Groups sue federal agency over Florida ghost orchid protections; agency mum on status update
Several environmental groups are suing the federal government over its alleged failure to protect one of the most scarce and majestic plants in Florida: the ghost orchid.
The Center for Biological Diversity, The Institute for Regional Conservation and the National Parks Conservation Association has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for what they say is a delay in giving Endangered Species Act protections to Florida's ghost orchids.
“Delaying protections will make it that much harder to draw ghost orchids back from the brink of extinction,” said attorney Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These spirits of the swamp need all the help they can get in the face of habitat destruction and increasingly intense storms. Desperately needed federal protections will only come after these orchids have been listed under the Endangered Species Act.”
Bennett and others say FWS was legally bound to make a determination in January, but it seems any action on the orchid may not come for another four years.
Is the agency is still playing catch up?
FWS spokeswoman Renee Bodine said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
She would not answer questions like: did a deadline for the ghost orchid pass in January, or when does FWS expect to make some type of determination on the ghost orchid?
FWS has said that it used 2022 to catch up on the review workload for years past, and that, going forward, it will review 310 species by 2027.
"This methodology is intended to allow us to address the outstanding workload of status reviews and accompanying 12-month findings strategically as our resources allow and to provide transparency to our partners and other stakeholders as to how we establish priorities within our workload into the future," said FWS spokeswoman Jennifer M. Koches, earlier this year.
Mysterious plant sparks debate, stories
The beautiful flower seems to hang in the air, as if suspended like a ghost, and it's one of the most sought-after species for serious air plant collectors.
Ghost orchids and the mysterious collector circus that revolves around them have been portrayed in books and movies, and poachers have removed them from the wild as recently as last year.
The orchid survives in places like the Big Cypress National Preserve, Collier-Seminole State Park, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
“We regret that we must file this lawsuit, but the world famous and critically imperiled ghost orchid is out of time,” said George Gann, director at The Institute for Regional Conservation. “Only the Endangered Species Act can provide both the deterrence against poaching and the resources needed to respond to growing threats from hurricanes, invasive species and counterproductive management decisions such as increased oil exploration."
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida ghost orchid protections at stake in federal lawsuit
