The Bird That Laid A Golden Egg

The day before construction was to begin, a pre-construction survey found a Wilson Plover couple zealously protecting their egg, smack dab in the middle of Charlotte County's permitted channel cut of their $5.0 million Erosion Control Project.

After months in permitting including six months of hard negotiations with the Florida Park Service (upland owner of dredge cut), we were faced with three options: contractor demobilize and County/State lose $1 million in mobilization costs; on the brink of the Iraqi war, contact President Bush and request he authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue an Incidental Take under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918; or move the dredge cut and avoid the plover nest. In six hours, CEC's Project Manager and the DEP's Director negotiated a permit modification to relocate the channel cut and successfully construct the project. We are proud to state ″Wilson″, our ″Golden Egg″, hatched along with his brother and sister, and are living happily ever after.

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