Connectivity: it can be life or death for the endangered Florida panther in the Greater Western Everglades. In Collier County, there are two important major corridors used by wildlife, especially large mammals such as the Florida panther. The proposed Bellmar development threatens to encroach on, and significantly reduce the viability of, one of these corridors – the Camp Keais Strand. Speak up to protect the panther, the Greater Western Everglades, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and our public lands!
Bellmar would add more than 4,000 homes and associated strip malls only about one mile away from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, threatening not only our wildlife, but also our public lands.
The project would destroy more than 1,800 acres of Primary Zone panther habitat –the most valuable to the future of the species- and 130+ acres of wetlands.
Compounding habitat and corridor impacts is the threat of panther-vehicle collisions, a major source of mortality for this species. Development on the Bellmar site will add tens of thousands of vehicle trips per day onto already-deadly roadways.
Loss of these core habitats, fragmentation of an essential corridor, more cars on the road, and impacts to the nearby Panther Refuge will jeopardize the Florida panther’s future.
Bellmar’s location in such close proximity to the Panther Refuge is also extremely problematic because the Refuge requires use of controlled burns to manage their lands for the benefit of deer, panthers, and the dozens of other protected species that reside there. The Refuge managers have expressed concerns that management of the preserve, hydrologic restoration, and important listed species habitats will be at risk if the Bellmar development is approved as proposed.
Another listed species in the cross-hairs is the imperiled crested caracara, because there is a nest in the middle of the area that will be converted to development. The caracara utilizes the project site for its territory, however the applicant has not even gone so far as to protect the most sensitive area by eliminating a mere ~50 acres from their massive project where the nest tree is.