28th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, February 21-23, 2003
Abstracts

Desert Tortoise Conservation and Management at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California

Rhys M. Evans and M. Brent Husung
U.S. Marine Corps, MAGTFTC, 29 Palms, CA 92278

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center is located near Twentynine Palms, California, in the south-central Mojave Desert. Its mission is to provide realistic, live-fire military training. The "Combined Arms Exercise" integrates aircraft, artillery and ground forces into a large-scale "task force" that prepares Marines for warfare around the world. The Marine Corps (USMC) has supported resource management and training land sustainability for decades. Since the listing of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), research on USMC lands has significantly contributed to the available knowledge and protection of this species. Though not a CH Unit (CHU), the USMC tested different Line Distance Sampling methodologies and funded off-base surveys in adjacent critical habitat. Our Go animals are used for two other CHUs. Gardner looked at ecology of tortoises in mountainous habitats. Bjurlin investigated reproduction and early life-stage survival of hatchlings (these studies were presented at previous Symposia). Disease monitoring is continuing. A programmatic ESA Section 7 consultation and an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan were completed; both of these interagency-coordinated documents guide our resource management. Education is a constant and multi-faceted project: newspaper articles are frequently published, signs are installed and 50,000 Marines attend comprehensive Natural and Cultural Resources briefings annually.