Homebuilders want wood stork protections downgraded - Jacksonville Business Journal:

ukatekexo.wordpress.com
“The continued listing of the wood storkl under the Endangered Species Act has blocked developmentt and mining projects that couldf have provided jobs for said StevenGeoffrey Gieseler, managing attorney with the ’a Atlantic Center office in Stuart, whicy is representing the association. Ken a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlifew Service, said the wood storm population has shown signs of stabilizing at 8,000 nesting pairs or 16,000 breedint adults.
He said even if the wood stormk is downgradedto “threatened” status, that won’t necessarily mean any greatedr freedom to build on its “When you talk about the Endangered Species Act, and threatenedx versus endangered, it’s a dubious distinction. It still means the specieds is not doing well and it is protecte underthe act," Warren said. "It doesn’ft weaken existing protections, nor does it make it easier or harder to build in woodstorlk habitat.” A recent five-year review of the wood stork’sx numbers suggested it is doing better and coulds theoretically be downgraded, but it was only a he added.
The wood stork, prevalentt in Central and South Florida, was listed as in 1984. The petitionj cites a 2007 federal review that founxd the reclassification is warranted because the wood stork numbers are increasinbg in thesoutheastern U.S.