Project: Wildlife Hazard Management Program Assessment and Annual Audits
Client: Jacksonville Aviation Authority
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
 | Environmental Resource Solutions, Inc. (ERS) has supplemented and updated the Jacksonville International Airport’s (JAX) Wildlife Hazard Assessment (WHA), which was originally prepared in 2003 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Wildlife Services section, annually since 2005. The ERS methodology for annually supplementing/updating the WHA is consistent with a Wildlife Hazard Management Program (WHMP), prepared by JAA, and compliant to Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 14-Part 139.337. Significantly, as part of gaining Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acceptance that annual updates to the JAX WHA would be satisfactory, ERS in 2005 conducted intensive wildlife monitoring at the airport. The purpose of the monitoring was to determine if wildlife hazards exist at JIA and to identify measures to eliminate any existing hazards as well as to prevent future hazards. ERS provided JIA with specific recommendations for habitat management and wildlife control, and determined if these measures were consistently undertaken by JAX. |
In addition to the supplemental WHA tasks described above, ERS has conducted annual audits of the JAX WHMP, per FAA requirements, since 2006. The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing WHMP as it relates to specific wildlife hazards known to exist on, or near, JAX (14 CFR 139.337 (f)(6)). The system used to assess the WHMP is the modified Seubert (1994) system. It includes five assessment categories that are used to determine the adequacy of the WHMP and if the plan is being implemented as per the recommendations.
ERS personnel attend monthly meetings as part of the Wildlife Management Group at JAX in order to address wildlife hazard issues at the airport in a consistent and timely manner, and to discuss long-term goals for airport operations with respect to wildlife management and public safety.