Rfalconcam Forum

3 P.M. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review the biological status of the wood stork to determine whether the endangered species should be reclassified as threatened.

Once found mainly in South Florida — the largest wood stork breeding colony in North America is at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County — the population has expanded to Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Mississippi.

A major reason for the stork’s endangered status is loss of wetlands, which are essential foraging habitat.

“The wood stork has shown an ability to adapt to the environment,” wildlife service spokesman Chuck Underwood said. “We’ve also seen colonies pop up over a broader area. It looks like it might be doing OK.”

To review the stork’s status, the wildlife service is soliciting all scientific and commercial data and any other information about the species throughout its range.
Depending on the results of the review, the wildlife service could:

• Determine that reclassification is not warranted, so that no other action would be taken.

• Determine that reclassification to threatened is warranted, in which case, the wildlife service would publish a proposed rule and solicit input from the public and scientific community.

• Determine reclassification is warranted but defer any proposed reclassification while the wildlife service works on the status of other species.

Reclassification would not mean that the species would no longer be protected, Underwood said.

“‘Threatened’ means it’s still in serious condition,” he said. “It means that, biologically speaking, it’s in better shape, but it still needs protection.”

Corkscrew resource manager Jason Lauritsen agreed that the wood stork’s expansion is good news.

“What concerns us is how they’re doing here,” he said. “What we want to see as they consider downlisting is a long, hard look at the plight of wood storks in their historic nesting range, their historic breadbasket.”

Satellite tracking data show that many storks that nest farther north spend part of the year in South Florida, Lauritsen said.

“Hendry County, just north of Corkscrew, is the hottest spot in the country for wood storks,” he said. “From October through December, storks from Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama come down here to feed.

“The recovery effort so far has focused on areas where they’re nesting without looking at the impact on their winter range. We want to make sure we’re still protecting this region.”