Greetings Friends and Photographers,

As most of you are now aware, Gatorland has discontinued it's photographer program and I am no longer with the company. What you may not be aware of are the real reasons behind this closure and my termination from the family business.

Contrary to public comments and emails from Gatorland's CEO and management, the Gatorland Birding and Photography program was a great success and last year the program made a very healthy profit for the company... so well in fact that I had planned to open the Rookery in 2011 for extended hours 7 days a week. So why the misinformation and cover-up from Gatorland?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the real reason, Gatorland is building a zipline venue through the Breeding Marsh. Despite my concerns over the impact to the native wildlife that inhabit the Breeding Marsh, Gatorland's management and Board of Directors approved plans to route the zipline directly through the middle of the Rookery and directly over the nesting Wood Stork colony. The message of conservation and wildlife appreciation that I had touted for the past several years suddenly became an inconvenience... as did myself and the birds.

Through the efforts of the Audubon Society, USFW and FWC the route was changed from the middle of the Rookery to the south end, however this delayed Gatorland's construction plans and now they will be doing the zipline construction during the 2011 nesting season. Any impact upon the birds would be easily identified and probably reported by the photographers who visit, so why encourage photographers at all?

I would like to thank all of you who participated in Gatorland's Birding and Photography program, it was my greatest pleasure to host you all and watch the fabulous show of nature put on daily within the Rookery. I apologize for my families lack of concern over the impact of running an entertainment venue through a Bird Rookery, unfortunately the lure of increased revenues from a zipline outweighed any conservation agenda or concern over the wildlife in the area. It's such a shame...

Mike Godwin
President - Orange Audubon Society