Every resident has to pay their fair share to live in Manatee County — tortoises, too.
The county will collect $725,040 over the next five years from the Florida Department of Transportation’s Florida Turnpike Enterprise to rehome 191 gopher tortoises in Duette Preserve, in the easternmost portion of Manatee County.
Fiorella Teodista, communications outreach coordinator for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, said the gopher tortoises should be arriving at the preserve in early 2026 when construction begins on the Suncoast Parkway from County Road 495 to U.S. 19 in Citrus County near Crystal River…