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Girl Scouts go for gophers
June 6, 2007
Contact: Kristin Wood, (352)754-6722
What do Girl Scouts, the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and Gopher tortoises have in common? Girl Scouts
will find out this Saturday, June 9, at The Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Chinsegut Nature Center
in Brooksville. Participants will learn about the ecology of
gopher tortoises and use the global positioning system (GPS) to
monitor and map the location of their burrows.
Registered Girl Scouts will earn a wildlife
patch for participating in the three-hour educational event. FWC
biologists will join the team of Girl Scouts who organized the
event, to teach other Girl Scouts about gopher tortoise habitat
and ecology.
Materials and training are funded by an
EarthPACT grant (Plant and Animal Conservation Team),
administered through Girl Scouts of the USA. The grant supports
innovative and ongoing wildlife conservation activities that
benefit native animals and plants.
The Girl Scout event team is planning activities
such as a game show using ‘burrow cam,’ and providing
opportunities for girls to crawl through a giant simulated
gopher tortoise burrow made of cardboard. Participants and
Chinsegut volunteers will then break up into teams, monitoring
and mapping gopher tortoise burrows using a compass, and GPS.
The data will be used to track changes in the gopher tortoise
population on the area over the next year.
Due to a surge in human population growth and
development in Florida, habitat loss for gopher tortoises is
increasing at an alarming rate. The gopher tortoise is listed as
a species of special concern but is under consideration for
threatened status. The reptile is an invaluable part of
Florida’s unique array of wildlife because more than 300 other
species use its burrow.
“Activities that foster partnerships are
important to conservation efforts”, said Community Partnerships
coordinator Geoff Brown of FWC’s Office of Recreation Services.
“We hope that by involving the girls in teaching others about
gopher tortoises, which are true ‘citizens of the sand hill,
Floridians will learn to co-exist with them better.”
Registration is limited for the “Girl Scouts
Going for Gophers” event, but there still are some spaces
available. Interested Girl Scouts may register by calling Cindy
Lackey, Girl Scouts – Heart of Florida Council at (352)
748-2825. For information about directions and educational
programs at Chinsegut Nature Center, call Kristin Wood at (352)
754-6722.
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