Pensacola News Journal:

 http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/NEWS01/810210339/1006/NEWS01

Fort Myers News Press:

 http://www.news-press.com/article/20081021/GREEN/810210390/1002/NEWS01

Orlando Sentinel Guest Column:

 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/opinion/orl-oparesco1908oct19,0,5545308.story

Lakeland Ledger column:

 http://blogs.theledger.com/default.asp?item=2272539

SP Times column by Howard Troxler  (A menu from “Charlie’s Seafood Shack” of all-turtle entrees, published on bottom of local front.) It takes a few to load, please be patient:

 http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2008/PDFs/turtles4web.pdf

Florida Radio News Network (Clear Channel Radio News Feed):

 Web Story:

 http://bbn.frn.com/fis/storydisplay.asp?site=rssfis&storyID=6558

Jacksonville Times Union column:

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101208/opl_342555536.shtml

Bay News 9 Video story:

http://www.baynews9.com/VideoPlayer/?Turtle_meat_1011

Bay News 9 Web story:

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2008/10/11/390915.html

Treasure Coast newspapers

 http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/oct/06/chinas-gobbling-turtles-florida/

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/lifestyle/pets/story/c1abeb0898aad2c4862574da000545af?OpenDocument

Lakeland Ledger

http://www.theledger.com/article/20081009/NEWS/810090272?Title=China_Gobbling_Up_Florida_Turtles

St. Petersburg Times story

 http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/article840320.ece

St. Petersburg Times editorial

 http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article844657.ece

SP Times letters to the editor

 http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/letters/article847022.ece

WBIR, Knoxville, Tennessee (also went on other NBC stations nationally)

 http://www.wbir.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=66183&catid=16

Poachers target Florida's turtles

NBC News      2 hrs ago Updated: 10/10/2008 8:08:25 AM    Posted: 10/10/2008 7:57:01 AM

Experts say an ecosystem is like a jigsaw puzzle and if you take a piece out, it's incomplete.

Poachers are threatening Southwest Florida's ecosystem by trying to remove turtles.

Turtles may be slow-moving creatures, but they're being rounded up and shipped out of the country at a rapid rate.

"People can make quite a bit of money by taking these turtles. They're going for sometimes two dollars a pound," said Joanne Adams of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Florida soft shell turtles have become a hot commodity for hunters.

They're capturing and exporting them to Asian markets like China were people see the soft shell turtles as prized possessions for food and medicine.

"Different countries in Asia have depleted their source of turtles so now they are looking to the United States for these turtles," said Adams.

Exporters are shipping up to 15,000 pounds of soft shell turtles each week from Florida to foreign markets.

Experts say commercial hunters are targeting Florida turtles more and more because many other states like Alabama and Texas have banned turtle harvesting altogether.

A move biologists say needs to happen here.

"Generally when you see a water source of some sort with turtles in it, it's a healthy ecosystem because the turtles take care of the insects, the crustaceans, and then you have other animals that eat the turtles and it's just one healthy cycle," said Resource Naturalist Scott Gregory.

Gregory says hunters are taking so many large adult turtles; the species could have a difficult time surviving.

"It needs to be slowed down or stopped," he said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently set a temporary limit of 20 soft shell turtles per day for commercially licensed hunters.

"We think we caught it in time. There are still a lot of turtles and they do have a very high reproductive rate," said Adams.

FWC is currently studying the situation more closely and working on a more restrictive plan to protect these turtles.

They expect a new law to go into effect next year.