Gopher Tortoise Management Plan

The 2024 Gopher Tortoise Management Plan

The plan has been streamlined and reformatted to better align with the management plan structures for other State-designated Threatened species. Actions are organized by catogory rather than objective for better usability. The revision also allows for improved goal monitoring and conservation action tracking. 

The 2024 plan includes six overarching objectives. Sixty-three conservation actions, including those that address new emerging threats, are organized into the following categories:

• • Habitat Conservation and Management
  • Population Management
  • Monitoring and Research
  • Rule and Permitting Intent
  • Law Enforcement
  • Incentives and Influencing
  • Education and Outreach
  • Coordination with Other Entities

History of the Gopher Tortoise Management Plan

The gopher tortoise has been recieved some level of state protection since 1975. The original management plan was drafted and approved in September 2007 as a precursor to reclassifying the gopher tortoise to a State-designated Threatened speces. The first plan revision was approved in September of 2012, after agency staff worked with stakeholders to revise and improve the original management plan. 

Agency staff initiated the next plan revision in 2021, as scheduled by the ten-year timeline. However, the revision was paused due to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s consideration of the gopher tortoise for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. Revisions were continued following the determination that federal listing of Florida's gopher tortoises was not warranted. The gopher tortoise remains State-designated Threatened.

The current plan was approved in December 2024 and will guide management of the species for 10 years.