homes, condominiums, a 200-slip marina, a luxury hotel, and convention center, restaurants, a spa, horse stables, and an airport. But their commercial plans were systematically met with great resistance from environmentalists and politicians, and eventually even the homeowners themselves. Brown and Stocks dissolved their partnership in 1981, but they each continued to develop their respective interests on the island. Brown developed the Plantation through a new venture, Gene D. Brown and Company, on a smaller scale that includes a community center and an airstrip for residents. Today St George's Plantation boasts hundreds of multi-million-dollar luxury homes inside a private gated community. As part of Leisure Properties’ sale of the State Park land back in 1973, Gene Brown also negotiated an agreement with the State of Florida to build a water system to provide potable water to the island. That private utility company still exists today. Now known as Water Management Services, Inc., the utility company is regulated by the Public Service Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection and provides water to over 2000 service locations on the island. St. George Island has now become one of Florida's most coveted beach vacation destinations. The island “consistently rates as one of the top beaches in the United States with miles of uncrowded expanses for sunning and shelling, clear Gulf waters for swimming and fishing, and pristine marshes for a wildlife viewing.” In 2022, foremost beach expert Dr. Beach ranked St. George Island number 4 on his 2022 Top 10 Beaches list. Geography The island is composed of mostly sand dunes with sea oats and pine trees. The west end of the island is known as the St George Plantation. It spans over with 24/7 security and accessible only to owners and their rental designees. It is quite a bit wider than the eastern portion of the island. Vegetation Scrub and sea oats can be found on the newer dunes, slash pine flatwoods in the older relic dunes. The western part of the island is more forested while the eastern two-thirds is more sparse in trees. Wildlife St. George Island is a known nesting ground for loggerhead sea turtles. They come to the beach to lay their eggs between the months of May and October. References Gulf Coast barrier islands of Florida Beaches of Franklin County, Florida Islands of Franklin County, Florida Seaside resorts in Florida Beaches of Florida Islands of Florida