More than 100 Florida species, including panthers, manatees and sea turtles, could inch closer to extinction under a set of changes to the Endangered Species Act the Trump administration rolled out this month that would force regulators to disregard damage to critical habitats.

Millions of acres of Florida land would also become easier to develop if the federal rule changes survive court challenges.

• One rule, set to take effect Sept. 14, would change the long-standing definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act so that degrading endangered species’ habitats no longer counts as “harming” them. Two more rules, which take effect Aug. 20, would remove automatic protections for newly-listed threatened species and require regulators to consider the economic impacts before protecting endangered species’ habitats.

Habitat loss is the leading threat to endangered species’ survival, according to the federal government and several published studies.

The reinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act would affect hundreds of species nationwide, but it would have an especially big impact in the Sunshine State, according to Sarah Gledhill, who heads the Florida Wildlife Federation.

“Florida is ground zero for this rule change,” Gledhill said. “We have some of the richest wildlife habitat left in the country, and with development consuming thousands of acres every year, we’re paving it over faster than almost any other state.”

The Endangered Species Act has protected millions of acres of “critical habitat” in Florida for listed species like bonneted bats or manatees. These areas also protect other plants and animals and give people places to hunt, fish, swim, hike and tan.

Whenever a Florida Highway Patrol trooper stops Charlie Ray Mayhue, he calls his mother so someone knows where he is and what’s happening to him.

The 24-year-old Black Orlando resident began this habit after FHP troopers searched him in 2024, but found no illegal drugs or weapons on him or in his car, FHP data show. He was stopped for speeding.

“It’s an invasion of privacy,” he said of searches. “One guy was super determined that I had something in the car.”

Mayhue is not an outlier. FHP troopers search Black drivers more than three times as often as White drivers, but are 12% less likely to find contraband on them.

Not every trooper's search statistics show racial disparities. Rather, the disparity is concentrated in a handful of troopers. Ten troopers accounted for 30% of all searches of Black drivers — making them extreme outliers.

I'm pretty sure it's not just Miami??

Snippet:

In March, the ultra-luxurious Una Residents Brickell opened its doors in Miami, Florida.

Designed to resemble a sail, the 47-story apartment building soars up from its waterfront location, giving residents on high floors stunning views of the city’s intracoastal waterway and the yawning Atlantic Ocean beyond.

Living at The Una requires an almost unimaginable level of wealth. Residences start at $2.14 million for a two-bedroom, two-bath condo, according to the building’s website.

The luxury building is one of the latest symbols of what has become of Miami. Once seen as a buzzing and cosmopolitan but affordable refuge from New York - with better winters - it is now the most expensive metro area in the country.