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STAKEHOLDER MEETING
IMPORTANT STAKEHOLDER MEETING
NOVEMBER 30 AT 10:00 AM
CITRUS COUNTY LECANTO GOVERNMENT BUILDING
3600 WEST SOVEREIGN PATH
LECANTO, FLORIDA
PLAN TO ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE
Over the past month, the Stakeholders have been busy working in committees developing various parts of the rules and regulations that are key to the success or failure of the Gopher Tortoise management in perpetuity. There are key elements that virtually all the various Stakeholder segments are involved with, or care about, and are making clear what they want to happen. GTCI hosted a two-day meeting of gopher tortoise scientists so they could recommend the best management based on their knowledge and experience.
Here is a partial list of key elements.
FINANCING
- Donor Sites must support the new program based on relocation, not Incidental Take. This includes paying for the development of 270,000 acres of excellent tortoise habitat to receive the tortoises that are still in harm’s way. This requires site preparation for the tortoises and 6 months of fencing.
- Donor sites must pay for monitoring and management in perpetuity. We have recommended the development of regional or a statewide endowment. This funding would provide enough principle from the donor sites so that the interest would continue to pay for monitoring, and to maintain and manage tortoise relocation sites in perpetuity.
- Conservation based recipient sites will either be on publicly owned conservation lands or, if on privately owned lands, the state will issue a Perpetual Conservation Easement that will include giving up development rights and outline agreements on how the restocking sites would be protected in perpetuity. These funds must come from donor sites. If the site is publicly owned then the funds go to the management and monitoring fund. These funds should be created from the habitat being lost to the development, thus replacing habitat lost with protected lands and/or managed to insure tortoises will have high quality habitat.
CURRENT STATUS: FWC HAS REFUSED TO MEET WITH THE INSTITUTE, TNC AND OTHERS WANTING TO GET THIS ORGANIZED. FWC is likely struggling with budget cuts from the legislature and is looking to Tortoises as a cash cow to restore much of the losses. OUR PLAN IS TO CREATE AN ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO TORTOISE MANAGEMENT (THUS PROTECTING MANY LISTED SPECIES ACROSS THE STATE).
ACCOUNTABILITY
Stakeholders have come up with a plan to require individuals (not companies) to receive certification based on training and experience with gopher tortoises. FWC proposed one option that would have people certified based on handling permits and the bureaucracy. We are proposing a three tiered program:
Level 3 – Master Tortoise Representative would have people with 10 years or more experience, training in proper procedures, teaching procedures, and mentoring people in the past.
Level 2 – Tortoise Representative would be made up of professionals that had at least 5 years experience working with tortoises, and training in the key elements such as excavation, relocation, and surveying for burrows.
Level 1 – Assistant Tortoise Representative would be an assistant level that would have people work in and be trained and certified in each of the areas so they can manage certain projects under the guidance and mentoring of a master tortoise representative.
We have proposed new training programs to meet the needs of people in this program. Backhoe operators will have to be certified as well. This will help insure that surveys are correct, and most importantly landowners will know that they have a highly capable individual working with them to develop their recipient sites.
STATUS: WILL BE DISCUSSED AT THE STAKEHOLDER MEETING
SINGLE FAMILY HOMES-FIVE OR FEWER TORTOISES ON SITE
Stakeholders are recommending that tortoises are not to be left on site unless the landowners agree to go though steps to show that they will properly maintain the tortoise on site, more or less, as a “pet.” Otherwise they will need to move the tortoises off site to a designated relocation site. Relocation would have to be done by a certified tortoise consultant.
We are hoping that FWC will support and encourage counties to inspect sites. We are also hoping counties will develop a policy of not allowing land clearing until the Tortoise Permit has been received and the tortoises are relocated, or the homeowner receive an approval to maintain the tortoise humanely on site.
STATUS: WLL BE DISCUSSED AT THE STAKEHOLDER MEETING
OTHER ISSUES:
- Methods of counting tortoises on donor sites for accuracy.
- Methods of determining the acreage of tortoise habitat on donor sites.
- On Site Relocation
- Recipient Site Management/Restocking of other lands around recipient sites and how to establish Host Properties that have many recipient sites.
- Determining quality of forage, canopy cover, water table, and other issues.
- Humane methods of handling tortoises
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