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 from Tracy Davids – Executive Director
The fall winds have blown me back to Wild South from a glorious three-month sabbatical. I want to thank our board of directors for giving me an extended break to rest and rejuvenate after a challenging, yet rewarding, eleven years with the organization, eight of those at the helm.
I also want to thank our dedicated, hardworking staff who took on additional responsibilities, worked long hours, and made personal sacrifices to ensure that we didn’t skip a beat. Under the leadership of Ben Prater, Wild South staff advanced our work in a significant way.
It will take an equal amount of passion, dedication, sacrifice, courage, time, and money donated by many individuals to finally realize our vision of empowered communities, healthy intact ecosystems and wilderness in the Southeast. The Ken Burns documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, recently drove this point home for me.
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The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is the only tortoise indigenous to the southeastern United States. It is a moderate-sized, terrestrial turtle. Adults range between 9 and 11 inches in length, with an oblong shell, generally tan, brown or gray in color.