There are many things that were fine in years past, that are deemed inappropriate these days. As our population grows (I'm not talking locally, but globally) we are learning to adapt our behaviours in various manners to handle this change. This happens to be a local instance of human adaptation, and it's an issue of whether our personal needs are more important that the greater good, whether for humans or for the environment.
I'm not going to argue the point except to say that during the time your family has been coming to SoWal, there has also been a huge explosion of growth, both in tourism & in new residents. In years past, it didn't make as much impact to the beach at all because there weren't tents/canopies lined up from one end to the other. They were very sparse. Now, the amount of canopies lined up makes it really hard to even understand why some people don't see why what wasn't an issue is now regarding leaving canopies and/or gear out overnight.
I am blessed to live near Topsail Preserve & only see 1 tent that actually stays up
all summer.
It's right by the dunes under someone's stairs. I wonder about its necessity because I have only seen someone use it 3 times last summer & once this summer. But everyone else at that access just comes with the bare necessities & takes most everything with them. And, yes, it's more beautiful to look down the stretch of sand between there & Sandestin & see just beach with people walking on it & enjoying the view.
Even then, I'm not "anti-canopy" at all. I'm "anti-canopy left up overnight." And from the posts from those speaking up about the issue, pretty much everyone you're debating with falls somewhere within that category.
Being the fact that we are discussing an area of land that resides between land and sea, the dynamics of human behaviour affect the local environment around us even more than in other locations inland. Not to say that human behaviour everywhere doesn't affect an environment, but our actions here DIRECTLY and IMMEDIATELY affect not only the land environment (sea walls, etc.) but the marine environment (turtles, etc.) as well.
Humanity accepting responsibility in even small ways such as this to be stewards of the earth we live on is only a win-win situation for us. I'm not saying everyone should be a "left wing environmentalist" as someone put it earlier, but just take notice of the choices that each one of us can make that truly can make a difference. This is one of those choices.
BTW, the "save the turtle crowd" you're talking about are some of the most involved people in this community in all areas that you can imagine.
And that was the beautiful CityMouse with the precocious, adorable little boy. SoWallers were in attendance! BTW Mimi counted 57 people total. Usually they get 25-30.