Walmart planned for endangered forest lands in South Florida

[M II A II R II K]

Walmart planned for endangered forest lands in South Florida


July 13th, 2014

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/1...ndangered.html

One of the world’s rarest forests, a section of Miami-Dade County’s last intact tracts of endangered pine rockland, is getting a new resident: a Walmart.

- About 88 acres of rockland, a globally imperiled habitat containing a menagerie of plants, animals and insects found no place else, was sold this month by the University of Miami to a Palm Beach County developer. To secure permission for the 158,000-square-foot box store, plus an LA Fitness center, Chik-fil-A and Chili’s restaurants and about 900 apartments, the university and the developer, Ram, agreed to set aside 40 acres for a preserve.

- Ram also plans to develop 35 adjacent acres still owned by the university. But with less than 2 percent of the vast savanna that once covered South Florida’s spiny ridge remaining, the deal has left environmentalists and biologists scratching their heads. --- “You wonder how things end up being endangered? This is how. This is bad policy and bad enforcement. And shame on UM,” said attorney Dennis Olle, a board member of Tropical Audubon and the North American Butterfly Association, who wrote to Florida’s lead federal wildlife agent Friday demanding an investigation.

- Ram, which has built dozens of strip shopping centers and dense residential projects across Florida and the Southeast, chose the land at Coral Reef Drive and Southwest 127th Avenue because it provided a “unique chance to create . . . a place where people can easily walk from the neighborhood to shops and elsewhere,” CEO Casey Cummings said in a written response to questions. --- The site also provided easy access to highways and jobs, and met a growing demand for “high-quality rental housing, shopping, fitness and dining options,” he said. Cummings pointed out that the company could have built even more housing — 1,200 apartments — and added 70,000 square feet of retail space to the 300,000 it has planned.

- Federal officials say they are closely watching the project, given the pending protection of the Bartram’s hairstreak butterflies, which need a host plant, the pineland croton, that was found in the area. But officials say they are limited in what they can do. Habitat for endangered wildlife can be protected only if federal money or property is involved. And sanctions can be issued only if endangered animals — say, the eggs of a butterfly left on a croton — are killed. --- “Our listed plants are very rare, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that so little habitat remains. So we certainly place a great value on these species’ conservation,” said Craig W. Aubrey, South Florida field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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[chris08876]

Florida is littered with Wal-Marts. We don't need more bland boxes. Not on endangered lands. I normally am for development but this is a case where I am against it. Chik-fil-A??? How many more fatasses do we need!?

[KevinFromTexas]

Florida's problem is it's infested with humans. It's such a shame that one of this nation's most beautiful states is so heavily burdened by human habitation.

Of course it's the same here, so I'm not singling Florida out. And of course that kind of suburban development is fine in the eyes of most Americans, but anything vertical freaks them out and turns them rabidly against it.

[dave8721]

I drive by this site all the time. Most of the forrest is protected government owned land (mostly owned by ZooMiami), I was surprised to learn that this portion wasn't. The idea that it is "between two national parks" is pushing it a little. All of the southern half of Miami-Dade County is "between two national parks".

Here is the forest in question:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/12...846d72b825a787

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/1...stop-work.html

Feds ask developer to stop work on Walmart in rare Miami-Dade forest

BY JENNY STALETOVICH
JSTALETOVICH@MIAMIHERALD.COM

A developer building a Walmart on a tract of disappearing forest between two national parks in south Miami-Dade County should stop all work until a survey of endangered wildlife is completed, federal officials warned this week.

In a strongly worded letter sent to Ram Realty Services, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said at least eight threatened species, including the federally protected Florida bonneted bat and two endangered plants, could inhabit about 140 acres of pine rockland north of Zoo Miami off Coral Reef Drive.

Field Supervisor Craig Aubrey said Ram should first obtain a federal permit before proceeding with any work that could threaten protected species.

“We want to work with them to make sure there’s a project that balances the economic development with the needs of the species there,” Aubrey said. “It’s not just one species. There’s a lot of sensitive resources out there.”

In a statement, Ram Chairman Peter Cummings said the company, which received the letter within the last two days, was reviewing the recommendations and plans to meet with wildlife officials.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/1...#storylink=cpy

[bobdreamz]

^ I thought this was out in the middle of nowhere until I looked at the address you posted. This is a highly urbanized area and had no idea that there was some important habitat there to protect. The last thing this area needs though is a Wal-Mart since traffic is already horrid on Coral Reef drive.