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.