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Abstract:
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"Having spent much of my life in the forests of southern Alabama, I have frequently come into contact with an important species, the viability of which has become greatly strained: the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). I have often had to wait for the slow, lumbering gopher tortoise to cross the forest paths of southern Alabama that I have traveled. The tortoise is listed as both a threatened and endangered species throughout a portion of its territorial range, and the tortoises population is quickly declining throughout the rest due to development pressures and forest management practices. The timber farmed to provide jobs and subsistence to thousands of foresters in Alabama is a necessary part of the tortoises survival. Remove the longleaf pine, destroy the tortoise burrows, and you destroy the species. How then do we find a balance between preserving our environment and developing the lands that provide housing, industry, and income for thousands of workers, and timber and paper products for the entire world?"
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