Bird Key: Environmental advocates heartbroken over sale of Florida seabird preserve [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Environmental advocates heartbroken over sale of Florida seabird preserve

Bird Key, a nesting sanctuary bought for a song in mid-1980s, is for sale for $31.5m as ‘a golden opportunity for a developer’

Richard Luscombe in Miami
Mon 20 May 2024 12.00 BST
Last modified on Mon 20 May 2024 12.19 BST

Environmental advocates in Florida say they are heartbroken that a wealthy investor who once intended to save a historic private island as a seabird preserve now wants to sell it for development into “Miami’s most exclusive address”.

Bird Key, one of only two natural islands in upper Biscayne Bay, was named by British surveyors in 1770 during the reign of George III for its abundant wildlife, and has served as an unspoiled nesting sanctuary since then to scores of species of native birds, including egrets, cormorants, herons and pelicans.

Now, owner Finlay Matheson, who bought the four-acre island with a partner for $36,000 in the mid-1980s, has offered it for sale for $31.5m as “a golden opportunity for a developer”.

Matheson said he felt it was “about time” to sell Bird Key, and that he was “not concerned at all” about what happens to it, according to the Miami New Times, which first reported the listing.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/20/florida-bird-island-sanctuary-