Gilligan’s Island, a spoil island in Anna Maria Sound, is in a sea of uncertainty over its ownership and administration.
Situated on the eastern edge of Anna Maria Sound across from Holmes Beach’s Key Royale and at the southern end of the mouth of the Manatee River, Gilligan’s Island recently gained attention due to a video showing what appeared to be people living in makeshift structures amid scattered debris. The video raised questions about the island’s use and oversight, including what policy if any exists regarding squatters.
Inquiries were initiated by The Islander to various authorities, including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Manatee County government and the office of the Manatee County Property Appraiser.
Manatee County public information officer Bill Logan said May 22 that while the West Coast Inland Navigation District has a spoil easement entitling them to deposit dredged material at Gilligan’s Island, the underlying property owner is the state.
That same day, Manatee County Property Appraiser’s office mapping specialist Marta Pokaradi wrote to The Islander that Gilligan’s Island had been missed in previous assessments but, she said, the parcel would be added to the tax roll for 2024 and assessed to the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida.
County PAO mapping director Mylai Tison also responded to Islander emails May 22, saying, “Said parcel falls within the unincorporated municipal service taxing unit ad valorem district boundary. Based on the ad valorem district, that area should be Manatee County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, but I recommend contacting them to verify that. It appears this may have been a shallow bank that became an island, which would explain why it has not been on the tax roll and now that we have been made aware of it, it has been added.”
Tison said for the county to absorb the island parcel, the land would need to be conveyed by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida to Manatee County.
Created in 1855, the TIITF is charged with the acquisition, administration, management, control, supervision, conservation, protection and disposition of state-owned lands.
The division’s role goes beyond the acquisition of lands for protection. It provides oversight for the management of activities on more than 12 million acres of public lands, including lakes, rivers and islands.
According to Florida Statute 253.12. (2), “The title to all sovereignty tidal and submerged bottom lands, including all islands, sandbars, shallow banks, and small islands made by the process of dredging any channel by the U.S. Government and similar or other islands, sandbars, and shallow banks located in the navigable waters, and including all coastal and intracoastal waters of the state is vested in the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.”
The Islander reached out to the WCIND by phone and to the Florida Division of State Lands Bureau by email May 30 for more information.
State Lands Bureau survey and mapping chief Scott Woolam, in a May 31 email, said the matter is under review.