Keys naturalist dead at 78

Sandy Sprunt was Audubon's national research director

BY STEVE GIBBS

Citizen Staff

A respected local leader with an international reputation as a naturalist and conservationist is dead at 78.

Alexander "Sandy" Sprunt IV died Friday in Madison, Wis., due to complications from Alzheimer's Disease.

A past research director for the National Audubon Society, Sprunt's work helped the survival of the American bald eagle, American flamingoes, roseate spoonbills and numerous other bird species, including the California condor.

"He was part of the Sprunt dynasty," said Mark Kraus, the deputy state director of Audubon. "His father was responsible for East Coast operations."

Sprunt's father was a program supervisor for Audubon who wrote significant books on birds, including "Florida Bird Life" and "South Carolina Bird Life."

"I knew Sandy for 11 years. ... He was well respected by the Audubon family," Kraus said. "Even after his retirement [in 1995] you'd find him talking about the history. At other times you'd find him puttering around pulling weeds [at the Tavernier Science Center where Sprunt originally supervised construction]."

Current Science Center Director Jerry Lorenz gives Sprunt credit for making the Indian Mound Trail office the nonprofit organization's research headquarters nationwide.

"I believe the reason he wanted it here was because this was the center, historically. He chose this area because of the connection with Guy Bradley," Lorenz said. "He wanted to keep the focus on bird conservation, particularly in South Florida."

Bradley, a Monroe County deputy hired by Audubon as a game warden, was fatally shot in 1905 by poachers of exotic tropical birds.

Sprunt also was an original appointee to the Monroe County Land Authority Advisory Committee.

"He was appointed first by Commissioner Wilhelmina Harvey and re-appointed by her successor, Commissioner Dixie Spehar," Land Authority Director Mark Rosch said.

"He was instrumental in shaping the direction of the Land Authority, recognizing that we could protect hardwood hammock," he said. "Despite his stature as a world-renown biologist, he was very generous with his time. He volunteered many days in the field helping the Land Authority evaluate and inspect potential land acquisitions. He's someone who cared deeply about the environment and the people of the Keys."

When Frank Graham wrote about Sprunt in a 1968 history of the Audubon Society, he called him "right up there in front" of the growing conservationist movement.

"He was kind of an ambassador for Audubon beyond Florida," Graham added.

Sprunt was born in Charleston, S.C., and educated at Davidson College in North Carolina and Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Va. His 43-year employment with the National Audubon Society began in 1952 as a Texas wildlife warden and tour leader.

He became the national research director for Audubon in 1960. Sprunt investigated numerous birds for Audubon, including South Florida and Caribbean wading seabird populations.

He was a member of the Florida National Parks and Monuments Association, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bahamas National Trust, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Upper Keys Rotary Club and the Monroe County Land Authority. Special recognitions include the Sandy Sprunt Mot Mot Trail at Asa Wright Nature Centre of Trinidad, and the Sandy Sprunt Dove Creek Hammocks Wildlife and Environmental Area in Key Largo at Mile Marker 94.

"He was a big part of not only Audubon, but a huge part of our natural world," said longtime friend Commissioner Sylvia Murphy.

He is survived by his wife, Donna, a retired Plantation Key registered nurse; two daughters, Betsey Lunsford of Fort Myers and Susan Sprunt of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; and five grandchildren.

Memorial services are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, 375 Sanctuary Road, Naples, FL 34120.

sgibbs@keysnews.com