Two beloved Pinellas County nature preserves totaling nearly 5,000 acres of culturally and ecologically significant land could lose their funding in the upcoming county budget.
The proposed 2027 budget “eliminates funding” for Weedon Island Preserve and its Cultural and Natural History Center, as well as for Shell Key Preserve. If county commissioners approve the budget as proposed, both parks would lose funding on Jan 1.
That’s according to an email county parks director Paul Cozzie sent to stakeholders Aug. 7.
Both preserves carry cultural and ecological significance: Weedon Island has important Native American history because Indigenous peoples lived on the land for thousands of years, according to the county, and Shell Key is one of Florida’s most important shorebird nesting sites.
Weedon Island Preserve also is home to a key population of the Florida golden aster, a rare flower found only in Tampa Bay.
Instead of continuing to fund both preserves, Cozzie said, the parks program would prioritize maintaining and staffing county-owned properties. Both Weedon Island and Shell Key are owned by the state, property records show, but they are managed by county staffers.
Pinellas County has primarily funded the maintenance and operation of both preserves since it started leasing the land from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 1995, according to county spokesperson Dave Connor.
If the budget is approved as proposed, the 50-year lease would end, and the land would be returned to the state, Connor wrote in an email.
“The State has historically provided minimal funding to staff and maintain these properties for conservation and public use, but we are hopeful that they will fund future upkeep and improvements,” Cozzie wrote in his email Thursday.
Weedon Island, once one of the county’s “best-kept secrets,” skyrocketed in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bill Fehring, president of the nonprofit Friends of Weedon Island. Annual attendance ballooned to nearly 1 million people and has stayed that high ever since, Fehring said.
So far, Fehring said, the state has not indicated whether it would be willing to reopen or manage the preserve if it closed. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
“We’re discouraged about the proposal altogether,” Fehring said. “I worry that if this is approved by the county, Weedon Island will simply be closed and all the educational programs are all going to go away.”
In an interview, Pinellas County Commissioner Vince Nowicki said he’s “100% opposed” to cutting funds for the preserves. He noted that the proposed funding cuts originated from the county administrator and not the elected commission.
“In no meeting did a county commissioner say ‘cut this’ or ‘put it on the block,’” Nowicki said.
Elizabeth Forys, president of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society and a professor of environmental science at Eckerd College, said news of the potential cuts is “very disappointing.”
Forys said Shell Key Preserve is a stopover for migratory birds, and it has hosted nesting colonies of important species like American oystercatchers, black skimmers and least terns.
There’s few protected areas in Pinellas County, “but they are a huge draw to the public,” Forys said. “I’m worried that the state doesn’t have the means to adequately staff these resources.”
If the funding cut is approved, Cozzie said, the parks department would work to move at least seven staffers who manage both preserves into vacant parks positions or other jobs across the county.
The parks department also is proposing to end the seasonal lifeguard program at Fort De Soto and Sand Key parks.
“We do not propose these reductions lightly,” Cozzie wrote, but the cuts are necessary to decrease the budget by approximately $847,000.
Cozzie said in the email that the parks department, like other county departments, is required to cut costs “due to new state-imposed financial burdens.”
The county faces a $42 million gap after new state initiatives, he said, including increased pension funds for law enforcement officers. The funding cuts are not related to the proposed property tax amendment on the November ballot, Cozzie said.
“While I do not know how the State will choose to proceed with these properties after the required notification of termination period, I am appreciative of all the work you and your teams have done to make these unique local areas accessible to our residents and visitors,” Cozzie wrote to staff.
“We will continue to strive to conserve and maintain access to Pinellas County’s natural areas.”
County commissioners were scheduled to discuss the budget at a meeting Tuesday, records show.
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