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

Status of the Bureau of Land Management's Desert Tortoise Recovery Program In Nevada

Mark Morse, Kristen Murphy, John Jamrog
Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 4701 North Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130

In 1998, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP) was approved and implemented, incorporating management recommendations set forth in the Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1994). The Recovery Plan established four Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), affording protection to designated critical tortoise habitat within the Nevada Recovery Units. Management direction for ACECs reduces or eliminates certain resource uses and activities identified in the Recovery Plan as incompatible with desert tortoise recovery. Since implementation of the RMP, BLM has focused its efforts on six primary objectives to protect the desert tortoise and improve its habitat within ACECs: (1) closing grazing allotments; (2) designating approved routes; (3) restoring disturbed areas; (4) restricting Off Highway Vehicle events; (5) closing areas to mineral entry; and (6) retaining areas in federal ownership. Through careful planning and cooperation between its federal and state partners, Clark County, environmental and recreational user groups, and other interested stakeholders, BLM has made significant progress in meeting these objectives. Additionally, funding opportunities provided through the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan have enabled BLM to further tortoise recovery by increasing law enforcement, implementing population monitoring studies, fencing highways, funding research, and developing conservation management plans. In an era of changing national priorities and shrinking federal budgets, maintaining ongoing efforts and implementing new initiatives will continue to be increasingly challenging for BLM. Creative funding mechanisms and close, collaborative working relationships will define BLM's future success in desert tortoise conservation.