State may revamp endangered list

Among changes to the roster, which saw controversial revisions in January, the bald eagle could be removed and bobwhite quail added.

©Associated Press
August 26, 2002

ORLANDO -- The state's official roster of endangered species, facing widespread criticism from environmentalists, may be overhauled again.

Bald eagles could be dropped, bobwhite quail added and gopher tortoises bumped up into a classification of higher concern.

The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will decide early next month what to do with the list it uses to prioritize efforts for saving animals from extinction.

"We want it to be scientifically rigorous, and we want it to be objective," said Brian Millsap, a commission biologist in Tallahassee and an administrator of the wildlife list. "It may always be controversial at some level, and we may have to accept that."

Decisions about bald eagles, bobwhite quail and gopher tortoises could be put off for a couple of years, depending on whether the commission board opts for partial or wholesale revisions to list guidelines.

The imperiled-species list took a beating in January when the agency decided to reassign the red-cockaded woodpecker from a status of "threatened" to a ranking of "special concern."

"It's trying to pigeonhole everything into a neat formula that doesn't consider all of the threats that face many species," said Jim Cox, a former state biologist and current conservation chairman of the Florida Ornithological Society.

Cox and others have said the listing program fails in three ways: It underestimates the risk of extinction; it gives too much weight to the health of a species outside Florida borders; and it doesn't give enough consideration to habitat issues, such as whether an animal dwells on public lands or on prime development real estate.

The state's protected-species program has stirred criticism from landowners as well. A decade ago, people who feared restrictions on property rights reacted when the state added the white ibis to the list.

The wildlife agency suspended any changes to the list for five years. The strategy paid off only briefly.

"There was a considerable amount of controversy when we evaluated the red-cockaded woodpecker," Millsap said.

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