Florida Gopher Tortoise Laws: Burrows, Relocation, and What Homeowners Need to Know

Can I move it? Can I fill the burrow? Can I build nearby?

FLORIDA — A gopher tortoise in the yard does not automatically mean you cannot improve or sell the property. It does mean that moving the animal, filling its burrow, or clearing nearby ground takes more than ordinary yard work.

Florida protects both the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) and its burrow. A property owner cannot simply carry the animal to a park, cover the entrance, or hire someone to bulldoze the hole because it interferes with a project. State rules protect the animal, its eggs, and the shelter it creates.

The practical approach is to identify the situation, avoid disturbance, and determine whether the project can preserve the burrow or needs an FWC-approved relocation.

FWC distinguishes leaving wildlife undisturbed, routine maintenance, permitted relocation, and limited assistance to an animal in immediate road danger. These are not interchangeable permissions.

Why the burrow matters as much as the tortoise

A gopher tortoise burrow is much more than a hole where one animal sleeps.

FWC’s program page says gopher tortoises share their burrows with more than 350 other species and calls the tortoise a keystone species for that reason. The 2024 Gopher Tortoise Management Plan names the gopher frog, eastern indigo snake, Florida pine snake, and Florida mouse among the animals that use the burrows, and it describes the burrow as refuge for 350 to 400 other species. Some use the shelter occasionally. Others depend on it more heavily. One burrow does not mean hundreds of animals are inside at the same time.

The underground space provides more stable conditions and refuge from fire, weather, and predators. FWC’s species profile says tortoises spend up to 80 percent of their time in their burrows.

Some animals that use the burrow have their own legal protections. A gopher tortoise relocation permit is not permission for a homeowner to capture every animal found underground.

What does a gopher tortoise look like?

FWC’s identification page describes stumpy, elephant-like hind legs that are not webbed, and front feet shaped like shovels for digging. Adults have a hardened shell that is gray to brown, with dark skin. FWC’s living-with brochure says adults are generally 9 to 11 inches long and weigh 7 to 9 pounds.

A gopher tortoise is a land turtle. Its feet are built for sand, not for swimming. Do not put one in a pond, canal, swimming pool, or the ocean to “help” it. A burrow with a round opening has often been taken over by an armadillo, according to that same brochure. The classic tortoise entrance is a half-moon, with the curve at the top.

How deep does the burrow go?

The visible opening does not show the full underground footprint. FWC’s own pages do not all use the same average:

• The species profile says burrows average 15 feet long and 6.5 feet deep, and that some have been documented at about 40 feet long and 10 feet deep.
• The living-with brochure says burrows average seven feet deep and 15 feet long, and may be more than 40 feet long.
• The 2024 management plan describes an average of about 14.8 feet long and 6.6 feet deep, and cites a recorded burrow of about 67 feet long.

Use those figures as a warning that the tunnel continues well past the hole you can see. Recheck the current FWC page before you treat any one number as the only measurement. A tortoise may use multiple burrows. One hole does not always equal one tortoise, and a tortoise standing in the yard does not make its burrow disposable.

The species profile also says females often nest in the sandy apron at the burrow entrance. Driving over that apron, or filling it, can affect more than the tunnel.

Are gopher tortoises protected in Florida?

Yes. Florida lists the gopher tortoise as a threatened species. The tortoise occurs in parts of all 67 counties and prefers high, dry, sandy places. Yards and undeveloped neighborhood lots are part of that range.

Rule 68A-27.003, Florida Administrative Code, as published by FWC, restricts taking, capturing, possessing, selling, and transporting a gopher tortoise or its parts or eggs, and it restricts molesting, damaging, or destroying burrows, except under a Commission permit or when the person is complying with Commission-approved guidelines. FWC defines a burrow as a tunnel with a cross-section that closely approximates the shape of a gopher tortoise. Owning the land does not remove these protections.

State protection and federal listing are different

FWC’s permits page says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision not to list the eastern distinct population segment does not remove Florida’s state listing. The tortoise remains state-designated Threatened. The 2024 management-plan page says revisions continued after a determination that federal listing of Florida’s gopher tortoises was not warranted.

“It is not federally listed here” is not a legal basis for moving a Florida tortoise or destroying its burrow.

Can you fill a gopher tortoise hole?

Not simply because it is inconvenient, looks empty, or gets in the way of mowing.

FWC identifies work within 25 feet of a burrow, including clearing, grading, construction, and staging heavy equipment, as disturbance that requires a relocation permit before the work. Covering or collapsing the entrance can block an animal inside or destroy access to its shelter.

Do not put concrete, soil, debris, chemicals, traps, or other material into the opening to force the animal out or to keep it from coming back. Blocking a burrow is not a substitute for relocation. FWC’s help page says never block the opening.

Active, inactive, and abandoned burrows are different

FWC’s burrow identification page uses three appearances. The permits page then sorts burrows, for permitting, into potentially occupied or abandoned. A permit is required when a potentially occupied burrow will be disturbed.

A leaf-covered entrance, a camera that recorded nothing, or several days without a sighting is not FWC’s abandoned classification. The permits page points to the Gopher Tortoise Enforcement Policy for more on activities that do not need a permit. Read that policy, and talk with the regional biologist, before treating a hole as unused. Other protected wildlife may also need consideration.

What if the hole is a tripping hazard?

Keep people and pets away from it while you get advice. Do not solve the hazard by filling the opening or driving a stake into the tunnel.

FWC’s sign guidance says not to place a sign directly on top of or next to a burrow or its apron. A sign there can block the tortoise or draw the wrong kind of attention. FWC also says a person needs legal authority before installing a sign on someone else’s land.

The 25-foot rule: what homeowners and builders should know

FWC’s permits page says a relocation permit may not be necessary when all development activity avoids tortoises and their burrows by at least 25 feet.

That includes more than the finished building. Clearing vegetation, grading, ground leveling, and staging heavy equipment count. A proposed addition can sit outside the buffer while the excavator route or the material pile passes through it. Review how the project will be built, not only where the final walls will stand.

A 25-foot avoidance area is also not permission to harm the animal somewhere else. The wildlife protections still apply. FWC recommends temporary exclusion fencing, such as silt fence, to keep tortoises out of a work area even when the burrows themselves are outside the work. Plan that fence so it does not trap a tortoise or block an existing burrow.

Can you still build on property with tortoises?

Often, a project can move forward through avoidance or an approved relocation. The presence of a burrow does not automatically make the entire parcel unbuildable.

Resolve the wildlife question early. A local building permit, a clearing permit, or an association approval does not replace FWC authorization. FWC staff do not relocate tortoises for private development projects. The home pool laws page covers pool rules. It does not authorize work near a burrow.

Example: a planned swimming pool

Suppose the planned excavation is close to a potentially occupied burrow. Have the area assessed, determine whether the design can keep every part of the work at least 25 feet away, and finish any required relocation before equipment arrives.

Moving the pool shell on a drawing is not enough when access, trenching, or grading still comes within 25 feet of the burrow.

What about a burrow on the neighbor’s property?

The property line does not stop an underground burrow.

FWC’s FAQ says the commission cannot require or authorize you to enter land you do not own to remove the animal. The same answer says work on your side within 25 feet can still create responsibility if it collapses the neighbor’s burrow or harms the tortoise. Contact the neighbor and the regional biologist.

What to do before clearing or construction

1. Arrange the wildlife look before disturbing the site

Do not clear the brush first so someone can look for holes afterward. Clearing within 25 feet of a potentially occupied burrow, before surveys and any required relocation are finished, is what pushes a project toward a Disturbed Site permit.

For a 10 or Fewer Burrows on-site application, FWC’s property-owner instructions ask for findings from a burrow survey. The survey maps in the guidelines appendix are recommended, and staff can require them. Ask for a dated map that shows the burrows against construction, access, grading, and equipment areas.

2. Consider avoidance before relocation

Keeping the tortoise and its habitat undisturbed can be simpler than moving it. Ask the designer and the wildlife professional whether the layout can preserve the separation.

3. Verify the professional and the project permit

An Authorized Gopher Tortoise Agent is a person permitted by FWC to perform specified activities. That person’s own authorization does not, by itself, approve relocation at your property. The project-specific permit has to be issued as well. The current mitigation table lists the agent’s own permit as a one-time $699 contribution for four years. That figure is the person’s FWC permit contribution. It is not the invoice for your job.

4. Finish the required wildlife work before the affected construction

A permit application is not permission to start. A promise that the tortoise person will come next week is not permission either. FWC warns that disturbance before surveys or relocation are completed can require a Disturbed Site permit and additional review.

Which permit is which?

These are the permit types described on FWC’s current permitting pages. The right one depends on the site. This page does not choose it for you.

Can a homeowner relocate a tortoise without hiring an agent?

Sometimes, and only under an issued permit, after the required training.

The 10 or Fewer Burrows permit is for projects, usually single residential construction, with 10 or fewer burrows, generally five or fewer tortoises, when you cannot avoid every burrow by 25 feet and either suitable habitat will remain for on-site relocation or an authorized agent will take the tortoises to a permitted recipient site.

For on-site work, the person who captures the tortoises must finish FWC’s e-learning before capture. After the permit is issued, FWC says a property owner or a Registered Agent may move them by bucket trapping, hand-shovel excavation, or live trapping. Those are the method names on FWC’s page. They are not instructions, and they are not available before the permit.

The on-site recipient area must include at least 750 square feet of suitable habitat, at least 10 feet wide, such as 10 feet by 75 feet. Half of that area must sit at least 25 feet from the construction boundaries. A small unused corner of lawn is not automatically suitable habitat.

On-site and off-site relocation are different

On-site relocation keeps the tortoise within the property boundaries in the approved recipient area. Suitable habitat has to remain during and after development.

Off-site relocation moves the tortoise to a permitted recipient site. An authorized agent is required. The destination is not whichever park looks pleasant. Under a 10 or Fewer Burrows permit, FWC says off-site tortoises cannot go to an unprotected recipient site. The FWC mitigation contribution is the same for on-site and off-site relocation under this permit. Off-site work still adds the agent’s service charge and the recipient site’s charge.

Larger projects

The Conservation permit covers projects affecting more than 10 burrows, and later phases after a 10 or Fewer Burrows permit or an older Five or Fewer permit. An authorized agent is required for all capture and relocation. Tortoises may go to an on-site preserve or to an off-site certified recipient site. One hundred percent of the estimated mitigation is due before the permit is issued.

FWC says complete Conservation applications should be submitted at least 90 days before the permit is needed, although most are processed in 45 days or less. Those are planning times. They are not a guaranteed construction-start date. Issuance still depends on a complete application.

What if the burrow threatens an existing structure?

Contact FWC. The current mitigation table lists a Burrow or Structure Protection permit for up to two burrows, on-site, for six months, with no mitigation contribution. Ask FWC whether the site qualifies. That permit is not unrestricted removal to another property.

For an apparent structural problem, also get appropriate building or engineering advice. This article cannot tell you whether a foundation, driveway, or utility line is sound.

A permit homeowners usually do not use

The Temporary Exclusion permit is for major linear utility transmission lines. Exclusions longer than six months must use a Conservation permit. A pool or a house addition is not that utility permit.

Old incidental-take paperwork

FWC no longer issues incidental-take permits. Those older permits allowed entombment. An old incidental-take file is not a new authorization to bury tortoises or to ignore current rules. If you hold one, or you are buying property that has one, contact the Gopher Tortoise Team at 850-921-1030.

How much does gopher tortoise relocation cost?

There is no single statewide price for the whole job.

Separate FWC’s mitigation contribution from the private costs of the survey, application help, capture and relocation, transport, and recipient-site placement. Recipient-site permittees set their own price for accepting tortoises. Agent service charges are a separate invoice. FWC’s table does not set either of those bills.

Amounts below are from FWC’s mitigation table for complete applications submitted on or after August 1, 2026. The table is adjusted with the Consumer Price Index. Confirm the current PDF before you rely on a dollar figure for a new application. The 2018 permitting sheet’s older amounts are not this table.

For a quote, ask for separate lines for the survey, application help, the state contribution, capture and relocation, the recipient-site charge, fencing, and reporting. Ask what changes if more tortoises are found.

An approved on-site relocation can avoid some off-site charges when suitable habitat remains. It is available when FWC approves that arrangement, not merely because the lot has an open corner.

Why clearing first can cost more

A Disturbed Site permit applies when ground was disturbed before surveys or capture and relocation were finished, including work within 25 feet of a potentially occupied burrow. FWC says the permit is not itself punitive. It will not be issued until associated law-enforcement investigations and legal proceedings are complete. Survey, capture, and relocation under that permit must be done by an Authorized Gopher Tortoise Agent.

After the disturbance stops, FWC requires a minimum 28-day period with no further site disturbance before burrow surveys in the disturbed area. That wait can be longer, depending on temperature and season.

The extra dollars in the table are additional contributions on top of the standard mitigation. They are not a universal criminal fine. “We will handle the tortoise afterward” can create a larger problem than addressing it before clearing. The same 90-day planning line appears on the Disturbed Site page: submit a complete application at least 90 days before it is needed, although many are processed in 45 days or less.

Buying a Florida home or lot with gopher tortoises

A tortoise sighting is a reason to investigate the property. It is not, by itself, a reason to abandon the purchase.

The list below is a due-diligence checklist. It is not a statement that every item is legally required in every sale.

FWC’s locator, linked from the permits pages, covers authorized agents, recipient sites, and active or completed relocation permits. A map pin does not replace the documents for that property.

Do not rely only on “the previous owner took care of it”

Ask what was done, when, under which permit, and whether those records cover the improvements you now intend. For an old incidental-take permit, call FWC about that property. A “ready to build” marketing line is not this review. The homestead exemption page and the HOA laws page answer different questions. Neither one replaces a tortoise permit.

Living with a gopher tortoise in the yard

For many homeowners, coexistence is the practical answer. You do not need a permit to leave a wild tortoise living undisturbed.

FWC’s living-with guidance says to leave the tortoise alone and keep dogs and children away from it and the burrow. Let it come and go. Fencing it in, or restricting its movement, is against the law, according to that brochure. Provide plants it can eat if you want to support the habitat. FWC’s plant guide lists forage by region. Tortoises graze on grasses and other low plants, generally within about 160 feet of the burrow, and sometimes farther. Maintaining habitat is different from capturing the animal and keeping it as a pet.

Mowing and landscaping

Ordinary lawn and landscape maintenance does not need a permit when it does not harm tortoises or collapse burrows. The living-with brochure says, where possible, avoid the apron and the 25 feet beyond the opening. The help page says grass right around the burrow can be trimmed with a weed trimmer.

Tell lawn crews where known burrows are before work begins. Keep cuttings, mulch, fill, and parked equipment away from the opening.

Development clearing is not ordinary lawn maintenance. Agricultural, forestry, and habitat work such as tilling, planting, harvesting, prescribed burning, mowing, disking, roller-chopping, and tree-cutting have separate FWC guidance when they follow the enforcement policy. The permitting guidelines still say a permit is required when that work is directly related to, or in preparation for, development. Calling a construction clearing “landscaping” does not create an exemption.

Fences and new landscaping features

Plan fences, trenches, posts, and hardscape around known tortoise use. Do not block access to an established burrow to make the animal leave.

Can your yard become officially tortoise-friendly?

FWC’s Gopher Tortoise Friendly Yard Recognition Program recognizes owners who improve habitat and protect resident tortoises. Recognition does not authorize importing tortoises, operating an informal rescue, or disturbing land or burrows without a permit.

Finding a tortoise in the road, after a storm, or injured

Helping one cross the road

FWC allows a person to help an uninjured tortoise out of immediate road danger when it is safe to do so. Hold it by either side of the shell and place it beyond the roadway in the same direction it was heading.

Do not take it home, drive it to another neighborhood, or move it to a park. Do not enter dangerous traffic to attempt a rescue.

After flooding or a hurricane

A storm, standing water, or a collapsed entrance does not by itself show that a burrow is abandoned. During cleanup, keep 25 feet of separation where you can. When you cannot, contact the regional biologist before the work reaches the burrow. The hurricane prep page is a separate guide. It does not authorize filling a burrow during debris removal.

The road-help rule is narrow: move the animal only far enough to get it out of the roadway, in the direction it was going. Loading a tortoise into a vehicle and releasing it somewhere else is a different act. If a tortoise is in floodwater and you are unsure what to do, call 850-921-1030 on a weekday or Wildlife Alert after hours.

An injured or sick tortoise

Record the exact location and take a photograph when you can. On weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., call 850-921-1030. After hours, call Wildlife Alert at 888-404-3922, use #FWC or *FWC, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or use an emergency veterinarian. The original location matters so the animal can be returned after treatment when that is appropriate.

Do not attempt shell repairs or keep the animal as a pet.

A waif tortoise is one removed from the wild outside a permitted relocation. FWC’s goal is to return tortoises to the wild when it can. Animals from unknown sites often cannot be released because of disease and the effect on existing populations. A person with 5 acres or more, or an educational facility, can ask about taking in waif tortoises. A different threshold, 25 acres or more, is what FWC’s sightings page gives for considering a recipient site. A healthy tortoise living near people is not automatically a waif that needs to be collected.

For a dead tortoise, report it and leave the remains. Possession of parts, including shells, bones, and eggs, requires an FWC permit.

Fines and legal consequences

Violating wildlife rules can result in enforcement. The exact charge depends on what happened. A permit mistake, a rule violation, and an intentional killing are not the same offense. Do not label every burrow incident a felony.

Section 379.411, Florida Statutes (2026), prohibits intentionally killing or wounding a species the Commission designates endangered, threatened, or of special concern, and it prohibits intentionally destroying the eggs or nest of such wildlife, unless Commission rules authorize it. A violation is a Level Four violation under section 379.401. That section makes a Level Four violation a third-degree felony, punishable under sections 775.082, 775.083, or 775.084.

For a third-degree felony, section 775.082 sets imprisonment not exceeding 5 years, and section 775.083 sets a fine not exceeding $5,000. Those are statutory maximums. They are not an automatic sentence, and they are not the penalty FWC prints for every permit problem.

Mitigation contributions, relocation expenses, and criminal penalties are separate. Paying to move an animal later does not erase earlier unlawful conduct. FWC’s rules page also says information reported to Wildlife Alert can make a person eligible for a reward if it leads to an arrest. That is a possibility, not a promise.

What if a contractor is already damaging burrows?

Stop further activity in the affected area when you have authority to do so. Document what you can see from a safe and lawful position. Check FWC’s permit locator. Report the location, the activity, and any photographs to Wildlife Alert.

A suspected violation is for FWC to investigate. It is not a reason to trespass or to confront equipment operators.

Who to contact

These are official FWC contacts checked November 7, 2026. FWC does not provide routine relocation services for private development. It authorizes agents and issues the permits.

When you call about property work, have the address, the county, photographs, the planned activity, and the approximate distance from the burrow.

Update this contact block, the mitigation table, the August 1, 2026 effective date, and the source-check date at the top without rewriting the rest of the guide.

Common questions

Can I keep a baby gopher tortoise?

No. Protection covers the animal at every size, including a hatchling. Leave a healthy tortoise where you found it. Call FWC when it is injured or in immediate danger.

Can I keep an empty shell I found?

FWC says possession of tortoise parts, including shells, bones, and eggs, is illegal without an FWC permit. Photograph a dead tortoise, report it, and leave the remains.

Can I release an unwanted pet tortoise near a wild gopher tortoise?

No. Contact FWC. Releasing a pet on your own is not a permitted relocation. FWC looks at disease and the effect on wild tortoises before an animal goes back to the wild.

Does my HOA's approval replace an FWC permit?

No. An association approval and an FWC authorization are separate. Resolve the FWC requirement before the affected work begins.

The rule to remember

Leave the tortoise and the burrow undisturbed until you know what the situation requires.

For homeowners, that usually means coexistence or careful project planning. For buyers, it means investigating before committing to improvements. For contractors, it means identifying wildlife impacts before clearing.

The hole is a protected shelter that can support many other animals. A burrow on the lot does not, by itself, make the whole parcel unbuildable. The charge depends on what happened. Intentional killing or wounding, or intentional destruction of eggs or a nest, is the felony described above. A permit mistake is a different matter.

Sources to recheck

Independent information, checked November 7, 2026. This Is Florida does not issue gopher tortoise permits, does not survey burrows, and does not give legal advice. A later change to a fee, a phone number, or a permit rule needs its own source. If that source is missing, say the current requirement is not confirmed.

Related on this site: wildlife, alligators, parks, Florida laws, homestead exemption, home pool laws, HOA laws.