MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- Glades County Commission Chairman Donna Storter commented at the latest Glades commission meeting on a recent “summit” meeting that she and county manager Paul Carlisle attended with the chairs and managers of six counties including Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, Glades and Sarasota County.
Among topics discussed were the Florida Panther and water quality issues. Storter says Collier Commission Chairman Tom Henning expressed an opinion that the Florida Panther, Florida's official state animal, should be removed from the Federal Endangered Species List.
Storter said she had the opportunity to explain to Collier County officials that though their Ave Maria new town and university development near Immokalee was beautiful, it has negatively impacted Glades County and Hendry County by the removal of panther habitat, now creating she says, development issues even north of the Caloosahatchee River;
Storter said she had the opportunity to explain to Collier County officials that though their Ave Maria new town and university development near Immokalee was beautiful, it has negatively impacted Glades County and Hendry County by the removal of panther habitat, now creating she says, development issues even north of the Caloosahatchee River;
"We now have in Glades County primary and secondary panther habitat zones as well as dispersal panther zones that inhibit development due to mitigation requirements," said Storter.
Storter said the Chairman of the Collier County Commission agreed with her "that the panthers now are not Florida natives but Texas crossbreeds."
Historically Florida Panthers lived in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and some think they reached into Texas. Today they only live in parts of Southern Florida. The US Fish & Wildlife Service and many private organizations are fighting to save the Florida Panther from extinction.
The Florida Panther was placed on the endangered species list in 1967. About 30 to 35 juvenile and adult Florida Panthers wear radio collars as part of the Florida Panther Recovery Program. It is estimated about 100 to 180 adults and subadults live in south Florida, the only known breeding population.
Storter said the meeting with commissioners and county managers "was informative and she felt each participant learned a lot about the issues of the other counties and found they had common ground to work on."
Modern science proves there is no such sub-species as a fla panther of what was once thought to be 32 sub-species thre are only 6 and only 1 in North America but lets keep the money and politics in this program and the heck with science it is inconvenient
ReplyDeleteWhy weren't they there at Panther Implemantation Recovery Team meeting Tuesday ?
ReplyDeleteWe need to DEMAND next Pather Implementation Recovery Team is in Collier/ Hendry County. Guatanteed they will make it somewhere so far away it will be impossible for many of us that deal with these beasts can attend.
ReplyDeleteThe Florida panther fraudulent endangered species designation is also documented in a book titled "Swamp Screamer" authored by Charles Fergus at pg 119, 120 & 121where it is explained by interviewees and the author that many knew many years ago that the cat in Florida had been hybridized back then and due to that it was a violation of the Endangered Species Act to list it as endangered since it was not a pure species but they went ahead and did it anyway.
ReplyDeleteFlorida also changed the name of the species it was protecting from florida panther to it's "panther population" when the Florida Game and Fish Commission could not convict an indian of intentionally killing one and hanging him up publicly due to GFC's inability to prove the dead cat was actually a florida panther. So much for honesty in this multi decade hole that continually is having our tax dollars dumped into it with zero bang for the bucks.
ReplyDeleteThe greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -Ghandi
ReplyDelete