Why I donated my plot of land in Southwest Florida to owls

A threatened species, the burrowing owl, is losing its habitat by the day in Southwest Florida. I donated land that will forever be theirs, hoping to inspire others to do the same.

Photo credit: Chris Robben from the CCFW website

On March 16, 2023, I closed on a 10,000-square-foot lot of land smack dab in the middle of a Cape Coral, Florida neighborhood for nearly $39,000. It was a vacant lot that sat adjacent to my mom’s home in the northwestern portion of this massive Ft. Myers suburb.

I purchased the land as a way to invest my money at the time and potentially utilize land that was nestled close to my family. This purchase came after the sale of my home in the region, located in the nearby Matlacha that was decimated by Hurricane Ian.

Having obtained my Florida real estate license in 2021 to learn more about real estate investing, going on to purchase the 6.74 acres of rural land my farm now sits on in Upstate New York, buying this parcel of land in Cape Coral just felt right from an investment point of view.

Little did I know this land would become a safe haven for the threatened burrowing owl species that is under attack in Southwest Florida. As developers tear up every last inch of native Florida land, draining wetlands and swamps to make way for cookie cutter, personality-less homes that displace some of the most impressive biodiversity in the world, species like the burrowing owl are dwindling in numbers.

I will never forget the day I went on my first walk after moving to Southwest Florida in 2020, only to spot a small, dust-colored owl atop a perch that was next to a burrow. I texted my mom and sister a photo, saying, “You guys, look at this picture. I think that is a tiny owl? Low to ground, on a perch? Are my eyes deceiving me?”

They most certainly were not.

The more I walked around the neighborhood in the weeks to come, the more I learned these spiritual creatures lived in communities, close to the ground, retreating into burrows at any sign of danger.

Growing up in Upstate New York, I always assumed owls to be these haunting figures perched high up on wintery tree branches, watching the world below them. I never knew there was a small, burrowing cousin that keeps to open spaces and sandy soil.

I looked forward to seeing these birds every day on my walks. In fact, they became the highlight of my days in Florida, as I slowly learned that I missed the north more than I could describe. On days I felt lost and lonely, the burrowing owls were there to cheer me up. I would spend time watching them mingle in their communities, playing and gently squabbling once the babies matured.

After I purchased the Cape Coral plot of land, I moved back up north a few months later. Leaving the land to sit down there as part of my investment portfolio, I didn’t give it much thought. I was busy starting a farm up here and working with Amish men to have a barn built (yes, true story).

One day last year, my mom sent me a link to the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife website. We had attended their Burrowing Owl Festivals in Southwest Florida while I lived there, and I had donated money to them (along with my mom).

“Hey Al, check this out,” she said.

She had sent me to their Cape Coral Wildlife Trust, which exists to protect and preserve as much land as possible in an overly developed region that is choking out its native species.

I read through the website. It appeared I could donate my land to this trust, to forever remain undeveloped and a hospitable place for burrowing owls to live, no matter what happened in the regions around it. I thought about it for awhile. I did spend nearly $40,000 on this land.

Then, a few months ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks. A news story went viral about a development company paving over live burrowing owl burrows (this is technically illegal, but in the state of Florida, if you pay the right person for a permit, the environment comes in second place) as they erected another pointless structure in Cape Coral.

I was enraged. I called up every agency, office, and environmental group in the region asking how this could have happened. I discovered there is no accountability down there for the environment and threatened species. Developers can buy ‘wetland credits’ and drain swamps to build their shopping strips. Others can purchase special permits that state “it’s ok to pave over the burrows if the owls have been relocated.” As you can guess, they don’t relocate the owls.

The more I called, the more I realized the state of the Florida was not going to do a thing. It was up to us. It was up to the PEOPLE to do something.

I knew what I needed to do.

I called up the CCFW and began the land donation process.

To show you just how developed the land is around my lot… here is an image of the 10,000-square-feet. Even worse, this lot was zoned COMMERCIAL, meaning a gas station could very well have set up shop here.

I already had two burrows installed on the land earlier this year, and proudly touted my status as a burrowing owl landlord.

Here is the land listing on Zillow, currently.

I called the CCFW and a cheerful, helpful woman answered the phone. Her name is Cheryl.

She spent a solid 30-minutes explaining the process to me. I told her that I want to set up something similar to their trust for migrating monarch butterflies. She explained to me that the CCFW are the best ‘boots on the ground’ force in the area doing what they can to protect threatened species.

“Here’s how it works. We initiate the process and purchase an appraisal for the land. We then review its appraisal and go from there,” Cheryl said.

“Ok, let’s do it,” I said.

I realized I would be donating nearly $40,000. I wanted to leave a legacy for these poor creatures that have nowhere else to turn. I knew if something happened to me one day, this land will forever be theirs. I proceeded full speed ahead with the donation.

The appraisal came back around $38,500, which will benefit me in the form of tax write-offs starting in 2025 (I will be covering this here). Even better, everything looked kosher from the perspective of the CCFW, which means we were in business. They were going to accept my donation and cover the costs of the closing.

As of Friday, November 15, 2024, the land sale officially closed, forever in the possession of the Cape Coral Wildlife Trust, to protect and support the threatened burrowing owl species.

I am writing about this story to you all today because I believe if more people knew they could make an impact in this way, they would. Incentive drives our world, if we’re being realistic, which is why going through the tax benefit experience with this will help me understand firsthand how I can incentive others to do the same.

There is a shift happening in our country right now that is tangible. People are tired of the environmental pillaging. People are tired of the animal abuse. And people are tired of hideous, cookie-cutter development that is destroying the land that makes this country beautiful.

One of the most effective ways to stand up to all of this is to put land into nonprofit trusts.

I vow to make it one of my missions to facilitate this moving forward, using my writing and my social media.

If this article touched you at all, the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife is one of the most deserving nonprofits in the country for donations. I can attest firsthand that the donations do indeed go directly to helping protect and support the biodiversity in the region. In a state like Florida where the government turns a blind eye to rampant environmental destruction, the CCFW is a critical nonprofit and group of volunteers who are on the ground actually doing something.

We can’t count on the government to come and save our environment. WE need to do it ourselves.

To donate to help save the owls, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-cape-corals-burrowing-owls?utm_campaign=natman_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=natman_amp1c&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link.

I will be sitting down with the CCFW later this week for a media interview, hoping to catch the attention of the news as a positive story in a world of environmental negativity. I am living proof that one person can make a difference, no matter how insurmountable the problem may seem.

PHOTO CREDIT: All owl photos in this article were retrieved from the CCFW website. I do not own them.