saving Little NaNa
A committee of the North Florida Land Trust, Amelia Forever is working with the City of Fernandina Beach and local conservation groups to preserve Amelia’s natural beauty. BY KAREN MILLER • PHOTOS BY SHERRY CARTER
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melia Island is a stunning seaside community that invokes pride in residents and visitors alike for its unique combination of natural and historic features. Boasting an incredible tree canopy, proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and the calming marshes along the Intracoastal Waterway, as well as a thriving historic center and deep cultural heritage, Amelia Island is a slice of paradise. Yet with all the wonders Amelia Island provides, many of its natural and historic landscapes are disappearing. Amelia Island resident Pam Hart, who used to live in Waycross, Georgia, noticed the changes and the development happening on the Left to right: Board members Lily Scheetz, Cynthia Jones Jackson, Jane Everts and Pam Hart. island as she visited year after year. Ironically, Hart served on the Waycross and Ware County Development Authority, which was trying to bring in more businesses and development into that raise awareness about land conservation among local residents part of Georgia. While her home was lacking the development and businesses. In their first year, Amelia Forever has raised over $800,000, it needed to thrive, Hart saw Amelia Island’s development managing to purchase, in partnership with the City of Fernandina beginning to get out of hand. Hart decided to get involved with the North Florida Land Beach, three parcels of land adjacent to the ecologically significant Trust, chairing its newest committee called Amelia Forever, Egans Creek Greenway. “The Greenway is one of my favorite which purchases or receives donations of land and conservation places on Amelia Island,” says Hart. “Preserving our natural spaces easements, as well as facilitating conservation transactions for is so important right now. If we don’t do it, it will be lost forever.” Thanks to the interest of residents in pursuing conservation public agencies. Formed in 2019, Amelia Forever partners with the City of Fernandina Beach and other conservation efforts on the island, and Amelia Forever’s existing partnerships groups to plan fundraisers, create informational material, and continued on next page 33 AMELIA ISLANDER MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2021
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