Columns

The tortoise wins again

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published June 19, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Jim Damaske] After July 30, the tortoise won't have to run for its life. The days of mass burials will be over. The district will have no choice but to relocate them.

Call it the revenge of the gopher tortoises.

The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided last week to stop developers from burying gopher tortoises at construction sites. That means the Pasco County School District, which has been rapidly building new schools at the expense of the lowly turtle, must change its construction practices.

The cruel practice of burying suffocates the gopher tortoises in their underground burrows. Sometimes it takes months for them to die. These are resilient creatures, but few can withstand the march of the bulldozers. As their numbers have dwindled, the state has stepped up protective measures.

"We have heard the public loud and clear," said FWC spokesman Gary Morse. "It's totally understandable why people are opposed to burying."

The Pasco school district is in the middle of a construction boom - 23 schools in five years - in a frantic sprint to find room for all those new students. But the district is a developer that hasn't let concerns over the fate of lowly tortoises get in the way of educating children.

While some developers like Terra Bella and Wal-Mart and the Hernando County School District opt for the more humane practice of relocating gopher tortoises, the Pasco school district has too often buried the reptiles. Clearly, this was one developer not worried about bad PR.

Burying tortoises isn't cheap. The developer - in this case, the school district - must pay for state permits to bury the turtles. The costs: New River Elementary, $28,359; Gulf Trace Elementary, $21,159; Paul R. Smith Middle, $27,100; Middle school site FF in Shady Hills, $42,025; Gulf Highlands Elementary, $32,180.

In all, the school district spent about $200,000 over the last two years to bury gopher tortoises. That's a small price in a very big business.

But John Pretashek, who's in charge of new construction, said it would have cost more to relocate them - with engineering fees and finding them a new home.

This isn't to pick on Pasco school officials. Relocating gopher tortoises can sometimes be problematic. In the past, relocated tortoises have spread a respiratory disease resulting in the death of hundreds of tortoises. But research now shows that the infection is no longer a concern. That removes an obstacle to relocating the tortoises either on the same site or to a distant location.

Until now, school officials have taken comfort in the thought that they've followed the rules; the burying permit fees collected by the state would be used to buy habitat to protect other tortoises. Plus, they think the tortoises are too smart to be buried alive: Once the gopher tortoises feel the vibrations from the bulldozers, they'll hightail it off the land.

"They have a strong instinctual desire to survive," Pretashek said.

After July 30, the tortoise won't have to run for its life. The days of mass burials will be over. The district will have no choice but to relocate the creatures.

And there's a new price to pay. New school planning is going to have to start at least three or four months earlier. It's going to take longer to get schools built. As developers vie for tortoise habitat, it's going to cost more to relocate the reptiles. It's going to mean more work for the school district and other developers.

That's a gopher tortoise's just revenge.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at (813) 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 18, 2007, 21:43:41]