There’s A Special Place In Hell…

For People Like This

The southern US is blessed with an ever growing population of large raptors. Here on St. Simons we have Ospreys, Red Tailed Hawks, and a number of Bald Eagles. Populations of Owls and wild Turkeys are also frequently seen wandering the large Live Oaks and Pine forests here in south Georgia.

In case you’ve never seen one, an Osprey’s and a Bald Eagle’s nest looks like a giant brush pile in the very top of a tree, often situated close to water. Bald Eagles are known to be strong enough to steal entire 2x4’s from construction sites to include in their nest structure. If you are fortunate enough to have these bigger birds in your back yard or otherwise nesting on your property—you’d have to be blind to miss the signs of their presence.

That's why I have absolutely no sympathy for this moron developer that got caught cutting a tree on his property that contained a bald eagle nest.

"A Fort Myers developer has agreed to pay $356,000 in penalties for cutting down a tree containing a protected bald eagle's nest while building houses in Collier County in 2003, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

“Stock Development was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of taking a federally protected bald eagle nest. A U.S. magistrate judge sentenced the company to one year of organizational probation and ordered a $175,000 fine.

As part of the agreement, the company also will pay a total of $181,000 in restitution to several wildlife protection agencies.

According to court documents, company officials knew the tree had an eagle's nest in it when a construction supervisor ordered it cut down in November 2003.

The birds and their nests are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.”

I’m a big advocate of property rights, but balking at saving one tree??? Give me a break here.

The irony is that most people pay extra to have things like eagle’s nests in their neighborhood or yards.

What was this idiot thinking?