Florida Scrub Jay Action Plan

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

The St. Lucie county International Airport established a 120-acre mitigation site to preserve and enhance wetlands and create suitable habitat for the Florida Scrub Jay and the Gopher Tortoise, as a condition of environmental permits for the construction of a new fire station and a new runway. The 2009 United States fish and Wildlife Service Florida Scrub Jay Action Plan states that Scrub jay numbers have declined by 37.5 to 65 percent in all of a portion of 10 existing metapopulations in Florida. The successful colonization of two pairs of Scrub Jays at the mitigation area contributes to the protection of this endangered species.