Today, Audubon commends two planned habitat restoration projects in the Florida Panhandle proposed by federal and state partner agencies. The two projects will be funded by BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster penalty funds.
The new restoration projects will direct more than $7.7M in BP funds to Florida over the next five years, improving habitat for imperiled coastal birds and marine turtles harmed by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and response. These funding allocations were determined in part by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) conducted to assess damages and ensure adequate restoration and address injury resulting from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
“These projects are recognition of the tremendous injury done to Florida’s wildlife by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and a pledge to recover our iconic Gulf species,” said Julie Wraithmell, Director of Wildlife Conservation for Audubon Florida. “The Florida Panhandle is home to many of our most threatened and vulnerable birds, including Snowy Plovers, with little more than 400 individuals remaining in the entire state.”
Audubon Florida is encouraging citizens to support these restoration projects at an open house and public meeting scheduled for 6pm to 9pm CST on November 13, 2012 in Pensacola at the Escambia County Central Complex Building (Rm 104, 3363 West Park Place). Public comments can also be submitted electronically at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
“Although much of Florida’s coastal wildlife was in dire straits before the Macondo blowout, the meaningful protections from disturbance and predation proposed in today’s NRDA project announcement will have measurable benefits for many of our most at-risk species,” added Executive Director Eric Draper. “Audubon has long advocated for Florida’s coastal wildlife and greets today’s announcement with both gratitude and enthusiasm for the opportunity it presents.”
For more information about this announcement, please see the Department of Interior’s website:
