SR 200 Widening Listed Species Surveys and Permitting

As part of the FDOT District Five Districtwide Contract, DRMP assisted District Five in obtaining approval from the SR 200 Wildlife Task Force (consisting of five government agencies) and obtaining environmental resource permits for widening 6-miles of SR 200 from the Citrus County line to CR 484, through the Ross Prairie State Forest and Halpata Tastanaki Preserve. 

As compensation for acquiring state lands to widen SR 200, the project design required one equestrian crossing, one bike trail crossing, two ecotonal wildlife bridge crossings, three upland box culverts, five wetland box culverts, a 4-foot tall herptile wall with fencing on top within Ross Prairie and wildlife fencing along the right-of-way adjacent to state lands.  

DRMP’s biologists served on the expert technical team for the wildlife crossing designs, conducted the Florida scrub jay surveys and assisted the District in obtaining a Biological Opinion from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the Florida scrub-jay, wood stork and eastern indigo snake.  As a result of the scrub jay surveys and USFWS coordination, FDOT District Five committed to provide funding for the Florida Scrub-Jay Conservation Fund, administered by The Nature Conservancy, to offset nine acres of proposed impact to scrub jay foraging and nesting habitat.  DRMP staff coordinated and confirmed project approval of the final design with the SR 200 Wildlife Task Force, a group made up of representatives from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), USFWS, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Florida Forest Service and Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD).

DRMP’s expertise in wildlife crossing design and agency coordination ensured District Five and the Wildlife Task Force that this SR 200 Widening project would be designed and permitted as agreed upon and would improve the habitat connectivity with the Ross Prairie State Forest and Halpata Tastanaki Preserve.