Do Florida officials have a secret plan to kill off endangered Key Deer to help developers?
- Staci-lee Sherwood
- 8 minutes ago
- 7 min read
By Staci-lee Sherwood
In light of the weekly or bi-weekly deaths of the tiny endangered Key Deer it begs the question, does FWC have a not-so-secret plan to kill of the deer paving the way for undeterred building in Big Pine? Their commission is comprised of developers and hunters, the Governor is pro developer and around the state every inch of land is slated for building. Furthermore the Monroe County Commissioners voted to NOTE renew the comprehensive plan that would have kept protection for wildlife and capped development. If the Commissioners are not on the take what else would be the explanation? Inquiring minds know this smells of rot to the core.
Mounting Key Deer deaths
FWC and USFWS should be ashamed of themselves when it comes to conservation and Key Deer deaths from speeders. They’re masters at ghosting the public and lying to the so called ‘media’. It would be easy money to ticket speeders on a daily basis to collect revenue but the law enforcement, including the Monroe County Sheriff Dept, has failed. Their actions seem to suggest they work for developers removing their obstacle to more building. FWC Commission are entirely developers and hunters.
In 6 weeks times in 2026 this highlights the urgent crisis, five killed plus orphaned fawns presumed will die, as reported by Save the Key Deer nonprofit, keep in mind these were the reported kills, many go unreported:
July 9 – dead fawn on Watson Blvd
June 14 - dead nursing doe (and since FWC, USFWS can’t be bothered to look for any orphan fawns they too will die)
June 13 - dead fawn on Watson Blvd
June 1 - dead fawn
May 26 – dead doe on Key Deer Blvd
May 24 – dead nursing doe on Key Deer Blvd (orphaned fawns presumed dead)
All too common site on Big Pine Key, especially on Key Deer Blvd and Watson Blvd. This fawn was killed by a speeding car who filed to stop on June 1, 2026
Why live on Big Pine Key if you don’t want to live near the deer? You could live anywhere else and speed all you want. See how tiny the deer are
A lack of any signage proves neither FWC nor USFWS care or deserve their taxpayer salary. These signs were done by the nonprofit group Save Our Key Deer. They do more than all agencies combined who should be embarrassed and ashamed
According to FWC Captain Adam Garrison, when asked about whether there was any rescue for the orphaned fawn(s) when a nursing doe has been killed he claimed another doe would adopt her and how at 3-5 weeks a fawn is “very viable on its own” when all evidence points to that not being true. This is the lie the government tells the unsuspecting public.
Click here to read more about their version of conservation https://www.realitycheckswithstacilee.com/post/florida-s-key-deer-face-mounting-deadly-threats-in-big-pine-key
Who is running Monroe County Sheriff Dept
This Sheriff’s Department has many controversies about abuse of power. In 2022 federal authorities and the FBI began a three year investigation into a major cocaine ring in the Florida Keys. They excluded Monroe County Sheriff's Office from the probe due to concerns an officer was leaking tips to the alleged leader of the drug ring. The FBI was right, a deputy was charged with giving information to her drug dealing boyfriend.
Deputy Randy Rancel, booked into jail and slated for termination, after his ex-girlfriend sought stalking charges against him for unwanted visits and monitoring her movements. Former Deputy Alexander Morales Jr. broke into his ex-girlfriend's Key West home, was arrested, fired, and sentenced to probation and jail time. Over the years several deputies have been fired for misusing the databases for their own personal use. I guess they have little time to enforce the traffic and speed laws.
Why did Monroe County Commissioners let the Habitat Conservation Plan expire?
On June 10, 2026 the Monroe County Commissioners decided they didn’t need the protections the plan provided. Such protective provisions included a cap on development, protection for endangered/threatened species and their habitat, like the Key Deer that call the Big Pine Key refuge home. Who wouldn’t want to keep those protections? Developers and those who got $$ from them who else? Big Pine and No Name Key are experiencing a boom in building. This follows just nine years after Hurricane Irma ripped through Big Pine devastating it and all the other keys for weeks and tens of millions of dollars in damages and destroyed homes. Hardly the place anyone should be building. Of the five commissioners three were appointed by pro developer Gov DeSantis, no surprise they opted out of the plan that implemented conservation and building caps.
Craig Cates - appointed by Gov DeSantis, owned Napa auto parts store
Michelle Lincoln - career politician sits on the economic steering committee
Jim Scholl - appointed by DeSantis, his background is mostly military and with a degree in zoology he should know better
David Rice - hunter
Holly Merrill Raschein - appointed by DeSantis and sits on Florida housing board
Wildlife is designed by nature to survive hurricanes but humans and houses are not. Flooding, power outages, downed trees, live wires and mold always follow worse than expected. I’ve lived through a dozen terrible hurricanes and the story always plays out like this. It begs the question why and who is pushing to build more houses we know will kill off the remaining Key Deer and no doubt suffer damage as well. Follow the money it never lies but reporters and government do.
FWC – An openly corrupted state agency
I spent eleven years working on multiple state permits for sea turtles along with putting out trail cams for them so I personally know many of the staff and law enforcement who work there. I’ve also spoken to former staff who confirmed the lies and corruption I’ve always known. They claim to have a Key Deer response team which I’ve seen in action. They drive up to the dead deer, put them in their pickup truck then drive off to dump them in the wooded area away from public view. Unless you witness this there’s no public report of deaths no necropsies to see if a disease was the cause and never any enforcement of speed limits. The agency has an annual budget of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. They do nothing for and everything against conservation. Almost all FWC law enforcement work for ICE, leaving little time for conservation law enforcement .
Click here to read what this agency is really about but never reported in the ‘news’
USFWS (US Fish Wildlife Service) a mouthpiece for industry and hunters
The last time I remember this federal agency with a budget of $1.6 billion doing actual conservation work was back in the 1990s re-introducing the Grey Wolf in Yellowstone National Park. More than 80% of wildlife refuges allow hunting as so called management. They won’t lift a finger for the Key Deer. Their long documented sordid history of fraud says it all.
When contacted about the weekly or bi-weekly deaths from speeders, they refuse to answer questions, the phone or emails. As is always the case of scared incompetent people caught lying, they lack spine to admit to the lies so they blow off the public.
Click here to read how USFWS has failed Key Deer for years https://www.realitycheckswithstacilee.com/post/florida-s-endangered-key-deer-is-time-running-out-to-save-them
Both USFWS and FWC have their own fake nonprofits which you can read about it https://www.realitycheckswithstacilee.com/post/legalbribery-federalagencieshavetheirown-nonprofit-withcorporatepollutersasdonors
Trapped Key Deer by the shameful incompetent College of the Florida Keys
Several Deer, including a pregnant doe who has since given birth, have been trapped behind this fence for months yes months at least since March 2026. In the meantime both FWC and USFWS pretend to be doing something when it only takes someone to open the gate or cut the fence and be done. Brittany Snyder, who comes from the business community, is VP of the College of the Florida Keys (CFK). She refused the proposed wildlife passageways that would allow immediate safe access for endangered Key deer in and out of the property. Her actions show more than incompetent bureaucracy but cruelty towards endangered species. I’m sure she would be screaming if she were stuck there for months.
Two other women who’ve been ghosting the public because they’re too afraid to say or do anything are Megan Perez and Amber Ernst-Leonard, both work in community affairs. Like Snyder they’re stifled by fear, incompetence and lack of ethics. Are they working for developers to kill off the deer what else could it be? This is the same group of people that want to have a truck driving school on Big Pine, the same island that is a National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge. A reconfigured college board has six new members appointed by the governor (who has shown he will suck up to any developer despite Florida having HUGE water problems) in the past six months. Desantis is term limited and his actions seem to prove he’s grabbing all the payoffs he can get. You can’t make this stuff up.
On July 20, 2026 a Board meeting was held where public comment was only allowed after the board voted. What a shame. Rumor is they want millions in public grants and plan to destroy the refuge with their truck driving school. To say the school is run by vapid cruel people is an understatement.
This is located at 450 Key Deer Blvd, Big Pine Key
What to do to help the deer
The following people all get taxpayer money and work for you not the other way around. The Florida College of the Keys gets plenty of state and federal funds since they are a public school. It’s time these people work for their salaries.
Contact US Fish Wildlife in charge of the refuge and Keys ask why they refuse to enforce the speeding limit of 30MPH
Contact FWC Captain Adam Garrison and let him know that fawns only a few weeks or months old cannot survive as orphans. He must stop giving false and misleading information to the public. Phone - 305-619-6290
Email – adam.garrison@myfwc.com
Call Monroe County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) Lower Keys Substation. Ask they enforce the 30MPH speed limit Phone 305-745-3184. alinhardt@keysso.net
Contact the following tell them to either open the gate or cut openings for the trapped deer for 4 MONTHS. There is 0 excuse for this cruelty and stupidity.
Brittany Synder 305-809-3233 Brittany.Snyder@cfk.edu
Megan Perez 305-809-3238 Megan.Perez@cfk.edu
Amber Ernst-leonard 305.809 3531 Amber.Ernstleonard@cfk.edu
They need YOUR help NOW
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