When John Naumann decided to build a golf course on Sanibel Island, Florida, he knew he would face an uphill battle. He carefully routed his holes on the bay side of the island, avoiding a gopher-tortoise site. All kinds of agencies descended to prohibit construction during the winter breeding. Bulldozers worked double shifts to try to get some fairways completed before breeding. The city of Sanibel assigned a full-time nature policeman to spend his days on the construction site watching every move.
Some developers see such handovers as nothing short of extortion.
One developer decided to check a hunch. He set up a sting operation for environmental groups protesting his plans to build a course in Purchase, New York. The enviros went away. 3 Religious Freedom Religion plays a growing role in the environmental movement as more and more church leaders preach about the benefits of recycling or the need to boycott industry. I don't want to be nasty or preachy, but neither am I willing to stand silently by and say nothing to merchants who use Styrofoam packaging or local manufacturing firms that burn toxic wastes in their incinerators.