NWF Slams Fed Study That Allowed Destruction Of Florida Panther Habitat

[hatrack]

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"The National Wildlife Federation, along with the Florida Panther Society and other groups, released a report titled Discrediting a Decade of Panther Science this week. Based on a government-funded peer review of panther literature released in December, the report says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers knowingly used bad panther science to appease development interests in Southwest Florida.

Now the Wildlife Federation and other groups want those agencies to immediately stop using several panther studies, most of which were written by Dave Maehr at the University of Kentucky. Maehr has long been considered the key panther authority for Florida, although he worked as a development consultant while at the same time promoting himself as an unbiased scientist. "I really think they have enough right now to come out tomorrow and say they'll no longer use this faulty science to review permits," said attorney John Kostyack with the Wildlife Federation. "The root of it is, developers pressured the agency to approve permits within panther habitat. The Fish and Wildlife Service found it politically easy to use the bad science."

Fish and Wildlife Service and other government agencies often cited Maehr's work when approving Southwest Florida projects on panther habitat, but a peer review report released last month says that much of the panther science was "seriously biased" and should no longer be used by permitting agencies. The review, which many say was long overdue, pointed out numerous flaws in Maehr's studies, going so far as to say much of his work should never again be used.

Karen Hill, with the Florida Panther Society in Gainesville, said rural areas of Southwest Florida that now contain developments like Florida Gulf Coast University, Miromar Lakes and Naples Reserve Golf Club probably would not have been permitted without the use of the faulty panther science."

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