BAYVIEW CROSS TORTOISE BURROW

A new complication in the on-going controversy about the Cross in Bayview Park in Pensacola. A federal judge ordered the city to take it down because it violates the separation of church and state. The city appealed it and is awaiting a decision by the United States Court of Appeals. But now a gopher tortoise burrow was spotted near the cross. Gopher tortoises are a threatened species. The burrow in question is located at the base of the stage near the cross. If the court rules for the cross to come down, the city will have to apply for a permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission – a two to four-week process – and then hire someone to move the tortoise to another location.

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