Audubon and a coalition of five environmental organizations just settled two lawsuits against two of three major residential and golf projects proposed for wetlands near Corkscrew Swamp. This important victory is part of Audubon's Save our Swamp campaign to protect Corkscrew and the Cocohatchee  Slough.

Major improvements have been made in these two projects resulting in more than 200 acres less wetland impacts and hundreds of acres of wetlands restored for wood stork and other imperiled species habitats, plus moving a major road from wetlands into old farm fields and reducing dwelling units by 750.

Added to the October 2009 court win against the adjacent Mirasol project, which revoked that wetland-destroying federal permit, these settlements represent a major win for the sensitive ecology surrounding Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  The Mirasol project would destroy 645 acres of wetland and habitat, more than twice the impacts of the two settled projects combined.  The five groups are preparing to oppose an expected third submittal of the Mirasol federal permit application, a conservation battle dating back to 2002.

Read the Naples Daily News account here.