Fish and Wildlife's realignment plan makes some wary
By Julio Ochoa

Monday, May 8, 2006

A plan by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to shift its focus away from reviewing developments and transportation projects could come at the expense of some of the state's natural resources, some officials say.

The commission is considering a realignment that would cut in half the number of people in charge of reviewing and commenting on projects, many of which are environmentally sensitive, said Jim Beever, a biological scientist with the commission.

The restructuring would leave one person for the entire west coast up to the Panhandle, one person for the east coast and one person for the north-central and Panhandle region.

Fewer staff means some projects might not receive notifications from the commission regarding plant or animal species that could be affected, and possible remediation, said Beever, who comments on west coast projects.

"We will set priorities on what we can review and comment on and the other things won't get done," Beever said. "It could be bad for the environment."

If the new alignment is adopted, Beever and the two other reviewers would likely only have time to comment on the biggest projects with the most significant impacts, he said.

"There are only a certain number of hours in a day," said Beever, whose job also involves work with gopher tortoises and technical assistance for local agencies, such as Lee County's Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The commission's spokesman in Tallahassee said any realignment should ultimately help the agency better manage Florida's resources.

"The agency is evaluating its current alignment of staff resources associated with environmental commenting to be more effective," said FWCC spokesman Willy Puz. "We'll be using more experts in dealing with specific issues to comment on projects for the betterment of our fish and wildlife resources."

It is possible that several different departments within the commission will aid the reviewers with comments, Puz said.

If the commission is indeed moving its resources around to focus on more critical areas, such as the management of state lands, the change could be justified, said Wayne Daltry, director of Smart Growth for Lee County.

"I want to see their rationality before I take the opportunity to comment," Daltry said.

The county has improved its environmental reviews, which may help pick up the slack, Daltry said.

But if the number of applications for developments and road projects is rising, it would justify more employees, not less, said Lee Commissioner Ray Judah.
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"If anything, there should be an increase in staff in order to provide responsible stewardship and protection of our natural resources," Judah said. "It's going to be difficult to provide the minimal professional review necessary to safeguard our environment."

Lee County is already funding a position within the Department of Environmental Protection to oversee and review development projects that impact wetlands, he said.

Commissioners approved that position because there was already insufficient personnel to adequately protect the county's natural resources, Judah said.

If the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is making the change because of a funding issue, then voters should get involved, he said.

"People in the community can contact their legislators to impress upon our representatives the need to adequately protect our natural resources," Judah said.