INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — A proposed housing development on the Treasure Coast is threatening to displace hundreds of gopher tortoises, and it may be part of a bigger pattern playing out across the state.
According to county documents, developers first applied to build on a 160-acre plot, located near the intersection of 77th and Old Dixie Highway in Vero Beach, back in 2021. The site abuts the Sandridge Golf Club.
An updated site plan filed in 2023 shows the project’s 881 proposed homes — called Ridge Top — would include apartments, villas, townhomes, and single-family houses, with 11 acres set aside for existing wetlands and at least 11 more preserved as natural vegetation.
Yet a developer-funded environmental survey found 113 likely active tortoise burrows on just 20% of the land.
That same survey estimated the full site could contain up to 565 burrows — with more than 280 protected gopher tortoises living in them.
"They're going to take those tortoises and move them somewhere else, and they’ve been adapted to this area," said Florida Atlantic University biology professor Jon Moore.
WPTV's investigative team went along with Moore as he examined the dozen or so burrows we could see just from the edge of the property.
"There's a lot of forage on the ground, a lot of basking areas for sun," pointed out Moore. "That looks like Brazilian Pepper."
As we looked at the property, it became quite clear that when you love nature as much as the biology professor does, you start to see that some things can't be replaced.
"This is another active burrow," pointed out Moore. "You can still see the footprints from the hind legs."
Moore isn't just worried about the tortoises deep within — he's worried about a future where there’s nowhere left to move them, and nothing left to support what they leave behind.
"Yeah, I'm concerned. I'm concerned about a number of things, because where are these tortoises going to end up?" asked the professor.
That's the million-dollar question because if the development is approved for this land, the builder could have to pay millions to relocate the hundreds of protected gopher tortoises living here.
"That's quite a lot of tortoises for one permit," said wildlife biologist Kyle Brown.
Brown used to help FWC relocate gopher tortoises to designated "recipient sites" — protected areas set aside by the state to house displaced reptiles.
"During my time there, I probably only reviewed maybe a few that had that many, and those were really large-scale projects — sometimes projects that would go over like five years," said Brown. "So it's very unusual to see that many."
Unusual — and for him — concerning.
Gopher tortoises are considered a keystone species, meaning more than 350 other species depend on them to survive.
"If you take that keystone out, the whole thing comes down," said Brown. "Other animals use those burrows to shelter, to feed, to escape predators. ... And so it's the existence of the burrows that the tortoises dig that actually increases the diversity of species on scrub habitat like this."
FWC said the 283 tortoises on this land make up a "viable population."
The minimum is 250 — enough to withstand hurricanes, disease, or other trauma, and that stability can't be taken for granted.
A 2020 U.S. Fish and Wildlife report projects that even under the best-case scenario, Florida's gopher tortoise population could drop by more than 40% in the next 80 years, with urban growth and development listed as a primary threat.
"So, it is concerning when you see that many tortoises being moved from one site," said Brown.
Even though relocating tortoises is expensive, it's hardly slowing development down.
WPTV reviewed Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) data and found more than 2,000 active gopher tortoise relocation permits issued statewide in just the past year — 175 of them in the five-county area.
"The time I was in Florida, we were setting records every year for tortoise relocations," said Brown.
And the numbers keep climbing.
Public records that WPTV obtained from FWC show that in 2014, Florida issued fewer than 1,000 gopher tortoise permits across the state.
In 2024, that number climbed to nearly 3,000, even though developers pay thousands of dollars per tortoise — and a permit fee on top.
"They may charge anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 per tortoise just to receive the tortoise," said Brown.
"It shows how profitable large developments have become — even high relocation costs aren’t enough to stop them," added Wildlands Conservationist Neal Halstead.
And that's what worries him the most.
More and more tortoises are being moved, but the land we move them to isn't limitless — and it can't be just anywhere.
FWC requires at least 40 acres, often hundreds, for a recipient site, and it can only hold two tortoises per acre.
The land also needs the right soil and vegetation to support them.
"Are we running out of land to put these tortoises on?" WPTV reporter Kate Hussey asked.
"The answer is yes," replied Halstead. "You can’t just pack an infinite number of tortoises onto a small area."
"What happens if we keep going down this path?" asked Hussey.
"Well, that's a good question," said Halstead.
"It would seem likely that we're going to run out of relocation spaces unless the state starts opening up state forests and state parks," said Moore.
WPTV reached out to the FWC, which in a statement said that though relocations have increased over time, they actually declined since 2021, and have not been increasing every single year.
The agency added that of the 83,000 tortoises moved between 2012 and 2022, 84% went to sites protected under perpetual conservation easements — meaning that land can't be developed.
"The primary threat to the gopher tortoise is habitat loss through habitat destruction, fragmentation, and degradation. As Florida's human population has increased, so too has the pressure on suitable gopher tortoise habitat," read FWC's statement. "The FWC's Gopher Tortoise Management Plan [myfwc.com], revised in 2024, aims to combat tortoise population decline and minimize the loss of tortoises by ensuring humane and responsible relocation or translocation of all gopher tortoises from lands proposed for development, minimizing illegal harvest/take, creating wildlife best management practices for working lands, implementing methods to reduce juvenile mortality, improving public awareness via outreach, and reducing loss of tortoises to disease and vehicle-related mortality."
WPTV also reached out to the proposed developer, PulteGroup Homes, and the landowner — RSG of Vero Beach — a Treasure Coast–based company.
Both declined an on-camera interview, but the project's environmental engineer noted the land was once a sand mine — not pristine habitat — and said all tortoises and any other protected species found during relocation will be safely moved.
A representative for the real estate group working with RSG said staff are open to relocating plants and exploring landscaping ideas to help balance nature with development.
They added that the original plan for over 800 homes has been scaled back to 320, which is well below the 900 units allowed by zoning.
Yet Moore fears that when we lose our wild places and our wildlife, we lose balance and biodiversity.
"This scrub ridge has a number of endangered species associated with it," said Moore.
He said when it's gone, we don't just lose what it was, we lose what it gave us.
"This habitat is getting to be so rare that we really need to set aside more scrub habitat as protected lands, rather than selling it off for development," said Moore.
FWC told WPTV there's no relocation permit currently filed for this site — and the housing development itself hasn't yet been approved.
It’s still under a second review by Indian River County commissioners.
Gopher tortoises must be relocated before any land clearing or development takes place, and property owners must obtain permits from the FWC before capturing and relocating tortoises.
