27th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, March 22-24, 2002
Abstracts

Conservation Through Cooperation: Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee Achievements and Plans for 2001-2002

Michael J. Connor
Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, 4067 Mission Inn Ave, Riverside, CA 92501

The mission of the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee is to promote the welfare of the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, in its native wild state in the southwestern United States through establishing preserves, developing and implementing management programs for preserve lands, and providing information, education and research on critical ecosystems. These goals can only be achieved through close cooperation with the many federal, state and local government agencies, business interests, desert users and other conservation organizations that operate in desert tortoise habitat.

During 2001, cooperative efforts yielded significant progress in habitat acquisition and management, education and research. Agreements with the City of Palmdale and the California Department of Fish and Game, enabled the Committee to close escrow on 80 acres of prime habitat within the historic boundaries of the Desert Tortoise Natural Area (DTNA). In culmination of a three-year effort, the Committee completed clearing title from a 30 acre parcel of DTNA habitat and sold this to the Bureau of Land Management to allow the Bureau to complete a land exchange with the Indian Wells Valley Water District. In conjunction with the California Energy Commission, CDFG and various businesses involved with the High Desert Power project, acquisitions were made in the Committee's Buffer Zone area immediately southeast of the DTNA, and in critical habitat east of the DTNA. Acquisitions in these areas are essential to create both defensible boundaries and to reduce the degree of isolation of the DTNA from critical habitat to the east. Habitat acquisitions are also occurring on the Chuckwalla Bench ACEC and adjacent critical habitat courtesy of similar cooperative agreements.

The Committee's research and education programs saw similar advances in 2001. Mojave Desert Discovery Center kiosks are now installed in Bakersfield at the California Living Museum (CALM), Joshua Tree National Park, and the California Welcome Center in Barstow. In August 2001, the Committee released a report on two years of survey data for the Mojave Ground Squirrel, a State-listed species which is endemic to the western Mojave Desert. The surveys and report were funded by a CEC agreement with the Committee, contributions from the Committee, and donations of time from Dr. Phil Leitner, the Principal Investigator. Working with the BLM, the Committee obtained a challenge grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to provide matching funds for the DTNA naturalist program, interpretive services, a head-starting project, and for tortoise surveys on the DTNA's permanent study plots. Through DTPC's collaboration with CDFG, BLM, U. S. Geological Survey, and contract biologists, this funding has allowed all four square miles of permanent study plots at the DTNA to be surveyed in a single season. Given the tortoises' lengthy generation time, the demographic data these surveys will produce will be invaluable in evaluating the species current status and the likely effectiveness of recovery efforts.