Final Summary Document of Public Scoping Comments Submitted by the 3/31/11 Deadline
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area Summary of Public Scoping Comments - as of 3.31.2011 Comments were submitted in a variety of ways (e.g., at a public scoping meeting and by mail, fax, and email). Attendance at the public scoping meetings averaged ~440 per meeting: ~200 in Sebring, ~325 in Kissimmee, ~665 in Okeechobee, and ~580 in Vero Beach. As of March 31, 2011, the deadline for public scoping comments, over 38,000 written comments had been received. The comments were summarized and are grouped together by topic, as listed. • Wildlife and Habitat • Resource Protection • Recreation • Administration • General/Other Comments List of acronyms used in comments: BLM Bureau of Land Management CERP Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan DEP Florida Department of Environmental Protection DOI U.S. Department of Interior DOT Florida Department of Transportation EH Everglades Headwaters ESV Ecosystem Services Values FDOT Florida Department of Transportation FWC Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also USFWS LOPP Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NPS National Park Service NRC National Research Council NWR National Wildlife Refuge PES Payments for Ecosystem Services SFWMD South Florida Water Management District STA Stormwater Treatment Area TEV Total Economic Value TNC The Nature Conservancy USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also FWS Wildlife and Habitat General • If worried about the environment, we had more endangered species than anywhere in the State. We have the same amount of endangered species. We are good land stewards, so we don’t need the government or anything else. Don’t have the money to manage it correctly. Only place in the State like it. Preserved for his grandkids. • Their water management caused the last droughts, shoot all panthers and bears. We all believe in conservation, kill all the wildlife so there is nothing to protect. • I fully support the refuge for its protection of Endangered species such as panther, caracara, black bear, and it’s a good opportunity for Florida to expand and protect its natural habitat for the use of all the public. Secretary of Interior Salazar has stated, “the partnership being formed would protect and improve water quality north of Lake Okeechobee, restore wetlands and connect existing conservation lands and important wildlife corridors to support the Everglades restoration effort”. Secretary Salazar summed it up perfectly As of 3.31.2011 – Summary of Public Scoping Comments on the Proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area Page 1 and what better way to get additional habitat for endangered wading birds, bald eagles, and the Florida panther. • I support the proposed 150,000-acre wildlife refuge. It will provide much needed wildlife habitat. I am particularly hopeful that it will greatly enhance habitat for bird species that are either currently endangered or at risk of becoming endangered species. • I cannot say enough about this wonderful purchase. This way the natural resource in Florida will be protected from developers, specifically in Highlands County where the Lykes and Smoak brothers plan a huge development that will annihilate the wildlife in that area. Lake Apthorpe in the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem is where the Lykes and Smoak Brothers plan a huge development. This area has black bears, wild turkeys, Florida cats. The clean water of this lake will be gone forever. This lake should only (have) sailing and small fishing boats, not motorized boats where the gasoline fills the air. I hope the federal government can stop the destruction of the environment in Highlands County. • Cows are part of the system and help maintain the ecosystem here. This part of Florida is a fire based ecosystem. • Question: Would this area be used for red wolf reintroduction? There are red wolves at St. Vincent NWR and up in the Carolinas. o Answer: We are not aware of any plans to reintroduce red wolves to this area. • Question: How would invasive species management be handled? o Answer: For an area under conservation easement, the landowner would be responsible. • As noted the proposal is biologically based, targeting the cooperative conservation of an important Florida landscape, supporting various conservation plans and initiatives, and protecting, restoring, and conserving habitat for at least 88 Federal- and State-listed species and species designated by the State of Florida as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The Upper Everglades landscape is one of the great grassland and wetland areas of North America and vital to the long-term health and sustainability of wildlife such as the Florida panther, sandhill crane, Everglades snail kite, Florida crested caracara, Florida black bear, and many other species. • The proposed approach seems to be fostering recognition of the high value of rural land for rural enterprises, rural culture, natural wildlife conservation opportunities and ecosystem services inherent to these landscapes. The proposed approach furthers the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and the Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan (LOPP) move in the direction of utilizing the inherent water storage, attenuation and treatment potential of the Northern Everglades landscape as a means to achieve the ecological goals of Everglades/Okeechobee restoration. • I oppose FWS managing any additional properties in Florida because FWS will let the purchased land sit and be overrun with exotic plants and animals; Arthur Marshall NWR is an example of this. It is a detriment to surrounding property owners. • Strongly supports these efforts. Upper Kissimmee Basin is high in wildlife diversity and stewardship is great. • This conservation initiative will conserve biodiversity in areas that provide habitat to threatened and endangered species like Florida panthers, crested caracara, and the Everglades snail kite. • Include the swallow-tailed kite in the list of species of concern for the proposed refuge. This species is characteristic of this region. There is a concentration area for this species in the Fisheating Creek basin where they gather before their fall migration to South America. They nest in spring and summer in tall trees in hammocks, swamps, and cypress stands within the study area. This nesting habitat requires some attention to prevent overdrainage. • The proposal represents a great opportunity to accomplish important regional, State, and national goals, including to enhance the Kissimmee River restoration success with additional habitats surrounding the present restoration footprint. • The Kissimmee Valley region of Florida is one of renowned, high-quality landscapes and natural communities, and abundant and imperiled wildlife resources. Indeed, no other area of Florida supports such a concentrated assemblage of rare and declining vertebrate species, with many of them federally listed. Habitat for 88 federal or state listed species and state Species of Greatest Conservation Need would be protected with this project. As of 3.31.2011 – Summary of Public Scoping Comments on the Proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area Page 2 • Landscape-scale protection in the Northern Everglades would maintain an unprecedented collection of rare and threatened species and habitats, create a matrix of conservation lands and critical wildlife connectors, buffer climate change impacts and protect the Everglades headwaters. • We have a unique opportunity to rebuild a portion of natural environment that used to exist in our State. • How this proposal can best achieve the conservation mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System: establish ecosystem-based refuge purposes; focus on large, contiguous tracts of properties, which can be acquired from willing participants; maintain the current approach to land protection options; and encourage and manage wildlife-dependent uses in a manner consistent with the conservation mission of the Refuge System. o The establishment documents should provide a clear statement of the refuge’s purposes and these purposes should be consistent with the conservation mission of the Refuge System as a whole [16 USC 668dd(a)(4)(D)]. The purposes of the refuge should be ecosystem based. The current literature on land protection and ecosystem management promotes a conservation focus favoring biodiversity, conservation of representative ecosystems, resilience, and preservation of undeveloped linkages to facilitate evolutionary adaptation and range transitions [Robert L. Fischman and Bob Adamcik, Beyond Trust Species: the Conservation Potential of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the Wake of Climate Change, Research Paper Number 159 (November 2010)]. This is particularly important when climate change and sea level rise will pose new challenges to a number of different species who may need to transition and adapt towards the inland part of the state and away from areas closer to the coast (Fischman and Adamcik 2010). The northern Everglades region, with its vast array of representative ecosystems, rich biodiversity, and unique location, provides a tremendous opportunity to advance ecosystem-based approaches to wildlife management. o The land acquisition strategy should target large, contiguous tracts of lands from willing sellers. o Particular focus needs to be paid to establishing linkages between existing conservation lands, creating