FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Roland Ottolini, Lee
County Natural Resources Management
(941) 479-8127
LEE PANTHER HABITAT STUDY COULD HELP CONNECT WILDLIFE CORRIDORS
FORT MYERS, Fla. (October 17, 2001) – A $60,000 panther habitat study commissioned by Lee County Government indicates there’s an opportunity to enhance habitat area by linking existing and future conservation lands – particularly in the southeastern part of the county.
The county contracted with the University of Kentucky to do the study as the basis for a more comprehensive approach to dealing with habitat conservation issues and the impacts of county road and infrastructure projects on the Florida Panther. Panther expert Dr. David Maehr, a faculty member at the university, was the principal investigator for the study.
The study should provide a way for the county to focus its current conservation efforts in a more comprehensive fashion, instead of mitigating project impacts on a case-by-case, or piecemeal, basis. It also provides for a method of mitigation that is more firmly based in science.
By identifying specific landscape linkages in Lee County and identifying exactly how panther habitat in Lee County connects with areas in adjacent counties, the county can get a better idea of what preservation purchases and policies would have the most impact.
The 50-page study can be viewed by clicking HERE or at www.lee-county.com under "Lee County Information." As part of the study, Maehr also is completing detailed maps of panther habitat.
Through several programs – including the Conservation 2020 program that has acquired 7,500 acres of environmentally sensitive land to date – Lee County is making an effort to conserve habitat areas and preserve water sources.
In addition, the Maehr study suggests other conservation tools that could include:
"Hopefully, this will serve as a platform for directing our efforts," says Roland Ottolini, the county’s director of Natural Resources Management.