Dr. William Hammond

Interviewed by

Jennifer Kuntz

 Dr. William Hammond moved to Ft. Myers in 1961 to become a science teacher at Lee Junior/Senior School and that summer he began teaching a marine science course. In the early 60s, no one had done research of the marine life or vegetation, it was "virgin territory". Dr. Hammond first became a part of the Audubon Society and quickly began talking to other conservation groups about his knowledge of marine systems. His neighbor, Bill Mellor, had him speak to the Lee County Conservation Association and he also became the first non-island board member of the Sanibel/Captiva Conservation Foundation. As Dr. Hammond described it this was the "grass roots" of the conservation movements in the Lee County area.

 During this time the "development frenzy" was on and the conservationists realized that something had to be done. Since there wasn't a planning or zoning department, it was up to them. A biological survey was done by Tom Savage who claimed Estero Bay was a "pristine" estuary and needed special protection. After this, a proposal was drafted to make Estero Bay an Aquatic Preserve and in 1966, this proposal was approved and the conservationists felt they had, for the time, helped protect this fragile marine system. Soon after this Ted Randall, a local representative, got the Dredge/Fill Act passed. This was the first regulation that said a permit was needed to dredge sea and make land out of it. It was time to get organized, so a fellow Auduboner,Brad Patton, formed the Council of Conservation, which consisted of all the conservation groups getting together once a month and discussing the issues at hand, taking a position as a council, and then reporting back to their individual societies what had happened. Still with no planning department and disputes about the boundary line, between what was private property and what was the preserve, it was not long before a developer came along and threatened the safety of Estero Bay.

The developer, Robert Troutman, had gone "behind the scenes" on the Federal and State level where officials agreed to his concept. Even though there were some leaks before the 1972 News-Press article, the majority of area residents were not aware of what was going on. Dr. Hammond had seen Troutman around for several years, so even though his presence was known, when the News-Press article came out, it seemed like a "done deal". Dr. Hammond recalls after this news that there was a lot of talk and the conservationists realized how big this was; they began to organize under Brad Patton. The different aspects were then divided up among the various conservation groups. Civic organizations were formed under Mark Gables that began to deal with the infrastructure details like a planning department would have. They did not want to stop Mr. Troutman from developing, but devise a reasonable way to use the property without hurting the area. The organizations gathered scientific data on other finger lake developments and reported the health hazards that occurred in these areas after twenty or thirty years.

The issues that brought this case to court dealt with title ownership and property rights. Mr. Troutman believed the land should be utilized for the highest and best use, but as Dr. Hammond understands this, it is as long as it is "not in conflict with the health, welfare, and safety of general public." As the court case approached, a decision was made to have a large rally that would focus on the environment, so they had important speakers come and so many people came that it was "standing room only" in the Edison Community College gymnasium. Ft. Myers was forming a Regional Planning Council and wanted Mr. Roland Eastwood to head the council. Dr. Hammond recalls that he was so impressed with the turn out at that rally that he agreed to take the job, knowing this was going to be a difficult beginning. The Regional Planning Council was the ingredient Dr. Hammond believes stopped the development; they hired a professional staff and had the money to hire good attorneys, along with the help of the University of Florida they were able to get the best to rival Troutman's best. During the court case documents appeared that didn't exist or that Troutman had changed for his benefit, but by "design" Bill Mellor had gotten some of the real documents. Dr. Hammond believes that although the Regional Planning Council won the case it was more of a compromise because Mr. Troutman was granted additional rights.

The most important thing that Dr. Hammond stressed was the importance of looking at both sides of the issue and hearing what Mr. Troutman had to say, even though he is a conservationist at heart. Dr. Hammond believes that, "You never save something like that, you protect it."