\n\t\t\t\t\t\tConservation groups are threatening legal action over a proposed large-scale development in eastern Collier County, arguing it could further endanger the already threatened Florida panther.The groups notified federal agencies Wednesday of their intent to file a lawsuit, saying the proposed Rural Lands West project violates the Endangered Species Act. The development would allow new homes and businesses to be built east of Golden Gate Estates, an area experts say is critical panther habitat.\u201cThis is primary zone habitat for panthers,\u201d said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association. \u201cThey have to see if there\u2019s any endangered or threatened species on the site and if there are adverse impacts to those species.\u201dThe proposed project would bring roughly 9,000 homes, a town center and commercial space to thousands of acres currently considered important wildlife habitat. Conservationists argue the development would significantly reduce the land available for panthers to roam, hunt and reproduce.Jason Totoiu, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the lawsuit would allege that federal agencies failed to properly assess the project\u2019s long-term impact on the species.\u201cWe were alleging that the federal agency that is responsible for reviewing these types of projects failed to consider this particular development\u2019s impact on the ability of the Florida panther to both survive and recover,\u201d Totoiu said. \u201cA species like the Florida panther can cling to survival, so to speak.\u201dThe project has already been approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Conservation groups say that approval came without adequate analysis of how the development could affect the panther\u2019s recovery in the wild.According to wildlife officials, only a few hundred Florida panthers remain. Vehicle strikes remain one of the leading causes of death. Just three weeks into the year, at least two panthers have already been killed in traffic crashes.\u201cOne just yesterday, a female, which is even more tragic,\u201d Totoiu said. \u201cWe actually need females to reproduce and increase the population.\u201dBoth Totoiu and Schwartz say the potential lawsuit could have major implications for the future of the species.\u201cOur hope is that the Fish and Wildlife agency will simply do its job and consider what this means for the species\u2019s survival and recovery,\u201d Totoiu said.\u201cThey can\u2019t just keep developing project after project and not say how much is too much,\u201d Schwartz added.Developers behind the Rural Lands West project and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been contacted for comment regarding the potential lawsuit. As of publication, no response had been received.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tNAPLES, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Conservation groups are threatening legal action over a proposed large-scale development in eastern Collier County, arguing it could further endanger the already threatened Florida panther.<\/p>\n
The groups notified federal agencies Wednesday of their intent to file a lawsuit, saying the proposed Rural Lands West project violates the Endangered Species Act. The development would allow new homes and businesses to be built east of Golden Gate Estates, an area experts say is critical panther habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is primary zone habitat for panthers,\u201d said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association. \u201cThey have to see if there\u2019s any endangered or threatened species on the site and if there are adverse impacts to those species.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed project would bring roughly 9,000 homes, a town center and commercial space to thousands of acres currently considered important wildlife habitat. Conservationists argue the development would significantly reduce the land available for panthers to roam, hunt and reproduce.<\/p>\n
Jason Totoiu, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the lawsuit would allege that federal agencies failed to properly assess the project\u2019s long-term impact on the species.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were alleging that the federal agency that is responsible for reviewing these types of projects failed to consider this particular development\u2019s impact on the ability of the Florida panther to both survive and recover,\u201d Totoiu said. \u201cA species like the Florida panther can cling to survival, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project has already been approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Conservation groups say that approval came without adequate analysis of how the development could affect the panther\u2019s recovery in the wild.<\/p>\n
According to wildlife officials, only a few hundred Florida panthers remain. Vehicle strikes remain one of the leading causes of death. Just three weeks into the year, at least two panthers have already been killed in traffic crashes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne just yesterday, a female, which is even more tragic,\u201d Totoiu said. \u201cWe actually need females to reproduce and increase the population.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Totoiu and Schwartz say the potential lawsuit could have major implications for the future of the species.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope is that the Fish and Wildlife agency will simply do its job and consider what this means for the species\u2019s survival and recovery,\u201d Totoiu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can\u2019t just keep developing project after project and not say how much is too much,\u201d Schwartz added.<\/p>\n
Developers behind the Rural Lands West project and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been contacted for comment regarding the potential lawsuit. As of publication, no response had been received.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conservation groups are threatening legal action over a proposed large-scale development in eastern Collier County, arguing it could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[62954,62950,62955,28,30,29,31592,62951,62952,833,62953,28547,5204,24187,32633,9940,62957,62956],"class_list":{"0":"post-127250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-collier-county-development","9":"tag-conservation-group","10":"tag-federal-agency-wednesday","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-headlines","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-florida-panther","15":"tag-jason-totoiu","16":"tag-large-scale-development","17":"tag-lawsuit","18":"tag-matthew-schwartz","19":"tag-new-home","20":"tag-project","21":"tag-recovery","22":"tag-specie","23":"tag-town-center","24":"tag-u-s-fish","25":"tag-wildlife-service"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}