A consortium of environmental advocacy groups wants to add themselves to a list of defendants in a federal lawsuit that could overturn much of the Endangered Species Act.
A Charlotte County landowner filed the lawsuit after refusing to pay a fee for building in scrub jay habitat.
It claims the Endangered Species Act cannot protect any species found only in one state because Congress only has the authority to enact laws that apply to issues that cross state borders. It could impact hundreds of species found in just one state - such as the Florida panther.
Aaron Bloom is an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, which is representing the defendants.
“The plaintiff's argument in this case that it's really dangerous is that Congress can't protect any species that lives in a single state, and that would really eviscerate the Endangered Species Act,” he said. “More than half the species protected under the Endangered Species Act live in only one state.”
Bloom said protections for the scrub jay are crucial for the survival of the species.
“One thing that is special about the Florida scrub Jay is that is the only bird species that is endemic to Florida. And one thing that's special about Florida is that it has these bird species and other species that are found nowhere else in the world," he said. "But to keep those species around, you've got to protect them, and that's why we're getting involved in this case."
Charlotte County developed its scrub jay habitat conservation plan in 2014 to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act. It doesn’t prevent people from building in scrub jay habitat, but it does require that people who choose to build there pay a fee, with the money going to buy protected lands for the rare birds.
The lawsuit was filed by Michael Colosi after he refused to pay the fee after he bought five acres in scrub jay habitat. He sued Charlotte County and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with Pacific Legal Foundation representing him.
The groups filing to intervene as defendants are Florida Wildlife Federation, Center for Biological Diversity, American Bird Conservancy and Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida.
The Florida scrub jay was officially listed as a threatened state species by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 1975 and it was listed as a threatened federal species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1987.
Only 4,000 to 6,000 are estimated to be left in the wild. They prefer high, dry areas that in the past have also been coveted for orange groves, and are now being sought out for development.
Many of the remaining scrub jays can be found at Oscar Scherer State Park, near Sarasota, and on the Lake Wales Ridge, particularly at the Archbold Biological Station, in Highlands County.
