Federal government declares thousands of miles of beaches and ocean as critical habitat for Loggerheads

About 685 miles of beaches and nearly 200,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico have been declared critical habitat for threatened loggerhead sea turtles.

The critical habitat declaration includes 88 nesting beaches in six states including St. George Island, Little St. George, St. Vincent Island, cape San Blas and portions of beach in Gulf County.

The listed beaches account for 48 percent of the estimated 1,500 miles of coastal beach shoreline used by loggerheads, and about 84 percent of the documented numbers of nests, within the six states

Declaring the areas critical habitat does not create preserves or refuges or affect land ownership.

Basically the designation affects future federal activities in those areas by adding an additional layer of review for certain types of coastal development, beach nourishment and fisheries management when permitting decisions for these activities include a federal connection.

The loggerhead is the most common sea turtle in southeastern United States, nesting along the Atlantic Coast of Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina and along the Gulf Coast.

Loggerhead turtles have been listed as endangered since 1978 – they are especially vulnerable to man-made threats including alterations to beaches, vessel strikes and bycatch in fishing nets.

 

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