The wildlife commission says a consultant illegally destroyed gopher tortoise habitats at developments in Citrus and other counties.
By AMY WIMMER SCHWARB, Times Staff Writer
Published August 18, 2004
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CITRUS HILLS - An environmental consultant hired to deal with gopher tortoises in the path of development at the Villages of Citrus Hills has been accused of destroying gopher tortoise habitat, illegally relocating them and making false statements on state permit applications.
Timothy John Talbot, 51, of Apopka, the president and chief executive officer of Talbot Environmental Inc., had been handling gopher tortoise relocations in Central Florida since at least 1998, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Earlier this year, after the wildlife commission discovered discrepancies between gopher tortoise blood test results Talbot provided on a relocation application and blood test results from the testing lab, the wildlife commission revoked Talbot's current gopher tortoise permits and barred him from submitting any others.
Now the State Attorney's Office has filed criminal charges against him. He is charged with:
Twenty-four counts of destruction of gopher tortoise habitat or burrows at Brentwood of Citrus Hills in Citrus County.
Twenty-four counts of relocating gopher tortoises without a permit, also at Brentwood.
Eighteen counts of destruction of gopher tortoise habitat or burrows at the Magnolia Pointe development in Lake County.
Three counts of making false official statements in writing. One of those counts stemmed from a project called "Citrus Hills Parcel B" in Citrus. Another was from Autumn Ridge in Marion County; the third was from Celebration, a Lake County development owned by Disney.
The State Attorney's Office is looking into whether to file charges against Talbot's company as well, according to the wildlife commission. Talbot did not return a phone call Tuesday.
Joy Hill, spokeswoman for the wildlife commission, said none of the developers were found to be at fault. "In the course of our investigation," she said, "we obviously looked at all angles."
Avis Craig, development director for the Villages of Citrus Hills, said her company hired Talbot based on his credentials. "Naturally, we assumed he was a credible consultant," Craig said. "We hire consultants who are supposed to be the experts," Craig said. "We were as concerned with these circumstances as anyone."
Gopher tortoises burrow in some of the most sought-after land in Florida: high and dry uplands. They enjoy "protected" status in Florida, which means developers who encounter them have a choice of relocating them or paying mitigation fees.
The fees allow projects to pave over gopher tortoise burrows, and the money is used to buy gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere.
Before the state will issue a permit to relocate tortoises, the tortoises must be tested for upper respiratory tract disease that can be passed on to other tortoises. If even one tortoise from a site tests positive for the disease, none can be relocated, for fear of spreading the disease.
Back in February, when a wildlife commission employee was reviewing one of Talbot's applications for gopher relocation permits, the employee checked the applications against tortoise blood test results from the University of Florida Mycoplasma Research Lab.
Talbot, according to the wildlife commission, had failed to provide test results where tortoises tested positive. Those positive results were missing for three separate developments in Citrus, Lake and Marion counties.
The wildlife commission had received a separate complaint that Talbot had illegally interfered with gopher tortoise habitats in Citrus and Lake counties. An investigation into those allegations resulted in the charges that he illegally destroyed habitat and relocated gopher tortoises.
Talbot also is accused of relocating some diseased gopher tortoises from the Citrus Hills site. The spot where the tortoises were placed has been closed off, according to Hill of the wildlife commission, and no more gopher tortoises can be moved there.
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