Chapman who tried but failed to protect the beach by law called the company's move a win for the people and credited their lobbying effort.

Cagle strikes down effort to restrict Jekyll Island development

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle struck down an attempt yesterday to restrict construction on Jekyll Island’s beach-front property.

Cagle ruled that an effort to curtail development CANNOT be tacked on to a separate bill guiding dock construction.

Jekyll Island is a state-owned barrier island required by law to remain 65 percent untouched.

The amendment would have required contractors to secure a permit before building along dune fields.

Developer Linger Longer's 352 million dollar plan includes a new town center to the park, along with some thousand hotel, condo and other units.

Bills to halt Jekyll Island redevelopment fail

This week allegations were made over redevelopment at Jekyll Island.
At a Senate committee meeting earlier this week, things got tense as Republican Senator Jeff Chapman of Brunswick traded barbs with the head of the Jekyll Island Authority.

Recently, redevelopment at the state owned park has centered around Chapman's allegations that the Jekyll Authority has purposely under reported its revenue for more than a decade.

"He published in all the media that we had hidden $11 million dollars from the public and that is an absolute untruth and the senator knew it when he said so," said Jekyll Island Authority Chair Ben Porter."

Chapman responded by saying,

"If the Chairman of the JIA has issue with and is bold enough to believe that the state department of audits records aren't accurate, well, I'll let him deal with them."

Chapman also contends the group has been negligent. First by allowing property at Jekyll to fall into disrepair. Secondly, by accepting a redevelopment proposal that radically changes the footprint of property on the island. Not true, however, says Jekyll Island spokesman Eric Garvey.

"That's a misunderstanding of the conditions of Jekyll Island. Now, most of the properties were built in the 60's. They grew old ... about the same time, because they were built about the same time. So, to accuse Jekyll Island Authority previous administrations over mismanagement, I just think is not accurate."

In addition to accusing Jekyll Island officials of under reporting revenue, Chapman says the group has under counted visitors to the site, by as much as 1.5 million visitors as far back as 1995. Chapman says he was able to track the numbers by combing through state archives of the DOT, because park visitors pay a fee.

Chapman was the main sponsor behind legislation that would have prohibited new private residential housing on any state-owned land, and would have limited the style and character of any new structures built in state park property. And, while Chapman called the defeat of the bills a blow for the average Georgian, Island officials say the opposite is true.

"Pass these three bills and I will promise you, you have killed the revitalize initiative that's underway. If you don't want to stop that, you need to stop these bills," says Porter.

Two of the three bills did not make it past the Senate Economic Development Committee. However, Chapman has vowed not to give up the fight.

The redevelopment plan for the state owned park calls for a 64 acre site with more than 1-thousand rental units, including condominiums and time shares. Total cost for the plan is 352-million dollars.

Chosen Jekyll developer wants in on suit

The developer chosen for a major revitalization of Jekyll Island wants to join a lawsuit over the project. However, developer Linger Longer wants to join as one of the parties being sued in order to protect its interests. The company joins the Jekyll Island Authority as a co-defendant in the suit. The Authority was sued earlier this month by a developer rejected for the project. The suit wants an injunction to stop Linger Longer with moving along on plans to build over one-thousand hotel rooms, condos, and time shares in a "town center" type development. The Authority maintains it was fair in the selection process.

Losing company protests Jekyll decision

One of the companies passed over in Monday's "master developer" decision on Jekyll Island is protesting how the winning developer was chosen. At stake for developers is a potential three hundred fifty million-dollar contract with the state agency that runs Jekyll Island. At stake for the public is the future of the state park. Losing developer Wade Shealy says there appears to be one set of rules for the winning company and another for everyone else. On Monday, the state board that runs the island chose the Atlanta company Linger Longer to build a complex of new hotels, condos and retail sites on 63-acres. The problem is that the Jekyll Island Authority told developers in its Request for Proposal to come up with plans for a small, 45-acre site. Jekyll Island officials won't comment on Shealy's protest until he formally submits it. Shealy says he'll do that by the end of the week.

Jekyll Island re-development vote today

Jekyll Island’s governing board today will choose a master planner that will build hundreds of new condos and hotel rooms. There are three companies that are vying for the re-development job of a 45-acre "town center" tract of land. Critics however, fear today’s vote by the Jekyll Island Authority is a step in what could make visiting the state-owned island unaffordable to the average Georgian.

Coastal hot-spot attracts new hotel

Georgia’s Jekyll Island is getting its first new hotel in 30 years. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the 400-room private hotel will go up where the Buccaneer Beach Resort now stands. Jekyll Island is one of Georgia’s biggest tourist attractions, but has struggled with dilapidating facilities.

Perdue signs many bills on last day

Many new bills were signed into law Wednesday by Governor Sonny Perdue-among them:

One to protect the southern end of Jekyll Island from over-development. It allows for some revitalization of the island, while enforcing that no more than 35-percent can be developed.

A new cable TV law says cable operators can apply for a franchise through the state, and avoid a long process of making separate deals with individual counties and cities.

A pair of measures signed by Perdue involve private cities. It would allow developers the power to charge residents fees for many types of infrastructure improvements. Critics think it will give too much power to developers. The amendment must be approved by voter majority next year.

Aquarium releases turtle to the wild

A loggerhead sea turtle named Dylan who has spent the last two years at the Georgia Aquarium is headed home. This morning aquarium veterinarians loaded the seven-year-old into the back of a van for a six-hour ride to Jekyll Island on the Georgia coast. That's where Dylan was first discovered as a hatchling straggler left behind by his nest mates. It’s where he now will be prepped for release back into the wild.