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Agenda 03/09/2021 Item #10D (Letter From US Fish & Wildlife Service) Add-On Item 10D March 9, 2021 BCC Meeting EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Recommendation to discuss issues raised in a recent letter from the US Fish&Wildlife Service. OBJECTIVE: To discuss the recent letter from Kevin Godsea, Refuge Manager, Southwest Florida Gulf Coast Refuges of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, to the Collier County Planning Commission regarding the proposed Longwater and Bellmar villages. CONSIDERATIONS: During its March 4, 2021 regular meeting, the Collier County Planning Commission was scheduled to hear the applications for the Longwater Village Stewardship Receiving Area and the Bellmar Village Stewardship Receiving Area. Shortly before this meeting the Planning Commissioners received a letter dated March 1, 2021 from Mr. Kevin Godsea, Refuge Manager of the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast Refuge Complex for the US Fish& Wildlife Service, in which Mr. Godsea urged Collier County to delay permitting these projects for a number of reasons, including waiting until the federal review process is complete. Before commencing the hearing, in response to a question by the Chair the County Attorney advised that Planning Commission that unless and until there was Board action to the contrary,that the applications for these two rural stewardships should continue. Mr. Godsea has asked me the opportunity to allow him to present his concerns to the Board, following which I would like to discuss what action, if any the Board should take. FISCAL IMPACT: None. GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: This action will result in no growth management impact. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: This item has been reviewed by the County Attorney. Please note that F.S. 125.022 (5) states: "For any development permit application filed with the county after July 1, 2012, a county may not require as a condition of processing or issuing a development permit that an applicant obtain a permit or approval from any state or federal agency unless the agency has issued a final agency action that denies the federal or state permit before the county action on the local development permit." Accordingly, the Board could stay the Longwater and Belmar Village applications for a number of reasons, so long as the reasons do not fall within this statutory prohibition. With that noted, there are no further legal issues at this time,with simple majority support needed for Board action. -JAK RECOMMENDATION: That the Board discuss issues raised in a March 1, 2021 letter from Kevin Godsea of the US Fish&Wildlife Service. Prepared by: Penny Taylor,District 4 "eta Op United States Department of the Interior 4`..` bip,..... FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Er41%. Southwest Florida Gulf Coast Refuge Complex �4ACH 3 'S Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge -t 12085 State Road 29S. Immokalee, Florida 34142 PH: 239-657-8001 FAX: 239-657-8002 March 1, 2021 Collier County Planning Commission 2800 North Horseshoe Drive Naples, FL 34104 RE: PL20190001836 and PL20190001837, Longwater and Bellmar Village SRA Resolutions respectively Dear Collier County Planning Commissioners, The Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge(FPNWR)is 26,609 acres adjacent to the Rural Land Stewardship Area (RLSA) and approximately 1.25 miles southwest of the proposed Bellmar Village. Administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service,the FPNWR was established in 1989 to assist in the recovery of endangered species such as the Florida Panther. FPNWR staff have worked cooperatively with the applicants and other landowners within the RLSA for many years to assist in habitat management activities across the FPNWR's boundary lines,and more generally, in discussions on how to keep landscape connectivity for far ranging species like the Florida panther and black bear. Both of the villages of Longwater and Bellmar are currently under federal review for a more comprehensive planning approach in the Eastern Collier Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (ECMSHCP),which would lead to the protection of 106,000 acres within the RLSA. It is preferable to delay permitting individual developments in the ECMSHCP development area until the Environmental Impact Statement and Endangered Species Act Section 10 review for the ECMSHCP is completed. In addition,the County should complete the adoption of the RLSA 5 year review amendments prior to approving developments within the RLSA so that the County's development permit and RLSA requirements are not contradictory to the mitigation requirements proposed by the ECMSHCP. Separate and apart from the Service's work considering the ECMSHCP,the Service has concerns about the proximity of these developments to the FPNWR that the planning commission should address with the applicant prior to approval of Longwater and Bellmar villages. First,the future development within the RLSA, including both Longwater and Bellmar,will encroach upon several current conservation areas such as the FPNWR. These conservation lands are intensely managed using prescribed burning to manage the fire-adapted ecosystems for the benefit of wildlife and to reduce high fuel loads,the latter of which contributes to more catastrophic harmful wildfires. The Stewardship Sending Areas within the RLSA and adjacent to the proposed developments include fire-adapted habitats that will need to be managed with silvicultural activities such as prescribed fire and exotic invasive plant control. This encroachment toward conservation lands can complicate the appropriate management of the FPNWR. For instance,the refuge's southern boundary is 1-75, and eastern boundary is State Road 29. As such,we often have to burn habitats on the refuge with a prevailing southerly or easterly wind direction.These prescriptions are in place to mitigate risk of serious traffic accidents on those major roads, and cannot be changed, leaving the locations for high-density residential and commercial developments in the RLSA directly in the path of our current smoke management protocols. On some prescribed burns,we will not have the ability to redirect smoke away from the location of these future developments. We recommend that all existing and future landowners and leaseholders(e.g., residents, businesses, health care providers,and homeowner associations)within the RLSA sign an acknowledgement notice within their deed or lease agreement that recognizes and accepts the use of prescribed fire to manage the adjacent habitats on both public and private conservation lands. We believe this indemnification is necessary for fire managers to be held harmless for any adverse impacts from the inconveniences of smoke produced by prescribed fires, and to ensure that this critically important management tool is not further limited by new developments. The Florida Forest Service's Prescribed Fire in Florida Strategic Plan 2013-2020 identified two objectives to facilitate this action: 4-2 states: "Introduce Smoke Disclosure Language in deed transfers and homeowner association agreements with county planning," 4-3 states: "Develop a smoke easement template." There are a few examples of these Indemnifications being used in other states. I look forward to working with the Planning Commission,Collier County Commissioners and the Florida Forest Service to construct the appropriate language for such an instrument prior to any further development of the RLSA. Secondly,the application does not address the need for hydrologic restoration of the adjacent Camp Keais Strand Flowway Stewardship Area. Hydrological restoration of the Camp Keais Strand was identified as a unique functional group within Southwest Florida Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan,which the County and Service both participated in. During this effort, members of local and state agencies, NGOs, and the Federal government made every effort to take a holistic approach to hydrological restoration. We implore the County and other regulatory authorities to require the applicants to include wetland restoration activities identified within the Southwest Florida Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan,especially those within the Camp Keais Strand functional group. Hydrologic restoration of the Camp Keais Strand is clearly a component of the RLSA Stewardship Sending Areas,and is critically important for downstream conservation lands such as the FPNWR. Currently two farm fields restrict the flowway to a few culverts in a span of 100 yards,whereas restoring these farm fields back to wetlands would result in a nearly 1 mile wide flowway immediately adjacent to the proposed Longwater development. The applicant's original plans for the Town of Rural Lands West included restoring these approximately 935 acres of farmland in the middle of the Camp Keais Strand Stewardship flowway in SSA15,to benefit the hydrology of downstream conservation lands. This wetland restoration was not included in the plans for Rivergrass Village, Longwater Village or Belmar Village, and we believe that it should, as this type of wetland restoration was clearly the intent when the RLSA was established. If properly implemented,Camp Keais Strand hydrological restoration activities could ultimately benefit one of the most biodiverse forested wetlands in the state of Florida (i.e., Fakahatchee Strand),as well as the Picayune Strand. In conclusion,we believe the planning commission should take a pause in considering developments within the RLSA on an individual project approach, and implement a more comprehensive planning approach. By incorporating our recommendations,we believe that they will: 1) Minimize impacts to one of the most important land management tools in the state of Florida (i.e.,fire); 2) Protect important habitats;3) Provide for critically important wetland restoration within hydrologic flowways such as Camp Keais Strand;4) Improve the quality and quantity of water entering the FPNWR;and 5)Address the landscape connectivity needs of wildlife such as the Florida panther and black bear. Sincerely, Digitally signed by Kevin Kevin Godsea Godsea Date:2021.03.01 1354:16 -05'00' Kevin Godsea Refuge Manager Southwest Florida Gulf Coast Refuges Cc: Ray Bellows, Planning Commission Liaison Nancy Gundlach, Principle Planner CorbySchimidt, Principle Planner Matthew McLean,Director, Development Review Kirsten Wilkie, Environmental Services Manager Jamie Cook, Principal Environmental Specialist James Sabo,AICP, Principal Planner Michael Sawyer, Principal Planner