To: See Distribution Below
Re: Future Port St. John I-95 Interchange and Potential Impact on Bobcat Viability
Date: November 25, 1998

Dear Gentlemen/Ladies,

Enclosed is a summary of ecological assessment and recommendations for habitat preservation. It pertains to the potential impacts posed by the future Port St. John I-95 interchange, as related to local bobcat population viability. A final release will be provided in January 1999. The purpose of this summary is to provide advanced details of issues that have not been previously addressed with regards to the interchange project.

Though the bobcat is not endangered or threatened, development in the county may soon pose a threat to local persistence if it continues unchecked. Careful land management in the future will likely need to occur. To provide information that is needed to help avert this potential loss, Coryi Foundation, Inc. is conducting radio-collar research on bobcats. The purpose of this research is to obtain scientific evidence pertaining to how the landscape needs to be managed to such an end. The Foundation’s geographic scope of operation includes all of Brevard County. This scope reflects the large-scale nature of the problem of maintaining bobcat viability in coastal counties. Thus, the Foundation generates assessments and conservation recommendations on a large-scale landscape level that simultaneously address specific problem areas. These documents are provided to land use planners, public officials, and land conservation entities so that well-informed land use decisions can be made. The enclosed assessment is the product of that ongoing research as it applies to the interchange.

We request your review of this document and consideration of the recommendations contained within. We seek a change in the interchange’s design and the careful routing of connector roads per the recommendations listed in the assessment. Your feedback and comment in regards to these documents and Coryi Foundation’s bobcat research and conservation agenda are encouraged. Please forward these directly to us at the above address, telephone, or e-mail.

Sincerely,


Timothy John Mallow
Director

Distribution:
Representative Bill Posey, Florida House District 32
Senator Charles H. Bronson, Jr., Florida Senate District 18
Mrs. Nancy Houston, District Five Secretary, FDOT
Mr. Bob Gleason, District Five Environmental Administrator, FDOT
Mr. Alan Ledgerwood, District Five Project Manager, FDOT
Mr. Mike Szunyog, Brevard County Liaison, FDOT
Mr. Truman Scarborough, Jr., Brevard County Board of County Commissioners
Mr. Robert Kamm, Staff Director, Brevard Metropolitan Planning Organization
Mrs. Anne P. Birch, Brevard County EELS Program
I-95/West Connector Citizens Recommendation Committee