While recent trends have not been good for either the lang leaf-pin ecosystem or the gopher turtle, the tide could turn. The Longleaf Restoration Initiative is a joint effort by many governmental and non-governmental organizations to restore long-layer pines and the associated ecosystem in appropriate locations in its historic area. The U.S. Forest Service has made restoring the mature long-leaf jaw ecosystem a priority on its southeast lands. The Goph turtle is a species of turtle from native Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The habitat of the Goph tortoise consists of large trenches dug by the turtle, especially in pine forests, pastures and coastal dunes. Goph`s turtle caves provide habitat for more than 350 other species, making the turtle a key species for the ecosystems in which they live. The 2008 CCA established a cooperative and sectoral approach to turtle conservation and management in the eastern part of the turtle zone. The CCA is flexible and voluntary, so individual conservation and management measures can be adopted at different levels by individual partners. This CCA laid the groundwork for the first collaboratively developed Goph Turtle Conservation Strategy.
The main threats to the Goph tortoise are habitat loss and habitat modification due to land development. In addition, some forest practices in long pine forests can be harmful to gopheric turtles. Overcrowded forests and firefighting can limit the availability of habitat and food for turtles, while the preparation of forestry operations sites can destroy turtle ditches and nests. Efforts to move turtles to protected or unded areas can also lead to road mortality, as gopheric turtles often migrate from areas where they have been relocated. The service has also implemented several voluntary Safe Harbor agreements for Western gopheric turtles classified as historical monuments and agreements to protect candidates with insurance in the eastern domain. In addition, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has added the gopher turtle as a destination for the Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) partnership. NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to help private landowners voluntarily conserve turtle habitat. Technical assistance is free of charge for producers and financial support allows producers to plan and implement a large number of conservation measures in turtle habitat, such as prescribed fire. B, mandatory grazing, long pine farming and vegetation management. In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Goph Turtle as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in Louisiana, Mississippi and western Alabama. In 2011, the service found that the Gopher Turtle was a candidate to be included in the rest of its range.
Since 2012, the WLFW program has allowed producers to conserve or create more than 278,000 hectares of long-leaf pine forests. NRCS and partners in states, states and NGOs continue to work to establish and manage long pine stands, improve documentation and monitoring of gopheric turtle populations, and strategically implement turtle habitat improvement. NRCS is also working with conservation partners to develop Priority Protection Areas (PACs) to increase the effectiveness of habitat conservation efforts in the field. Through targeted conservation efforts in PACs, the service, national wildlife authorities and NRCS want to protect additional habitat for gopheric turtles by the end of fiscal year 2018.