Florida’s leading wildlife agency has proposed amendments to its rules regulating endangered and threatened species that will make the state’s fish and wild animal protections more akin to federal requirements and eliminate species listing and permitting duplication.

After years of administering and enforcing wildlife protection rules that are similar to those of its federal counterpart but different enough to cause duplication of efforts, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (“FWC”) has issued proposed rules that will accomplish the following:

  • Include endangered and threatened species designated by the U.S. Department of Interior or Commerce under the federal Endangered Species Act in Florida’s definition of “Federally-designated Endangered and Threatened Species”.
  • Provide rules for the FWC’s designation of species of fish or wild animal life that are native to Florida but not listed by the federal government as endangered or threatened as “State-designated Threatened Species”.
  • Prohibit the taking, possession or sale of the newly defined endangered or threatened species without proper permits.
  • Eliminate the need for both federal and state permits for impacts to Federally-designated Endangered and Threatened Species by requiring only a permit from either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service.
  • Place a two-year moratorium on new requests for listing or removal of species to or from the State-designated Threatened Species list, except for emergency actions, to facilitate development of management plans for species currently on the list.
  • Provide rules for the FWC’s designation of “Species of Special Concern”, which will be given certain protections but not to the level of state or federally designated threatened or endangered species.

The proposed rule lists 68 Federally-designated Endangered and Threatened Species, including the American alligator, American crocodile, leatherback sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, Florida scrub jay, red-cockaded woodpecker, wood stork, Florida manatee, Florida panther and humpback whale. The proposed rule lists 21 State-designated Threatened Species, including the Florida brown snake, gopher tortoise, Florida sandhill crane and Florida black bear. Included among the 43 Species of Special Concern are the osprey, brown pelican, gopher frog, Florida mouse and Black Creek crayfish.

The FWC board will vote on the proposed rule changes on September 1, 2010.