Dear Friends,

We know it’s the beginning of the weekend, but wanted to send this message to give folks a chance to respond. 

A massive development known as Kingston has been proposed for the core breeding habitat of the Florida panther in Southwest Florida and is now moving towards final approval. The comment period for the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency overseeing wetlands permitting for this project, closes on July 14. No time was specified – so you have until 11:59 PM Sunday. Ask the agencies to deny permit application SAJ-2024-00967 (SP-SJF).

Comments should be sent by email to:

Stephen.J.Fleming@usace.army.mil and robert_carey@fws.gov

South Florida Wildlands Association (SFWA) has already submitted an extensive comment letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on this project with detailed information on the impacts. Kingston will bring 10,000 new homes to a 6,600-acre rural site and generate tens of thousands of daily vehicle trips in the process. It will obliterate 3,400 acres of core Florida panther habitat and fragment surrounding rural lands through dense suburbanization. 

Kingston would also be sited practically adjacent to critically important public lands like the 60,000-acre Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) and the 13,000-acre Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary – greatly reducing the quality of the habitat these lands were established to provide.

The Kingston developers have applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a Clean Water Act 404 permit to allow for the fill of wetlands on the property. That application has also triggered consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) which will prepare a Biological Opinion on the project to ensure the project does not jeopardize the Florida panther and other federally protected species. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (50 CFR § 402.02) defines "jeopardize" as “reducing appreciably the likelihood of both the survival and recovery of the species in the wild by reducing its reproduction, numbers, or distribution.”

Given the sheer size of the Kingston project, its location in the core habitat of the panther (a tiny corner of what remains of rural Southwest Florida), the addition of tens of thousands of vehicle trips inside the habitat (the FWS estimates an additional 4 to 23 panthers will die annually due to the development), we believe jeopardy for the panther is very likely. If we add in the many other threats the Florida panther already faces - e.g., loss of prey due to the rapid proliferation of the Burmese python in its habitat, a still unsolved mystery-disease known as feline leukomyelopathy (FLM) that causes paralysis in panthers and bobcats, plus the impacts of dozens of existing developments that have already been greenlighted by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we believe jeopardy for the panther in terms of both its continued existence and its chances of recovery is virtually assured - if Kingston is allowed to move forward.

Please take a moment to write a quick email to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and tell them that now is the time to apply the brakes and put the well-being of the Florida panther and all the wildlife that share its habitat before economic considerations. Ask them to deny permit application SAJ-2024-00967 (SP-SJF).

A final note. The Endangered Species Act was written and signed into law in 1973 "to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved..." It begins with this finding:

“The Congress finds and declares that—(1) various species of fish, wildlife, and plants in the United States have been rendered extinct as a consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation...”

Kingston is EXACTLY why the Endangered Species Act was written and what it was created to prevent. Florida has turned itself inside out - destroying millions of acres or rare wildlife habitat in the process - to accommodate growth. This is the time to draw a line and do things in a different way.

See photos below. And if you can, please donate to our efforts. As we state in our comment letter, Kingston is hardly coming in alone (though it's by far the biggest). Many projects in core Florida panther habitat are currently winding their way through the permitting process. South Florida Wildlands is a local non-profit that has been laser-focused on the well-being of our region's native wildlife since 2010. We need resources to carry out our research, writing, and advocacy. Please support our efforts through a tax-deductible contribution at the following link. Donations can also be sent to our mailing address below.