Major Update on Walmart/UM South Campus Project: The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service just announced Endangered Species/Habit Protection Status for the 2 endangered Butterflies reportedly found at the old Richmond Naval Air Station Rockland Forrest. This will afford SOME federal protection of the site. New Rules go into effect September First. It does NOT stop the project, which still needs to be vigorously opposed, imho. For Immediate Release, August 11, 2014 Two Florida Butterflies Protected Under Endangered Species Act, Along With 22,100 Acres of Habitat Butterflies Threatened by Walmart Development, Sea-level Rise ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— As part of an agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed decisions to protect 757 imperiled species across the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it will protect two south Florida butterflies under the Endangered Species Act, along with 22,100 acres of critical habitat. The protected habitat includes land in Miami-Dade County, where a developer wants to build a Walmart and a strip mall. Today’s protections are for the Florida leafwing, a beautiful butterfly that looks like a dead leaf when at rest, and Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak, a medium-sized gray butterfly with delicate dashes of white and rust. Both butterflies have lost a significant amount of their pine rockland habitat due to development, and they are also now facing the serious and compounding threats of climate change. “This is an important victory for these two struggling Florida butterflies,” said Jaclyn Lopez, a Florida-based attorney at the Center. “This designation should help protect the rare and disappearing pine rocklands that are important habitat for a host of Florida species.” The Florida leafwing now only occurs in Everglades National Park, while Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak can be found in Big Pine Key, Everglades National Park and other areas of conservation land. Today’s decision protects 10,561 acres of habitat the Florida leafwing butterfly and 11,539 acres for the Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak butterfly, all in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. This designation covers lands that are slated for development for a new strip mall featuring a Walmart, Chili’s and Chick-fil-A.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 17:44:30 +0000
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