Floyd Barnes
From the family collection
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Floyd Barnes |
Floyd Barnes was born on July 26, 1929 and has spent his entire life earning a living as a commercial fisherman on Pine Island. Floyd Barnes is better known among his friends and family as "Tootsie" Barnes because he used to play the trumpet while he was in the military. Tootsie Barnes joined the Estero Bay Conservation Movement in his late twenties and early thirties while working along side with Ken Woodburn, who was the head of the movement. They first worked together trying to prevent the construction of the Sanibel Causeway. Ken Woodburn explained to the county commission that if they built the causeway, it would destroy the scallop industry there in Sanibel. Within two years after the bridge was built, the scallop industry was completely gone.
Tootsie Barnes' job for the conservation movement was to act like a watch dog for illegal developments planning to be constructed in the Estero Bay area. If any activity was ever spotted, Tootsie Barnes would inform Ken Woodburn and Ken Woodburn would notify the proper authorities. Tootsie Barnes became seriously involved with the Estero Bay Conservation Movement, when a developer by the name of Robert Troutman started to buy up sovereign land in the Estero Bay area. According to Tootsie, this stirred up a lot of trouble because the sovereign land in Estero Bay was not eligible to be purchased. He also alluded to the fact that the amount of money and dirty politics involved on this particular movement was enormous. He also explained how Ken Woodburn's phone was tapped, how people in the movement were followed, and how they were unable to get anything printed in the press because Troutman was able to monetarily influence a lot of people.
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