Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many people are probably familiar with St. Simon's from the 30th g8 summit, though they technically refer to it as Sea Island (more on that in a moment). St Simon's has changed over the years. It's finally succumbing to development though they are being careful about it so as not to kill the golden goose (a very private feeling island). Most of the people that lived there prior to its rise in popularity have been dri…
I live on St Simons. You're conflating two islands here -- Sea Island is a separate island that has been privately owned since at least the 1920s. You have to drive across St Simons to get to Sea Island. For sure, Sea Island is a high end, gated resort community of a few hundred people. St Simons is home to about 12k people. It has been an expensive place to live since at least the 80s. I, too, share your concerns ab…
Unlike national conservation organizations (which are great and have their place), local land trusts can really take on the priorities of the local area.
For example, the land trust I'm involved with here in the Inland Northwest does a lot of work to make sure that land used for agriculture and forestry is preserved for those uses, doesn't turn into housing developments and can even be passed down from generation-to-generation of family farmers without a prohibitive tax burden.
In Montana where there's been tons issues over access to public lands blocked by private landowners, they're playing a key role in preserving that access.
The Land Trust Alliance is a great place to find your local land trust: https://www.findalandtrust.org/
I expect you'll be surprised at the amount of "good for your community" work they're doing.