Quick trivia for the policy-minded: name the two Caribbean corals ESA-listed in 2006 that pushed NOAA, Florida counties, and marina developers into tighter coastal permit consultations and mitigation measures in the years that followed. I still use that case when explaining why early stakeholder engagement saves time and litigation.
Elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and staghorn (A. cervicornis). After the 2006 listing, every dock/seawall job I handled in Miami-Dade needed a NOAA pre-app and diver survey up front — , skip that and the Section 7 clock freezes your permit; good primer: Elkhorn Coral | NOAA Fisheries. I’m with you on early engagement, but one caveat: county reviewers vary a lot, so bring a biologist’s memo with geo-tagged transects to dodge surprise re-surveys.