Whispering Pines Concerned Citizens

Whispering Pines Concerned Citizens is a Florida nonprofit focused on runaway growth, drainage problems, and flooding impacting their Santa Rosa County homes. Santa Rosa County is a uniquely beautiful spot in the Panhandle of Florida between Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. The population has almost doubled since 2000, with new development demanding access to water, energy, space, and other county and municipal services. Policy and code development have been inadequate to keep up with growth in use of county resources or to protect the natural features that attract citizens in the first place. Whispering Pines Concerned Citizens work to inventory and map elements that influence quality of life to form a critical foundation for any number of future community science initiatives, including creating and advocating for good policy, applying for FEMA and other grants, and building a sustainable development plan. 

Partnering with Thriving Earth Exchange and several other Florida Panhandle organizations, they completed a detailed map of contaminated sites, the existing built flood control infrastructure, and the area’s natural flood control features, such as wetlands and forest. The board of directors, led by Carmen Reynolds, used their Facebook page to inform and encourage their more than 800 followers to keep up the pressure on an uncooperative county government and uncaring real estate developers. Though the county approved development of 900 new homes in 2022, Whispering Pines won a tough round the following year, when they celebrated establishment of a 545-acre county wetlands preserve in the midst of the new housing. The preserve was acquired with species recovery funds from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The people of Whispering Pines, though not considered endangered by the state government, should also benefit—from reduced flooding of their homes and property.

For more information:

Navarre resident Carmen Reynolds addresses the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners – Save our Soundside, January 2021

Mapping Natural and Developed Resources to Positively Impact Responsible Growth, Santa Rosa County, Florida – Thriving Earth Exchange, 2021

Milton needs a more advanced wastewater plant – Pensacola News Journal, April 2021

“Navarre Press People to Watch in 2021”, Carmen Reynolds – Navarre Press, January 2021

Two new subdivisions planned for Navarre – South Santa Rosa News, January 3, 2019