In a dredge-and-fill permit application submitted to the Suwanee River Water Management District, developers touting the proposed Magnolia Bay Marina said that they will meet a public need by creating a public launch facility. They say the launch will decrease wait times and increase parking during the popular scallop season in the Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve. But local anglers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) suspect that the project, would destroy the resources in demand by boaters. As proposed, the marina project would destroy 105 acres of coastal wetlands and 36 acres of mature seagrass flats.

“This project is heinous,” said Capt. Joey Landreneau. “For heaven’s sake, this is an aquatic preserve.”

DEP apparently shares the concerns of local anglers like Landreneau. The agency began a lengthy comment letter on the permit application by citing Florida statute 258.36., which states, “It is the intent of the Legislature that the state-owned submerged lands in areas which have exceptional biological, aesthetic, and scientific value, as hereinafter described, be set aside forever as aquatic preserves or sanctuaries for the benefit of future generations.”

DEP informed developers that “Based on the applicant’s proposal to remove more than 105 acres of coastal wetlands and nearly 36 acres of mature seagrass community, the aquatic preserve does not see this activity as being in accordance with the statute’s call for the benefit of future generations.” The comment letter went on point out that the proposed dredging projects hardly qualified as “minimal.” And DEP points out that, “This is Class III shellfish water,” and “an area that has traditionally had a stable population of bay scallops available for recreational harvest. The applicant does not address potential impacts to this species.”

All told, the DEP comment letter cites more than two dozen concerns or suggestions, and ultimately the comment letter declares the permit application “incomplete.”

“I just hope that the agencies will remain firm in the face of political pressure,” said Landreneau.