“Taking” One for the Team: Incidental Take and Sea Turtle Habitat Conservation Plans
Katherine Pearson, J.D. Candidate
Thomas T. Ankersen, Professor Emeritus
University of Florida Levin College of Law
Introduction
State and local sea turtle managers have struggled to reconcile the nesting needs of sea turtles with coastal development and its impacts on their habitat, ranging from upland property owners’ desire to armor and illuminate their beachfront homes to Florida’s long tradition of beach driving. This conservation and development dynamic is not unique to Florida or to sea turtles. Soon after its enactment in 1973, the sweeping authority of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) to halt development posed challenges to the legitimacy of the law, prompting policymakers to search for middle ground. Congress settled on an approach that authorizes the “incidental taking” of listed species in return for greater habitat protection.
This article examines the development of Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) in Florida to balance coastal development and the conservation of sea turtle nesting habitat. What began as a creative solution born by a California developer to accommodate protected species of butterflies became a nationwide model through amendments to the ESA. In Florida, HCPs attempt to safeguard sea turtle nesting habitats while allowing for continuing coastal development and recreational use of beaches—no easy task. This blog briefly traces the development of the 1982 “Incidental Take” amendment to the ESA, provides a narrative of current sea turtle HCPs in Florida, and details Florida’s ambitious attempt to create a statewide HCP for beach-dependent species, which appears to have stalled.
Historical Context
Sea turtles have butterflies to thank for the protections and benefits that they receive through HCPs. In 1980, a developer in San Mateo County, California, learned that two endangered species, the Mission Blue butterfly and the San Bruno Elfin butterfly, inhabited the site he planned to develop.[1] Under Section 9 of the ESA, it is “unlawful for any person . . . to take any [endangered] species.”[2] Since construction on the site would inevitably harm or kill the butterflies by eliminating their habitat, the developer proposed a novel solution—a habitat conservation plan (“San Bruno Mountain Plan”) that aimed to strike a balance between protecting the endangered butterflies while accommodating the proposed development.[3]
While this plan seemed to provide an acceptable solution, at the time, no legal framework existed to support it. Federal agencies could gain approval for actions that violated the Section 9 “take” provision through Section 7 consultations that resulted in protection and mitigation, but private actors lacked an equivalent solution.[4] A “take” was a “take”—and consequently illegal. To remedy this issue and reduce conflict between preservation and economic development, in 1982, Lindell Marsh and Robert Thornton, prominent environmental attorneys for the San Bruno Mountain developers, proposed the idea of habitat conservation plans to the Congressional Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment.[5] Marsh and Thornton modeled their proposal on the San Bruno Mountain Plan they had helped develop.[6] Only a few months later, federal legislators embraced this idea and used the San Bruno Mountain Plan as a blueprint for codifying habitat conservation plans in the ESA.[7]
Statutory Basis for Habitat Conservation Planning Under the Endangered Species Act
This legislative action took form in the 1982 amendment to the ESA. Specifically, Section 10 of the ESA was amended to allow the Secretary of the Interior to issue “Incidental Take Permits” (ITPs).[8] These permits allow non-federal entities to engage in scientific or otherwise lawful development activities that would otherwise result in a prohibited “take” under Section 9.[9] To obtain an ITP, applicants must submit an HCP that details the likely impact of the take, mitigation efforts, funding sources for mitigation, and justifications for why alternative protection measures will not be utilized.[10]
Under the amendment, the Secretary of the Interior must issue an ITP if it is determined that the taking is truly incidental, the applicant will mitigate the impacts of the taking, the HCP will be adequately funded, and the taking will not significantly harm the species’ continued survival.[11] In making this determination, the Secretary considers whether the taking is the primary purpose of the activity and whether the activity is otherwise lawful.[12] If the applicant later fails to uphold the conditions of the ITP or HCP, the Secretary may revoke the permit.[13]
Habitat Conservation Planning in Florida
Florida would become an early leader in conservation planning to protect listed species, and sea turtles would lead the way.[14] Not surprisingly, many of these early Florida planning efforts involved reconciling conservation and development on barrier islands, where there are high levels of endemism. However, the first formal HCP developed pursuant to an ITP under the 1982 ESA amendments was created to protect sea turtle habitat in Volusia County. Because barrier island beaches typically harbor many listed species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began to favor “multi-species” HCPs. All but one of the Florida HCPs that address sea turtles also include other beach-dependent species, especially barrier island specific beach mice and shorebirds. The chart below outlines the HCPs addressing sea turtle habitat in Florida, and each is further discussed in the narrative that follows.
County Specific Sea Turtle Focused Habitat Conservation Plans
Volusia County
Beach driving has long been popular in Volusia County, viewed by many residents as an inalienable right.[15] However, in 1995, a lawsuit was filed against the county alleging that its policies on beach driving posed a danger to sea turtles and violated the ESA.[16] Agreeing with the plaintiffs, the United States Middle District Court of Florida enjoined the county from allowing most vehicles on its beaches at night and from permitting vehicles to enter designated conservation zones.[17] To allow residents and visitors to continue enjoying this past time, the county applied for and was granted an ITP in 1996, authorizing the take of loggerhead, green, leatherback, Kemp’s ridley, and hawksbill sea turtles, pursuant to an HCP.[18] Since 1996, the county’s HCP[19] has been amended multiple times to improve protections, clarify requirements, and change access, training, and surveying protocols.[20] The most recent iteration was accepted in 2020 and is effective until 2030.[21]
The current HCP divides the coastline in Volusia County into Beach Management Areas (BMAs).[22] Natural BMAs, which account for 53% of the county’s beaches, prohibit public driving, supporting higher nesting densities.[23] Urban and Transitional BMAs allow for limited public driving and include clearly marked Conservation Zones to prevent vehicles from coming into contact with sea turtle nests.[24] The county establishes these zones before each nesting season and inspects the zones daily to confirm that they are clearly marked before vehicles enter the beach.[25] The HCP also includes regulations for special events, ensuring that high-impact gatherings are limited to certain beachfront areas.[26] To further support conservation efforts, Volusia County operates the Marine Science Center, which serves as a sea turtle rehabilitation facility and public education center.[27]
Since the inception of the ITP, the incidental takes that the HCP was designed to address have seemingly been minimal. According to the most recent update, between 1997 and 2021, 38 hatchlings were directly impacted, the majority of which were washback sea turtles, and one nest was run over by a public safety vehicle.[28] Moreover, it is reported that indirect impacts were limited to sea turtle encounters with vehicle ruts. Still, there was no evidence suggesting that either the direct or indirect impacts addressed in the ITP had affected nesting success or hatchling productivity during this time period. Loggerhead sea turtle nesting has trended upwards on these beaches since 1988.[29]
St. Johns County
Similar to Volusia County, beach driving has long been permitted in St. Johns County.[30] In fact, in 1941, the Florida Legislature declared the county’s beaches below the mean high tide line to be a public highway, a designation the legislature has slowly chipped away over time.[31] To continue this longstanding vehicular use, as well as other potentially harmful behaviors to sea turtles, such as beachfront lighting, nighttime beach access, horseback riding, and coastal development, the county applied for an ITP in 2005,[32] which it received in 2007,[33] authorizing the take of loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill, and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, as well as the Anastasia Island Beach Mouse.[34] An HCP supported this ITP.[35]
To protect sea turtles, the HCP established measures to minimize impacts. Specifically, during nesting season, the county has implemented driving restrictions so that public vehicles cannot access the beach before 8:00 AM or after 8:00 PM, which aims to keep vehicles off the beach during prime nesting and hatching hours.[36] Furthermore, unauthorized access, outside of permitted hours, has been limited by the installation and maintenance of traffic barricades at beach access points.[37] To reduce the number of hatchlings that get stuck in tire ruts and the number of nests that drivers unknowingly come in contact with, tire rut removal protocols were implemented, and sea turtle nests are conspicuously marked and barricaded.[38] Moreover, the HCP includes measures for dune restoration, the elevation of trash receptacles, the creation of a public awareness program, the development of beach lighting regulations, and enforcement.[39] The county’s ITP is set to expire on August 31, 2026, and the county has taken steps to update and renew the ITP and HCP.[40]
In the county’s most recent compliance report, it noted that 2022 was a record-breaking year for nesting numbers. In total, there were 1,235 nests: 1,149 loggerheads, 65 greens, 15 leatherback nests, including one nesting event by a Kemp’s ridley.[41] Of these nests, 88% were on non-driving beaches.[42] Since the implementation of the HCP in 2006, St. Johns County has seen fluctuations in nesting numbers for green and leatherback sea turtles, which are consistent with statewide trends.[43] Also on par with statistics across the state are increases in loggerhead nesting numbers.[44] Interestingly, while Kemp’s ridley sea turtles typically inhabit the Gulf, the county had its first recorded nesting event for the species in 2015, which has repeated itself on an almost every other year basis since.[45]
Indian River County
In East Central Florida’s Indian River County, an area with high sea turtle nesting densities, property owners battle erosion with seawalls, revetments, and other erosion control devices.[46] Under legally prescribed circumstances, the construction of these armoring structures can be authorized under Florida law.[47] In erosion emergencies, homeowners can apply for emergency authorization, and counties can assume authorization powers.[48] By 2004, Indian River County was the only county to have assumed this power, resulting in six emergency permits.[49] These permits were contested. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Caribbean Conservation Corporation, a non-profit environmental advocacy group (now the Sea Turtle Conservancy), raised concerns that permits constituted a take of sea turtles under the ESA, so to avoid litigation, Indian River County entered into an agreement that required the county to apply for an ITP and develop an HCP.[50]
Thus, in 2004, Indian River County requested an ITP for the construction of up to 31 additional emergency coastal armoring structures over a 30-year period with an expected take of 1,185 sea turtle nests.[51] To minimize the impacts of this construction, the county committed to engaging in pre-construction planning and assessments, a public awareness program, a stringent review process for emergency armoring applications, and nest monitoring during and after construction.[52] The county also agreed to employ mitigation efforts, including protecting beachfront property, implementing a predator control program, using light management techniques, and monitoring sea turtle nests. This ITP and HCP will expire in 2034.
The above graph depicts nesting numbers in Indian River County over the past nineteen years. As it demonstrates, loggerhead and green sea turtle nesting numbers have fluctuated, but they appear to be trending upwards.[53] During nesting season, the county tracks nesting numbers and updates a public dashboard weekly. Per the dashboard, there have been 6,703 loggerhead, 4,636 green, and 78 leatherback nests as of October 10, 2025, in the 2025 season.[54] These numbers show significant increases for green and leatherback sea turtles, which were respectively at 785 and 50 nests in 2024.[55]
Walton County – An “HCP” Without an ITP
After Hurricane Dennis in 2005, Walton County issued hundreds of emergency permits allowing property owners to construct temporary armoring structures.[56] This increase in construction sparked controversy among regulatory agencies, environmental groups, and the public, including allegations that these permits constituted a take under the ESA.[57] In 2007, the county entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and USFWS, promising to pursue an ITP and develop an HCP to protect sea turtles.[58]
In 2014, Walton County submitted its ITP, requesting exemptions for shoreline protection measures, beach driving, and beach vendor activities.[59] The associated draft HCP includes the following programming to minimize and mitigate impacts: an efficient emergency permitting process, guidelines to minimize harm to species by vehicles operated by county officials and private individuals, restrictions for beach vendors, a public awareness program, a beachfront lighting ordinance, and a sea turtle monitoring program.[60] However, it does not appear that USFWS ever issued a final ITP to Walton County, and hence the draft HCP does not have the force of federal law. Nonetheless, the HCP remains active on the county’s website and presumably guides their decision-making. Walton County’s plan was intended to be in effect for 25 years.[61]
Escambia County
While Escambia County’s ITP and HCP for Perdido Key are largely intended for the protection of the Perdido Key Beach Mouse, the plan also covers loggerhead, green, leatherback, and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles on the island as well.[62] The ITP was requested in 2012 to allow the continuation of economic development activities, including residential and commercial development, utility infrastructure improvements, and other public infrastructure and transportation needs to meet community demand.[63] In 2014, the ITP was issued and the HCP was approved.[64]
Under the HCP, sea turtles benefit from precautions implemented during construction activities, such as the prohibition of construction on nesting beaches during the nesting season and the establishment of construction project boundaries. Additional harm minimization efforts include restricting vehicular access to daylight hours, establishing Conservation Zones to limit interactions between sea turtle nests and vehicles, professional sea turtle nest monitoring and data collection, removing vehicle ruts, reestablishing harmed nest sites, and implementing a lighting ordinance.[65] The plan includes more general protections that will also benefit sea turtles, such as predator control, trash collection and management, conservation training, public education efforts, and post-construction monitoring.[66] This plan is set to run for thirty years.[67]
Nesting numbers on Perdido Key have stayed relatively the same, besides a sharp uptick in the 2017 nesting season. In 2024, seven loggerhead nests were recorded on Perdido Key.[68]
Statewide Effort: Florida Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan
While the above HCPs aim to protect sea turtles in specific counties in Florida, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“Department”) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (“Commission”) sought to reconcile coastal construction and other threats to sea turtles and other beach-dependent species through a proposed “Florida Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan.”[69] This draft plan included protective measures for twelve species of wildlife that inhabit Florida’s beaches, including green, leatherback, loggerhead, hawksbill, and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles.[70] The Department and Commission intended that this draft plan would supplement an ITP application for activities permitted by Florida’s Coastal Construction Control Line Program, which aims to protect the State’s coastline by regulating coastal construction, including beach armoring, and related activities that result in beach erosion.[71]
Rumblings of the statewide plan surfaced in January 2009 with a meeting to establish a steering committee to guide the development of the HCP.[72] By December 2009, the steering committee was formed and held its initial meeting.[73] Throughout 2010, the committee met four times and discussed biological goals and objectives, plan areas, critically eroded beaches, and options for protecting at-risk species that were not listed under the ESA in the HCP.[74] In 2011, discussions about incorporating at-risk species continued, as well as what counties should be included in the plan area.[75] In 2012, the committee began drafting and reviewing chapters of the HCP, marking the beginning of a seven-year process to finish the draft HCP.[76] In April 2019, the committee held its last meeting and voted to approve the draft plan.[77]
After this meeting, the plan was shared with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department and the Commission assumed responsibility from the committee for the plan’s next stages.[78] At this point, it was emphasized that to properly implement the ITP and HCP, the Florida Legislature would need to make changes to coastal construction policies in Chapter 161, Florida Statutes.[79] In 2020, efforts were taken to develop a legislative and regulatory package that would allow the Department to implement the draft plan.[80]
In 2021, a federal Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grant of $233,333 was awarded to support the plan’s final development phase, with a deadline of October 31, 2024.[81] As part of this final push, the Department continued working on a legislative plan to allow for implementation and planned to contract with an environmental consulting firm to complete a final plan.[82] While the Department last updated its webpage on the Florida Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan on June 26, 2024, no additional information outlining the plan’s progress has been added, suggesting that progress had stalled.[83]
Conclusion
While the Florida Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan remains unfinished, the county-level HCPs in force suggest the continuing viability of these plans to address the issues they were developed to undertake. As Florida’s coastline continues to face challenges from development and accelerating impacts from climate change, HCPs offer a framework that balances growth and conservation. Even so, perhaps in part due to the lingering possibility of a statewide HCP, there has not been a new county or local level sea turtle HCP proffered since 2014, and none have been formally entered into force since 2012. It may also be that many of the measures included in the first generation of sea turtle-focused HCPs have now been incorporated to some extent through local policy. Whether the HCP framework is robust enough to tackle more problematic issues, such as episodic storm-induced erosion and long-term sea-level rise, remains untested.
[1] Wayne King, Builder Stumbles on Potent Foe: Butterflies, N.Y. Times, Feb. 6, 1982, at 1.
[2] Endangered Species Act § 9(a)(1), 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1).
[3] King, supra note 1, at 7.
[4] Richard E. Webster, Habitat Conservation Plans under the Endangered Species Act, 24 San Diego L. Rev. 243, 247 (1987).
[5] Hearings on Endangered Species Act Reauthorization and Oversight Before the Subcomm. On Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Env’t of the H. Comm. on Merch. Marine and Fisheries, 97th Cong. 330-333 (1982) (prepared statement of Lindell L. Marsh, Attorney, Nossaman, Krueger & Knox).
[6] Id. at 332. They also modeled their plan on the Coastal Zone Management Act in the Pacific Northwest, which was a Special Area Management Plan (SAMP).
[7] Webster, supra note 4, at 249.
[8] Endangered Species Act § 10, 16 U.S.C. § 1539.
[9] Permits for the Incidental Taking of Endangered and Threatened Species, NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fws.gov/laws/endangered-species-act/section-10 (last visited Aug. 14, 2025); 16 U.S.C. § 1539.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Heather Harl, Natalie Madden, David Jennings & Andrew Carter, Habitat Conservation Plans under the Endangered Species Act: A Comprehensive Three-Decade Analysis, 7 Conservation Sci. & Prac. 70061 (2025), https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70061; G.L. Finnell, Coastal Land Management in Florida, 5 Am. B. Found. Res. J. 303 (1980).
[15] Lizette Alvarez, Florida Beachgoers Cling to a Right to Make the Sand Their Driveway, N.Y. Times, Jan. 27, 2016, at A12.
[16] Loggerhead Turtle v. Cty. Council, 896 F. Supp. 1170, 1172 (M.D. Fla. 1995).
[17] Id. at 1182. In the same order, the district refused to grant a preliminary injunction against the county’s artificial beachfront lighting policies, which plaintiffs argued also caused a “take” of sea turtles. A day after receiving the ITP, on November 22, 1996, the county moved to dissolve the preliminary injunction and dismiss the case, arguing that the ITP permitted incidental takes from beachfront lighting, making the issue moot. The district court granted these motions, and the plaintiffs appealed, arguing that the ITP did not permit incidental takes caused by artificial beachfront lighting. On appeal, the 11th Circuit held that the ITP did not permit the county “to take protected sea turtles through purely mitigatory measures associated with artificial beachfront lighting.” Loggerhead Turtle v. Cty. Council of Volusia Cty., 148 F.3d 1231, 1258 (11th Cir. 1998). Following this case, the county amended its lighting ordinances, and the district court held that this action was sufficient to protect sea turtles and escape a “take” under the ESA. Loggerhead Turtle v. Cty. Council, 92 F. Supp. 2d 1296, 1308 (M.D. Fla. 2000).
[18] Habitat Conservation Plan – A Plan for the Protection of Sea Turtles on the Beaches of Volusia County, Florida iii, https://www.volusia.org/core/fileparse.php/6127/urlt/Volusia_HCP_August_2022_complete-Accessible.pdf (last visited Aug. 14, 2025).
[19] Id. at 2. This county-wide plan is made possible through a 1986 amendment to the Volusia County Charter, which transferred the jurisdiction of the beaches from the municipalities to the county.
[20] Id. at iv-vii. Plan improvements have included: changing beach closing time; changing rut removal procedures; changing beach garbage pickup time and disposal rules for concessionaries; allowing for the placement of portable restrooms; allowing for annual adjustment of CZ markers; acknowledging permission of official vehicles to operate at night; changing approval process for special beach events; expanding easements for official vehicle use; changing licensing protocol for fishermen; changing approval and monitoring of beach cleaning and beach front lighting; changing protocols for nesting surveys, markings, relocation, and determination of reproductive success; changing map and summary production timelines; adding program to survey washback hatchlings; changing meeting requirements; changing training and volunteer protocols; changing program development requirements; clarifying brochure distribution requirements; clarifying reporting requirements; allowing heavy construction equipment access; changing commercial fishermen access; changing concessionaries’ training requirements; and clarifying requirements for high tide beach closure logs.
[21] Id. at xvii.
[22] Id. at xix.
[23] Id.
[24] Id.
[25] Id.
[26] Id. at xxi.
[27] Id. at xxi-xxii.
[28] Id. at xvii.
[29] Id. at xviii.
[30] A Plan for the Protection of Sea Turtles and Anastasia Island Beach Mice on the Beaches of St. Johns County, Florida ii, (Aug. 18, 2003), https://www.sjcfl.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/HCP.pdf.
[31] Id. at 20.
[32] Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for Beach Driving and Related Activities in St. Johns County, Fla., 70 Fed. Reg. 53245 (Sept. 7, 2005).
[33] Issuance of Incidental Take Permit TE‑091980‑0 for Beach Driving and Related Activities in St. Johns County, Florida, 72 Fed. Reg. 34345 (June 23, 2007).
[34] Id. at 18.
[35] A Plan for the Protection of Sea Turtles and Anastasia Island Beach Mice on the Beaches of St. Johns County, Florida ii, (Aug. 18, 2003), https://www.sjcfl.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/HCP.pdf.
[36] Id. at 139.
[37] Id. at 142.
[38] Id. at 143-44.
[39] Id. at 137-154.
[40] Update to the Habitat Conservation Plan, Bidnet Direct, https://www.bidnetdirect.com/florida/solicitations/open-bids/statewide/Update-to-the-Habitat-Conservation-Plan/443342921809#:~:text=The%20County%20currently%20holds%20an,state%20and/or%20federal%20regulation (last visited Aug. 14, 2025).
[41] St. Johns County Habitat Conservation Plan: 2022 Annual Compliance Report 1, https://www.sjcfl.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2022_SJC_habitat-conservation-plan-annual-report.pdf (last visited Nov. 5, 2025).
[42] Id.
[43] Id. at 15-20.
[44] Id. at 16-17.
[45] Id. at 19.
[46] Habitat Conservation Plan for the Protection of Sea Turtles on the Eroding Beaches of Indian River County, Florida: 2018 Annual Report 8, (Mar. 2021), https://indianriver.gov/Document%20Center/Services/Public
%20Works/Coastal%20Engineering%20Devision/Report%20Archive%20By%20Year/HCP2018.pdf.
[47] Fla. Stat. § 161.085 (2025); See Thomas K. Ruppert, Eroding Long-Term Prospects for Florida’s Beaches: Florida’s Coastal Construction Control Line Program, https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/facultypub/709/ (last visited May 9, 2025).
[48] Notice, Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for Regulation of Coastal Armoring by Indian River County, FL., 68 Fed. Reg. 65730-31 (Nov. 21, 2003).
[49] Id. at 65731.
[50] Id.
[51] Id.
[52] Habitat Conservation Plan for the Protection of Sea Turtles on the Eroding Beaches of Indian River County, Florida: 2018 Annual Report, (Mar. 2021), https://indianriver.gov/Document%20Center/Services/Public
%20Works/Coastal%20Engineering%20Devision/Report%20Archive%20By%20Year/HCP2018.pdf.
[53] Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Indian River Cty., https://indianriver.gov/services/public_works/coastal
_engineering/sea_turtle_conservation_program.php (last visited Nov. 5, 2025).
[54] Id.
[55] Id.
[56] Walton County Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan xiii, https://www.mywaltonfl.gov/DocumentCenter/
View/3098/14-Executive-Summary?bidId= (last visited Aug. 14, 2025).
[57] Id.
[58] Walton County Intergovernmental Agreement 1-7, https://www.mywaltonfl.gov/DocumentCenter/View/209/
Intergovernmental-Agreement?bidId= (last visited Nov. 5, 2025).
[59] Notice, Incidental Take Permit and Environmental Assessment for Erosion Armoring and Beachfront Activities Regulated by the Walton County Board of County Commissioners in Walton County, Florida, 79 Fed. Reg. 41592-93 (Jul. 16, 2014).
[60] Walton County Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan, (Draft # 4), 118-19, https://www.mywaltonfl.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3098/14-Executive-Summary?bidId= (last visited Aug. 14, 2025).
[61] Id. at xiii.
[62] A Plan for the Protection of the Perdido Key Beach Mouse, Sea Turtles, and Piping Plovers on Perdido Key xii, Florida (Jan. 2010), https://myescambia.com/docs/default-source/sharepoint-natural-resources-management/perdido-key-habitat-conservation-plan/ada-docs/ada_final-perdido-key-hcp-23nov11.pdf?sfvrsn=db78186d_6.
[63] Id. at 85-86. Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for Beach Driving and Related Activities in Escambia County, Florida, 77 Fed. Reg. 52,756 (Aug. 30, 2012).
[64] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Escambia County Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan, ECOS Conservation Plans Database (Plan ID 4099 / Permit No. TE46592A-0), Date Permit Issued: Dec. 5, 2014
[65] Id. at 100-01.
[66] Id.
[67] Id. at xii.
[68] Mark Nicholas, Escambia County 2024 Marine Turtle Nesting Monitoring Report ii, Escambia Cty., https://myescambia.com/docs/default-source/upload/2024-escambia-county-marine-turtle-nest-monitoring-report-2024.pdf?sfvrsn=91e9376a_1 (last visited Nov. 5, 2025).
[69] Florida Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan, Fla. Dep’t of Envt’l Prot., (Jun. 26, 2024), https://floridadep.gov/rcp/coastal-construction-control-line/content/florida-beaches-habitat-conservation-plan.
[70] Id.
[71] Id.; Coastal Construction Control Line Program, Fla. Dep’t of Envt’l Prot., https://floridadep.gov/rcp/coastal-construction-control-line (last visited Nov. 5, 2025); See also See Thomas K. Ruppert, Eroding Long-Term Prospects for Florida’s Beaches: Florida’s Coastal Construction Control Line Program, https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/facultypub/709/ (last visited May 9, 2025).
[72] Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Jan. 29, 2009), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=6641413&type=1&File=68A.htm.
[73] Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Dec. 16, 2009), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=7952174&type=1&File=68A.htm.
[74] Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Feb. 15, 2010), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=8240070&type=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Jun. 3, 2010), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=8657170&type=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Sep. 8, 2010), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=9064279&type=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Dec. 2, 2010), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=9388065&type=1&File=68A.htm.
[75] Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Jun. 1, 2011), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=9936891&type=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Aug. 30, 2011), (https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=10300738&type=1&File=68A.htm.
[76] Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Feb. 22, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=10999720&type=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Mar. 20, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid
=11156375&type=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (May 8, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/result.asp?searchType=FS&chapterNo=&searchWords=%22Habitat
%20conservation%20plan%22&fullTextSearType=N&page=2; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Jun. 13, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=6&tid=11533026&type
=1&File=68A.htm; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Aug. 9, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/result.asp?searchType=FS&chapterNo=&searchWords=%22Habitat%20conservation%20plan%22&fullTextSearType=N&page=2; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Sep. 20, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/result.asp?searchType=FS&chapterNo=&searchWords=%22Habitat
%20conservation%20plan%22&fullTextSearType=N&page=2; Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Dec. 10, 2012), https://flrules.org/gateway/result.asp?searchType=FS&chapter
No=&searchWords=%22Habitat%20conservation%20plan%22&fullTextSearType=N&page=2.
[77] Notice of Meeting, Fla. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm., (Apr. 5, 2019), https://flrules.org/gateway/result.asp?searchType=FS&chapterNo=&searchWords=%22Habitat%20conservation%20plan%22&fullTextSearType=N&page=1.
[78] Florida Beaches Habitat Conservation Plan, Fla. Dep’t of Envt’l Prot., (Jun. 26, 2024), https://floridadep.gov/rcp/coastal-construction-control-line/content/florida-beaches-habitat-conservation-plan.
[79] Id.
[80] Id.
[81] Id.
[82] Id.
[83] Id.
