One of the few tortoise species native to North America, the gopher tortoise is facing serious pressures from urban development and habitat degradation. Our efforts to secure a 16,083-acre property along the coastline of southern Georgia protect an ecologically important part of the Satilla River basin, which will be preserved and managed as a place for tortoise recovery and coastal recreation.

Our Role

The Conservation Fund partnered with the Open Space Institute (OSI) to acquire a 7,500-acre portion of the property on the Satilla River — protecting a delicate piece of the Atlantic coastline and the largest undeveloped, unprotected portion of coastal property in Georgia. Funding for the purchase came from eight different partners. Together, we will work with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR) and federal agency partners over the next several years to permanently protect the entire property under conservation easements and transfer ownership to GA DNR to be included in the new Ceylon Wildlife Management Area.

Why This Project Matters

The Satilla River winds 235 miles through coastal wetlands and maritime forest. The blackwater river travels slowly for miles, carving out white sandbars and salty marshes before emptying into St. Andrew’s Sound and bringing life to the estuaries dependent on its freshwater. Un-dammed through its entirety, the river and its watershed support 34 ecological communities, including species such as the redbreast sunfish, wood stork and brown pelican. The Ceylon property borders 12 miles of the lower Satilla River, conserving this ecologically significant coastal habitat.

Upland from the river are fire-adapted longleaf pine stands, the preferred habitat of the gopher tortoise — which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to widespread habitat loss and fragmentation, herbicide use, predation and vehicle deaths. These charismatic land tortoises are especially sensitive to population declines because they are slow to reach sexual maturity and have a low reproductive rate.

Gopher tortoises use their large back legs and front feet to dig extensive burrow systems, which help regulate their temperature and provide them shelter. They are considered a keystone species owing to these commensal burrows, which benefit eastern cottontails, gopher frogs, burrowing owls, federally threatened eastern indigo snakes and many other species.

The Ceylon property provides important habitat for gopher tortoises in Georgia, with the GA DNR estimating that more than 2,000 individuals live on site. The new wildlife management area will protect this critical habitat for the gopher tortoise and allow the public to appreciate and enjoy this beautiful coastal ecosystem.

The Ceylon Wildlife Management Area also benefits the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (NSBKB), the largest employer in Camden County, where this project is based. For the East Coast’s only nuclear submarine base, protecting the Ceylon property has been a long-standing high priority. The newly protected property will ensure that base operations will not be impacted by incompatible development and increase security for continued training and deployment of nuclear submarines. TCF’s collaborative effort with OSI, GA DNR, The Nature Conservancy and other partners will create public conservation land in the county, allowing the public to benefit from its valuable natural resources.

Learn More

• Georgia DNR website: Ceylon Wildlife Managment Area