1. The tem has been in place for so long that the act of permitting has become more important that the purpose of the permit in the first place. In other words, it has become more important to fill in the lines correctly in an application than whether or not the permit is going to save tortoises or their habitat.
2. The permit system is ridged and because things are set in stone, the staff needs full training in mitigation procedures including making burrow counts, evaluation of relocation sites, backhoe and trapping as well as heath assessment, forage and vegetative monitoring. If they have no experience or just observed it, they have basically no basis for making good judgment calls.
3. Willing outside advisors on methods should be on call to review issues. There should be a committee made up of a consultant, GTC, GTCI, and an old school naturalist that really knows tortoises and commensals.
4. They do not answer the primary question: What is the conservation value in the action taken?

We have recommended previously that agreements with counties and with large, multiple relocation sites should be in the form of a contract or an MOU. Members of both parties sit down and go over the complex details. This should also include large developments with substantial impacts to tortoise and other species habitat. In this way many angles can be looked at and agreements met that could not be done under the current or proposed fill out an application on line and dicker on the email. These contracts should be worked out like any between businesses to accomplish the main goal. having each of the stakeholders in those conversations which will include counties, conservation groups, homeowner associations, as well as the landowners and FWC. Using permits eliminates common sense, good input from the new players in tortoise conservation and wastes FWC staff time. MOUs or contacts should cover multiple aspects such as establishing multiple relocation sites in one agreement, not one every time.

Time and again evaluation of work done on tortoise mitigation demonstrates the tremendous lack of ability or training that leads to the loss of tortoises and habitat at every level permitting. It has become obvious that some of the people working in the program for the past 17 years or more have been using incorrect and dangerous (for both tortoise and in some cases workers). In a survey of professionals taking our training programs on tortoise mitigation, approximately 25% said that they were using counting methods that were missing up to 50% of the burrows. Others said they had no idea about burrow excavation and that in fact if they did not have a skilled backhoe operator, they were leaving more than 50% in the burrows.

The complications, costs in money and in land and conservation are equal to or greater than those that derive from improper Wetland Delineations. Yet, there are no qualifications set by FWC to insure that consultants, land managers, or backhoe operators set for people who are carrying these duties. Some consultants make the same hourly fees for their company that most attorneys make yet no review or proficiency requirements exist. Virtually no schools teach the methods required to carry out mitigation activities in a proper manner. We recommend that any consultant or relocation site managers have required training levels such as:

Overall training including hands on experience in:

In depth training on tortoise natural history, habitat evaluation, genetics, behavior, and tortoise natural history...

Burrow survey techniques with some proficiency in using GPS location and mapping,

Proper can trapping and other capture techniques,

Handling and care, marking, data collection and health evaluations of tortoises,

Burrow excavation and tortoise retrieval, with a full understanding of the proper safe methods to be used by the backhoe operator.

Habitat analysis, especially forage analysis, canopy and shrub cover, soils, ground water table locating, etc.

Developing a tortoise relocation area, including pre-management, enhancing forage in the most common natural and unnatural habitats.

Carrying out the development of a relocation site including permanent monitoring stations and program for monitoring tortoises and how to establish a responsive management program.

REQUIRED TRAINING AND DEMONSTRATION OF PROFICIENCY

Backhoe operators must have at least 40 hours of tortoise backhoe experience under the guidance of a skilled site manager in at least 3 types of tortoise habitat. These habitats should include sandhills, palmetto flatwoods, and agricultural or disturbed for full certification. Before beginning certification on digging techniques, the operator must work for at least ten hours as the site manager and doing the digging and working with a skilled backhoe operator.

There should be a minimum requirement of at least 10-20 hrs of instruction including hands on experience for each category and demonstrate proficiency in carrying out each section or activity. A person can take a course that has been approved by FWC to cover these points and that the instructors will sign off on a level of proficiency at the end of the course. FWC simply maintains a file on an individual with their proficiency levels. Those that have received credentials at all levels or the specific job will be approved for permits. If the person who puts in the permit has not received approval, the landowner is informed and told that the work will have to be approved through an inspection process.

I have made other recommendations in a recent paper which I will send. Ashton, R. E. 2007. Some Recommendations on Minimal Standards for Individuals working on Various Aspects of Gopher Tortoise or Other Protected Species Mitigation or Management. Turtle and Tortoise Newsletter. Chelonian Research Foundation Issue No 10 . pgs 32-33..

Public and private relocations will not be done at the level required or have the conservation value unless these particular issues are done IMMEDIATELY.

FWC needs to get off the soils maps because tortoises exist in areas where soils are not the key issue in having locations for burrows. The key issue in ALL sites is the GROUND WATER TABLE. It appears in ours and most others who studied this, tortoises need a minimum of 18 inches between the surface and the ground water table.

Other issues are involved but this certainly is the key point.

These should be an extreme exception under very special circumstances. All others should have a permanent conservation easement which is around 60% of the value of the land to purchase the development rights and maintenance of the habitat (funded by the donor site owner).

Six weeks of drought in an area may cause water supplies and most important the ground water table to dry up. This leaves the tortoise without water (See Ashton and Ashton 1998). Tortoises drink on the average of every 8 days. Relocating tortoises from one drought site to another without burrows or sources of water could be catastrophic, much more so than moving them when night time temps drop below 50F. Our study shows tortoises from hatchlings to adults will bury straight down to a level in the soil where the temperature is between 60-70F. They can do this in less than 10 minutes if left undisturbed. They will use shelters as well. TORTOISES SHOULD NOT BE RELOCATED IN COLD WET CONDITIONS OR IN EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS. THERE IS NO CONSERVATION VALUE IN ALLOWING THIS TO TAKE PLACE.

It is understandable that a state agency has heartburn over relinquishing some responsibilities and revenue to local governments. This is the only way the FWC can really face some of the key issues that they do not have the staff, finances or ability to carry out. These include:

Single Family Home/ 5 or fewer Permits (See Section 1 of my comments).

Managing an economically sustainable relocation program to meet or exceed the goals or relocation based conservation. Local governments, donor site owners, private recipient site owners as well as state agencies and local conservation lands programs will need to fully cooperate to create a perpetual relocation program that will have quality monitoring and management.

Excellent section. Well done and thought out. I would suggest that there be a much less cumbersome way for little old ladies to get help. GTCI might not be around to handle the hundred or more calls and emails/week on people doing bad things to tortoises.

THIS MAY HAVE BEEN GOOD 20 YEARS AGO BUT NOT NOW. FWC NEEDS TO WORK FIRST WITH WHAT WE HAVE IN STATE AND FEDRAL LANDS, WITH WILLING PRIVATE LANDOWNERS, AND WITH COUNTY CONSERVATION LANDS PROGRAMS.

It will be more cost effective to build on what we already have and the willing landowners that CAN MIX AGRICULTURE, SILVICULTURE, GAME MANAGEMENT, and ETC WITH TORTOISE RELOCATIONS.

ESTABLISH A TEAM TO WORK WITH PRIVATE LANDOWNERS THAT ARE NOW REALIZING THAT NATURE SELLS BETTER THAN GOLF COURSES. These folks will take tortoises, establish easements and sell $millions. They are beginning to show up like mushrooms after a spring storm. Go and seek them out and work with them. They may be the answer to the disappearance of hunting in this state in 20 years.

Economic sustainability includes finding the funds to help counties and the state agencies to carry out monitoring and management with funds are short. This also will help cut down on wildfires. Combine tortoise relocation and mitigation with overall land management, not necessarily acquisition except where it is really important.

In the past, a number of species were worked in with tortoise conservation and should be under this plan. Kestrels, burrowing owls, Indigo snakes, and others should be considered when developing mitigation with donor sites as well as relocation sites. Land swaps may be used.

The plan does not go into any real meat on how to work with the land developer in creating a money and wildlife saving plan.

1. Predevelopment planning-before the plans are on the table and in front of the investment folks. Get in on the first discussions on how a piece of land is going to be developed.
2. Help the developer pick the right professionals to help them.
3. Work with the counties and establish education programs and organize donor site owners with recipient sites with the goal of getting cooperation between developers in solving conservation problems. Included the counties.

This is not the time and place for making comments on how to manage one type of tortoise habitat when there are at least 12. It confuses the public and probably the Commissioners as well.

The public directly or indirectly (through loss of habitat) will be moving more tortoises that permitted relocation for at least the next ten years or until development ceases. You can only control it by having the public involved not just some brochure.

You talk about disease organisms like the tortoises where humans not wild animals. There are no giant natural die offs in fact deaths of adults are rare and always have been. Get to the real problems and spend money on what are we going to do to sustain habitats when we are not allowed to burn. Bring in mega fauna????

Noting in here talks about all the key areas that folks look at in humans or other species like what is important in the diet? PROBABLY the greatest potential for disease. What about low reproductive rates?

All of this is basically archenemy based on what tortoises have been doing since folks have been studying them.

1. Money from the conservation easement is taken back in a relatively short period of time by taxes.
2. Agriculture folks loose their Ag exemption if they develop a hybrid effort between tortoises and other efforts.
3. Agriculture folks pay top tax dollar on raw lands as do folks that want to restore and maintain natural areas including areas for tortoises. We PUNISH FOLKS FOR KEEPING NATURAL AREAS.
4. Good exemption programs increase exemptions or payments for the best conservation efforts.

Note that if you look at the federal exemptions that you are laying out, they are for the mega-landowners. This is very important because you will find that most tortoise sites will not qualify under the current or proposed federal deals, they are set up for the big guys.

MONITORING OF TORTOISE CONSERVATION LANDS IS KEY TO THEIR SUCCESS. YET THIS REPORT LIMITS IT TO SOME KIND OF GIS PROGRAM.

1. All tortoise relocation sites must follow a simple monitoring program that can be easily stored, evaluated and used to determine management needs. Without this we will have WILLY NILLY CONSERVATION OF TORTOISES IN FLORIDA.
2. FWC should consult with the manager of these sites and look at data to evaluate conditions at least every three years. This is the only way they can keep a handle on how they handle things.
3. GIS info should come from the tortoise relocation data. That will tell you where real conservation of tortoises has been bought and paid for. A VERY LARGE PORTION OF PUBLICLY OWNED CONSERVATION LANDS THAT SHOULD BE TORTOISE HABITAT IS NOT MANAGED AS SUCH OR, HAS BEEN DESTROYED FOR TREE FARMS AND OTHER USES DESPITE RULES TO THE CONTRARY. FWC NEEDS TO STOP THESE DIGRESSIONS.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON UPLISTING OF THE GOPHER TORTOISE AND THE REVISED TORTOISE MANAGEMENT PLAN June 2, 2007

FWC Requests Comments About Revised Management Plans May 24, 2007

FWC News Release May 7, 2007