The Environmental Management Division's Conservation Branch is expecting to move nearly 150 gopher tortoises to a safe holding area beginning April 1, endangered species biologist Mark Thornton said.
The tortoises, which are on Georgia's list of threatened species and are being reviewed for the federal list of endangered species, favor the sandy soil found in the northeastern corner of the installation where a range
expansion is planned for May.
"This tortoise is becoming rare because its habitat is shrinking due to development," Thornton said. "By being proactive, we could help delay or prevent the federal listing of this species."
More than 400 tortoise burrows were discovered on the range to be expanded and are being scoped for the presence of tortoises, which typically return to the surface at the end of March, he said.
At that time, they will be moved into temporary fenced holding pens, one nearby on Fort Benning, and the other on one of the The Nature Conservancy's buffer tracts, which is adjacent to Fort Benning.
After the construction project is completed, the fences will be removed so the tortoises can move freely within their new habitat.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), one of the nation's largest nonprofit environmental conservation organizations, has partnered with the Army under the Army Compatible Use Buffer program to protect 7,000 acres of land near Fort Benning.
"The two main objectives for this initiative are to reduce the likelihood of land around military bases becoming overpopulated or incompatible for nearby military training, and to make it possible for on-base protected species to also exist outside the base," said Wade Harrison, who directs the local TNC program.
Funded primarily by the Army's ACUB program, TNC has spent nearly $20 million on protecting adjacent or nearby land in the Fort Benning area by purchasing land from willing sellers or acquiring conservation easements to deflect development or protect the habitat of animals like the gopher tortoise.
Thornton said the initiative benefits wildlife because they are protected and it benefits the Army by discouraging new regulations.
The Army sets an example of dedication to environmental stewardship, said Harrison.
"Everyone, whether they are connected to the post or not, should be concerned about the loss of so many original inhabitants of the land," Harrison said. "Fort Benning is making sure we have a chance to keep the species still living there as a part of our natural heritage. Certainly, all of us want to see that happen."
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