VALDOSTA — The backers of the Sabal Trail pipeline project have received permission to begin “pre-construction gopher tortoise mitigation” in Alabama and Georgia.

The Sabal Trail Transmission Pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run from Alabama through Georgia to central Florida. In a letter dated April 6, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Sabal Trail Transmission LLC permission to begin the tortoise project.

Gopher tortoises are dry-land turtles that usually live in relatively well-drained, sandy soils generally associated with longleaf pine and dry oak sandhills, according to the National Wildlife Service. They are the official state reptile of Georgia and are protected by federal law under the Endangered Species Act in Alabama counties west of the Mobile and Tombigbee rivers and in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The mitigation project was developed in accordance with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s gopher tortoise permitting guidelines, as modified in consultation with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Georgia Department of Conservation Resources, according to the FERC letter. The pre-construction activities are comprised of conducting surveys of previously identified gopher tortoise burrows.

If the burrows are found to be unoccupied, they would be collapsed using hand shovels; if occupied, a burrow would be noted and there would be no further action as part of this pre-construction activity, the letters said.

The approval does not grant Sabal Trail the authority to commence construction of project facilities and is limited to the tracts in which Sabal Trail has successfully obtained an easement, the letter said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.