We have another short video from Tara Tanaka in Florida, whose property is a wetlands and also a wildlife sanctuary. Tara’s notes are indented below:
There is a large church property directly across the truck route from our wildlife sanctuary, and a developer is about to meet with the county to discuss building a 108-single family subdivision on part of the property. According to the neighbor who is working to inform those affected by the proposed development: “Any development of that size would have devastating impacts on the character of our surrounding neighborhoods. The traffic impacts would further clog our roads, making traffic even worse than it already is. The light pollution coming from a site with 108 new homes would disrupt our tranquil way of life. Water runoff from the site will only worsen the flooding we see after rain events, especially to our neighbors in Riverwood Acres. And no one really knows of the impacts a new development would have on the wildlife we currently enjoy year-round.”
Some in the neighborhood are meeting with a reporter from a local TV station to make people aware of what is happening, and I was asked to provide video footage of some of the wildlife that nest, spend time in, and pass through the sanctuary, and I wanted to share it here as well.
How many species can you identify?
Let’s hope that these wonderful creatures can go on with their lives. We need housing, but does it need to be in a wetland?
Thank you Norman. The proposed development is across the truck route from our wetland. We have a conservation easement on our property that will remain after we depart the earth, so there won’t be development in the wetland per se. We have a lot of animals that get hit on the two-lane truck route, and with increased traffic that death toll would surely rise. We are in a severe drought now and I know of two otters that were killed this year, no doubt searching for water. My real concern is that our 9 or 13-foot alligators could try to cross the road looking for more water. I think they’ve created a bit of a “waller” that is sustaining them now, and above-average rains are forecast beginning soon with El Nino.
Thanks for sharing that beautiful video.
What an incredible sanctuary you have provided. I hope you and your neighbors succeed at limiting the disturbance.