Crane Point Environmental Assessment Raises Questions and Eyebrows

“The zip line program has been designed to avoid and minimize impacts to intact native habitats to the maximum extent practical while still preserving the projects (sic) purpose of providing a quality experience that encompasses the extent and diversity of the property.”

That sentence sounds as if it comes from promotional material for the proposed “eco-canopy” (zip line) tour proposed by the board of the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust for Crane Point Museum and Nature Center. But that would be incorrect. Instead, it’s taken from the opening section of the recently submitted environmental assessment that is required for a conditional use permit from the city of Marathon’s planning commission. The commission meets on April 15 and will provide a recommendation to the city council about whether to move forward on the project, partially based upon this information.

The city of Marathon received a Community Development Block Grant from the state Department of Economic Opportunity to enable the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust to construct the zip-line attraction. CDBGs require environmental assessments before construction can begin.

The Land and Sea Trust board hired Phil Frank, Ph.D., to prepare the report and, for their purposes, they couldn’t have chosen a better person to deliver what they hoped for. As Dr. Frank said to a city council session that initially approved the project, “ . . . I’m in support of the zip line project.”

He couldn’t be clearer than that. In his report Frank downplays any environmental impact whatsoever, writing that,

“The impacts of the proposed zip line project on listed wildlife are expected to be negligible considering the small impact to hardwood hammock habitat on the property. With only a small percentage of hardwood hammock habitat impacted and the large area of the property, any measurable adverse impacts to wildlife are highly unlikely. Some minimal temporary disturbance to wildlife, mainly birds, is possible, but these impacts would be minimal and temporary.”

According to the requirements of the conditional use permit an environmental assessment is a study required to establish all the impacts either positive or negative about one particular project. “It will consist of technical evaluation, economic impact and social results that the project will bring,” say the requirements.

Never do those requirements indicate that the biologist preparing the report should advocate for a project that is being evaluated.

Frank has downplayed threats to other properties

Dr. Frank also developed a report for the people originally thought to be owners of Wisteria Island, off Key West. The environmental assessment they submitted to the County in 2010 stated: “the island is unsuitable for nesting.” And yet there were two large Osprey nests on the island at the time the report was delivered to the County Planning Commission. The one on the east side could be seen with the naked eye from Simonton Beach (and likely Mallory square). The County looked the other way, but with pressure from Keys environmental group Last Stand, the owners later submitted a revised and more accurate environmental report.

Frank worked closely with Marathon’s city planner

A public records request from the city of Marathon revealed a very curious email exchange between Dr. Frank and Marathon city planning director George Garrett. In one email, sent on February 28, 2013, Garrett directs Frank to make sure there are no environmental surprises.

“However, please make sure to indicate that you have surveyed the area with enough detail that something truly rare and exotic isn’t there or that the champion of champion trees was missed behind some large Seagrape. I don’t want to be open to the criticism,” Garrett wrote.

On February 27, Frank requests clarification on what the city wants.

“We have tried to avoid habitat impacts as much as possible, but some impacts are un-avoidable (sic). We believe that information is adequate for the big picture level of analysis and approvals.”

And:

“Once we prepare to pull the actual building permit, we would then do a detailed assessment of each structure location, field stake actual limits of construction, and perform the appropriate vegetation survey/mitigation required under City regs. Everything would be clearly marked and delineated for actual construction.

The White-crowned Pigeon: A Threatened Species

One of the primary areas of contention on the zip line project involves the White-crowned Pigeon, a bird on the state’s threatened list. Frank states in his report that the construction, and by extension, the operation of the project involving much greater human presence as well as increased traffic will not disturb the bird.

“In the Keys, White Crown Pigeons (sic) nest on offshore mangrove islands to protect from land-based predators such as raccoons. Upland areas such as Crane Points (sic) are used for foraging only, not nesting.”

He continues by indicating that,

“The proposed zip line will impact an insignificant amount of hardwood hammock habitat relative to that potentially available to this species. There could be some level of foraging disruption for White-crown Pigeon (sic), but given the size of the parcel relative to the small impact area and the fact that the site is already in use as a recreational facility with trails and various developments scattered throughout the property, these potential impacts are negligible.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said, in a 2011 report that,

“In addition, critical foraging habitat [in Florida] continues to decline. For example, the areal extent of tropical hardwood hammocks in the upper Florida Keys declined by 31% between 1991 and 2004 (Karim and Main 2009).”

In its Draft Management Plan, created in 2012, Fish And Wildlife went further, stating that,

“In Florida, research indicates availability of foraging habitat may be the single most important conservation task in Florida (Meyer and Wilmers 2006; Bancroft 1996); maintaining sufficient areas of suitable foraging habitat is therefore critical to securing Florida’s population of WCPIs. Tropical hardwood hammocks and pine rockland habitat provide essential habitat and foraging areas for numerous state and federally-listed species and migratory birds, in addition to the White-crowned Pigeon.”

In fact, Section 118-10(1) of the Monroe County Code requires that all areas of tropical hardwood hammock required for open space are maintained in their natural condition, including the preservation of canopy, mid-story, understory vegetation, ground cover and leaf litter layer to maintain the biological integrity of the preserved native open space (Monroe County, 2012).

Frank cites no sources for his contentions. In his letter and public statement to the Marathon city council, Kenneth D. Meyer, Ph.D., executive director of Avian Research and Conservation Institute, detailed the ways in which a zip line in Crane Point would threaten the conservation of White-crowned Pigeons.

“My position is based on studies in the Florida Keys since the 1980s by federal and state agencies, academic scientists and nonprofit conservation biologists,” Meyer said. “They all recognize habitat loss and degradation as the most serious threat and point to the species’ unusual wariness and aversion to disturbance as sources of population-limiting stress. There is no way to reconcile the construction and daily operation of a zip line with meaningful protection of the White-crowned Pigeon and the rare hammock plant community on which it depends.”

The Marathon planning commission meets on April 15 to review Crane Point’s plans and will then pass their recommendations on the city council for its final review in May. It may become a contentious session.