Living Green

Vast protection area urged for Florida panthers

Environmentalists are pressing the federal government to declare 3 million acres of South Florida - an area twice the size of Delaware - critical habitat for the nearly extinct Florida panther.

If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed, the added protection would raise the bar for developers seeking permits to build in the area, which covers most of Southwest Florida north to the Caloosahatchee River and western portions of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.

AP photo/AMANDA INSCORE The endangered Florida panther once roamed the southeastern U.S. by the thousands, but now number between 100 and 120 and live primarily in South Florida.

There's probably no more-endangered animals in the U.S. than the Florida Panther," said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, who authored the petition filed Thursday. "The habitat that they're occupying now is under threat of development - not just malls and housing developments but the roads that access them."

The move represents a more aggressive push in environmentalists' long-running effort to cordon off habitat for the endangered panther. The big cats once roamed the southeastern U.S. by the thousands but now number between 100 and 120, living primarily in South Florida.

Robinson, whose group is joined in the petition Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Council of Civic Associations, said he expects a response from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 90 days. Robinson threatened to sue if Fish and Wildlife does not act.

"We understand that the agency has in the past responded to political pressure," said Robinson. "We will be prepared to litigate."

Fish and Wildlife denied a 2008 request to protect panther habitat in Florida. But the agency softened its response when it opted not to deny outright a similar petition to this latest one, filed earlier this year by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

Fish and Wildlife Spokesman Ken Warren said the agency's current priorities are focused on a new panther recovery plan implemented this fall and a protection program being developed with a coalition of landowners. "We continue to weigh the science with an overall objective of always doing the right thing for the species."

To date, the Fish and Wildlife Service has generally elected to work with landowners rather than impose broad land restrictions, said Douglas Rillstone, a top land use and environmental attorney for Broad and Cassel.

"It is a serious issue," said Rillstone. "You're talking about designating 3 million acres of land that could impose additional restrictions that aren't there now. The real question is, number one, is critical habitat designation necessary and, number two, how do you know it's 3 million acres? What does the science say?" The panther population has come close to extinction, falling below 10 by the 1970s, as the steady inland march of homes, roads and strip malls intruded on them.

The cats' slight comeback is attributed in part to the temporary introduction of eight female pumas from Texas in 1995 by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

All were returned after five reproduced, injecting some genetic diversity into a population suffering from kinked tails, undeveloped sex organs and other signs of inbreeding. Fresh genes, in turn, helped the cats reproduce with more success.

But at the same time, panther deaths are increasing along Florida roads and highways. The 13th panther killed this year - the ninth by a vehicle - was found dead Sept. 8 on Interstate 75 in Collier County.