Species Protection for Pending Projects

The care that Erdman Anthony shows for all creatures great and small has spawned confidence in our firm’s ability to perform a range of wildlife surveys and relocations.

One client, in particular, that has entrusted our firm with handling those tasks is the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).

During SFWMD’s Picayune Strand Restoration in Collier County, Erdman Anthony relocated roughly 15 gopher tortoises and one Burmese python from the project’s construction footprint. Wildlife researchers regard the gopher tortoise as a “keystone species” because it digs burrows that provide shelter for hundreds of other types of animals.

The restored Picayune Strand now also features a warm refugium for manatees, allowing them to congregate when other waters turn cold in the winter.

SFWMD also relied on our firm to survey and relocate gopher tortoises in Hendry County, where the C-43 Reservoir project that aims to bring a more natural, consistent flow of fresh water to the Everglades is underway.

Lastly, SFWMD turned to Erdman Anthony to peer into tree cavities in Lee and Collier counties’ Southern Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, where Florida bonneted bats often roost.

The survey of the bats — known to live in small colonies and forage over ponds, streams, and wetlands — was part of a two-year project to return the watershed to its natural state.