Home Depot Applies for Permit to Kill Endangered Species

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

September 2, 1999 Thursday, VOLUSIA

SECTION: LOCAL & STATE; Pg. D1

HEADLINE: STORE EYES SCRUB JAY LAND;
HOME DEPOT WANTS FEDERAL PERMISSION TO BUILD ON THE HABITAT.

By Ludmilla Lelis of The Sentinel Staff


ORANGE CITY - Home Depot is making a rare request for a federal take
permit because construction of its new store and an adjacent Wal-Mart
Supercenter would destroy prime habitat for the threatened Florida scrub
jay and Eastern indigo snake.

If approved, the permit would clear the way for construction of a 40-acre
shopping plaza even though the creatures could be killed or injured and
their habitat lost.

Jim Kerr, Orange City assistant planner, said the two companies would
share a commercial center on the new Veterans Memorial Parkway near the
Saxon Boulevard exchange off Interstate 4.

The permit requires the retailers to pay $272,160 to conserve other scrub
jay habitat in Volusia County, according to federal wildlife officials.

Construction would also be forbidden when the jays are nesting. The
normal nesting period lasts from late February to early June.

The permit application was received Aug. 25 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and posted on the federal registry Wednesday for public comment.

Unique to Florida, the scrub jay is a relative of the blue jay and has
been recognized by one scientific union as a separate species. Between
7,000 and 11,000 of the blue-breasted birds live in the state. They are
classified as threatened because of dwindling numbers and loss of 80
percent of their habitat over the past 100 years.

Scrub jays and Eastern indigo snakes live in the high and dry scrub lands
that are valued for development.

Surveyors found three families of scrub jays living on the proposed
construction site, federal officials said. No Indigo snakes have been
found, but the reptiles are included on the request because it appears
some are there, according to David Dell of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.

A federal incidental take permit is required where construction or other
activities directly harm an endangered or threatened animal, said Dell.

"It relieves them of any liability for an unlawful take of a listed
species," said Dell. "It allows the project to be completed and
compensates for the loss of habitat or a take of the scrub jay."

A "take" is the harassment, harming, trapping, wounding or killing of a
protected animal. The only take permit issued in Volusia was granted to
the county government for sea turtles.

Only one such permit has been approved in Volusia County. It makes the
county government responsible for sea turtle protection. Two permit
applications, one for a 48-acre project and one for a single family
residence, are under review.

The take permits became part of the Endangered Species Act about 10 years
ago but were rarely issued for several years. However, the Clinton
administration has supported more permits and related habitat
conservation plans as a way to balance development with environmental
concerns. As of January 1999, only 239 such plans have been approved
nationwide.

Federal officials said the retailers had the choice of preserving 8 acres
within the construction site, but that would have limited the amount of
buildable land. Instead, the developers want to preserve land off-site
and get the special federal permit.

The $272,160 would be given to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
a nonprofit organization founded by the U.S. Congress, which runs several
conservation programs. Federal officials said the funds would buy scrub
habitat in Volusia County.

Volusia environmental management director Stephen Kint- ner said he has
been developing plans for a county scrub preserve, and the wildlife
foundation could share costs. The potential scrub jay preserve could
include sections of Deltona, which has a large population of the birds
and undeveloped lands along the Volusia-Brevard border, which are also
prime scrub habitat. Such a preserve could include 3,000 to 4,000 acres,
but would take several years to complete, Kintner said.

The Home Depot's application will be open for public comment for one
month. Dell said it would probably take a few more months before the
permit could be issued. A starting date for construction will depend on
if and when the permit is issued.

Home Depot and Wal-Mart officials couldn't be reached for comment
Wednesday.