Volume 30, Number 4 Winter 2010 The Tortoise Burrow Newsletter of The Gopher Tortoise Council Message From the Co-Chair Dave Steen On October 7-10 approximately 75 gopher tortoise aficionados converged on the Alabama 4-H Center in Columbiana, Alabama for our annual conference. Many individuals helped make this meeting a reality. First, I’d like to thank Don Stillwaugh In This Issue: for addressing various financial matters and helping to sort out the complexities of meeting registration. Steve Godley coordinated and moderated our Friday panel dis- Message from the Co-Chair cussion in which participants conferred (sometimes vigorously) on potential ramifica- Election Results tions of a federal listing for the gopher tortoise. John Jensen organized the silent auc- State Reports tion, which brought in over $500 to support our grants program. Jess Gonynor, Sybil Education Update Glenos, and Sean Graham were on hand to assist with a myriad of tasks, from obtain- Announcements ing corkscrews to easels for our poster session. Jimmy and Sierra Stiles of the Hulsey Little River Trust provided (and kept iced) beverages for the Friday social. Thanks to all of the presenters, particularly our keynote speakers, Craig Guyer and Bruce Means, and panel participants, Hal Balbach, Rachael Sulkers, Tom Mann, John Jensen, Deborah Burr, and Larry Carlile. All were entertained during our Saturday social by an enthusi- astic performance by Olin Howlin (occasionally featuring Craig Guyer). Thanks to Joan Berish for always being so nice and encouraging (and congratulations on winning the first annual GTC nut roaster raffle). Thanks to all in attendance. This year’s meeting location was far from tradi- tional venues (even extending beyond the range of the tortoise itself and therefore, the range of many of the individuals that work on the species), resulting in a long com- mute for many. I hope the trade-off was that we attracted people who might not oth- erwise have come to our annual meeting and inspired some to become involved in our organization in the coming years. Thanks finally to the Alabama 4-H Center, who pro- fessionally and courteously handled all the idiosyncrasies of the GTC (and its mem- Juvenile tortoise at Walsingham Park, Largo, Fl. Photo by Jim Lay- bers!). field Our meeting signaled the end of Christian Newman’s tenure as GTC co-chair so on behalf of the GTC board and members we thank him for his service. I look forward to working with incoming co-chair Ron Concoby during the final year of my reign. We also welcome some new board members, discussed elsewhere in this issue. Election Results The GTC membership elected Ron Concoby (former GTC Secretary) as the Co-Chair for 2011-2013. Connie Henderson (Land Planning Group, FL) is replacing Ron as secretary. Eric Fann (SC Aquarium) will serve as the SC state rep. Special thanks to our outgoing Co-Chair, Christian Newman (photo on left), for his service to the Council. Page 2 The Tortoise Burrow STATE REPORTS Alabama Mark Bailey Alabama is the only state in the range of the gopher tortoise to have both federally listed and non-listed populations, so tortoise-related activities in Mobile, Washington, and Choctaw counties (listed portion) are often different from those in the remainder of the species’ range in the state. Bruce Porter (USFWS) reports a relocation of about 70 tortoises during July-August from a newly permitted landfill in southern Washington County (listed portion of the range) to the South Alabama Utility conservation bank. All tortoises except ju- veniles were tested for URTD and all were negative. Bruce also began a tortoise population assessment on private lands, but this effort was curtailed by the oil spill in April. Alabama Power Company is pursuing the possibility of a private conservation bank to mitigate their impacts from various projects. The Longleaf Alliance continues to work with the American Forest Foundation and the World Resources Institute in developing a Sandhill/Gopher Tortoise Habitat Conservation Credit Trading System. They field tested their "Credit Calculator" on two properties, projected upfront endowment costs, and are now working with several ecosystem services market experts and financial folks to find funding sup- port to reduce burden on both potential sellers and buyers of credits. In the ab- sence of a listing decision, they are designing both voluntary and pre-compliance credit systems and seeking buy-in from USFWS and DOD. Craig Guyer’s lab is in year two of a three-year survey of gopher tortoise burrows on tortoise soils within the Geneva State Forest, Conecuh National Forest, and Per- dido River Longleaf Hills Tract. They also hatched 51 baby indigo snakes this year For information on the Alabama which are being transferred to ZooAtlanta, where they will be raised for a year. In Chapter of PARC visit: www.alaparc.org January they will take 30 juvenile snakes from ZooAtlanta (last year's cohort) and prepare them to be released at the Conecuh National Forest next spring. These will join the 17 snakes that were released in June 2010 as the first cohort of snakes that eventually may create a viable population of eastern indigo snakes on the Conecuh NF. The project is funded both through State Wildlife Grants and the Orianne Soci- ety, a private wildlife conservation organization. The Alabama Chapter of Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ALAPARC) held its second annual meeting at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in November. A panel discussion on the implications of possible federal list- ing of the tortoise in the remainder of its range in Alabama was held, and there were posters on gopher frogs and flatwoods salamanders. Details at ALAPARC.org. Volume 30, Number 4 Page 3 STATE REPORTS Florida Joan Berish Status: The gopher tortoise has been classified as Threatened in Florida since 2007, after having been a Species of Special Concern for nearly three decades. A management plan has guided tortoise conservation since 2007. The overall goal of the plan is to restore and main- tain secure, viable populations of gopher tortoises throughout the species’ current range in Florida. The four objectives under that goal include habitat management, habitat preserva- tion, restocking gopher tortoises, and decreasing tortoise morality on development sites. The extensive conservation actions outlined in the plan fall under the following broad cate- gories: permitting, local government coordination, law enforcement, habitat preservation and management, population and disease management, landowner incentives, monitoring and research, and public awareness. Management Plan Implementation: Deborah Burr is the gopher tortoise management plan coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and is leading the charge to get this ambitious plan implemented. The FWC gopher tortoise standing team continues to meet monthly to ensure that management plan tasks are being implemented according to proposed timelines; a policy sub-team has been created to address the thorn- ier issues. FWC staff also continues to coordinate with stakeholders through the Gopher Tortoise Technical Assistance Group (GTTAG). Former co-chair Boyd Blihovde currently represents GTC on the steering committee of this group. Noteworthy accomplishments re- lated to tasks outlined in the management plan include the following: Florida pine snake. Photo by Originally approved in April 2008, the Gopher Tortoise Permitting Guidelines Aubrey Heupel. were revised based on stakeholder and staff input, and were approved by FWC’s Commission in June 2010. An on-line permitting system has reduced the use of paper and greatly in- creased efficiency for issuing tortoise relocation permits. Through the recipient site permit program, approximately 7,000 acres of private land have been protected via conservation easements and are currently being restocked with gopher tortoises. An interagency working group is drafting guidelines for restocking of tortoises onto public lands where populations have been depleted. FWC continues to work closely with public and non-profit organizations to iden- tify and provide incentives for gopher tortoise conservation on private lands; FWC staff regularly participates in private landowner workshops to encourage management for wildlife. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is being used to help identify and deter- mine acreages of potential tortoise habitat throughout Florida. Gopher tortoise entering a FWC is working with local government representatives to create ordinances and burrow at Walsingham Park, Largo, FL. Photo by Jim Lay- codes regarding development in gopher tortoise habitat; FWC is also providing field funding for habitat management and is assisting with identification of potential recipient sites. Page 4 The Tortoise Burrow STATE REPORTS Florida cont’d FWC is creating a training workshop and field manual for FWC Law Enforcement Officers. These tools will help FWC officers address wildlife complaints related to gopher tortoises in an effective and consis- tent manner statewide. A newly created Spanish version of the “Living with Gopher Tortoises” brochure was distributed to more than 500 non-profit, educational, and governmental organizations in Florida. FWC’s “Got Gophers, Get Permits” poster is also being distributed to planning councils and local permitting offices throughout Florida. Research: A number of gopher tortoise research projects are underway or have been recently completed in Flor- ida, and this list is not all-inclusive: Matt Aresco is continuing his radio-telemetry study regarding gopher tortoise response to restocking at Nokuse Plantation in the Panhandle; Matt’s preliminary findings supported the current FWC require- ment of soft-release (temporary enclosures) for off-site relocations. Both The St. Joe Company and Disney’s Animal Kingdom are embarking on gopher tortoise relocation studies that will help hone future relocation requirements. University of South Florida grad students Bill Hentges and Anna Hathaway (advisors: Henry Mushinsky and Earl McCoy) are undertaking a project regarding the effect of cattle on relocated gopher tortoises.