COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has released an online petition to garner community support against the development and subsequent dredging of the Bellmar Village, a community attached to the newly approved Town of Big Cypress. 

You can see the entire petition here. 

“If we take a community and put it there, the rights to humans, to fresh water, seem to supersede the rights of the entire planet to be healthy and safe,” said Nora Demers, a professor of biology at Florida Gulf Coast University. 

Environmental groups have expressed concerns about the development of the property impacting Florida panther populations. It is located east of 2^nd Avenue Southeast & Golden Gate Boulevard East in Golden Gate Estates, less than a mile from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. Bellmar Village is expected to contain approximately 4,000 homes on about 2,000 acres of land, as well as strip malls, businesses and other town-essentials. 

“Look at our county. Look at the beautiful area we are in. Everyone moves down here to be part of that beauty. We are just paving over it,” said Bill D’Antuono, a local charter captain who was born and raised in Naples. 

The Conservancy estimates that approximately 1,700 acres of Florida panther habitat could be lost to the development and dredging, as well as the shrinking of an essential wildlife corridor. 

“The corridor needs to get off somewhere. Think about it, think like you’re on a highway all the time. That’s the corridor. You can’t stay on the highway. You can’t just use a rest area. You have to get off the highway and go somewhere,” Demers said. 

Only about 200 Florida panthers exist in the wild, and 12 have been hit and killed by vehicles across the state this year, according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission. The Conservancy estimates Bellmar would increase vehicle trips in the rural area by about 45,000. 

“Panthers don’t get to argue. So, the point of contention is really coming about right now,” Demers said. 

Other animals who share the land with Florida panthers could also see impacts. 

“Deer, rabbit, armadillos, otters, turtles, fish, I can’t think of anything you don’t have out there,” Demers added. 

The community development project was already approved by Collier County commissioners in July. 

Construction on homes is expected to begin in 2024.