A bird's eye view of a portion of the Woodring Property the Society is trying to save from development of 5 homes and 5 docks and establish an intact wildlife corridor.

DDWS works with the Refuge and Lee County to acquire 6.56 acres at Woodring Point, which is one of the last remaining bay beach habitats at the marine entrance to the refuge. The land, in the words of SCCF Director Erick Lindblad, "fits like a glove" with existing Refuge property along Tarpon Bay and adjacent mangrove wetlands. For information on contributing to the $1.8 million Refuge Preservation Campaign, which includes Education Center improvements, please click here. 

   The deadline to raise this money to preserve Woodriing Point is September, 2013.  The heat is on to reach that goal.  For more information on the Preservation Campaign or to learn how you can support the campaign, please contact Birgie Vertesch at 239.292.0566 or via email by clicking  HERE .

Carol Gardner accepted the 5,000-hour award posthumously for her husband, Tim Gardner.

"Ding" Darling Refuge celebrated its annual Volunteer Awards Luncheon on Feb. 1, 2013, at the Sanibel Community House.

"The Refuge would not be able to operate as it does without the valuable support of our volunteer corps," says Ranger Jeff Combs, who oversees the Refuge's public services.

He reports that in 2012, 270 volunteers worked READ MORE