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State may expand tortoise preserves

Details on the conservation plan should be released at a public meeting Friday.

By GARRETT THEROLF
Published December 8, 2005

State wildlife officials are preparing to increase the size of gopher tortoise preserves in an acknowledgement that current state protections for them are insufficient.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's proposed relisting of the animal as a threatened speciesreopens the difficult balancing act that pits environmental concerns against development.

The tortoise, with the thick hind legs and shovel-like forelimbs, competes for the same open spaces that developers need - meaning efforts to protect it come with a cost.

The state has spent millions to put as many as 67,000 tortoises into preserves. But studies have shown lack of maintainance on the land has meant a death sentence for half of the tortoises, agency spokeswoman Kim Jamerson said.

"The current system needs to be fixed. We hope to change the whole conservation paradigm for the better," said Joan Berish, gopher tortoise specialist for the agency. She is a member of the agency's committee drafting a new protection plan that could be approved by the wildlife commission within a year.

Some of the specific goals of the plan are scheduled to be released at a public meeting at 10 a.m. today at the Lecanto Government Building in Citrus County. In all, the tortoise has lost 1.6-million acres of its high and dry habitat over the last century.

The tortoise is viewed as especially critical to Florida's ecosystem because 300 other species use their burrows for shelter, breeding and feeding grounds. They include the indigo snake and Florida mouse.

The agency's staff originally recommended the gopher tortoise be elevated from a "species of concern" to a "threatened species" in 2002, but the process recently gained momentum with the collection of scientific data and meetings with affected developers.

Builders fear the cost of building will increase excessively and that available land will drop in heavily tortoise-populated areas such as the Tampa Bay region.

Stephen Godley, an environmental consultant to builders, said he expected the guidelines to be acceptable to the industry, although he has sometimes been alarmed by rumors that the cost for building on gopher tortoise habitat will increase by 400 percent.

In the case of a big development like the 4,699-acre Connerton project, which includes 2,573 acres of gopher tortoise habitat, current rules require 168 acres be set aside for the tortoises.

If the requirements actually quadrupled, 672 acres would have to be set aside.

Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, complained that new protections "could essentially amount to reverse condemnation."

Under existing rules, permits called "incidental takes" have been issued to build on top of the burrows of as many as 74,000 tortoises statewide.

In Hillsborough County, 6,355 tortoises on 10,411 acres have been lost to incidental take permits since the program was established in 1991; the county has additional limits on the practice that supercede state regulations. Developers in Hillsborough paid $3.6-million for the permits.

In Pasco, 3,406 tortoises on 11,007 acres have been lost. Developers paid $4.1-million.

-- Researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Reporter Garrett Therolf can be reached at 727 869-6232 or at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 19:14:46]