Gopher Tortoise

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found that listing the gopher tortoise as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act is not warranted throughout its entire range. The agency determined that the eastern and western portions of the gopher tortoise’s range meet the criteria of Distinct Population Segments (DPS). The populations in the eastern segment, which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and most of Alabama, do not require protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and will be withdrawn as a candidate for listing. The species in the western segment of its range in western Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana will retain its threatened status. The gopher tortoise is a keystone species of the longleaf pine ecosystem, which used to comprise most of southeastern North America. The tortoise can grow up to 15 inches in length and weigh as much as 13 pounds, with hefty shovel-like front legs for digging. More than 400 animal species feed, shelter, and nest in gopher tortoise burrows. The Eastern indigo snake, gopher frog, and Florida mouse are some of the species that can be found in and around their burrows that average 6-10 feet deep and 12-25 feet long. Gopher tortoises are herbivores, eating grasses, flowers, leaves, peas, berries, and fruits. This long-lived reptile lives up to 80 years old.

Development and conversion to other incompatible land uses have fragmented and destroyed its habitat. Climate change with rising seas and temperatures threaten the species. An estimated 149,000 reported gopher tortoise individuals are distributed across their range with most found in the eastern segment and only 8 percent in the western segment. Biologists grouped gopher tortoises across the Southeast into 741 known populations. Each population was ranked as high, medium or low resiliency depending on the number of adult tortoises in each. Populations ranked high with more than 250 gopher tortoises; moderate with 51 to 249 tortoises; or low with less than 50 tortoises. Overall, resiliency is high for 138 populations and moderate for 180 populations.

Modeling projected the health of future gopher tortoise populations through the next 80 years under different scenarios. More than 10 years of data looked at the threats of sea level rise, increasing temperatures, urbanization, and changes of habitat management on the gopher tortoise. The impacts of these scenerios were considered on all populations across the range. The analysis found the eastern population segment persisted throughout the years in the face of these threats while the western population segment decreased and requires continued protection under the Endangered Species Act. The modeling does not account for the gopher tortoise individuals and populations on private lands.

Conservation Efforts State-level protections cover the gopher tortoise throughout its entire range. The Service’s partnerships with multiple state, federal, local and non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders have contributed to the conservation of the species.  Head-start programs  help improve gopher tortoise populations by raising them in captivity and safely releasing them into protected habitat. Federal agencies have prioritized conservation actions to benefit the gopher tortoise, including United States Department of Agriculture's  Natural Resources Conservation Service  programs that provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners. The agency’s  Working Lands for Wildlife  and  Longleaf Pine Initiative  help landowners implement land management actions benefiting the gopher tortoise and its habitat. National forests within the species range manage the land for gopher tortoise conservation. The Desoto National Forest in Mississippi has implemented longleaf pine restoration and initiated juvenile head-starting efforts. Additionally, landscape-level planning benefits gopher tortoises and includes prescribed burning, invasive species control, and removing nearly 300 miles of roads. The Department of Defense is an important partner in gopher tortoise conservation. The  Gopher Tortoise Conservation and Crediting Strategy  balances military mission activities and gopher tortoise conservation on installations in the Southeast. The gopher tortoise occurs on at least 31 installations with  Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans  that include beneficial practices such as prescribed fire. The Mississippi Army National Guard has partnered with The Nature Conservancy to head start juveniles since 2016 at Camp Shelby. The Service’s  Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program  has facilitated habitat management actions on approximately 65,000 acres of privately-owned lands across the species range from 2010 to 2019.  National Wildlife Refuges  also restore habitat to help the species.  Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery  in Georgia runs a gopher tortoise head-start program. Private landowners, industry groups and non-governmental organizations have also improved gopher tortoise habitat in the southeast. Approximately 80 percent of potential habitat is on privately-owned timber-production lands that are managed for the species conservation and Service-approved agreements provide gopher tortoise protection. Translocating gopher tortoises involves the capture and transfer of gopher tortoises from unsuitable locations, such as areas under construction or development, to a recipient site with sufficient habitat. Florida’s gopher tortoise management conservation program includes the largest scale translocation program in the southeast. As of December 2019, Florida had permitted 39 long-term gopher tortoise recipient sites that are protected by conservation easements and cover more than 41,000 acres of habitat.

The Notice of Findings for the gopher tortoise published Oct. 12 in the Federal Register reading room and can be found  here.   The Service will conduct a virtual public informational meeting Dec. 13, 2022, 7 – 9 p.m. EST to present the findings and address questions on gopher tortoise conservation and management. You can register  here . Learn more about this Notice of Findings in our  Frequently Asked Questions .