26th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, March 16-18, 2001
Abstracts

Managing for Recovery in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

Lori Rose¹ and Tim Duck^2
1HCP Biologist/Resource Specialist, Washington County, 197 E. Tabernacle St., St. George, Utah 84790
²Biologist, Bureau of Land Management, 345 E. Riverside Dr, St. George, Utah 84790

Several conditions in the Upper Virgin River Recovery Unit are unique: 1) it is the smallest of the recovery units, with only one 61,000 acre DWMA, well below the recommended minimum size and population; 2) it is located at the northern most extent of the species' range; 3) it contains one of the most dense population of desert tortoises across the species' range; 4) incidence of URDS appears to be stable at a low percentage of the population; and 5) the DWMA is also habitat for numerous other threatened, endangered, and sensitive species in Washington County.

One condition is not unique: the DWMA is located in an area of rapid change. Loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation due to urban development have threatened the population of tortoises in the recovery unit. In February 1996, Washington County received an incidental take permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 1,169 tortoises and 12,264 acres of privately owned habitat based on an approved Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The HCP, administered by Washington County, established the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve (whose boundaries closely coincide with the proposed Upper Virgin River DWMA), identified actions designed to achieve the objectives of the Recovery Plan, and established a 20-year funding mechanism to pay many of the costs associated with recovery and monitoring. Where funding is inadequate, the County works closely with its partners, including Utah Department of Natural Resources, BLM, US Fish and Wildlife Service, local citizens and NGOs to provide resources and raise additional funds to achieve objectives.

The Recovery Plan identified three actions needed to accomplish recovery: 1) establish DWMAs and implement recovery unit management plans; 2) environmental education to inform the public about the status of the desert tortoise and regulations within DWMAs; and 3) research activities necessary to monitor and guide the recovery effort. Washington County contracts with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for annual monitoring of tortoise populations within the Reserve. The County, working closely with the BLM, focuses on securing habitat inside of the Reserve and reducing controllable threats to tortoises to enable recovery.

The key to the strategy for recovery, as summarized in the Recovery Plan, is the establishment of DWMAs and implementation of reserve-level protection within them. Highlights of on-the-ground actions implemented to date by Washington County and our partners include:

• coordinated and/or installed over 30 miles of fencing along the Reserve boundary and along highway corridors, and funded a part time person dedicated to building and repairing fences;
• passed numerous ordinances and inter-local agreements that directly or indirectly help tortoises, ranging from restricting off-road vehicles inside the Reserve to limiting the shooting of firearms;
• purchased over 99% of grazing rights within the Reserve on a willing-seller basis;
• funded a BLM law enforcement position at $65,000 a year to patrol the Reserve;
• improved the Reserve configuration by strategically purchasing critical habitat acres not originally designated inside of the Reserve
• to date, over 335 acres have been purchased for riparian and upland habitat protection consistent with the HCP;
• worked with USFWS and University of Nevada Reno to increase understanding of translocation and potential for success;
• removed over 130 tortoises from take areas prior to development and relocated healthy animals to an area of the Reserve dedicated to translocation;
• sent ELISA positive tortoises to a Colorado State University in support of URDS research;
• developed and ready to implement a multi-jurisdictional Public Use Plan which details management prescriptions for recreation and other public uses within the Reserve;
• removed over twenty tons of trash from the Reserve and reclaimed an old dump site inside the Reserve; and
• started re-seeding old roads in the Reserve;
• presented over 40 classes to over 1,700 school kids and related parties on tortoises and other wildlife in the Reserve, built an education kiosk immediately adjacent to the Reserve in a prominent city park, and incorporated large herbariums into its main office with sensitive reptiles, including a tortoise, so visitors can learn first hand about some of the unique wildlife inside the Reserve; and
• in addition, the County is currently investigating with Snow Canyon State Park the construction of a regional nature education center, for which the County has set aside $250,000 in a dedicated fund.

These achievements are more meaningful because they have been accomplished by a highly effective, collaborative partnership that takes the responsibility to protect tortoise habitat seriously, operates out in the open, finds solutions and get things done with minimal bureaucracy. The paramount focus is implementing initiatives that make things happen on the ground. If there is any single lesson learned by the success of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, it is that you must give the local community the opportunity to be a meaningful part of the process. Success resides in fairness, a joint sense of ownership, and local citizen's ability to take pride in, and get credit for the outcome.