KEYE (Austin, Texas) 19 December 13 Salamander Protection A Priority In Georgetown (Lydia Pantazes)

Friday night, Georgetown city council members could approve an ordinance to protect the Georgetown Salamander.

The second and final reading of the ordinance is expected to take place at 5 p.m. in city council chambers.

They may be small, pencil thin creatures but the effort to protect the Georgetown Salamander is a big deal in Georgetown -- and the city council could create protection zones in the city to protect their habitat.

"For the known sites where we have the Georgetown Salamander there will be a 30 meter red zone where there will be no development allowed," says Georgetown Transportation Director Ed Polasek.

The Georgetown Salamander lives under rocks and in tranquil springs and is only found in Williamson County.

Environmentalists say development in the region is hurting the species.

Polasek says, "If they have property we're not taking away all their development rights, they still have the rest of the property to develop. It's just where that critical habitat is."

Polasek says the city didn't really have a choice in the issue.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave the city six months to come up with a plan of protection.

"The consequence of us not doing this management plan is the Fish and Wildlife Service could come in with a lot larger area of protection requiring more area to be protected in the development process," says Polasek.
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