Florida’s development community has admitted that their recent effort to downlist the Wood Stork from federal Endangered status to Threatened is merely the first step in an attempt to get them removed from protection by the ESA completely. Read the story in the Sun-Sentinel, or follow the jump to the next page for a few of the more outrageous quotes.

Gieseler acknowledged that the change of classification to “threatened” will make little difference on its own but said it’s a first step toward their goal of getting the bird entirely off the list.

Times are tough, it’s true, but we have to remember that extinction is forever. The Wood Stork is not protected simply because it’s a bird; its protection extends to some of the most threatened ecosystems in Florida as well: old growth cypress swamps at Corkscrew and the Green Swamp, as well as other areas that developers covet for their dollar value while completely ignoring their value as bioreserves.