Four years ago, the Sierra Club challenged Charlotte County's approval of permits that allowed Kitson & Partners to develop Babcock Ranch, a new town that would bring 19,500 homes and more than 6 million square feet of retail and commercial space to southern Charlotte and northern Lee County. As part of a settlement, developer Syd Kitson agreed to fund a $100,000 study to look at the ecological connections between the pristine ranch area and other wild lands in south-central Florida. The recently released report, which ended up costing Kitson $200,000, makes the case that the future of the Florida panther and Florida black bear depends on setting aside wildlife corridors between the 73,000-acre Babcock Ranch Preserve and several other habitats.
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