drunks spoil shell key
“It’s really hard to put the genie back in the bottle, and that’s what we’re doing here.”
So said Pinellas County Commission Chairman Ronnie Duncan after the commission banned Bowser and Budweiser from Shell Key and its environs on Tuesday.
Of course in this case the genie looks more like David Hasselhoff than Barbara Eden.
The move took some spine since it will surely raise the hackles of some of the boaters who visit the key just north of Fort DeSoto. One of Shell Key’s major attractions, of course, is that, as a wildlife preserve, it is uninhabited by humans so humans want to flock there in great numbers like the birds the preserve tries to protect.
Yahoos ruined the idyllic harborage for the responsible folks.
It wasn’t just a matter of a few people having a couple of beers while the kids played in the water and the dog snoozed on the beach.
The party atmosphere at Shell Key, particularly on weekends, is all too often like a frat orgy that oozed out of the fraternity house into the streets, mucking up a pastoral neighborhood. Drunks do what drunks do: scream obscenities, pee off the side of the boat. They puke, too. They also throw bathing suits, used condoms, used feminine hygiene products, dirty diapers, fast-food wrappers, bottles, cans, cigarette butts and other detria over the side and onto the island.
And all this in a public place frequented by others who prefer a more sedate good time.
As for the dogs, when they run free they upset the birds who nest on Shell Key.
At least the dogs can’t be blamed for doing what dogs do.
What about the people?
It’s amazing how many supposedly sane human beings behave as if they were born in a barn.
Tags: beaches, county, environment, health, pinellas
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October 5th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
You forgot the naked drunken Jet Ski races.
Somewhere, Silas Dent is standing in his pole boat with a tear running down his cheek.
If you really want to see what a wildlife sanctuary is capable of alongside human interraction, check out the north point of Egmont Key.
Took the pontoon shuttle over from Fort DeSoto. The amount of bait in the water and the numbers of birds nesting on shore was breathtaking.
I’ve been going to Egmont for 35 years. I’ve never seen it that plentiful with nature before. Of course, it helped that they had a guy on a golf cart patrolling the dunes. But hey, whatever it takes.
Shell Key has never really had that. It’s always been a drunk hatchery. Still, Shell has more vegitation now than it ever has. And the water on the south side is pretty damn shallow. Maybe those conditions will chase the yahoos away eventually.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:41 am
I think Silas Dent would shed more than a few tears. He would be sad to see how the so called Environmentalist “trash talk” his home. I can only imagine how they would describe it when he lived there. Poor Silas would have probably died a lot younger if alcohol would have been banned when he lived there. He would have fought back if Politicians would have outlawed his animals. Hopefully, the recreational user will fight back too.
I find it interesting that the birds on Egmont are doing so well (as they are doing in a lot of places). When you listen to the Environmentalist’s passionate pleas regarding the Shell Key Preserve, you would think that the Shell Key Preserve is the ONLY place left where a bird can nest and rest. The reality is that the State of Florida has 1,200 miles of Coastline (500 Beach & 700 mangroves). Not a single mile is off limits to birds. The same can’t be said for recreational users.
I find it interesting that the South end of Shell Key is growing while the other areas are remaining about the same size or are shrinking. Could it be that the Australian pines are to blame and must be removed at the cost of hundreds of thousands of Taxpayers hard earned money? Couldn’t that money be better spent elsewhere?
I find it interesting how people that rarely visit a place become experts by reading articles in the newspaper. They read an article and then they regurgitate it back like it is a proven fact. If you even visited the Shell Key Preserve six times a year in all seasons, you would realize how ridiculous your statements are.
The reality is that people where going to the Shell Key Preserve area years before any birds showed up. In reality, if the birds are so threatened by man and dogs, why did they come? Why do they stay? They have choices.
The saddest part for me is that the Environmentalist involved with the Shell Key Preserve are “trash talkers”, aren’t interesting in working with anyone that disagrees with them, and clearly state they aren’t going to compromise. I believe that many an animal has been driven to extinction by having just this kind of attitude.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Dear Ms. Hill,
What an incredible condemnation:
“…..is all too often like a frat orgy that oozed out of the fraternity house into the streets, mucking up a pastoral neighborhood. Drunks do what drunks do: scream obscenities, pee off the side of the boat. They puke, too. They also throw bathing suits, used condoms, used feminine hygiene products, dirty diapers, fast-food wrappers, bottles, cans, cigarette butts and other detria over the side and onto the island.”
Condoms, used feminine hygeine products, dirty diapers? Have you witnessed this yourself or are you relying ont the Environmental Extremist of the stripe that in a public hearing compared boaters as the moral equivalent of the 9/11 terrorists?
Your posting is disgusting. Our members, who combined have hundreds of years of exposure to Shell Key, have never seen what you are reporting and therefore we demand that you provide proof. Back up what you are reporting. I believe you work for the Tampa Tribune, so as a reporter, back it up.
Put up or shut up Ms. Hill. I will be contacting you at your office, on behalf of the RBOF (Recreational Boaters of Florida) to obtain that proof and desimenate it to our membership.
Dick Granger
President
Recreational Boaters of Florida
October 8th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Re: Kappy–
“The reality is that people where going to the Shell Key Preserve area years before any birds showed up.”
Huh??? Birds have been using Shell Key since before Europeans
arrived in the New World.
“Not a single mile is off limits to birds. The same can’t be said for recreational users.”
This is because birds don’t engage in nude jet ski races. Nor do they “get drunk and pee off the side of the boat, throw bathing suits, used condoms, used feminine hygiene products, dirty diapers, fast-food wrappers, bottles, cans, cigarette butts and other detria over the side and onto the island.” If birds violated the rights of others in this way did, they’d probably be banned from the key as well.
Re: “Richard”–
What is disgusting, Mr. Granger, is that you so adamently deny that there is a problem on Shell Key. I demand to see “your scientifc data” that concludes that irresponsible rubes visiting the key weekend after weekend acting like idiots has no measurable effect on the key’s natural flora and fauna.
I suggest that you, Mr. Granger, are the one who is in the position of “put up or shut up”.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Shell Key - Preserve or Cesspool?
http://www.itsyourtimes.com/?q=node/2674
October 8th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
“Huh??? Birds have been using Shell Key since before Europeans
arrived in the New World. ”
Uh - Shell Key only started forming in the 1940’s. Check your geography.
“This is because birds don’t engage in nude jet ski races. Nor do they “get drunk and pee off the side of the boat,…”
:-)) funny.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Mr. Granger, I must successfully conclude you have had your head buried in the sand. At the meeting you referred to you also mentioned you anchored on the opposite side of the island. I’ve been coing there for 8 years and I’ve seen everything claimed and worse. I’ve personally returned dogs to they’re owners many times. I no longer go there on the weekends because of the out of control unruly crowds. The refuse left behind like the behaviour of the recreational partying crowd are disgusting. I’ll be going to Shell Key on the weekends again as soon as the State approves the new Management Plan.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
SHP: Get with the times…that is an extremely OLD post!!! That newest post on that site is over 5 months old. Also, I would hardly take any criticism coming from somebody in Hillsboro County that hasn’t even been to Shell Key.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Dear SHP,
“Birds have been using Shell Key since before Europeans
arrived in the New World.”
Really….of course you realize that prior to about 1973, Shell Key didn’t exist (only a couple small mangrove islands….no beach). Check out the old photos on http://www.ShellKey.org. I guess you missed that part.
Have you personally seen first hand all the disgusting stuff that you quote as fact?
I have been going out to the Shell Key Preserve for over 10 years and that isn’t the way it is….end of story. Just cause you read it is in the Newspaper or saw it on a blog doesn’t make it fact. Go spend some time at the Preserve, you might learn something.
I think it is disgusting that some people would create staged photos and then blame it on someone else (”preserve or cesspool”). It really goes to their lack of character. Only the uneducated and inexperienced are fooled.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
So you’re suggesting I’m seeing things? That what I witnessed with my own eyes just didn’t happen? I think you’re the one living in a fantasy world where everything was pefect at Shell Key Preserve. Volunteers at Shell Key Preserve yesterday picked up well in excess of 100 pounds of garbage, including all the disgusting trash mentioned in previous posts. The recreational partying crowd has turned a blind eye to the trash and loose dogs on Shell Key Preserve. In that way they can claim they never see any of these indescretions happening out there. Well, you’re irresponsible behaviour has lead to you losing to of your partying props, alcohol and dogs. It’s over, get over it.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
The real shame about this outcome is that it has pitted environmentalists against recreational users and vice verse. Most of us recreational boaters agree with wildlife preservation. We should be banding together against runaway development - instead of fighting among ourselves. Fundamentalist-style thinking does not serve the cause of wildlife preservation any better than it serves religion or politics. With a little more compromise, we might have found ourselves on the same side. I guess that’s not human nature. For my part, I’ll keep trying to find common ground.
Jack
October 8th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
This is not “them” vs. “us”. There is a lot more to it than that. I do not believe that all people are disrespectful of nature that visit Shell Key, including boaters, campers, people who own dogs and people that enjoy having a beer. There are disrespectful people in all walks of life…even in the city for that matter. I can honestly say that I have volunteered many hours out at Shell Key and have picked up trash, but I have also witnessed other people that pick up their own trash. There is a lot of trash that does wash in from off-shore. Also, there are also things that are beyond our control with the nesting failures, such as mother nature…. I’m sad that more couldn’t have been done to stop the building of the condo project on the island right next to Shell Key, because this would have given more room for nesting of shorebirds. I am also saddened that a better system wasn’t put in place years ago that could have prevented such a “blaming game”. There is a plan that has worked in California….and they didn’t use twine….they used a type of fence and dogs are allowed on their beach. The birds numbers have dramatically increased and people even talk about the birds running around their feet as they walk by on the beaches there…it’s amazing! We failed…we didn’t do our research…we blamed others for our failures and for the impact of mother nature. It is a shame!
October 8th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I have to question your credibility here, too.
I’ve hung out at Shell Key plenty of times and I have to admit what I’ve objected to more than anything is that boaters get as shit-faced as they do before operating their vehicles and that people do seem to think that stripping down in front of others is appropriate as opposed to trashy.
As for feminine hygeine products and used condoms, I’m calling bullshit. I haven’t even really seen too much of a problem with littering. I bet there is a ton of garbage over there - food, food wrappers, rope and other left-behind boat equipment. I just know that I’ve never seen a problem with bottles, cans, prophylactics or diapers.
Frankly, I agree that it should closed off to booze, but I think you’re exaggerating, too, which is bit hard to take.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Only people that go there on a regular basis to party or to clean would really know about the content of trash. Going there once or twice does not make anyone an expert. I own a boat, we don’t drink while we are out on the water and we bring trash bags with us to take our trash back to the dock. It is that simple.
October 9th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
“Fundamentalist-style thinking does not serve the cause of wildlife preservation any better than it serves religion or politics.”
This is exactly right. Intolerance has many faces. This is the same mentality that caused us to invade Iraq and destroy tens of thousands of lives - because a few criminals from an entirely different country assaulted us. The scale is different - but the mentality is the same. Punish the many - for the transgressions of a few.
Fear leads to intolerance. intolerance leads to hate. hate leads to suffering.
Whether it’s religious fundamentalists, noecons or environmental extremism. The mentality is the same. It IS a sad fact of all human nature.
HB
October 9th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
HB, Sorry but you’re attempt to label the fine citizens, many of them volunteers, who supported the Management Plan changes as extremest’s just doesn’t hold any water. I’ve never seen any of the supposed boaters who attended the stakeholder’s meetings or BOCC workshop doing any volunteer work at many of the efforts at which I and many of the plan’s supporters, have volunteered. Indeed the recreational partying crowd failed miserably to police there own miscreants which lead to the Mangement Plan changes. For seven years you all stood by and watched the abuses and did nothing, and now you have the audacity to complain? As the ols saying goes, you reap what you sow.
October 9th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Where were the volunteers from 1958 to 1995 when we picked up the trash from the now bird preserve area. Oh sure volunteers showed up twice a year. We were doing it every Sunday morning. When voluteers showed up we just thought it was our two weeks off a year and laughed about it. For Someone that picked up garbage for 40 years it was never “that bad” and please recognise that most garbage floats in from off shore and the ICW. For those of you who say you were there you would know me by name or sight. If there were orgies and constant bad behavior I missed it. By the Sherrifs dept own statistics and lack of almost any felonies, SK is and was the statisically the safest place in the county to take your familly. I have personally been involved in more than 20 bird rescues.
What have you done?
The Mayor
October 9th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
“I’ve never seen any of the supposed boaters who attended the stakeholder’s meetings or BOCC workshop doing any volunteer work at many of the efforts at which I and many of the plan’s supporters, have volunteered.”
So, since we’re not in your club, our cleanup efforts don’t count? Ridiculous! We clean up every time we go out. And we go all the time. when’s the last time you went out?
” Indeed the recreational partying crowd failed miserably to police there own miscreants which lead to the Mangement Plan changes. For seven years you all stood by and watched the abuses and did nothing, and now you have the audacity to complain? As the ols saying goes, you reap what you sow.”
Their own miscreants?!? The idea that I am responsible for the occasional misbehaving idiot proves the fact that you DO see this as an us vs. them issue. So now it’s MY job to arrest people who violate the rules?!? While the police ignore the problem?
And gee - i wonder why the problem was ignored. So you could declare everything a failure and eventually ban everyone. Just like the right-wingers who defund a social program so they can call it a failure.
You are proving my point with your generalizations, intolerance and your effort to lump everyone into the same group. We are no more responsible for the occasional drunk than you are.
Just like I said… You are exactly like those who would blame all arabs for the acts of 20 hijackers. It’s just easier for you to believe that we are all one group so you don’t have to deal with your own fear…and it’s easier for you to wage war against the good people of Pinellas County rather than enforce the existing rules.
pathetic.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Yea - I have to agree that it’s inherently unfair to lump all recreational users of shell key into one lot. But we also need to be careful not to do the same to environmentalists. I was speaking to the preservation chair of the local Audubon society about the aparent conflict between the minimal trash that we see on our frequent island trips - and the incredible stories some people tell about mountains of trash they pick up.
We both thought that it was possibly due to a difference in traffic between the north and south end. My family and I use the south end almost exclusively. The vast majority of the trash we find is either flotsam from passing boats - or very tiny items like bottlecaps that people missed when they left. I’ve mentioned at the meetings that, at the end of Memorial day weekend, we scoured the entire south public use area - and filled only a small corner of a garbage bag. I’ve been camping on shell island since the 1980 and this has almost always been my experience.
I don’t know if it’s significantly different on the north end. I suspect it’s not as bad a few people say. Maybe there is a difference between the north and south ends. But that doesn’t mean the north end should be further restricted. It’s our responsibility to find creative solutions to bring the public into an acceptable level of compliance. Our sign idea (at http://www.shellkey.org) is just one example of how we can make people part of the solution - rather than banning them.
Jack
October 9th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
This comment was deleted by the editor - Please don’t use this forum for grammar lessons….
tommy
October 9th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Teacher, Thanks for the grammatical corrections. I don’t have spell check here which I use frequently otherwise. Unfortunately your corrections to my butchering of the written English Language have little or nothing to do with the situation at Shell Key Preserve. But, I guess since there is no sane, rational argument to the recently approved Management Plan a personal attack was all you could muster. Once again another prime example of the brainpower of the boating lobby at work for our interests. I’m glad you Bozo’s don’t represent the interest’s of the Boater’s of Tampa Bay or my friends.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Teacher - please stay on topic.
Pinellas Volunteer/fla4daboids - please use a single screenname.
To all - I’m happy to see so many people care about this topic. Hopefully we can find some common goals, and work toward them.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
You are welcome fla4daboids and Pinellas Volunteer. Yes, you are correct that your poor writing habits do not have anything to do with Shell Key Preserve. I was only trying to point out that people should not be judging others that make mistakes themselves. The recreational boaters are not to blame for everything that goes wrong at Shell Key. Placing people in categories and labeling them with the same brand is wrong and demeaning. There is an organization that has formed precisely for this reason. We are tired of being blamed for things that we personally don’t do. We are Responsible and do our part at Shell Key or any other boating destination for that matter. We respect wildlife and enjoy nature. We clean up after ourselves and others and don’t ask for public recognition. We don’t beg for County Commissioner’s to see the hours that we have worked out there every single weekend of the Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall. Why? Pride. Shell Key is like our second home. We wouldn’t leave a bottle, plastic bag, defecation from our dog without picking it up. Why? Because we don’t want to see it out there the next day or the next weekend that we visit. It is like leaving a dirty glass on your coffee table in your own livingroom. You pick it up when you are through with it. So, to label us as “the recreational partying crowd” is wrong. I am not really much of a partier out at Shell Key anyway and neither are most of my friends. I do enjoy having a drink if I choose and my husband and I do bring our dog out there. He swims and lays on his raft or he is mostly in our lap out in the water while I am in a chair. He does like to run on the Bunces Pass side of the beach when we anchor over there. He fetches a ball and jumps at the waves. Like I mentioned earlier, if he has to go to the bathroom, we have a “waste disposal bag holder” attached to his leash. We use this on his walks to the park and around the block too. We are Responsible, but I really don’t feel the need to keep defending myself or others. It is just annoying to see the ignorance of people that stereotype others for what a few have done. I just don’t get it…never have and never will. I have done a lot of research and there is a lot that “we” as PEOPLE…meaning EVERYBODY hasn’t done. I am not a scientist, just an animal lover. There are other methods that have worked at other beaches and the Environmentalists, Audubon Society and Recreational Boaters all seem to be happy and at peace. Guess what else? Their bird numbers are increasing tremendously!!! Food for thought….
October 9th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Teacher, I was never trying to be adverserial but was attacked from the get go. I am a boater and appreciate the opportunities that Pinellas has to offer. I have been and will continue to go to Shell Key. However, it is my sincere hope that in the future I will feel free to go there on the weekends, which in the past has not been the case since 2001. In spite of what you say, the violators are there and their damage has effected the ability of the rest of us to enjoy Shell Key Preserve. On the first 5 times I visited the Preserve, I captured a dog 4 times after it ran through the bird nesting area during the prohibited season. 80% violation is a bad precedent and I wasn’t there the other weekend day. Peer pressure works…if the responsible partygoers had told the miscreants their actions were threatening the access to the Preserve for everyone, then the problem could have been averted but from what I saw, nobody cared, or they were too drunk to advise their own friends on their despicable actions. I constantly and consistently advised people to control their dogs and respect the Island but nobody I spoke to seemed to care.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Greetings boaters,
We are seeing much activity on this listserve as people realize that the Pinellas Board of County Commission was really serious when they, in concert with the extremist environmentalist lobby, set about trampling on the recreational boater’s rights last year. Boaters and their supporting industries (fuel, marinas, manufacturers, repair shops, etc.) outnumber the environmentalist extremists by 1,000 to 1 in Pinellas County, which is the largest boating county in the largest boating state in the nation.
The environmentalist extremists, however, are very well organized and very well funded. They have people on the payroll whose job it is to accomplish what they have accomplished with Shell Key. Accordingly, they have elected officials scared spitless of taking any action not in concert with their missions since they see that very organization as one that could threaten their election. Good of the County and community be damned, election comes ahead of all things correct and noble. We experienced this first hand last fall with our meetings with the BOCC members, to be told one thing, and then to see them vote otherwise.
A few of us recognized then, that the only way to beat the organized extremists, is to organize ourselves. Thus the founding of Recreational Boaters of Florida. We did massive research and are comfortable that the County’s and State’s action will not withstand legal scrutiny or challenge. We worked in concert with the Recreational Boaters of California, who have had great success deflecting and defeating onerous anti-boater regulations, so much so, that they are guaranteed a seat at the table on any issue effecting recreational boaters. The difference here was that we have been unable to garner such support from the boating community and industries as they have enjoyed.
Court challenges can still overturn this hideous overreach by the BOCC and the environmental extremists. They could take a multi-prong attack and have already been discussed with counsel.
First, suits could be filed against the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioner for approving a fundamentally flawed Plan that was created by a completely environmentalist biased governmental structure that excluded participation from the Pinellas County community at large. they knew it was flawed because we explained it to them and showed them the flaws, and they did it anyway.
Next, suits could be filed against certain members of that government structure, personally, that participated in this flawed plan by testifying before the BOCC with knowingly false information
Next, suits could be filed against the State of Florida for allowing many provisions of the Shell Key lease to be violated by the recently enacted Shell Key Plan.
Next, suits could be filed against the environmentalist organizations that testified with knowingly false information before the Pinellas BOCC. (All available on CD from the County)
All of this takes money. As I said in my last email, the extremists who are laughing at you have the money, the people and the time. We have an attorney who is a boater, dog lover and might like a beer who will do the heavy lifting. But, he has to cover the cost of research to be ready to file the suits. That number is $3,000.
Additionally, there has been talk on this board about petitioning for a ballot initiative to overturn this. All of us in our little RBOF group think that would be great. However, we did our research on this last fall and the requirement is that you have to have at least 10% of registered voter sign the petition and the petition has very strict structure and information requirements. As of today, that required number would be 61,419 petition signatories. Accordingly, most initiatives are placed on the ballot by hiring firms that do nothing but gather petitions signatories and seeing to it that the petitioners information meet the legal requirements so as not to have the petitions thrown out. This too takes money. The environmental extremists lobby would fight tooth and nail to invalidate any initiative effort.
Let’s put things in perspective: this is only lost if the boating community lets it be lost by taking a “let someone else handle it” mentality. If every boater who wrote to me last fall saying “count me in” and “sign me up” and “just let me know what you need me to do” who now see that we never had a chance and never had a vote, were to do one thing, we would be flush with cash to fight for the reversal of this grossly unfair Plan. That one thing is to invest in their own recreational boating rights. Take one weekend that you planned on boating, figure our how much gas, etc., would cost you for that weekend, and then DON’T BOAT THAT WEEKEND. Instead send RBOF that money and then by God, let the games begin.
That is our view from our little section of the peanut gallery.
Happy boating,
Dick Granger
President
Recreational Boaters of Florida, Inc.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
This has become laughable! The poor maligned boaters who were railroaded by corrupt County Goverment and Environmental Extremist’s. I’m all for Dick Granger’s plan as it will keep many of you off the water for at least 1 weekend. Could you all do it on 1 weekend and let me know which one so I can enjoy some peace and solitude at Shell Key? I feel for the people who lost their ability to drink on the Island and let their dogs terrorize the birds and beachgoers, but you’re dreaming if you think a legal challenge will be successful. You see, the County had to come up with a stronger Management Plan as they were in violation of their lease agreement with the State of Florida because of the lax policies that allowed the natural resources of the Island to become compromised.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I am a kayaker who has enjoyed both ends of Shell Key for many years. I have to admit, I have always enjoyed the quiet and solitude of the south end over the north. I also have to admit I haven’t seen a lot of the stuff that people say is going on at the north end. That said, Mr Grainger, if you boaters outnumber the “environmetal extremists” 1000 to 1, it shouldn’t be that hard to get money and a ballot initiative. I for one, being a boater, wouldn’t sign it though. I don’t see how the new rules prevent you from going to shell key and enjoying it.
October 8th, 2008 at 8:35 am
My wife and I used to spend weekends anchored within the Shell Key preserve and I agree with the problems Ms. Linda Hill describes. What I can’t agree with is with the solution to the problems. All those activities described by her, are illegal and there are laws that will allow officers to fine or arrest the persons violating the law. The solution to the problem bans decent law abiding citizens from the preserve because of the Pinellas’s County inability to enforce existing laws.
As an example, if there are too many people speeding and driving while intoxicated on I 275, is the county going to close or restrict the Interstate or is the County going to enforce the existing laws?