Army Corps of Engineers stops shoreline clearing at Seven Islands
Mangroves inadvertently removed, Forest Development had permits for invasive species removal
Photo of the work performed along the shoreline n the Seven Islands property along the North Spreader in Cape Coral. Courtesy of David Scott
The city of Cape Coral confirmed Monday morning that work being done regarding the Seven Island project was put to a halt by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The stoppage of work is regarding clearing conducted along the shoreline of the Forest Development project on the Seven Islands property along the North Spreader in Cape Coral.
City communications officials confirmed in an email Monday that they did hear from the developer that the Army Corps put a stop to the work.
The Breeze was first alerted to an issue with clearing along the shoreline of protected red mangroves by Cape resident and professional geologist, David Scott.
Scott said last Thursday he noticed some equipment in the water in the area, and that on Friday he witnessed the clearing of vegetation along the bank.
“They had ripped out an indisputable over 570 feet of existing red mangrove along the bank,” Scott said, adding photographic proof of the work being done.
Scott, who is quite familiar with mangroves having studied them for 30 years, and is responsible for tens of thousands of plantings of the species in the area, said he contacted the Army Corps of Engineers to make them aware of what was happening. Scott is also familiar with the project, dating back to concerns he had about the seawall installation when plans were drawn up in 2024.
Scott said he spoke with an ACOE supervisor about the “clearing of brush.”
“Well, the brush is entirely red mangrove,” he said. “They’re disturbed past the shoreline and water level, and there was no turbidity curtain. Even if it was to remove exotic vegetation, they weren’t doing that properly.
“It needs to be fixed. It needs to be mitigated, and it needs to be mitigated on-site.”
Scott added that due to the history of Cape Coral and it’s man-made canals and the dredging that was performed in the city’s infancy, natural forests along the banks of canals perform a vital environmental function, he said.
“I’m not pointing fingers, people just didn’t understand back then the importance of that forest,” he said. “And I’m a realist, I know there’s going to be many thousands of people living on the Seven Island in the future. It’ll be a very large development there. But at the same time, we have laws that govern how you develop things.”
In an email to The Breeze on Monday, a spokesperson for the developers provided the following statement: “Gulf Gateway Resort & Marina LLC was deeply concerned to learn that mangroves were mistakenly removed from the Seven Islands property. The vegetation work that was underway on the property by the contractor was intended to be strictly limited to the removal of non-native invasive species, including Australian Pine and Brazilian Pepper. The necessary permits for that work were obtained by the contractor from the City of Cape Coral prior to commencement. Gulf Gateway Resort & Marina LLC is communicating with the various local and federal agencies to coordinate the next steps.”
This story will be updated as it develops, including return from contact from the Army Corps of Engineers.
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