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Proposed interim policy will require
developers to move tortoises, not entomb them
June 12, 2007
Contact: Beth Scott (850) 251-3970 or Joy Hill (352) 258-3426
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) commissioners will consider a proposal that, if
approved, will put an end to entombing gopher tortoises on
development sites and require developers to move those in harm’s
way to designated relocation areas.
The commissioners will review the FWC
staff-proposed policy at their meeting June 13 in Melbourne. The
public is encouraged to attend and comment on the proposal.
The interim policy will affect developers who
apply to the FWC after July 30 for permits to take gopher
tortoises. It will also pertain to developers who apply for
permits on or before July 30, but whose applications are not
complete by that date.
If approved by commissioners, the interim policy
will remain in effect until the FWC can implement a new
permitting process detailed in the gopher tortoise management
plan. That process is based on protecting gopher tortoise
habitat through conservation easements, and managing gopher
tortoise habitat to make the number of tortoises that can live
and reproduce there as high as possible. It also includes
responsibly relocating tortoises to habitat that will ensure
their population survives long-term, and protects individual
gopher tortoises by requiring they be moved away from
construction and development.
The draft gopher tortoise management plan is in
its second public comment period. Commissioners will review the
plan at their meeting this week and hold the final public
hearing at their September meeting in St. Petersburg.
"In the meantime, the interim policy is needed
to reduce gopher tortoise mortality on development sites while
we progressively implement the permitting process proposed in
the gopher tortoise management plan,” said Greg Holder, regional
director for the FWC’s Southwest Region.
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