On December 5, 2025, One Rake at a Time received its final permits to begin the next phase of restoration on the Rainbow River — diver-assisted vacuuming with our restoration partner, Sea & Shoreline. For those of us who have been working toward this moment for years, that date felt monumental. It marked the end of a long regulatory process and the beginning of visible, hands-on work in the river.
We were gearing up to start.
And then we hit a speed bump.
As crews began preparing access to one of the upland support areas needed for the project — specifically the dewatering site that allows sediment removed from the river to be handled properly — we encountered something that immediately stopped us in our tracks: a gopher tortoise, right along the access route where heavy equipment would need to travel.
At that moment, the decision wasn’t complicated.
We do not want heavy traffic destroying a gopher tortoise or its burrow.
Gopher tortoises are one of Florida’s most important — and most misunderstood — native species. They live in sandy uplands, often near rivers and springs, and they are the only native tortoise found east of the Mississippi River. Their survival depends on open, well-drained land where they can dig burrows that extend many feet underground.
Those burrows are the reason gopher tortoises are considered a keystone species. More than 300 other animals have been documented using gopher tortoise burrows at some point in their lives — snakes, frogs, small mammals, insects, and other reptiles. In a harsh Florida summer, during a wildfire, or in cold snaps, those burrows can mean the difference between life and death.
When you damage a gopher tortoise burrow, you’re not just impacting one animal. You’re disrupting an entire underground refuge system that supports biodiversity across the landscape.
That’s why gopher tortoises are protected under Florida law — and why restoration projects, even those focused on water, must take them into account.
It’s important for the public to understand that river restoration doesn’t happen in isolation. Diver-assisted vacuuming takes place underwater, but it requires upland support areas for access, safety, equipment staging, and sediment handling. Those upland areas often overlap with exactly the kind of sandy habitat gopher tortoises depend on.
So when a tortoise shows up in the path of heavy equipment, everything stops — as it should.
That pause can be frustrating. After years of planning and permitting, everyone wants to see progress. I want to see progress. But if we’re serious about restoring the Rainbow River, then we have to be just as careful on land as we are in the water.
Restoration is not about rushing. It’s about responsibility.
The diver-assisted vacuuming work itself has been carefully designed to minimize disturbance — targeting accumulated sediments while protecting native plants and wildlife. That same ethic applies to every part of the project. If a protected species is at risk, we reassess. We adjust. We do it right.
Gopher tortoises have lost significant habitat across Florida due to development, road construction, and land conversion. Their protected status exists because history has shown what happens when convenience outweighs stewardship. The Rainbow River, after all, is facing restoration today because of decisions made decades ago that didn’t fully consider long-term consequences.
We don’t want to repeat those mistakes.
This delay isn’t a failure of the project. It’s proof that the safeguards work. It shows that environmental protections are more than words on paper — they are active, living checks that force us to slow down and do better.
I understand the impatience. I share it. But I also believe moments like this are reminders of why this work matters in the first place. The goal isn’t just a cleaner riverbed. The goal is a healthier ecosystem — water, land, and wildlife working together.
The gopher tortoise didn’t slow this project down because it’s in the way.
It slowed us down because it belongs here.
Thank you for your patience,
Art Jones