Attached (below) please find a very important petition to stop the use of URTD testing in gopher tortoises as a method of avoiding the spread of disease. We put together this petition with one of the top tortoise disease experts in the United States.

At one time, with the information coming from desert tortoise diseases and the preliminary work done in the laboratories at UF, we fought for a testing rule. The idea that this was in fact tortoise AIDS made many of us push hard to get the rule in place. Then, as the years went by with no rule, information on many fronts began to come in from the field and the fact that this was not an exotic disease that was going to cause the demise of the species and support began to slip. In fact, many of us informed FWC that testing was not a good thing and may lead to the loss of more tortoises since it was tied to the TAKE rule which is proving to be a backfiring policy. The Take rule is not living up to its promises of replacing lost habitat from development with good, managed habitat purchased with mitigation dollars. It has fallen far short of the 1 for 1 acre of tortoise habitat that many expected.

This has caused a huge backlash from the general public about gopher tortoise conservation policies and FWC as a conservation agency. The impact of a "dollars for death" program combined with poor enforcement of rules, and a "hands off" policy including supporting private landowners to protect tortoises has led individuals and some organizations to consider lawsuits to stop TAKE.

People do not realize that relocation as it is now permitted is no less dangerous and inhumane than take. They do not understand there is not enough land open for relocation to handle all the displaced tortoises. However there are remedies for both of these problems if proper decisions are made and approved by the FWC. One of these is the elimination of URTD testing.

FWC has a top team working on changing all of this and no matter how good their plan is, it will be important that they get support for policy change, despite political pressures to the contrary. The reasons for changing the URTD test policies are outlined in the petition. There are those out there who would oppose this for professional reasons not related to the conservation of this species. We need voices heard from all stakeholder groups that are concerned that policies are founded in good conservation policies for the future.

To read the Press release Click Here

To read the petition Click Here
To print the petition Click Here (PDF, 35 K)
We ask that you sign and send in the petition to Dr. Ken Haddad, Executive Director

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 S. Meridian Street
Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1600

Or email Kenneth.Haddad@myfwc.com

Please pass this petition to any related professional, conservation or animal rights groups you participate in and encourage them to take official action in support of this effort.