ROUTE THROUGH LAND POSSIBLE - GREAT FOR CRESTVIEW RESIDENTS

Just another reason to make Crestview your home and the south part of the county your place to play and work.

Route through Air Force land possible despite the species’ new ‘endangered’ designation
By TOM McLAUGHLIN Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4435

tomm@nwfdailynews.com

Northwest Florida’s reticulated flatwoods salamander became an endangered species Tuesday. But where once local planners despaired that a proposed U.S. Highway 98 bypass through Eglin Air Force Base land could die at the little feet of the rare amphibian, hope has arisen that a compromise can still be achieved. “I think it can all work out so that everyone is satisfied,” said Janet Mizzi, deputy field director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Panama City. The Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority learned recently that a report compiled at Hurlburt Field indicated officials there had found an alternative bypass route through salamander territory they might be able to live with. Eglin already has signed off on a compromise route. Cor ridor Authority member Jay Odom said the Hurlburt report indicated a “most preferred,” or “least intrusive,” bypass route. “It says ‘there’s a way to get this done,’ ” he said. He said his next step is to meet with representatives of all of the players involved in the bypass discussion to get their approval of the new bypass proposal. The bypass was conceived in 2007 as a way to relieve traffic congestion on U.S. 98 from State Road 87 in Santa Rosa County to U.S. 331 in Walton County. As envisioned by the Corridor Authority, the original road would have crossed the Eglin reservation near its southern border and pass through Hurlburt Field. The flatwoods salamander lives in six counties in Florida and two counties in Georgia. The animal came to the attention of Northwest Florida residents last June when Fish and Wildlife officials notified the Air Force that the proposed bypass ran through important sections of the threatened species’ habitat. Then in October, the feds announced a plan to split the flatwoods salamander into two species. The finalization of the species split and endangered designation were announced Tuesday. The problem that arose out of all of the species splitting for transportation planners was that along with the endangered species designation, the reticulated flatwoods salamander’s habitat was declared “critical.” “Approximately 4,453 acres across portions of the states of Florida and Georgia are designated as critical habitat for the reticulated salamander,” a Fish and Wildlife Service news release said Tuesday. There are 2,593 acres, primarily in the southwestern corner of Hurlburt Field and just west of Hurlburt on the Eglin reservation, which would have been considered critical habitat had they not been on Air Force land. Fish and Wildlife chose not to designate land on Eglin and Hurlburt critical habitat because base officials are required under their own natural resource management plans to protect endangered species. H u r l b u r t , w h e r e 713 acres of critical salamander habitat are located, reviewed four possible compromise routes before selecting its “most preferred,” Odom said. Ray Reissener, a vice president for HDR Engineering Inc., which is developing the bypass plans, said his company is waiting for a final go-ahead from Hurlburt before proceeding with any more design work. “If they allow us to proceed we’re OK,” he said. “If they don’t, I don’t know what we’ll have to do.”