If land is occupied by Florida scrub-jay
Under the Endangered Species Act, take of occupied habitat of a federally listed species such as the Florida scrub-jay requires an incidental take permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service. This permit allows the take of a federally listed species incidental to a lawful activity, such as residential home construction. An approved habitat conservation plan is needed to obtain an incidental take permit. A habitat conservation plan may include avoidance, minimization and mitigation of impacts to the Florida scrub-jay. An example of mitigation is habitat replacement at a ratio of 2:1, in the form of title to other occupied lands, conservation easements, purchase credit at a scrub-jay conservation bank, or payment to a scrub-jay land acquisition fund.
If you are interested in pursuing an incidental take permit and habitat conservation plan please contact our office at 772-562-3909.
Currently it may take a year or more, from the time a complete application is received by our office until a permit is issued. We are working to identify ways to streamline the HCP process including batching small landowners together to reduce paperwork. We believe this will be more cost effective and efficient for all involved parties.