Category: About

by Ben Carswell, JIA Director of Conservation

Migratory birds are front and center, welcoming visitors to the Mosaic – the reimagined museum of Jekyll Island. Jekyll, along with much of coastal Georgia, is truly a haven for a stunning diversity of avian life. A mixed flock of sculpted birds flies over the image of Jekyll Island in the Mosaic’s lobby, representing the stunning range of diversity in shape and color of the migratory bird species that use the Atlantic Flyway migratory route along our coast.

These differences in form reflect the many ways that birds are adapted to survive in a complex and ever-changing environment, navigating challenges and threats at every turn. Despite their physical differences, they are all long-distance travelers – island and continent hoppers – transiting the open-ocean to find their way to our little island. Some are here to nest and reproduce, like the colorful painted bunting. Others are just passing overhead, gracing us with their calls in flight, like the majestic sandhill crane.

For those that rely on Jekyll Island for food, much needed rest, or for their breeding grounds, it is vital that we sustain a hospitable refuge for them here. Many of these birds, such as the whimbrel, face hunting pressure in their winter range. Painted buntings are taken from the wild and caged as pets. By understanding their needs and easing the pressures they face here, we can help bolster threatened populations to be more resilient in the face of hazards that are beyond our control far away. The JIA Conservation department has been focused first and foremost on shorebird monitoring and conservation. This is because shorebirds as a group of species are suffering widespread declines in their numbers. With your support, through the Jekyll Island Foundation, we aim to expand our efforts to include a broader range of migratory bird species deserving conservation attention, such as the painted bunting. To donate, visit jekyllislandfoundation.org

by Bruce Piatek, JIA Director of Historical Resources

We have continued the restoration and improvement of Hollybourne Cottage. Tabby paving is now in place and it restores the carriage drive, also referred to as the “welcoming arms.” Now Hollybourne Cottage is connected to the road system in the Historic District and no longer appears to be the Cottage isolated in a lawn. The carriage drive and the walkways mimic the original shell-paved drive and foot paths.

Another Hollybourne improvement is the addition of a climate control system to Hollybourne. This major improvement will make the building useable for public activities year-round. We are installing a new type of air conditioning system which is a high air velocity system that has smaller ducts thereby reducing the damage to the historic building. Once the system is fully operational we will slowly cool and dehumidify the building. If we change the interior environment of the building too quickly it could cause damage. The next steps will be to rehabilitate the windows and add insulation to the attic.

The primary project for our winter volunteer work crew was the re-creation of the drying yard. Guests to the Historic District often wonder about the sunken areas that look like swimming pools behind the cottages. These were drying yards and they were sunken to help conceal the laundry that was hung on clotheslines. They were also surrounded by fences or lattice. Historic preservationist Taylor Davis, assisted by volunteer Brian Beauchamp, researched the photographs and determined the correct drying yard surround was lattice. Our volunteer team decided to build the lattice themselves to match the original. This required a customized jig, multiple router bits, and thousands of router cuts, to manufacture the interlaced lattice pattern. Once the build was complete, they added preservative, primer, and paint. This new addition to Hollybourne significantly improved the historically-accurate appearance of this beautiful cottage.

Our heartfelt thanks to volunteers who helped construct and the many generous donors who provide the materials needed for this project. If you wish to donate, please visit jekyllislandfoundation.org

More than a thousand visitors attended grand opening festivities on April 27 for Mosaic, and since then thousands more have experienced the reimagined Jekyll Island museum. The $3.1 million redesign and restoration of the museum includes interactive exhibits that explore the cultural and natural history of the island, while preserving the important architectural details of the 122-year-old former Jekyll Island Club stable in which it is located. The Jekyll Island Foundation drove the fundraising efforts for Mosaic, which began nearly five years ago.

Having a photo taken next to the striking Jekyll Mosaic sign on the museum’s lawn has become a new tradition for island visitors. Once inside the museum, visitors can slide behind the wheel of a 1947 Studebaker, listen to vintage tunes on the radio, and imagine crossing the causeway to the newly opened Jekyll Island State Park in the 1950s. Children enjoy climbing aboard a replica of a yawl, a Colonial era sailing vessel, and into an oversized eagle’s nest where they can try on felt eagle masks and feathered capes.

Adults are drawn to displays of luxury items once owned by Jekyll Island Club members. Visitors of all ages can’t resist taking a ride on a red “bug” via an exhibit that captures the thrill of driving around the island in a small, go-cart-like roadster popular in the early 1900s when traditional motorcars were prohibited. Mosaic guides visitors through the fascinating history of the island, beginning with the Native American era through the 1960s.

After exploring the museum gallery, visitors can browse the expanded gift shop and reserve a tram tour of the National Historic Landmark District. Mosaic gallery admission is included with the Landmark Tour and a new combination ticket includes museum and Georgia Sea Turtle Center admission.

Mosaic’s tack room has hosted several natural history and environmental lectures, but an additional space remains to be constructed. Phase II of Mosaic will include a covered outdoor pavilion that will be used for educational and special programming. The Jekyll Island Foundation invites you to contribute to this second phase, which will provide a well-rounded experience for the history and ecology education offered at Mosaic. For more information, to view renderings, or to donate, click here.

By Ben Carswell, JIA Director of Conservation

Opportunities abound on Jekyll to establish and promote ecosystem values that better support the creatures that call our island home – those animals that share the landscape with us, and whose forbears shared it with Jekyll Island Club members and with Native Americans.

Modern Conservation land management practices—like invasive plant control, prescribed fire, connecting habitat fragments, pollinator-friendly landscaping, and restoration or creation of native grasslands and wetlands—all contribute to greater productivity and diversity of wildlife, great and small.

The land management activities of Jekyll Island’s past – colonial agriculture, club-era forestry, and state-park era landscape decisions – all influence the environment that exists today. And, what we learn from Jekyll Island’s deep history can inform us as we seek to improve upon the status quo to make Jekyll the best it can be for native animals.   

One example of a project that could be supported with this fund is the restoration of maritime grasslands along Beachview Road between the road and the beachfront path.  The wildlife value of this land was degraded when the area was flattened during the initial development of the island by the state. Maritime grasslands are a rare and important coastal plant community, dominated by sweet grass (also known as muhly grass), that provides abundant forage for small mammals that are the base of a diverse barrier island food web. Sweet grass is also an icon of coastal Georgia and South Carolina with roots in Gullah-Geechee cultural traditions such as basket weaving. Some of this area has already been restored, but much more remains. With your help, we can work toward making all of it more attractive for people and for wildlife.  

Donor contributions to this initiative will support conservation activities aimed specifically at improving wildlife habitat on the island by ensuring that Jekyll has the necessary resources and staff training to apply cutting-edge science and state-of-the art management practice to that goal.

Money magazine ranked Jekyll Island No. 1 among U.S. travel destinations on its list of “The 20 Best Places to Go in 2019.” This is just one of many accolades earned so far this year. Jekyll placed second on a list of “19 best beaches for families and kids” compiled by NBC-TV’s “Today” show. Driftwood Beach was designated as the No. 10 beach in the country in TripAdvisor’s 2019 Travelers’ Choice Awards.

Jekyll Island Authority Executive Director Jones Hooks said this kind of recognition affirms the work JIA has done to redevelop the island and make it more appealing to visitors and residents. It also reaffirms the value of the Carrying Capacity and Infrastructure Study, commissioned to determine the number of people, vehicles, and development that Jekyll can accommodate while still maintaining its unique character. 

“We are pleased to see Jekyll Island continuing to garner national recognition for its blend of character, culture, history, and ecology,” he said. “It underscores the importance of our mission to preserve and protect the island’s historic and natural resources, while at the same time welcoming new and returning visitors.”

Money employed a rigorous methodology “featuring more than 43,000 data points collected from dozens of sources,” including the travel booking site Kayak. The cost and quality of nearly 750 popular destinations were evaluated to determine which offered value and “activities and amenities that make vacations memorable.” TripAdvisor’s Choice Award winners are based on millions of reviews and opinions collected from travelers worldwide.

The “Today” show coverage includes the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Corsair Beach Park, and Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum — which opened in April — among island amenities that are ideal for “making memories and keeping the kids occupied for hours on end.”
Additional recognition for Jekyll so far in 2019 includes being selected as one of the “Top 15 Beaches on the East Coast” (Town and Country), and “best weekend getaway” in Georgia (MSN Travel). In late 2018 Architectural Digest lauded the island as one of the “50 most beautiful small towns in America.”    

By David Steen, GSTC Research Ecologist

The waters off Jekyll Island will soon be full of giant marine reptiles. We expect the Loggerhead Sea Turtles in our region to begin crawling onto our beaches in May to lay their nests, something they can do up to eight or nine times in a season. These animals have lived for decades, are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and are some of the biggest and most charismatic animals in the world. You might think that there is little left to learn about them but what do we really know? Most sea turtles probably live their lives without ever bumping into a human being, although with a little luck maybe you’ll see one poking its head out of the water to breathe while you’re boating or fishing around the Golden Isles. If you’re strolling along the right stretch of beach during a summer night, you just might cross paths with a sea turtle; after they hatch, it’s the only time in their lives they will be on land. These moments on the beach with a sea turtle are just a brief blip in time for these long-lived creatures, but they represent our best chance to collect data that allows us to learn more about their biology, their health, and their conservation.

Studying the Loggerhead Sea Turtles that nest on Jekyll Island is the responsibility of the Research Department of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and each spring we are proud to extend this project, one of the longest-term studies of its kind, by another year. With many miles of beach and only about 120 nests each year, we have to cover a lot of ground to maximize our chances of finding a turtle before it finishes nesting and disappears into the sea. And that is where our beach utility-terrain-vehicles (UTV) come in; our UTVs allow us to safely and efficiently patrol thousands of miles of beach each year and generate the information we need to help conserve sea turtles. This year we will be taking blood samples to assess levels of endocrine disruptors, examining carapaces for evidence of injuries from boats and fishing gear, and taking skin biopsies that allow our collaborators to identify turtles by their DNA. There are only a couple programs north of Florida that work with adult Loggerhead Sea Turtles and that is because it is demanding work that requires significant support. What makes us unique, and what affords us the opportunity to continue this program, is the generous support of The Jekyll Island Foundation. Come on out with us!

For years the Ross family gave gifts to our six children and 14 grandchildren.  In the months leading up to Christmas 2017, my wife, Queenie and I were discussing our thoughts for the upcoming season of giving.   We have been very blessed and so have our children and their children.  What can we give them that they could take throughout their life?  As we thought about it, we could not come up with a single item that they really needed. 

Almost at the same moment an idea struck both of us: let’s make this a teaching moment – a moment and a lesson that they can use throughout their lives.  Let’s give them the gift of giving back – the gift of charity.  After all, God teaches us that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

We decided to give each of our grandchildren an assignment: find a nonprofit organization that you would like to support and write a one-page essay on that organization to include 1) what the organization does (the mission), 2) why this is important and 3) how the donation would help the nonprofit fulfill its mission.  If possible, each one may include a statement of what he or she plans to do to help in other ways, i.e., volunteer at the facility. The nonprofit must be a 501(c)3 designated charity to qualify. 

On Christmas Eve, around our dinner table, each grandchild is asked to present his or her essay.  It is amazing the variety of nonprofit organizations that have been selected – from Ducks Unlimited to Missionaries of the Poor. 

Our youngest grandchild, Tabitha Hooge, who during the initial year (2017) was only 4 years old, had heard me talk about the Jekyll Island Foundation (JIF) and the work we were doing to save the lives of sea turtles up and down the Atlantic Coast line.  On her own (since she could not yet write) she drew a large turtle.  When it was her turn to present, she stood up and said with conviction, “I want to donate to the turtle hospital at Jekyll Island.  There are so many turtles that are hurt by nets and boats.”  Thus, a donation was made to JIF that was restricted to be used at the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center.

During the summer of 2018, Tabitha’s parents took she and her sister Aurelia to visit Jekyll and of course the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center.  Tabitha insisted on buying a stuffed turtle that she has since named Ocean.  She sleeps with that turtle each night.   

This past Christmas, our second year for the program, Tabitha again selected the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center as her charity.  When she presented her essay, which again was using her drawing skills, she said “I want to again donate to the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center.  I love turtles!  Some day I am going to work at the turtle hospital.”  And I believe she will.

Giving back is indeed a gift that keeps on giving.  We encourage you to consider this teaching moment and give-back opportunity.  And as a seven-year member of the JIF Board, I believe a gift to the Jekyll Island Foundation should be considered.  It is doing incredible work in helping to preserve our history, conserve our natural resources, and educate our visitors on the importance of our barrier islands.

Contractors and staff are working hard on the Mosaic Museum. Jekyll Island Authority staff from various departments – Historic Resources, Conservation, Facilities, and Landscaping – are finalizing the building and its contents.  

Providing oversight, the historic resources staff is currently working to finalize the information and graphic panels, advising on exhibits, locating and installing the artifacts, and obtaining the hundreds of items needed to bring this new island amenity to life. From purchasing seating for the classroom space – called the Tack Room – to dressing mannequins in Club Era clothing, they do it all. Sound and video components have been installed and tested, and staff are training in how to use it.

It is VERY exciting to see the space developing. There is still a great deal of work ahead as we move closer to the opening date. This project is nothing short of a complete metamorphosis of the old stables, museum, and gift shop, into a dynamic, interactive, and exciting environment in which people will learn about and experience more of Jekyll Island.

Like its name – Mosaic – small pieces are being built and installed to make a complete picture of Jekyll Island, its nature, history, and culture.  Mosaic, the Museum of Jekyll Island – will be unveiled to the public on Saturday, April 27, 2019.

The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) supported a variety of the Jekyll Island Authority’s Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) activities in Costa Rica. Capacity building in the 3 focus areas of the GSTC – Rehabilitation, Education, and Research – has been a major goal of our work in Costa Rica.

The success of this program was demonstrated on my last trip to Costa Rica where I did a sea turtle rehabilitation workshop hosted by the Parque Marino in Puntarenas Costa Rica. The Parque Marino is an aquarium that does sea turtle rehabilitation and has been the hub of our training programs.

Through the DCF we have been able to support the aquarium on a variety of venues from funding and design assistance for a new exhibit, staff training, workshops, distance learning, and materials and supplies and equipment for their sea turtle rehabilitation program. Additionally, we have built a network of first responders in the Osa Peninsula, a remote but beautiful area in Costa Rica.

Pictured in this image are 3 individuals that we trained at the GSTC and in Costa Rica. Dr. Andres Tello is a wildlife and domestic animal veterinarian who now responds to sea turtle emergencies in the remote Osa Peninsula. Pricilla Howell is from San Jose, Costa Rica and trained with the GSTC as a vet student. She translated Dr. Norton’s lectures during the workshop into Spanish. Phoebe Edge is a conservation biologist who now heads up a new non-profit called Osa Ecology. Phoebe has been instrumental in keeping this program moving forward and trained with us on numerous occasions in Costa Rica and the US.  The turtle viewed in the image is a sick hawksbill sea turtle which was not eating and very thin. Phoebe has a tank at her home that was funded by the DCF so that injured and ill sea turtles can be treated and stabilized before transporting them to the aquarium in Puntarenas.