Orange County

Ardurra (formerly Inwood) was responsible for ESA Section 10 consultation with the USFWS for sand skink, the development of a Habitat Conservation Plan, mitigation planning, and regulatory agency coordination for this proposed middle school project.  

The project included coordination between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to facilitate the relocation of gopher tortoises within occupied sand skink habitat. Ardurra developed a methodology to relocate the tortoises through bucket trapping and hand excavation methods, while the ESA Section 10 consultation was on­going with USFWS. Based on confirmation that the project site met USFWS criteria for being considered suitable sand skink habitat, and the recommendation to complete coverboard surveys, Ardurra conducted sand skink coverboard surveys along with gopher tortoise relocation on the site.  

As the project was located entirely within uplands and no federal permitting nexus was available, Ardurra developed a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and Incidental Take Permit (ITP) application for OCPS in order to facilitate formal consultation with the USFWS under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). During the USFWS review of the proposed HCP and ITP, Ardurra ecologists completed the 100% gopher tortoise survey identifying over 80 potentially occupied gopher tortoise burrows. To facilitate the gopher tortoise relocation prior to the USFWS approval of the HCP, we conducted extensive coordination with USFWS and FWC staff that allowed for relocation of tortoises located within occupied sand skink habitat while not violating federal listed wildlife regulations. Ardurra employed a combination of backhoe excavation, bucket trapping, and hand digging techniques to excavate or otherwise trap all the gopher tortoise burrows within the project limits.

The HCP was approved by USFWS without comment from technical or legal reviewers and was completed in approximately six (6) months, well short of most ESA Section 10 consultation time frames.