Apopka shells out nearly $100,000 to evict gopher tortoises
Apopka shells out nearly $100,000 to evict gopher tortoises
Apopka will shell out nearly $100,000 to relocate gopher tortoises whose burrows stand in the way of an important water project..
Surveyors discovered dozens of deep holes dotting an empty field adjacent to the Northwest Recreation Complex where the city wants to carve out two lined ponds for reclaimed water. The reptiles that dug those burrows are a protected species in Florida and, by law, must be carefully extracted and moved.
"It's a fact of life," Mayor Joe Kilsheimer said of the expense of relocating gopher tortoises.
Since 2009, when new state guidelines to protect the species went into effect, more than 14,000 of the shelled critters have been moved safely from the path of new roads, homes and myriad commercial projects in Florida, according to figures kept by the state Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Before then, Florida allowed developers to pay a mitigation fee and bury tortoises alive, a policy derided by animal-welfare advocates as "pay to pave."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange/os-apopka-gopher-tortoise-expensive-move-20150614-story.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hope they are okay.
