Enough was enough.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission eliminated all ‘incidental take’ permits that had not been processed by July 31.
Mitigation will now be the proceedure to follow, and all tortoises found on a developmental site will have to be relocated before development can take place.
This not only covers the Four Corners area, but the whole State of Florida. Gopher tortoises can be found in all 67 counties, though not always in viable breeding colonies.