Just had my first. Working hard with a client in FL to get permission to build on a lot with some issues. Pretty lot, but backs up to a bayhead, has septic challenges that required a variance, and had setback challenges that required a variance. The town acknowledged that their rules made the lot essentially unbuildable be/c of it’s shape (triangular corner), so they made reasonable adjustments.
Yesterday I get word that they discovered 3 “gopher tortoise” nests on the site. Seems it’s a protected species. He worked out a reasonable solution with Florida Wildlife Protection Agency today–relocate the nests to another part of the same property where the construction won’t affect them. Can’t relocate them to another property be/c of the chances of spreading disease within the gopher tortoise population, apparently. All’s well that ends well.
http://www.gophertortoisecouncil.org/
Any of y’all have problems with protected animal species?
Edited 10/27/2003 12:59:02 PM ET by Cloud Hidden
Replies
I once had a talk with a guy from Weyerhauser over dinner, and the subject of endangered species came up.
He said the laws were so restrictive he was afraid it was going to actually HURT the endangered species. Landowners were so afraid that an endangered species would be found on their property that they would go out with a shotgun and shoot everything questionable before an inspection to try to make sure no endangered species were found.
Don't know if it works or how many people actually do that. But I guess it would fall under the "law of unintended consequences".
The best reason for having dreams is that in dreams no reasons are necessary. [Ashleigh Brilliant]
Owner just told me that someone already suggested getting rid of them under cover of night, but thankfully, he likes having them there...
a story, but no problems - - we are proud to play summertime host to a population of Indiana bats (endangered species) - - it has no legal impact associated with the use of our property, which we manage as we want - potentially, if we got sucked into some government money program (not gonna do it), the strings that come with that hypothetical money could dictate certain managment practices - - the bats are safer with us...
try building on the beach in emerald isle nc, we have turtles that are here once a year and lay eggs babies crawl to the surf and gone till next year you know the rest of the story,cama epa pita etc
I've been going to Emerald Isle since the late 60's. I like the turtles there. I'm not up on my latin, but might have gotten the pita part...what exactly did you have to especially do to accomodate them? EliphIno!
While inspecting the Queensboro Bridge in 1994, I was witness to the hunting habits of the falcons that nest on top of the Pan AM, I mean Met Life building. We called it in, and we were told the falcons maintained a couple of hunting nests, including one on the Manhattan tower of the bridge at the time....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
Down here in coonass land we usually fire up the gumbo pot.
Tonnerre, cest bon. (sp)
KK
Here's a nice one I ran across a few years back. Probably only good for soup though, eh?
Dave,
Saw two of those mating at the National Zoo years ago. My 3 year old said " Look Daddy, they're playing horsie."
KK
We were just in Kauai, and the beach we were on was roped off for the mom and baby Monk Seals that like to stay there. We were told there are less that 1500 of them in the world.
Mahalo rg
Ricky,
Poipu by chanch? Seen them on the beach there nearly everytime I,ve been there.
Jon
It was near Poipu Beach. We played golf at Poipu Bay which was about 25 minutes away. rg
Ricky,
See/do any other neat stuff when you were there? Last time I was there (last November) I finally broke down and took a chopper ride around the island ($700 split four ways for an hour) and worth every penny. Unfortunately before I owned a digital camera, so no easy pics to post.
Mohalo back,
Jon
I was there once for a few days, went looking for those seals a few times a day, but didn't see any. I did enjoy standing on a ledge by my hotel watching the sea turtles bobbing around in the water below. Kauai was our favorite island. Hope to get back there some day.
Sure, we did lots of stuff. The second day there, we realized that the minivan was not enough transport for three couples to explore independently, so we rented a jeep and tooled round the island. Kuhio Highway, which runs only about 3/4 the way around the island is the only way to and from anywhere. So once we found the off shooting roads, it easy to get around. Traffic is pretty slow, so expect it.
Kapa'a, Hanalei, are two little towns that were fun. There is a law on Kauai that no building can be taller than the tallest tree. Everybody moves slow. There is an excellent place called Cafe Coco. Paul at Garden Island Tattoo is the best.
We did a lot of hiking, some very muddy and some just scenic, some pretty dangerous if you were not prepared. One of our traveling companions almost fell down a cliff, but someone caught her arm. We fed sharks from the side of the fishing boat. There were lots of neat waterfalls and botanical gardens.
We took an ATV tour of a private plantation. They shot two Indiana Jones movies there; we swang from the same rope he used to jump in the river, Six Days and Seven Nights was shot there. Of course Jurassic Park left plenty of movie set souveniers. There is a beach on that plantation that King Kamahamea in the 16th C. tried to conquer the island. His entire army was slaughtered. There are still bones on the beach.
We were there for ten days. Our condo was right on the beach. We had a pretty good place with a gourmet kitchen. We love to cook, so it was really nice to enjoy our own cuisine in such a beautiful place.
If you do go, make sure everyone in the group is compatible. One of our couples was a little tight with the pocketbook, and subsequently backed out of some really fun stuff that they thought cost too much. DON'T go deep sea fishing if you're prone to seasickness. It's verrry rude to throw up up wind from your boatmates.
I have digital pix, but have yet to figure out how to get them from camera to post.
Good Luck. rg
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Heard on the news today that a guy in California cut a fire break around his house in attempt to save it. Wildlife people cited him for destroying the habitat of kangaroo mice.
Seems all the Kangaroo mice on his property survived, but the rest became kangaroo mouse kebobs.
Whatdayathink?
Stef
The animal rights groups have good intentions, but often lack common sense. ELF and ALF give the good ones a bad name. You have to wonder if the weirdos who insist on this flavor of illogicial behavior actually own anything that they would be willing to let burn down.
rg
The honest bill/taxpayer client/cantractor?
At my last firm we did an addition to an Air Force base that ran into a snag when a bunch of horned toads were discovered in a nearby field. Couple all those endangered species regulations with a government contract and see how fun things get.
I think we narrowly averted a contract clause that would have required us to knit sweaters for each of the critters as part of the habitat preservation measures we were forced to initiated. The horned toads ended up being every bit as well facilitated as the maintenance crew we were building a vehicle service center for. Their new digs included a chain link fence with razor wire around the top of it to insure they weren't disturbed.
I didn't bring up a traumatizing incident from my childhood in any of the meetings or we might have lost the contract all together. I once accidentally stabbed a horned toad to death punching vent holes with an ice pick in the lid of the coffee can I caught him in. Still brings a tear to my eye when I think of the moment I opened that can to check on him later that day... Man, that was a bad day!!
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -