Planned roads could imperil Florida's panthers--and last remaining wilderness

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Labelle, FloridaSouthwest Florida is still a wild place, where you can encounter a bear, a bobcat, or a panther. These creatures roam through large territories, and depend on a patchwork of public and private lands called the Florida wildlife corridor, which strings its way throughout the state.

One such spot is Babcock Ranch, a mix of cypress swamps and sprawling pastures in which cows and birds like endangered wood storks commingle. In November 2016, biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spotted a female Florida panther here, and allowed photographer Carlton Ward Jr. to set up a camera trap in a nearby grove of oak trees. He later photographed the cat with two cubs.

It was a monumental moment: This was the first female panther to be seen north of the Caloosahatchee River—a waterway a few miles south that flows west from Lake Okeechobee and drains into the gulf near Fort Myers—since 1973.

David Shindle, head panther biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, had been dreaming about such a moment his whole career. “She was a game changer,” he says, "an embodiment of resiliency."

To survive long-term, these cats will need to expand into millions of acres of habitat to the north—making this sighting extraordinarily good news for the Florida panther, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act.

While panthers reclaim their former territory, Florida's human population is booming: More than 900 people move to the Sunshine State every day on average, and problems like heavy traffic are getting worse in some areas. Smart planning is a must, though not all agree on what that means.

In a major push for development earlier this year, the state government approved the construction of three toll roads in three different sections of the state. The controversial legislation, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on May 17, is known as M-CORES—the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance program. It was put forward by Senate President Bill Galvano and quickly approved by the legislature on May 1.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/08/florida-toll-road-threatens-wildlife-panthers/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Animals_20190829&rid=FB26C926963C5C9490D08EC70E179424

[RKP5637]

1. Eventually, none will even visit in Florida. It will be a hot swampy place with much flooding and

over populated, strung all over with commercial enterprises hawking their wares ... and endless condos where nature and pristine beaches used to be.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. The parts of it that will be left after the increased coastal flooding.

Fla. is basically a lot of limestone.....with a lot of holes in it, so water erosion is a fact.
I've been told that water in some streets of Miami has gone from a rare to an unusual to an occasional, to almost a normal fact, now.

[RKP5637]

3. Yep, Miami is in a bad way. They say they are going to fix it with bulkheads and pumps, etc., but

just how much can you hold the ocean back, especially with hurricanes and all.