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

The Desert Tortoise and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in California: An Update

Raymond Bransfield
Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's responsibilities for administering the Endangered Species Act with regard to the desert tortoise in California fall primarily on three offices. Funding for implementing these responsibilities is divided between consultation and recovery efforts; these efforts can be broadly divided into several activities. We coordinate with land management agencies and stakeholders on the development of land use plans. We determine whether the numerous actions proposed, funded, or authorized by federal agencies would be likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the desert tortoise or adversely modify its critical habitat. We review draft habitat conservation plans to determine whether permits for incidental take should be issued. We determine whether permits for recovery actions should be issued to researchers. We respond to requests for information on our activities and demands for legal action.

The Service's accomplishments in slowing the decline of the desert tortoise in California and in promoting recovery since its listing in 1989 are reviewed, with particular emphasis on our involvement in the three large-scale land use planning efforts, in the consultation and recovery permitting processes, and in direct efforts to recover the species. The author's opinions on how the Service has performed in these various fields will be summarized.