Manatee County officials and residents are trying to prevent a nearly 100-acre island from being sold and developed.

Pine Island is located off of State Road 64 East along the Braden River.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District owns the island.

More than 10 years ago, to prevent a developer from building on the island, Manatee County and the city of Bradenton worked together, to donate around $300,000 to help the district purchase the land for $750,000.  

Ever since then, Manatee County has covered the expenses to pay for the upkeep of the land.

Recently, the district announced the island no longer meets their goals and needs for water and resource conservation and is calling it surplus property.

Neighbors fear the undeveloped piece property will now be sold and change.

“It would be a huge loss for the environment," said Jessica Boarini, who lives across from the island.  "The island has a lot of mangroves, which are really important for the river.  Also the birds in the area use these islands for nesting, so it would be a loss for them too.  We should try to keep it as it is.”

Charlie Hunsicker, Director of Parks and Natural Resources with Manatee County, said they are working to get ownership of the land.

“It’s very important for us to keep it in a conservation state," said Hunsicker. "We’ll work very hard to make sure that happens in partnership with the district.”

Hunsicker said at this time they don’t know if they’ll have to pay for the property or if the district will donate it to them.

He said they do not want to see the island sold to a developer because it's very important to the environment.

“The Pine island system in the lower Braden River is very much a part of the estuary system that is so valuable for our sporting and commercial fishermen," said Hunsicker.  "The island itself is unique. It’s a pine flat woods, in a low serenity marine environment.”

The next stop will be for Manatee County officials to meet with Southwest Florida Water Management District officials to discuss how the property transfer might occur and what the terms of the transfer would be.

No meeting date has been set yet to discuss this.