No federal protection for gopher tortoises under Endangered Species Act
July 27, 2011,
By Ben Raines, Press-Register
MOBILE, Alabama — Gopher tortoises living east of the Tombigbee River deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act but will not get it because listing the species would cost too much and draw resources away from other threatened animals, federal officials said Tuesday morning.
Tortoises living west of the Tombigbee River in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have been protected under federal law since 1987, which means landowners and government agencies must take precautions to avoid harming the animals. During a Tuesday morning press conference, officials announced that tortoises east of the river will now be considered a “candidate species” for federal protection.
“We believe the gopher tortoise population east of Mobile Bay is facing many of the same challenges as the population west of Mobile Bay,” said Cindy Dohner, the director the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Southeast region. “It is threatened or endangered throughout its range.”
Dohner said, however, that before the eastern population of gopher tortoise can become eligible for federal protection, it will have to wait in line behind 251 other species that are also considered candidates. Federal officials are under a court order to either protect the 251 candidate species or remove them from the candidate list within six years.
Janet Mizzi, head of the endangered animals division in Fish & Wildlife’s Southeastern office, said the agency would conduct a more thorough review of the tortoise population sometime in the next few years.
“Because of our budgets and how we extend the resources we do have, the status of the gopher will be weighed against other animals,” Mizzi said. “That status could change in one year or five years.”
The tortoises, once ubiquitous in south Alabama, have been in decline for decades, primarily because of habitat loss. They require the open, sunny forests that were typical in this area before the arrival of man.
Large numbers of gophers are still present in undisturbed habitats, such as pitcher plant bogs or broad longleaf pine savannas. But the dense, clogged forests seen along the edges of highways or in planted tree farms are not conducive to tortoise populations. About 88 percent of the animal’s habitat is privately owned, according to federal officials.
The animals are considered a keystone species in Southern forests, meaning many other species — from snakes and frogs to large mammals — rely on the long, complex tunnel systems the tortoises dig. The tunnels can be more than 50 feet long and reach more than 20 feet underground. They are used by more than 360 species across the tortoise’s range, which extends from Louisiana to the Carolinas.
“We know the gopher tortoise population is in trouble. Florida and Georgia consider the turtle threatened under state law. South Carolina considers it endangered. Louisiana and Mississippi consider it threatened under state law. Alabama protects it as a nongame species,” Dohner said.
“Its habitat is fragmented. Most troubling is that colonies are aging and not reproducing at rates that will support the population in the long term.”
Gopher tortoises cannot reproduce until they are about 13 years old, and can live to be 50. Requiring a stable environment and a fairly broad home range, development has an outsized effect on local populations. Something as simple as a roadway can kill large numbers of tortoises each year. Fences can present insurmountable obstacles, hindering everything from the search for mates to the hunt for food.
“We know there are a number of factors but haven’t been able to pinpoint” the reason for their decline, said Dave Hankla, a biologist with the service. “We know there are poor habitat conditions, but don’t know if that means we are not getting enough viability out of the eggs or if it comes down to predation.”
While no new federal protection is available to the tortoise, the listing as a candidate species means landowners, whether public or private, can apply for federal grants to improve tortoise habitat on their property, such as conducting prescribed burns.
Hankla said the agency has heard rumors that some landowners have threatened to exterminate tortoises from their property to avoid having to deal with a federally protected species.
“Our experience is that is talk, more than it is action,” Hankla said. “Our experience working with private landowners is very good on many listed species. There is a strong conservation ethic out there.”
