TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Environmental advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday against several federal agencies over their handling of a large development project in South Florida — one which the groups argue could significantly harm the endangered Florida panther.
The lawsuit argues that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers violated the Endangered Species Act when they authorized a 10,264-acre residential and commercial development project known as Rural Lands West.
The project would be built in Collier County in prime habitat for the panther. The environmental groups, which include the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and South Florida Wildlands Association, argue thousands of acres of panther habitat would be destroyed by the Rural Lands West project. The Florida panther has already suffered significant habitat loss, with FWS estimating that no more than 230 adult panthers remain.
“Our hope is that this lawsuit will finally determine how much development is too much for the Florida panther,” South Florida Wildlands Association Executive Director Matthew Schwartz said in a press release. “We are also acutely aware that many more projects in the habitat beyond Rural Lands West are on the horizon, and this lawsuit may well be the panther’s last stand.”