Franklin County has agreed
agreed to apply for more money to help increase turtle friendly
lighting at local beaches.
Franklin
County has one of the larger sea turtle nesting populations on the
Gulf Coast – every year hundreds of turtles dig nests on beaches
from St. Vincent Island to Bald Point.
Sea
turtles can be disoriented by house lights and the county has a rule
requiring turtle safe lighting on homes along the beach.
Franklin
county is eligible for about 65 thousand dollars this year through a
federal grant to hire a part-time code enforcement officer for 6
months to visit some of the homes and businesses and offer assistance
in bringing their outdoor lighting into compliance with county rules.
The
money will also help pay for a pamphlet, a website, and public
service announcements to educate people about the impacts of man-made
light on nesting sea turtles.
This
will be the third year of the grant – so far it has provided nearly
160 thousand dollars to encourage turtle safe lighting near turtle
nesting beaches and has helped nearly 60 property owners with
lighting retrofits.
http://live.oysterradio.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment