On March 6, 2024, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service posted the Final Rule designating 1,160,625 acres in portions of 13 south Florida counties as critical habitat for the endangered Florida Bonneted Bat. This rule will become effective on April 8, 2024.
Listed as endangered since October 2, 2013, a designation of critical habitat has been lacking for the past decade. With this Final Rule, protections are now afforded under the Endangered Species Act to nine distinct critical habitat units occurring in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Polk, Lee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Osceola, and Okeechobee Counties. These occupied critical habitat units have been determined to be essential to the conservation and eventual recovery of this south Florida endemic species.
Critical habitat does not prevent all development that may occur in a designated area. Only activities that are likely to adversely modify critical habitat will be affected. If this is the case, consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act is initiated to consider avoidance and minimization techniques to enable the project to proceed without adversely affecting critical habitat.
Our Florida biologists and team of bat specialists are experts in Endangered Species Act consultations involving critical habitat units and are intimately familiar with the life history and voluntary conservation measures regarding the Florida bonneted bat.
The final rule can be found here.
