Homebuilders want wood stork protections downgraded - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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“The continued listing of the wood storkj under the Endangered Species Act has blocker development and mining projects that could have providefd jobsfor thousands,” said Steven Geoffrey Gieseler, managing attorney with the ’s Atlantic Cente r office in Stuart, which is representing the association. Ken a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlifr Service, said the wood stork population has shown signs of stabilizing at 8,000 nesting pairs or 16,000 breeding He said even if the wood stork is downgradede to “threatened” status, that won’t necessarilh mean any greater freedom to builx on its habitat.
“When you talk aboug the EndangeredSpecies Act, and threatened versuds endangered, it’s a dubious distinction. It still means the speciew is not doing well and it is protectecd underthe act," Warren said. "It doesn’t weaken existingt protections, nor does it make it easier or harder to build in woodstork habitat.” A recent five-yead review of the wood stork’s numbers suggested it is doinhg better and could theoretically be downgraded, but it was only a he added. The wood stork, prevalentf in Central and South Florida, was listedf as "endangered" in 1984.
The petition cite a 2007 federal review that found the reclassification is warrantec because the wood stork numbers are increasing in thesoutheastern U.S.