The document discusses a proposed development project in Florida that would build a new town on land currently serving as habitat for the endangered Florida panther. While the developer claims the project will be sustainable and not threaten the panther population, others express concerns that further habitat loss poses risks to the few remaining panthers. Balancing growth and development with protecting crucial wildlife areas and endangered species like the Florida panther is an ongoing challenge.

1. Enc
By Jed Cicoria

2. • How can the state of Florida balance the
reality of urbanization with the need to
protect the Florida panther?

3. • A large developer in Collier County has just
unveiled plans to build a new town on 8,000
acres of farmland surrounded by 14,000 acres
of preserve. The proposed town would include
space for 9,000 residential units, offices, a golf
course, a 500-room hotel, a 200-bed
hospital, civic and cultural buildings and
parks. The land developer claims that the
community will be a sustainable one that will
preserve the rural quality of the area.

4. • Florida panther is an endangered animal and the
building project will be located right in their
primary habitat zone.
• “Now the panther faces multiple threats, the
largest those is habitat loss, which can be
resolved by re-establishing breeding populations
in appropriate portions of its former range of the
southeastern United States. For more information
on current threats to the panther population, see
Panther Info.”.

5. • Florida’s state animal, the panther, has been
on the state’s endangered species list since
1973. About 80 - 100 panthers remain in the
Florida panther population. As recent as the
early 1990s, only about 30 Florida panthers
existed. Although the numbers have risen due
to recovery programs, the Florida panther is
still critically endangered.

6. • His primary concern is to preserve Florida’s
natural beauty. He wishes to build this town over
the next 10-15 years and believes he can build it
in a way that will not endanger the Florida
panther. He is partnering with the Rural Lands
Stewardship program to ensure the preservation
of more than 7,000 to 11,000 acres of land and
historic ranches and farms. He believes that the
proposed community will be a sustainable one
where humans and animals can co-habitat in
harmony.

7. • As out environment and habitat continues to erode
around us, it is important that we begin to think about
sustainable growth.
• Growth that allows us to expand but to preserve the
earth as well.
• All of these programs and policies combined are clearly
capable of cutting per capita auto fuel use over the
next couple of decades to a fraction of what it is today.
Without even getting into alternative or "clean"
fuels, this could make a major impact on air
pollution, acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions.

8. • They work for the Florida Tourist Board and
their primary concern is to continue to attract
tourists to Southwest Florida, not only for its
beaches but for its unique rural quality and
huge preserves of land and water. They see
this development opportunity as a way to
market Florida’s beauty.

9. • Today, tourism is the most important factor
driving Florida's economy. About forty million
people visit Florida yearly. The money visitors
spend in Florida supports many businesses.
Amounting to over $40 billion dollars each
year, tourism is the state's greatest source of
income. As tourism continues to grow, so will
Florida

10. Overcrowding
• But the population growth that has transformed
Florida into a crowded mass of
subdivisions, congested highways, and paved-
over pastures has just begun. If current trends
continue, the state’s population will increase by
5.5 million by 2025 and will have doubled by
2050, when its population could surpass 32
million – or twice the 15,982,378 counted in the
2000 census. (That does not include the close to
one million “snowbirds” who reside in the state
every winter.5 )

11. Near Extinction
• The Florida panther has been on the endangered
species list since 1967, but its habitat has been
egregiously under protected. The Florida Panther
Recovery Plan (2008) and the September 2009
critical habitat petition identify three areas
needed for protection: a “primary zone” where
panthers currently live and reproduce, a
“secondary zone” of adjoining areas that
panthers sometimes roam, and a “dispersal zone”
consisting of a narrow travel

12. Important to the environment
• The Florida Panther is special simply because it
exists. As a top predator this subspecies of
mountain lion is known as an “Umbrella Species”
because its survival means the survival of the
flora and fauna (plants and animals) that live in
its range. If we are losing big cats, it is because we
are losing natural wilderness areas to urban
sprawl. Preserving wilderness protects the
quality of soil, water and air that all
species, including us depend on for life.

13. • I agree that sustainability is important but to
me preservation of nature and the animals
that live in this habitat is more important than
growth. That is just my personal opinion.

14. For the panther
• More land is given to the panthers this should
be the number one priority seeing as they
lead to a stable wildlife.
• Also more needs to be done to exclusively
protect Florida panthers.

15. For the communities
• This is also very important because it plays
such a huge role in our economy as well as
providing for our needs more economically
friendly.
• So more housing developments should be
converted to sustainable communities but
only after the panther is cared for.

16. Works Cited