Defenders' Experts
Media Contacts
Please direct media inquiries to:
Gopher Tortoise Management and Policy
Defenders has been involved in many efforts to protect the gopher tortoise. These efforts include working to get the gopher tortoise uplisted from Species of Special Concern to Threatened, making recommendations on gopher tortoise management and working to protect Florida’s uplands, the principal habitat of the gopher tortoise.
Reclassification of Gopher Tortoise to Threatened Species
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to reclassify the gopher tortoise at the state level from a ‘species of special concern’ to a ‘threatened’ species after presented with a biological status report in June of 2006. Before the status of a species changes a management plan must be drafted and approved. The draft management plan was available for public comment in August 2007. The final management plan was approved by the FWC Board of Commissioners on September 12, 2007. Learn more.
Tortoise Upper Respiratory Tract Disease Lifting of Restrictions
The Gopher Tortoise Stakeholder Advisory Group, of which Defenders is a member, was successful in achieving suspension of a Florida rule on August 15, 2007 that required mandatory testing for Upper Respiratory Tract Disease (URTD). The rule required developers wanting to build on gopher tortoise habitat to test the animals for URTD. Tortoises testing positive for URTD were not relocated for fear of spreading the disease and instead were often buried alive in their burrows via incidental take permitting. URTD was found not to be as widespread or fatal as once believed and now the affected tortoises can be relocated to other suitable habitat. This policy change is expected to save thousands of tortoises and associated burrow species that would otherwise be entombed.
Gopher Tortoise Stakeholder Work Group
Defenders is one of two conservation groups represented on the Gopher Tortoise Stakeholder Work Group, initiated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Also represented are private business, landowners, state and federal wildlife agencies, scientists, animal welfare groups, consultants and the public. The Work Group is making recommendations to the FWC on gopher tortoise management. Any person interested in viewing the Gopher Tortoise Stakeholder Work Group website can contact the group facilitator at rossp@wec.ufl.edu or 352-392-7137.
FUN: The Florida Uplands Network
Defenders and the Gopher Tortoise/Uplands Council hosted an Uplands Conservation meeting in Florida in March, bringing together a group of 25 experts and activists from around the state to mount a campaign to protect the rapidly diminishing upland habitats of Florida. The Florida Upland Network (FUN) was formed to educate and advocate for protection of these areas which currently receive minimal regulatory attention at federal, state and local level. A website is under construction that will inform readers about the variety of Florida’s upland habitats and proper management to conserve their animal and plant life.
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