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

Eco-system-Based Multiple Species Conservation Planning: From the Desert Tortoise Plan to Proactive Conservation Planning In Clark County, Nevada

Cynthia Truelove
Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan Administrator, Environmental Planning Division, Clark County, Nevada, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 891550

Building upon the once contentious Desert Conservation Plan for the desert tortoise, the highly successful public consensus-based Clark County Desert Conservation Plan has grown into the nation's largest Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP). We will discuss the role of consensus-building and public habitat conservation planning in laying the foundation for the growth of the Clark County HCP to its current status as the nation's newest Multiple Species Plan while also considering the benefits and responsibilities which accompany national innovation in habitat conservation planning through multiple species conservation planning. We will consider the opportunities for proactive conservation facilitated by the MSHCP as well as discuss the centrality of desert tortoise conservation management activities under the new Plan. Finally, we will review the Plan's nascent Adaptive Management component as well as some of the challenges posed by collaborative management initiatives on public lands included in the Adaptive Management Program.