Wildlife Survey and Relocation Projects

The care that Erdman Anthony shows for all creatures great and small is demonstrated in our management of a team that performed a range of wildlife surveys and relocations for our client, South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).

During SFWMD’s Picayune Strand Restoration in Collier County, Erdman Anthony managed a team of experts that relocated roughly 15 gopher tortoises from the project’s construction footprint. Wildlife researchers regard the gopher tortoise as a “keystone species” because it digs burrows that provide shelter for hundreds of other types of animals. The team also captured an 11-foot male Burmese python and worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to implant a tracking device for scientists to monitor mating habits.

The restored Picayune Strand now also features a warm refugium for manatees, allowing them to congregate when other waters turn cold in the winter.

SFWMD also relied on our firm to manage the surveying and relocation of gopher tortoises in Hendry County, where the C-43 Reservoir project that aims to bring a more natural, consistent flow of fresh water to the Everglades is underway.  While providing Construction Management services at the C-43 Reservoir project, our team documented endangered species sightings for Florida panther, caracara, wood stork, and bald eagle. 

Lastly, SFWMD turned to Erdman Anthony and its teaming partners to peer into tree cavities in Lee and Collier counties’ Southern Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, where Florida bonneted bats often roost.  The survey of the bats — known to live in small colonies and forage over ponds, streams, and wetlands — was part of a two-year project to return the watershed to its natural state.