We're based right here in Port Charlotte - the fastest gopher tortoise scheduling in Charlotte County, often same-week.
Port Charlotte was platted in the 1950s and 60s into tens of thousands of quarter-acre lots - and the ones still vacant have had half a century to become gopher tortoise habitat. The sandy pine flatwoods soil under most of the community is exactly what tortoises dig in, which is why burrows turn up constantly on infill lots from Section 15 to Gulf Cove.
If you're building on a vacant Port Charlotte lot - or adding a pool, lanai, or shed on an occupied one - Florida law requires that no clearing or ground disturbance happen within 25 feet of a burrow until it's resolved under an FWC permit. A survey is the first step, and on a standard 80×125 lot it costs $350 with the written report in your hands the next business day.
This is our home base. We live and work in Port Charlotte, we survey these streets weekly, and we can often walk your lot within a day or two of your call.
The four jobs that generate most of our Port Charlotte calls.
The classic Port Charlotte project: an infill build on a long-vacant 80×125 lot. Survey before your clearing crew mobilizes - a burrow found mid-clear stops the job.
Burrows on or near occupied lots are common. If the dig zone, equipment path, or spoil pile comes within 25 feet of a burrow, it needs to be resolved first.
Canal-front lots are booming - but FWC does not allow on-site relocation on parcels bordering a canal, so tortoises here go off-site to a recipient conservation site.
Buying a lot at auction or from an out-of-state seller? A $350 survey before closing tells you whether you're also buying a relocation project.
Charlotte County doesn't run its own separate tortoise program - the statewide FWC rules apply, and the county building department expects wildlife compliance to be handled before land clearing. Our FWC-format survey report slots straight into your permit package, and if a relocation permit is needed, we file it and manage the 2–6 week FWC review for you.
Practical tip for Port Charlotte builds: survey before you order site work. The survey is valid 90 days for the FWC application, so the ideal sequence is survey → building permit prep → relocation (if needed) → clearing. We coordinate timing so the tortoise step never becomes the critical path.
If the survey finds an active or inactive burrow within 25 feet of your clearing, pool or driveway work, the tortoise has to be relocated under an FWC permit before work starts. We handle the whole thing: we file the permit with your survey data, follow up with FWC, then come back to capture and move the tortoise once the permit is approved.
On-site or off-site? On-site relocation moves the tortoise to another part of the same parcel and costs $1,400 for up to 2 tortoises (+$400 each additional), plus the $280 FWC permit fee. Port Charlotte canal lots, including most of South Gulf Cove, cannot use on-site relocation because FWC does not allow it on parcels bordering a canal or waterway. Those tortoises go to a permitted recipient conservation site, which adds a $5,000 per tortoise fee paid directly to that site. Your survey report tells you which applies before you commit to anything.
Timing: FWC review usually takes 2 to 6 weeks, and the relocation itself can happen within days of approval. No clearing is allowed in the permitted area until every tortoise is moved. Full process, FAQs and examples: gopher tortoise relocation service.
The same four steps everywhere we work - most clients only ever make one phone call.
Give us the property address and your timeline. We confirm whether a survey is needed and schedule within 48 hours.
We walk 100% of the parcel, GPS-map every burrow, and deliver an FWC-format written report the next business day.
If tortoises are present, we prepare and submit the FWC relocation permit application for you. Typical review: 2–6 weeks.
Once permitted, we capture and relocate the tortoises to an approved recipient area. You're legal to clear and build.
Same transparent pricing across our whole service area - no location markups.
| Gopher tortoise survey | $350 / quarter acre |
| Relocation (up to 2 tortoises) | $1,400 |
| FWC permit fee (agency charge, every relocation) | +$280 |
| Each additional tortoise | +$400 |
| Off-site recipient site fee (waterfront/canal lots - paid to the conservation site) | $5,000 / tortoise |
Full details, examples by lot size, and what's never included: see the pricing page.
We're local - often on-site within a day or two. Tell us the lot and we'll take the tortoise question off your plate.