On April 4, 2026, Amber Crooks of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida joined two other excellent panelists to discuss “Overdevelopment in SWFL: Sacrificing Wildlife and Erasing Agriculture.” The event was hosted by the League of Women Voters of Lee County and moderated by the organization’s 2nd Vice President, Marsha Ellis.
Amber Crooks, Senior Environmental Policy Advisor for the Conservancy, provided the attendees with local information on the ever-increasing threat of mines and developments encroaching on southwest Florida’s agricultural and environmentally sensitive landscapes.
Her presentation focused on the counties of Lee and Collier, and how the endangered Florida panther is being impacted by large-scale proposals in our rural areas, whether it be through loss of corridor connections or increased vehicle collisions. There are only about 120-230 Florida panthers left in the wild, and our region’s wetlands, uplands, and agricultural lands help to support this limited population.
Her presentation revealed that the panther is a “hero” for helping to act as an umbrella for other important conservation measures: protecting panther habitat also can help to preserve wetlands, agricultural lands, and drinking water aquifer recharge areas. Since Florida panthers have large home ranges and territories, other rare and common species may also live within those same habitats.
The other panelists were Katrina Shadix of Bear Warriors United and John Hallman of Defending Rural Florida. All panelists discussed the real impacts of development that is spreading into Florida’s rural and natural areas on both agriculture and on wildlife and their habitats.
Read more about the panther, the hero of Southwest Florida, below.