Part 2: Where the Wading Birds Live
This is Part 2 of a two-part series examining Florida's wading birds, from their near extinction and eventual recovery to a future unknown.
Last month, as we traveled through the middle of Florida along State Road 70, heading west toward Treasure Island, there was undeveloped land as far as the eye could see, spanning a lush green horizon that included pastures, forests, cattle land, citrus groves, horse ranches, and wetlands near the northern shore of Lake Okeechobee.
Nestled amongst the landscape, and seemingly lost in time, were a few Old Florida towns such as Myakka City, Arcadia, Lake Placid, and a ghost town called Pine Level. These are places that are, for the most part, untouched by Florida’s population boom. But not completely.
Within the border of Indiantown, a small village located on the north bank of the St. Lucie Canal, a commercial and residential project by the name of Terra Lago, an 806-acre community with a town center, an assisted-living facility and more than 2,000 single-family homes, townhomes and apartments, is currently underway.
In Manatee County, on the western side of State Road 70, is Lakewood Ranch, the 33,000 acre (and growing) masterplanned community first developed 30 years ago atop empty cow pastures. According to LWR Communities LLC, the development is about halfway complete, meaning aggressive growth is underway in the eastern part of the county where undeveloped agriculture land will be paved over to make way for more homes, more commercial buildouts and more infrastructure. In order to achieve this ambitious plan, as is often the case, zoning changes must be agreed upon.
For the hundreds of thousands of people moving to Florida every year, this is good news. More development and homes available will make it easier to live, work and play in the Sunshine State, while more tax revenue is good for local governments. But for conservation groups, wildlife organizations and concerned residents, rapid and far-reaching commercial and residential development is problematic for the state and its resources including the state’s wetlands and water quality. It’s also creating an issue with Florida’s fresh vegetable crops, but that’s another story for another day.
But even so, and in despite of dire warnings from state agriculture experts and environmentalists, the urban sprawl will continue to encroach rural ‘Old” Florida, contributing to the degradation of land, water and habitat quality, negatively impacting the environment for both humans and wildlife, which includes, of course, the wading bird population.
According to Alex Freeze, Corridor Collaboration Teams Facilitator with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, urban development is projected to overtake 5 million acres of green space (about the size of New Jersey) by 2070 to accommodate Florida’s population boom, which is growing by an average of 1,000 people per day — equal to one million new residents added to the state every three years.
“The development sprawl built to accommodate this population explosion often creates fragmented patches of habitat, separating wildlife populations by roads, parking lots, and poorly designed neighborhoods,” she said in an email.
Encroachment and migration
In real estate terminology, encroachment is when a property owner violates the property rights of his neighbor by building on the neighbor's land or property intentionally or otherwise. But the term also applies to human activity threatening and overtaking protected areas and natural habitats such as preserves, wetlands, grasslands, forests, and so on, negatively impacting the local biodiversity in a given region.
In Florida, rapid population growth and overdevelopment are two of the driving forces behind these threats, along with encroachment from invasive species and sea level rise. And while similar challenges are happening all over the world, Florida has been particularly hit hard in recent years due to the ‘great migration’ during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic.
As out-of-state transplants have flocked to the sunshine state in recent years, many of the biggest developers and homebuilders have taken notice, as have local governments in need of more tax revenue. Consequently, developmental firms have been purchasing massive amounts of cheap land (often not zoned for residential or commercial building) and then, when the time is right, dangling enormous incentives in front of cash-strapped local governments. The end result is often hundreds or even thousands of acres of undeveloped land, rezoned and ready for building.
While a short term financial stimulus may seem appealing to county, city and village decision makers, uncertain liabilities may lie ahead especially as urban sprawl continues to shrink rural lands and wetlands where wildlife need adequate space, protection and resources.
According to Freeze, wildlife populations such as panthers and birds are facing critical challenges in their historic habitats. “Development pressure in critical habitats can result in fragmentation and loss of access to vital resources,” she said. “When suitable habitat is lost in one area, wildlife could be forced to seek less desirable habitat patches.”
This is a scenario wading birds in the state know all too well. As mentioned in part one of this series, wading birds in the past attempted (albeit unsuccessfully) to move their colonies further in the Everglades to evade plume hunters and the hazardous environments created by man at the time. Though plume hunting is a thing of the past, hazardous environments and habitat destruction are not.
Take the wood stork, for example. These unusual looking birds with a pebbly bald head and little black eyes, nearly disappeared in the 1970s, and according to John Ogden from The Audubon Society, wood storks were on a pathway to extinction by the end of the twentieth century due to agriculture expansion, development and drainage projects throughout South Florida, and specifically, in the Everglades. As a result, wood storks were officially listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act as well as protected as a Threatened Species by the Federal Endangered Species Act and as a Federally-designated Threatened species by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule.
Like other wading birds, wood storks rely on the sufficient conditions of wetlands, including freshwater and estuarine marshes, with water levels playing a critical role as they breed. If unexpected water fluctuations occur and tactile foraging techniques are thwarted, wading birds will leave in the hopes of finding a better habitat. “Florida's wading birds rely on water levels to support their target prey populations,” explained Freeze. “Loss of habitat and changes to water quality and quantity are both major threats that have resulted in degradation or total loss of nesting and foraging areas for wading birds.”
What will happen to Wild Florida?
According to a 2021 report by the South Florida Water Management District, approximately 43,000 wading bird nests were initiated that year, indicating an above average nesting season, with three bird species (Great Egret, White Ibis and Wood Stork) meeting their targets. In recent years, the SFWMD has gone to great lengths to restore the Everglades and South Florida's hydrology, moving more water to the right places at the right time and reducing harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
But that was nearly four years ago and much has happened to the state since then. In scenarios playing out all over Florida, developers have set their sights on building on and through rural areas including those in close proximity to wetlands. In Wellington, for example, a controversial development by Wellington Lifestyle Partners has been met with intense pushback by residents, local conservationists and a group called Keep Wellington Green due to expressed concerns for wetland preservation and wildlife.
In Martin County, developer Ken Bakst submitted an application to amend the previous zoning restrictions in order to build 175 homes, two golf courses, cottages and more on a cattle ranch. In Brevard County, residents started an online petition to slow down the growth after a developer requested a zoning change in order to build apartments or condominiums. In Marian County, groups such as Save Our Rural Areas and Horse Farm Forever are fighting to save rural lands and farms from developer overreach.
These are just a few examples of what is occurring, a microcosm of Florida’s battle to protect the land, water and wildlife. For organizations such as the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, there have been some success stories.
In June of 2021, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act was signed into law, formally recognizing the existence of the Florida wildlife corridor, a dynamic stretch of over 190 thousand acres of land that includes forests, swamps, fields, pastures, timberlands, and more. The act also works to safeguard agricultural lands and natural areas from development and to ensure clean water and air.
This is the kind of work that helps to secure a brighter, more sustainable future for Florida’s native flora and fauna, including wading birds. And the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation is not alone in their efforts. Everyday citizens in addition to conservation groups are getting louder, and hopefully more persuasive as green space increasingly disappears.
Indeed, the future of Florida is in the crosshairs of overdevelopment with no real end in sight. This will affect where the wading birds live. This will affect where we all live.
Packed with info about the future prospects of these fantastic birds. Is the governor on board with protecting these guys?
Great reporting!
Exquisite photography...the Great Blue Heron💙