The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Jacksonville District and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service will jointly host a free public workshop to discuss the designation of smalltooth sawfish critical habitat and its impact on the Corps’ permitting process.

The workshop will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 13051 Bell Tower Drive, Fort Myers, from 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16. Representatives from the Corps and NOAA Fisheries Service will clarify those areas that may be categorized as critical habitat, discuss situations when endangered species consultation on the smalltooth sawfish or its designated critical habitat will likely be required and to answer questions. General questions regarding the species, its critical habitat or the endangered species consultation process are also welcome. Corps and NOAA Fisheries Service staff will make their presentations from 1 to 2 p.m. and will be available to answer questions from 2 to 5 p.m.

The smalltooth sawfish was listed as endangered April 1, 2003 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Critical habitat for the smalltooth sawfish was designated Sept. 2, 2009 and became effective Oct. 2, 2009. The critical habitat consists of two units: the Charlotte Harbor Estuary Unit of approximately 221,459 acres of coastal habitat and the Ten Thousand Islands / Everglades Unit (TTI/E) of approximately 619,013 acres of coastal habitat. The two units are located along the southwestern coast of Florida between Charlotte Harbor and Florida Bay.

The features within these units designated as critical habitat are euryhaline waters (those that tolerate a wide range of salinity), three feet deep or less, and red mangrove wetlands. NOAA Fisheries Service determined these features may require special management considerations, or protection, due to human and natural impacts to the features, including development, marine construction and storms.

The Corps does not anticipate major changes to current processing and coordination procedures for general permits authorizing piling-supported structures in designated smalltooth sawfish critical habitat. General permits issued by others (State Programmatic and Programmatic General Permits) will continue to be reviewed following established procedures.

For more information contact: Tunis McElwain of the Corps’ Fort Myers Regulatory Office, at 239-334-1975, extension 30 or Shelley Norton, NOAA Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, at 727-824-5312. More information may also be found under “News and Announcements” at: http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Divisions/Regulatory/index.htm.

Source: Army Corp of Engineers