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Protector of open lands 'made it happen'

For more than 30 years, Jake Stowers has fought to preserve wildlife in Pinellas. He retired Friday.

By WILL VAN SANT
Published April 30, 2006

CLEARWATER - In 1974, when Jake Stowers joined Pinellas County government as a parks department forester, he wore his brown hair long and set to work saving trees.

Some folks called him the tree fairy.

Today, the hair is short - and white - and the 63-year-old Stowers is moving on. Friday was his last day as an assistant county administrator. Liz Warren, formerly director of the culture, recreation and leisure department, is taking his job.

In 32 years with the county, Stowers worked not only to save trees, but to preserve county wild lands now enjoyed by thousands of visitors a year, protect marine life and educate residents about their natural surroundings.

"At the county government level you would be hard-pressed to find someone that has had a bigger impact or has created a better model of how government can conserve the environment," said Peter Stangel, southern region director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Stowers was born in Clearwater and raised in Safety Harbor. His father was a hunter and fisherman and the unspoiled Lake Chautauqua area was Stowers' childhood playground.

He was drawn to the law but his passion for the outdoors was too great and he ended up studying wildlife biology and forestry, eventually getting a master's degree from the University of Florida.

When he joined the county at age 32, he helped Pinellas develop a law that included provisions to protect critically important mangroves years before the state took similar steps.

Stowers also beat Tallahassee in the protection of sea grasses. In the 1980s, when he learned that the county owned not only Fort DeSoto Park but also the land beneath surrounding waters, he made it Pinellas' business to regulate boat traffic to preserve marine health.

The idle speed, no-motor and exclusion zones to be found around Fort DeSoto and Boca Ciega Bay are the result.

Ann Paul, regional coordinator of Audubon of Florida, worked with Stowers when he was trying to create protections for sea grasses, the root of the Tampa Bay estuary's food chain.

Not everybody was enthusiastic, especially fisherman, but Stowers succeeded.

"Jake's leadership was crucial," Paul said, adding that in his career he had set a standard for environmental stewardship. "Boy, we are going to miss him."

Barbara Sheen Todd, the former county commissioner who spent nearly a quarter-century in Pinellas government, called him a fantastic mediator, a soothing presence during the inflamed debates that can surround environmental protection.

"People would be emotional," Todd said. "He wouldn't. He would remain calm. And people would listen."

Stowers was also dynamic, a get-things-done guy, Todd said.

She recalled how in the late 1990s she wanted to develop nature learning programs for residents, but could never get funding. She told Stowers about her frustration and he contacted the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Stowers had worked with the group to help create what became the Florida Birding Festival and Nature Expo.

Those talks led to the creation, in 2000, of what's now the Pinellas County Environmental Fund, which relies on matching grant money from the wildlife foundation. The group has sponsored hundreds of environmental education and habitat restoration programs around Tampa Bay.

"You put an idea out there and he would put arms and legs around it and make it a reality," Todd said. "He made it happen."

Stowers says his proudest achievement is the thousands of acres of Pinellas - the most densely populated county in Florida - that he helped keep wild and virtually untouched. They include the Brooker Creek Preserve, Weedon Island Preserve and Shell Key Preserve.

Wall Springs Park, Eagle Lake Park, which is now under development, the expansions to Walsingham Park, the public access area at St. Pete Beach - Stowers played a key role in each and many others.

It was not always easy. Strident environmentalists and unyielding developers have all criticized Stowers from time to time.

This year, Stowers played a leading role in defending a plan that would have expanded concessions at Fort DeSoto. County commissioners abandoned the plan in the face of withering public opposition.

But taking heat is part of a public official's job, and Stowers says he understands why the sides say what they do - and why they should be heard.

Despite the achievements that Stowers has to look back on, he admits to some regrets. The county should have done more to preserve public access to the beaches, he says, which are now dotted with condos.

And, when Sand Key was up for sale for a million bucks in the 1970s, he wished the county had jumped.

But, Stowers says, hindsight is always better than foresight.

In retirement, he plans to stay involved with Tampa Bay environmental groups, but now may actually go to an Audubon meeting, for instance, to hear a speech rather than give one. And he wants to hone his fly-fishing skills.

He has no plans to leave the place he was born.

"I love this community," he said. "It's a beautiful place."

Stowers stressed how little in the area of environmental protection could have been achieved in Pinellas over recent decades without a strong team of dedicated men and women of which he was only a part - and of the public, whom he wanted to thank for supporting preservation.

He also wanted to say that his work had been a labor of love.

"I was blessed to be able to do this," Stowers said.

Will Van Sant can be reached at 445-6127 or vansant@sptimes.com

Here are some projects Assistant County Administrator Jake Stowers helped make a reality in 32 years with Pinellas County:

Brooker Creek Preserve - 8,500 acres in North Pinellas.

Weedon Island Preserve - 3,000 acres on Tampa Bay in northern St. Petersburg.

Shell Key Preserve - 1,800 acres near Fort DeSoto Park in South Pinellas.

Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve - 300 acres on Upper Tampa Bay.

Eagle Lake Park - 163 acres at Keene and Belleair roads. The park is scheduled to open in 2009.

[Last modified April 30, 2006, 00:58:16]