Corkscrew resident Mark Hansen provided us with photos of the second wreck which can be viewed here.

No injuries or structural damage occurred. Many thanks to the Estero Fire Dept., State Dept of Forestry, and other local agencies for responding quickly to contain the blaze.

Brush fire west of Six-L's Farm Road threatens homes - A brush fire, reported at around 1:30PM today is threatening several homes on the west side Six L's Farm Road. Residents of four homes have been told to evacuate, but the residents have refused to leave.

Firefighters have told homeowners to turn on their sprinkler systems and to douse their homes with water. The Division of Forestry has sent a tractor to the area and a helicopter is carrying water to the fire. There are twelve units and 30 firefighters on scene battling the blaze. (info from nbc-2.com)

Not all land grabbed by developers - Opportunities to preserve land in south Lee County shrink for Conservation 20/20 program. Article by Denise L. Scott - Ft. Myers News-Press

Map of Lee County Conservation 20-20 Lands - (large file warning - 1.3 MB in Acrobat PDF format)

This application, along with Estero Group IPD and Corkscrew Excavation, has not been found sufficient by county staff for public hearings at this time.

The application by Estero Group Limited - named "Estero Group IPD" - was determined to be "insufficient" by DCD staff. The applicant has 60 days from the date of determination to correct and resubmit the application. The status of that application can be found here.

A draft report of the "Groundwater Resource & Mining Study" is available via the Lee County DCD website. The final report was due to be released in March 2006.

Background:
In June, 2003, Lee Commissioners directed staff to commission a study of the water and mineral resources in lands designated as DRGR (Density Reduction Groundwater Recharge).

Interest in the study rose at that time as Lee County sought to amend the Land Development Code as it applied to mining. As mining regulations were tightened, a staff-produced map showing where mining should be allowed was dropped for lack of documentation and concern by residents that their voices would be silenced if the map was accepted. Residents opposed to mining operations near their homes and mining interests  called for fresh information.

The study was awarded to consultant Greg Rawl, Professional Geologist. Assessments made by the study will be used by the County in future planning decisions.

Dust off your boxing gloves friends and neighbors - the latest "Gold Rush" to industrialize Corkscrew Road has begun.

More than two years have passed since Westwind Corkscrew Mine withdrew their zoning amendment to mine to 95 feet. Now, at least two rezoning applications for new mining permits on Corkscrew Road have been submitted to the Lee County Department of Community Development:

• Resource Conservation Holdings, LLC proposes to mine a 1,365 acre site to a depth of 20 feet.
• Estero Group Limited proposes to mine a 318 acre site to a depth of 95 feet.
  
  Both operations will utilize Corkscrew Road for transport of their excavated material.

Many residents of the East Corkscrew Road Rural Community are concerned about the effects of increased mining activity on their health and safety, quality of life, the aesthetics of their land and surrounding land, property values, truck traffic, noise, lights, dust, potential pollution and other nuisances, as well as damage to the fragile ecosystem that many of us prize in southeast Lee County.

How can you help?

Countering a threat to our community's safety and quality of life requires commitment. Of course, the most important commitment needed is your time and energy; for meetings, letter writing, information gathering, communicating, and for participating in the decision-making process. Time off from work to participate in these activities will be costly for many of us, and that is appreciated by all.

No hearing dates have been set at this time. In the near future, we will schedule a neighborhood meeting to discuss our options and strategies to oppose the increase in mining activity on Corkscrew Road.

What can you do?

• Stay tuned to this website for news and updates.
   
• Sign up for the “neighbors” mailing list if you support our efforts and are a residential land owner east of the Alico-Corkscrew intersection in the East Corkscrew Road Rural Community / Corkscrew Settlement.
   
• Sign up for the “friends” mailing list if you live in other areas and support our efforts to stop expanded mining on East Corkscrew Road.
  
  If you are already subscribed to the neighbors or friends mailing lists, but your e-mail address has changed since November 2003, please send your new address to me at webmaster@corkscrewroad.com so that I can update the list.
   
• Communicate with your neighbors about the proposed mines, about this website, and about ways we can work together to preserve the community that we value. Share your ideas via the mailing lists above.

What will it cost?

It's not clear at this time what the financial costs will be, however it's likely they will be significant. Winning these battles will require legal representation, and testimony from expert witnesses. We've got good people "in the trenches" that will work out the details, but they can't foot the entire bill. We'll discuss ways to coordinate contributions and provide accounting for those that can contribute when we meet in the near future.

I'll be busy over the next few days updating and reorganizing this website. If you come across news or other info you'd like to share, or notice errors on the site, please let me know by emailing me at webmaster@corkscrewroad.com.

A letter in opposition to the latest mining application was recently mailed and hand-delivered to Corkscrew Road residents by Jim Lytell. In case you didn't receive a copy, you can read it here.