Sea Turtle Lighting Ordinances
By U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Provided to Condo Owner on March 7, 2013
What You Need To Know…
This spring, local code enforcement officers will be patrolling Northwest Florida’s beaches to ensure compliance with lighting ordinances designed to protect endangered sea turtles throughout Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and–soon–Escambia counties.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, artificial beachfront lights can attract hatchlings, causing them to crawl away from the water into the dunes where they are exposed to predators and traffic along busy roadways. Artificial lights also affect adult female sea turtles which avoid well-lighted beaches when nesting.
Ordinance Status & Contacts:
These are county and municipality passed ordinances. To determine whether or not you condo meets the requirements of the ordinance, please contact your local code enforcement officer.
Destin: Ordinance passed in 2004
Contact David Bazylak (850) 837-4242 x.3172 for questions
Walton County: Ordinance passed in 2009
Contact Jeff McVay (850) 622-7895 for questions
Panama City Beach: Ordinance passed in 2009
Contact James Tindell (850) 233-5054 x. 2317 for questions
Escambia County: Ordinance Still Pending
Links to details about these ordinances can be found at:
http://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/lighting/ordinances/
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Wildlife Lighting certified fixtures and lights can be found at:http://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/lighting/certified/*
*This is not an all-inclusive list of available products; just those items that have been sent to FWC for testing and have meet the Wildlife Lighting criteria when used properly.
Basic Guidelines:
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildife Service, there are three conditions for wildlife friendly lighting: Keep it low, Keep it shielded, and Keep it long.
Keep it low: Fixtures must be able to be mounted as low as possible and still be appropriate for the needed purpose. Fixtures must be able to accept lamps that produce only the lumens necessary for the needed purpose. Bulb must produce the lowest lumens necessary for the needed purpose.
Keep it shielded: Fixture must meet or exceed full cut-off. Fixture must be able to shield bulb, lamp, or glowing lens from the beach, wildlife corridor, or protected natural area when mounted appropriately. Bulb must be able to be used in an approved fixture.
Keep it long: Fixture must accept long wavelength bulbs. Bulbs must produce only long wavelength light (560 nm or longer).
Sea Turtles are federally listed and are covered by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act). The Florida panhandle has four (4) species of sea turtles that nest on our beaches: Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) – Threatened, Green (Chelonia mydas) – Endangered, Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) – Endangered, Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) – Endangered.
Section 9 of the Act prohibits certain activities that directly or indirectly affect endangered species. These prohibitions apply to all individuals, organizations, and agencies subject to United States jurisdiction. Under the Act and regulations, it is illegal for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to take (includes harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect; or to attempt any of these), import or export, ship in interstate or foreign commerce in the course of commercial activity, or sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce any endangered fish or wildlife species and most threatened fish and wildlife species. Disorientation of sea turtles (adults or hatchlings) is a violation of the Act. By implementing and enforcing local and county lighting ordinances, the local governments are helping to reduce the possibility of disorientations from occurring on panhandle beaches.
Bookmark the permalink.
Print Version
Leave a Reply