Administration delaying Endangered Species Act and protections on Florida's gopher tortoise, non-profit says
An environmental group says the federal government is not doing enough to protect endangered species across the country, including Florida's gopher tortoise.
The Center for Biological Diversity sent a notice to file suit earlier this week against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, saying the agency is dragging its feet on animal issues.
"The Trump administration is delaying badly needed protections for threatened and endangered species, and it’s putting them at serious risk of extinction," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species specialist for the Portland, Oregon, nonprofit.
The gopher tortoise is one of the nine species highlighted in the notice to file.
Protected under the Endangered Species Act in parts of its range, tortoises in Florida are not yet federally listed.
"The gopher tortoise is a keystone species, and it creates burrows that are used by hundreds of species," Greenwald said. "So it’s really important that we protect them."
Duke University researcher and professor Stuart Pimm studies the Everglades and south Florida's ecology and said the gopher tortoise and its habitat should be protected federally.
"Behind each one of these species is a special place, an ecosystem or habitat," Pimm said. "It’s not really just some funny looking animal called a gopher tortoise."
Pimm agreed with the idea that the current administration is falling behind on animal and land protections.
"It’s clear that they have an extraordinary hostility to us, which in part is driven by the very, very narrow financial support from their key supporters," Pimm said. "This administration is extremely hostile to science in general. It’s hostile to people who have detailed knowledge."
The News-Press reached out to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Jacksonville office and could not reach anyone for comment due to the government shutdown.
Melinda Schuman, a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, said the gopher tortoise provides habitat for hundreds of plants and animals and that protecting the animal protects its habitat.
"Gopher tortoise are known as ecological engineers because of the burrows they dig," Schuman said. "They actually change the habitat dramatically, and they can be several meters deep."
Those burrows, Schuman said, actually are ecological features that dozens of species have adapted to over the course of thousands of years.
"If we were to lose the gopher tortoise it would have a big impact on many other species, plants and animals alike," Schuman said. "So they’re protecting genetic diversity. They lumber around, and they don’t seem to be doing much, but they’re having a significant impact in the areas where they live."
Greenwald said the delay is intentional, that the administration doesn't want to move forward with wildlife protections.
"This is part of their overall effort to undermine protections for air, water and wildlife," Greenwald said. "They’re just throwing dirt in the gears of the process."
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A paddle through the Northern Everglades with News-Press reporters Chad Gillis and Andrew West Andrew West, News-Press