Environmentalists pushing for more stringent wildlife protections

Environmental groups are pushing for a new county rule to require the county to impose more stringent wildlife protections on a development project if the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends it.

Amid disagreement about the wording of the proposal, attorneys for Collier suggested at a Wednesday night hearing that the Collier County Planning Commission put off the issue until Nov. 20.

The Planning Commission met Wednesday to begin reviewing land development codes to put the county's new rural growth plan into action. The plan is the result of a 1999 slow-growth order from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet. Some of the codes, such as the wildlife protection rule, would apply countywide.

County commissioners have the final say. Votes are set for Dec. 10 and Jan. 7.

Developer attorney George Varnadoe said Wednesday that the county ought not let federal and state agencies set county policy.

"I think you've got a real problem with delegation of authority," Varnadoe said.

A proposal to require only that the county consider state and federal agency recommendations will not meet with approval from environmental groups, advocates said Wednesday.

"That doesn't get us anywhere," said Florida Wildlife Federation field representative Nancy Payton.

She said the aim should be to prevent county commissioners from "getting political" with wildlife protection.

The proposed rule would apply to so-called listed species -- animals and plants that are on state and federal lists of endangered or threatened species. The state also has a list of species of special concern.

Collier County's listed species include the Florida panther, West Indian manatee, bald eagle, Florida black bear, wood stork, red-cockaded woodpecker and gopher tortoise.

The county's Environmental Advisory Council plans to take up the wildlife protection issue Dec. 3.

EAC member Ed Carlson, manager of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, said Wednesday that the county should be willing to be more strict than state and federal permitting agencies when it comes to protecting wildlife.

"We have to have the ability to step in and have authority in our own county," he said.

Carlson suggested the county ought to have the same sort of discretion in protecting wetlands.

Listed species protection has been at issue in the debate over the proposed rezoning of the former Wiggins Pass Marina to make way for a high-rise condominium and marina.

The developer of Coconilla is asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to waive federal bald eagle protection guidelines and allow work during bald eagle nesting season, from Oct. 1 to May 15, even though bald eagles nest in a tree some 830 feet away.

The issue also reared up in 2001 when county commissioners approved a private fishing lake proposed by the Hideout Golf Club east of Golden Gate.

At environmental advocates' urging, the developer agreed to comply with federal guidelines to protect red-cockaded woodpeckers despite questions about whether the project would trigger federal review.