Manatee County Natural Resources staff has welcomed the 100th relocation to its Gopher Tortoise Long-Term Recipient Site at the Duette Preserve. The relocation site, operated in cooperation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission since late 2003 has proved very popular with Gopher tortoises—a Keystone species in dry sandy-upland habitat whose burrows provide refuge to over 360 other wildlife species. Gopher tortoises and their burrows are protected by Florida State Law, Rule 68A-27 F.A.C. This first phase of the Duette Preserve Long-Term Recipient Site contains 452 acres of quality upland habitat suitable for a sustainable population of gopher tortoises. The relocation program has already allowed dozens of tortoises to be relocated to a safe and protected conservation land owned by Manatee County from public infrastructure projects and private entities in the county and Central Florida. The long-term protection of the gopher tortoises in the recipient site will allow this important species to increase in population size and provide refuge to hundreds of different animals in their burrows.
For more information on the Gopher Tortoise Recipient Site, contact Manatee County Natural Resources Department Ecological Program Manager Kathleen Barrett at (941) 742-5980, ext.1876. or kathleen.barrett@mymanatee.org. For more information on Manatee County Government, visit mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @manateegov.