Cameratta Companies and Audubon have reached a wide-ranging settlement that ends a federal lawsuit over the massive Kingston development and eliminates controversial development-company easements through Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary that had been eyed for a hurricane evacuation route.
The agreement resolves two disputes that had become intertwined: Audubon’s challenge to federal approvals for Kingston and a separate controversy over historic easements through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary that emerged as possible hurricane evacuation routes.
In a statement, Audubon said the pact will “resolve Audubon’s lawsuit challenging the Army Corps of Engineers permit for and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review of the Kingston development north of Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.”
According to the release, the agreement provides for “improved conservation outcomes and water quality, support for corridors that allow endangered Florida panthers to move safely across the landscape, and a return of any easements across our property to Audubon within two years, eliminating the risk of an evacuation route being constructed through the sanctuary.”
The agreement also provides for the purchase of property previously considered for acquisition by Lee County’s Conservation 20/20 program.
The nonprofit emphasized it didn’t undertake litigation in search of a monetary settlement, nor did it receive one. The goal was to improve habitat for wildlife now and into the future, it said.
The release also thanks the nonprofit legal team at Everglades Law Center in partnership with environmental lawyer Richard Grosso.
Keith Laakkonen, the sanctuary’s director, said Audubon was “grateful for the outpouring of public support for Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary during this difficult period,” adding that the community that originally helped save Corkscrew from poachers and clear-cutting “remains just as dedicated 70 years after Corkscrew’s establishment.”
This article originally appeared on Marco Eagle: Audubon, Kingston developer reach settlement; eliminates easements
Reporting by Amy Bennett Williams, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Marco Eagle
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By Amy Bennett Williams, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
