Conservation groups are taking their fight for the endangered Florida panther to federal court. They formally told the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and developer Tarpon Blue Silver King I, LLC, that they plan to sue to stop a huge new project in the heart of panther breeding territory in southwest Florida.
At the center of this legal battle is the Rural Lands West project, a sprawling 10,264-acre development in Collier County, right in what experts call the “primary zone” for Florida panthers. Conservationists say federal agencies broke the law by approving it. They argue the agencies ignored their own rules under the Endangered Species Act, putting panthers at even greater risk as their habitat shrinks.
“Relentless development keeps eating away at the last bits of panther habitat we have left,” said Jason Totoiu, Florida policy director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Fish and Wildlife Service shouldn’t have given this project the green light without seriously looking at what it means for panther recovery. We’ve already lost so much ground. We’re not just going to sit back and watch the panther vanish from Florida.”…