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FWC seeks public input to help protect
gopher tortoises
May 7, 2007
CONTACT: Joy Hill (352) 732-1225 or
(352) 258-3426
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) today released a revised draft Gopher Tortoise
Management Plan that will end entombment of gopher tortoises.
Commissioners will address this issue at their meeting in
Melbourne, June 13-14.
"We have no intention of waiting years to stop
entombing tortoises,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. "Staff
is working with stakeholders and investigating all the options
to put a stop to it immediately.”
For the next month, Floridians can read about,
and comment on, the revised draft of the Gopher Tortoise
Management Plan – the plan for how the state proposes to ensure
gopher tortoises are here for the long term.
Development of the management plan is required
before the FWC can reclassify the species from species of
special concern to threatened.
FWC staff revised the plan after reviewing more
than 2,000 comments.
The goal of the plan remains unchanged from the
original draft: to protect the gopher tortoise and its habitat
to ensure the species can live and reproduce successfully
throughout its current range in Florida. The reason the
statewide gopher tortoise population has declined is primarily
because its habitat is disappearing or becoming less suitable.
Major changes to the plan fall primarily into
three categories:
-
the cost to move gopher tortoises out of the
way of development;
-
the annual cost to implement and maintain
the management plan; and
-
the estimated number of tortoises to be
moved.
The revised draft proposes to reduce how much
developers would pay the FWC when they need to move tortoises
on- or off-site. The lower cost is more in line with what
stakeholders and the public said is reasonable.
If a site has five or fewer gopher tortoises
that need to be moved out of the way of development, the
developer will pay a $500 flat rate. That cost remains unchanged
from the first draft. The revision is that if more than five
tortoises need to be moved, in addition to the $500 flat rate,
developers would pay $300 for each additional tortoise if they
move them to protected, managed habitat that can support more
tortoises. This replaces the original,
$2,000-per-additional-tortoise proposal.
Another option for developers is to pay $3,000
per additional tortoise to move them out of harm’s way to sites
that may or may not contribute to the long-term well-being of
the statewide gopher tortoise population. Developers may choose
this option if protected, managed habitat that can support more
tortoises is not readily available.
The essence of the permit cost structure is to
encourage developers to relocate tortoises to protected, managed
habitat that provides the greatest conservation value for the
species. The better the relocation site, the lower the permit
costs.
"The public asked us to take another look at
what seemed to be a lot of money coming to the FWC from
developers for moving tortoises. The original thinking for the
higher cost per tortoise was that it would continue to fund the
FWC’s purchase of roughly 1,000 acres per year of protected
habitat,” said Greg Holder, leader of the FWC’s gopher tortoise
issue team. "However, after considering alternatives, we
realized we could acquire the land through other state
land-buying programs, such as Florida Forever. That would allow
the lower permit cost for those trying to provide conservation
benefit when moving tortoises from development sites.”
Another public concern was how much the plan
would cost the FWC and how the funds were generated.
"Essentially it will cost us approximately $4
million to start it and $3 million a year to maintain it. The
revised plan provides all the details of how those costs are
generated,” Holder said.
The third major change is a more-accurate
reflection of the number of tortoises that will need to be moved
from development sites to protected, managed habitat where their
long-term survival is very likely.
The management plan’s four conservation
objectives are:
-
improve potential gopher tortoise habitat on
protected lands to support and sustain the maximum number of
healthy tortoises;
-
increase the amount of protected gopher
tortoise habitat;
-
responsibly move 180,000 gopher tortoises by
2022 (an average of 12,000 per year) into protected,
suitable habitat; and
-
decrease gopher tortoise mortality on
development sites.
Anyone who has an interest in this issue can log
on to MyFWC.com under "Quick
Clicks," read the plan and provide input to the FWC by June 14,
or provide input in person at the Commission meeting June 13 in
Melbourne. |
