Underground rescue operation under way on County Road 210

A gopher tortoise starts its relocation journey from its soon-to-be-demolished home off of County Road 210 to Nokuse Plantation in Walton County. KATHY MILANI/Special

By PAUL R. MAY

There’s an underground society living behind the Publix on County Road 210.

Some of these St. Johns County residents have lived in earthen homes more than 30 feet long, as deep as 15 feet below the surface, and for as long as 80 years. And like many of the county’s long-term residents, they’re probably not big fans of development, either.

These residents are gopher tortoises, a species of burrowing turtle native only to the Southeastern United States. A large group of them was threatened due a planned development off 210. However, a rescue project is underway to relocate approximately 800 gopher tortoises from land under construction.

The Humane Society of the United States is leading the rescue effort and has partnered with Nokuse Plantation, a conservation area in Walton County, to take on the project of moving the gopher tortoises. They started work on May 16 and expectations are they’ll be finished by the end of June.

The Humane Society of the United States says it’s the largest relocation of a single gopher tortoise population in the country, and may serve as a model for future gopher tortoise relocations and potential Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission permitting requirements.

Jen Hobgood, HSUS program coordinator, said she has worked on similar projects for the past two years.

“I’m excited about the collaboration between the land developer, the Humane Society, and Nokuse Plantation,” Hobgood said. “We’re at a point where wildlife policy is shifting to what we hope will be a more human approach with these animals.”'

A Humane Society news release says the “Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission currently allows developers to pay a fee to the state in order to bulldoze over the gopher tortoises on a property instead of relocating them. Gopher tortoises at these locations are crushed to death or entombed in their burrows.

“Because of their slow metabolism, entombed tortoises suffer for months before dying of dehydration, starvation, or suffocation. These 'take permits’ have already been issued for over 94,000 tortoises throughout the state of Florida,” the release said.

The Wildlife Conservation Commission also is trying to list gopher tortoises as a threatened species in Florida, according to HSUS.

When it learned of the tortoises in St. Johns County, the Humane Society sent a letter to the developer of the land behind the Publix on 210, explaining its opposition to the “take” permits and suggesting alternatives for relocation. Nokuse Plantation contacted the developer as well, and the gopher tortoise excavations began.

“We started out expecting to relocate about 500 tortoises, but we could be able to save as many as eight hundred,” Hobgood said. “This will be the world’s largest gopher tortoise relocation project.”

The Humane Society provides on site care and transportation, keeping the tortoises in a climate-controlled transport vehicle. To mimic their burrow conditions, they follow biologist recommendations of keeping the tortoises in opaque bins and maintaining a constant temperature of 70 degrees.