HERALD-TRIBUNE (Sarasota, Florida) 05 December 06 State aims to save tortoises - A new management plan could help reverse the reptile's decline. (Nathan Crabbe)
Archer: A controversial state program accelerated the loss of gopher tortoises by allowing developers to bury the reptiles alive, but two Alachua County preserves and a new state management plan could help reverse the species' decline.
Ray Ashton has been operating a nearly 90-acre gopher tortoise preserve near Archer since 1996. Now he's negotiating with Alachua County Forever to put a conservation easement on the property. It would be the first time the county program used such a measure to protect land from development.
In addition, the Nature Conservancy is buying the nearby 1,300-acre Barry's Ranch property. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday will vote on purchasing the land for a gopher tortoise preserve. It would reimburse the conservancy the $10 million cost out of a fund made up of fees charged to developers who bury tortoises.
As many as 70,000 gopher tortoises have been buried in the last 14 years under the controversial state program. But the fish and wildlife commission in January voted to propose declaring the species as threatened. The move launched the development of a new management plan, which should be completed by 2007.
Ashton said he's optimistic the plan will mean the end of the state-approved burial of gopher tortoises.
The new program could provide incentives to protect existing tortoise habitat and create preserves that benefit relocated tortoises and other species, he said.
"Instead of losing tortoises, we'll be using tortoises for conservation," he said.
The gopher tortoise is called a keystone species because of its important role in nature, said Lawrence Franz, associate scientist with the Florida Museum of Natural History. The reptile digs burrows used by 350 other insects and animals, he said.
"There is a whole food web within the burrow," he said.
Because the burrows are typically built in uplands prized for development, the fish and wildlife commission estimates more than half the habitat has been lost in the past century. The commission has allowed developers to pay a fee to bulldoze over burrows during construction, effectively burying the animals alive.
But this year has marked major changes to the program, making it easier for developers to instead pay to relocate the tortoises.
Commissioners voted to stop requiring mandatory testing for respiratory diseases before relocation and allow tortoises to be moved up to 100 miles from a development site. The disease isn't as bad as originally thought and costly disease testing discouraged developers from opting for relocation, Ashton said.
"We thought we had tortoise AIDS out there ... instead of tortoise flu," he said.
The management plan will establish how to better protect and manage existing habitat and relocate tortoises in the least disruptive way, said Perran Ross of the University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation.
Ross facilitates a group including developers, animal-rights advocates and government officials that has been meeting in Tallahassee to work on the management plan.
He said the plan could create incentives for private land owners to allow tortoise relocations on their properties, with developers paying fees discussed at $600 to $1,200 per tortoise.
Both public and private land could be used for tortoise relocations, said Joan Berish, a biologist with the commission.
The state has in the past used developer fees to buy nine preserves totaling 10,000 acres, including 1,300 acres near Fort White.
The Barry's Ranch property in Alachua County could be next. A state survey found the property has fewer tortoise burrows than optimal for such purchases, but concluded there was a high potential for increasing the number of tortoises.
Ashton said the state has previously done a poor job managing gopher tortoise habitat, so he hopes the new plan will change that. He used his property as a example of how to create the best environment for the species.
The preserve has 429 marked tortoises. Controlled burns are used to prevent oaks from crowding the landscape and encourage a diversity of plant species.
Gopher tortoises eat 150 different kinds of plants, Ashton said.
Alachua County Forever has an agreement to put a conservation easement on Ashton's property, which county commissioners will consider next month.
Program director Ramesh Bush said the agreement protects the land from development while continuing to allow tortoise research and forestry.
Ashton said the agreement ensures the property is maintained as a preserve after he's gone. He hopes the state program will encourage others to establish preserves.
"It's just going to be so valuable in the future to have these kind of places," he said.
State aims to save tortoises