On Saturday, April 25th The Post and Courier ran a story about endangered gopher tortoises' habitation of land in Georgia that could possibly cause trouble for automobile manufacturer Volvo as they plan to possibly build a new facility on such land. This will make it more likely that Volvo will choose a separate site in South Carolina (the one in contention not being inhabited by tortoises). The story was run in the business and tech section of the paper. It seems the intended audience is the general public of the Charleston area and more specifically people interested in business development in the low country as well as people concerned about environmental protection and regulation of business development that is harmful to endangered species. At first glance the article seems slightly more biased towards the business that Volvo can bring to the southeast and less so about the harmful effects of relocating the turtles as the article's first sentence says that the tortoises could become "one of the peach state's worst enemies." Still overall the article does a great job of merging discussion of harmful effects of development on the tortoises as well as the potential gain for jobs in the southeast while still allowing wetland conservation to happen if these plans go through, especially in South Carolina. Essentially the article states that a wetlands permit application filed for a site in Elabell, GA lists the gopher tortoise as a known inhabitant. For Volvo to build on the site they must get further permits and undertake a relocation program for the tortoises under government oversight. The article also states that environmental groups are very concerned about moving the turtles at all. Although they are a federally endangered species in many states they are not yet classified as federally endangered in Georgia due to a lack of funding for the US Fish and Wildlife service allowing the organization to expand its endangered species list. Because they are not federally endangered in Georgia they can be relocated rather than having to remain where they are. Relocation of the animals generally involves trapping them, relocating them and putting pens around them so they cannot use homing abilities to return to where they came from. The article then goes on to talk about gopher tortoises, their habitat, range and the fact that their extensive burrows serve as home to hundreds of other species making them a crucial keystone species within their ecosystem. In addition to talking about the tortoises and their crucial role in southeastern ecosystems the article goes on to say that the proposed site in Georgia would have involved filing more than 142 acres of wetlands, with the developer purchasing wetland mitigation credits to be used to offset the environmental effect of destroying the proposed site's wetlands. In South Carolina the proposed site would require filling almost 195 acres of wetlands at the Camp Hall Commerce Park near Ridgeville in Berkeley County. In order for that plan to work the developer in SC would "preserve, restore and enhance" 1,533 acres of wetlands in the Dean Swamp and Walnut Branch watersheds allowing for obtainment of strategic parcels to further create a large greenbelt region around the greater Charleston area. The article mentions that the proposal in SC shows how industrial groups can be compatible with the agenda of environmental groups. Ultimately the facility would employ 4,000 people over the next decade if it was built in SC. Hopefully the extra regulatory hoops to jump through and possible public outcry over the tortoises at the site in Georgia will cause Volvo to further pursue building at the site in SC. Although wetlands will be destroyed in order for the plant to be built, it seems that building in SC is a better choice both economically (for SC) and environmentally as there are no endangered tortoises at the site and a great mitigation plan to protect other wetlands is in place. Let's hope Volvo will decide to make SC its new home.
Story printed in Saturday, April 25th paper and posted online April 24th.
Link: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150424/PC05/150429532
2 comments:
I think that this article brings up many challenges that both developers and environmentalists have to face that many people don’t realize. Trying to find a balance between allowing development and growth to occur while preserving animals’ natural habitats is sticky business. As seen in Georgia, the presence of the gopher tortoise is causing an international company to have to change their plans. This is crazy, but shows how important and effective environmental laws are to protecting endangered species.
What an interesting case. Clearly from a biological and ecological perspective, relocating the tortoises would be a bad idea. That SC stands to gain economically make this an interesting local issue.
The article also highlights the complexities of wetland regulations, with the proposed mitigation plan in exchange for destroying wetlands on the site.
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