Picayune Strand State Forest | park, nature conservation park / area

USA / Florida / Lely Resort /
 park, forest, nature conservation park / area
Formerly known as "Southern Golden Gate Estates", this 85-square-mile area in rural Collier County was over-drained in the early 1960s as part of a failed housing development by "Gulf American Land Corporation" which was formed in 1957. The company dug canals to drain the wetlands and carved the property into 1.25-acre lots. It then promoted Golden Gate worldwide as a vacation and retirement community. Most of the lots were sold by 1965, but unsuspecting buyers bought overpriced land with no city nor county infrastructure to back it up.

In 1974, when the area was less than 10 percent developed, it became apparent to county officials that the project, with limestone roads and no centralized water nor sewer system, could not support the number of platted lots. The county down-zoned the property that year and required a minimum of 2.25 acres to build a house, and took over road maintenance after the developer filed for bankruptcy. Over three-fourths of Golden Gate Estates remained unoccupied.

In 1985, the state targeted 42,000 acres in the southern part for purchase under its Conservation and Recreational Lands Program. Acquisition has proceeded slowly, hampered by the administrative burden of contacting over 17,000 far-flung lot owners. Most of the roads were paved, but in rough shape; many people did not obey the stop signs, so it could be dangerous and easy to get lost. With few road signs and flat terrain, the streets are a giant grid with few distinctive elements to aid navigation. The street names/numbers were literally painted on the center of intersection.

Since the restoration project started two years ago, Florida state crews have carted away half of the 160 structures from Southern Golden Gate Estates, nearly completed the filling of a seven-mile canal, and begun removing more than 260 miles of roads. Good progress is reported on this one-of-a-kind restoration project despite no federal involvement.

www.evergladesplan.org/pm/projects/proj_30_sgge.cfm
www.floridalandscams.com/Resources.html
simplify3.wordpress.com/2007/02/21/golden-gate-estates-...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picayune_Strand_State_Forest
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   26°3'26"N   81°34'24"W

Comments

  • Only a few people from over here even know about this place. we've found it one day we were goofing around in Everglades Blvd. We followed the street till the end and decided to cross over I-75, and to our surprise, we found a conservation. Scarry place to get lost during the night, though. Most of the signs have been shot several times and have more holes than surface. It says "Panther Habitat", but it should say "Red Neck Habitat".
  • Photos courtesy of me, taken in November 2003.
  • We were cruising around in here while working a job in Naples in 2006. Man, what a cool place to goof around and look for wildlife.
This article was last modified 17 years ago